mslamin@texas.net

I have to defend my very favorite audio reader of all time, after reading the awful reviews of 'Killer Smile.' Perhaps the producer did fall down on the job here, but I would implore listeners to try Elizabeth Peters' Amelia Peabody series read by Rosenblat; I usually select my audible monthly choices from Rosenblat's performances. I think she has the most incredible facility with voices and accents I have ever heard...and as a performer myself, I am a great admirer of her craft!

If you, like I, love thrillers--political intrigue--spy stories, you should NOT download this book---unless you are of the evangelical Christian persuasion.

I was unfamiliar with the writer, and perhaps I misread the blurb... (did I?)...but the premise seemed topical and exciting: nuclear warheads threatening to cause the outbreak of a Third World War. But, before I knew it--in spite of a thrilling opening, I began hearing long passages from the Bible? Muslim clerics switching to Christianity? Chapters from Revelations?? END OF TIMES?

Please.

I feel totally cheated out of my monthly audiobook from Audible.

John Lee is a superb narrator. His flawless expertise with a myriad of accents provides an unparalleled listening experience. Moreover, I am a fan of Ishiguro's writing, sometimes a dreamy, flowing experience which lends itself well to being read aloud. So, I'm happy with my choice here.

However. WHY did audible.com announce at the beginning of my download---in a very chirpy kids' chorus--AUDIBLE KIDS!! Did someone look at the title of this novel and incorrectly ASSUME this was a children's book? What happened, Audible??

Okay, I'm still in the 'first 100 years'--but that's hours into the reading of the novel. Maybe when Brad dies, there will be another reader: Scott Brick, we deserved better!

I have 'followed' favorite narrators from book to book and discovered literary gems along the way. John Lee is the prime example of such talent: I will download almost anything he narrates. But Scott Brick's intensely annoying dramatic rise and fall of inflection--sentence after sentence--phrase after phrase--no matter the most mundane of content--is excruciating! I have noticed this trend in the last few books he's narrated, and this one clinches it. I can hardly get past his voice to concentrate on the storyline, which, I am concluding is melodrama and mediocrity in the extreme. Needless to say, in my opinion, this is a book to avoid.