Daniel

The first little bit of the listen seems off, until you get into the story. A great listen that will be good for those who like simpler easy reads (Grisham etc) and those who like a little more "meat" in their books (Richard Russo).

Both narrators are top notch.

A great listen. Ms. Penny continues to capture the "male voice" as well as any female author, while providing a great view into another culture that is still North American.VERY interesting. I want to go to Quebec! Characters a fully fleshed out and the mystery itself, while somewhat straining credibility, is really almost secondary to the characters and their relationships.
I strongly urge you to start at the beginning of this series. The characters will become old friends.

If PD James where to put something together in Canada this is what you might get.

Ellory captures his characters wonderfully, with essential nuances while still putting together a great plot. This book is not as elegantly written as "Angels," but it is a different type of book. More murder mystery and in a shorter time period.

Think James Lee Burke meeting Ian Rankin somewhere in New York City.

Great narration. Nicely paced and captures the mood of the novel and the characters.

Unlike Tana French or Louise Penny, this author does not capture males at all. I knew I was in trouble when I heard one guy describing another guy as "ruggedly handsome." Ummmm...not even close.

Sadly, it was made even worse by the narration, which was soap opera level overwrought and trapped in the all to well known problem of the female narrator trying to capture guys by talking slow and deep, and ending up making them sound stupid.

With over 800 audiobook listens, I do not think I have found a more disappointing download. The best I can compare it to is a James Patterson book read by an overacting female Jim Carrey.

Lush and beautifully written, this story covers many years of two couples. If you like Richard Fords stuff, or Russo, then you will be very happy with this book.

A slow start to this listen had me close to moving on to another book. I am glad to stick it out as the book slowly grabbed and held me more and more the longer I listened.

Two great narrators, and a great blend of characters and plot that leaves you guessing what will happen. I connected with many of the characters.

If you like Richard Russo style musings of a story that tends to slowly unveil through the eyes of a middle age male (of which I am...) then this is a great book. I loved it and was not happy when, at first, this was the only Audible Richard Ford book.

My daughter is all about Jodi Picoult and the new Twilight books. Clearly they meet her needs as a teenage reader, although I find them overwritten, melodramatic tripe.

And this is my point: This book met me where i was at, and is a great read for those looking to see how a big segment of middle age white guy thinks and sees much of the world. I suppose for many, this would seem silly...but I loved the writing and the narration was great.

For those who like a fully fleshed out set of characters, narration, multiple layers of action, drama/mystery/crime you are set. It like PD James has an affair with Ian Rankin who collaborated with Adrian Mckinty and was proofread by James Lee Burke.

Top 5 out of the over 500 audiobooks I have listen too.

NEED MORE OF THIS AUTHOR!

A soap opera with unattractive characters that were more caricatures than unique. The writing banged me over the head rather than treating me as someone with imagination. The "inner voices" of the characters came off as simplistic and naive.

The narration was overwrought.

Obviously some like this type of book, but for myself, who loves Richard Russo, James Lee Burke or TC Boyle I was left feeling like I watched a soap opera rather than a good movie.

I enjoyed the characters, plot, twists and detials in the book, but found myself often distracted by the narration, which smacked of cartoonish qualities and undigestable speech for characters.

For example, Big Red is a large, strong man more than willing to mix it up with several bad guys at a time, yet his "voice" is squeaky, excited and over exaggerated. Its like a Clint Eastwood guy talking with an Urkel accent.