Charles

Suspense, passion, healing. Crais puts us in the mind of a remarkable K-9 dog with realism and passion. He makes the training, care and relationship of the man and dog so interesting I could not stop listening. And he introduces us to a faction of police work and warfare we've never experienced before in this genre.

In most police novels the hero never suffers from post traumatic stress disorder after being shot and/or seeing his partner shot or killed. In fact, I can't remember having ever read of this in fiction. In real life it happens to most officers involved in violence that results in tragedy. Crais masterfully takes us through the process of suffering and healing in an entertaining manner.

He also gives us a heck of a good mystery.

The opening two chapters set the stage for the whole book.

He did a great job on this one. For example, a k9 officer must use a commanding, alpha voice when giving orders to the animal. But he also has to baby talk his dog to build trust and relationship. Andrews was great in a difficult contrast...

I listened to this book in one day!

This is an unusual story of a smart, lonely, black high school student being stalked by a killer and her past. Deaver uses real history of 19th century NYC to make a really good modern mystery.

Dennis Boustsikaris is one of my favorite narrators, but I think he struggled with the Ebonics and black accents. He doesn't get in the way of the story, however, so I rate this performance a 3.5.

With just about every Deaver mystery there are always are a multitude of twists. But what makes this mystery so enthralling is his knowledge of illusions, illusionists, magicians and murder. He kept me on the edge of my seat and guessing all along who the killer was and what his motives were. That's what I look for in a mystery novel.

George Guidall is excellent as a narrator, making each character distinct and believable.

I give the book 3 stars because it kept me interested to the end. I could not like the main character, finding him with little or no foundation, (which is a key theme of the book), and ultimately disappointing as a man, friend, lover and son.

Ballerini was excellent, however, a true master of characters.

What kept me interested was the hero's inevitable self discovery. The cleverness of the book is how he comes to this discovery.

In the meantime we are treated to an extraordinary cast of characters. The wealthy, genius, arrogant, and suicidal author and best friend. (I can't use names for reasons that will become evident should you read or listen to this book.) The beautiful actress and lover, another clever clue to his self discovery. An unforgettable patriarch holed up in Sudan and ravaged with dementia.

In the end as shallow as I am, I look to fall in love with the main character as well as the story. As a boy, he won my heart, only to break it as he does his own and all who love him.

I bought this because I enjoyed The Sleeping Doll so much. The characters are great and I love how Deaver writes Dance as an investigator. Like most every Deaver novel, there are really surprising twists that either keep you in suspense or eager to understand what has transpired.

Michelle Pawk does a great job with all the characters. She gets a well earned 5 star rating for me.

I give the story 3 stars because I found the subject matter, (blogging and cyber bullying), a bit trite and boring. Deaver more than compensates for this with his talented character development and storytelling.

I have enjoyed stories of criminals and gangsters for years, but the longer I listened to this the more depressed I felt. There is so much hate from remarkably shallow people I just had to quit listening. I am sure this story rings true for many, sadly people like this thrive in the US.

For example I've heard of black soldiers in Vietnam Nam killing white soldiers in some circumstances. But here we have a character killing well over 50 fellow soldiers because of his hatred of whites. Depressing? I think so.

The Redeemer is the 6 th in the series, but you don't have to follow the books in order. It is another riveting suspense/ mystery / thriller from Nesbo. I think it is every bit as good as The Snowman, Devil's Star and The Bat.

Once again Nesbo exposes Harry Hole as the brilliant, vulnerable, articulate detective we know him to be. The mystery itself is complicated and entirely unique.

John Lee does an outstanding job reading. The audio version is dedicated to the memory of Robin Sachs, who died earlier this year.

I realize this review assumes you have some experience or knowledge of this series. If you don't, investigate the series further and start where you like. All I can say is that Jo Nesbo is the best novelist in this genre I've ever read.

I actually purchased this to listen with my wife. What a pleasant surprise! Best of all I'm hooked on a series with plenty of novels to go.

The story is of a clever, beautiful, poor yet still royal woman having to disgrace her position by working. It leads to a myriad of humorous scenes, all of which overshadow the actual mystery.

Katherine Kellgren does a wonderful job reading a variety of characters.

Deaver is known for extraordinary procedural detail, twists and character development. I loved this book, particularly because it surprised me at several points. The suspense is also first rate.

The heroine, Katherine Dance is an investigator for the California Buereau of Investigations specializing inbinterrogation and kinesics (or body language). Deaver does a great job revealing her expertise without becoming tedious. In fact I found it fascinating.

The reader is Anne Twomy who does an excellent job.

Mr. Archer is just a great teller of tales. His heroes and heroines, in this case autobiographical, are so engaging and charismatic I became hopelessly addicted to the series.

The same can be said of the villain. he a tragically bad seed from a family of outstanding good character, nobility and wealth. He reminds me of several of Follet's villains in Pillars of the Earth and Dangerous Fortune.

The intricate British cast system is brilliantly exposed as it provides much of the series' theme.

The performance is, in a word, brilliant.

I'm writing this on my iPhone with one eye dilated, so forgive me if I don't make sense.
This is an Irish story read by an Irishman. Perhaps it's just my ear, but I find the reading bland and morose, rather than engaging. That said, it's a fascinating story of a hunter who begins to find himself.

I still give it 4 star for originality and suspense.