Jane-Ellen Dawkins

I've been reading Ken Follett books for 30 years and he just gets better with every novel! The middle book of some trilogies is usually a bit slow, but not this one. I am anxiously awaiting the final book and please, please do not change the narrator! John Lee is excellent!

I've read all four books twice and am listening to the series for the second time. Excellent series...below average reader. I thought it would be better the second time. It was not. The slurry-spittal-filled quality of Mr. Dotrice's voice is difficult to listen to, especially with earbuds, and the whiney-leprechaun-esque voice he gives to the dwarf is embarrassing. Many of the characters are women and teenagers, yet they all sound like old men. His stops and starts make me wonder if he actually read the book before recording it. It's been four years between my first and second listen, and I've heard some really wonderful readers during that time. Perhaps someday it may be re-recorded. There are a lot of people in this series. It's a rather prodigious undertaking to keep track of that many character voices and, whereas Mr. Dotrice is a wonderful actor, I don't think this material suits him.

A good director can salvage a weak script and a good narrator can do the same for a marginal book.This is a mystery/thriller, but it is read as though it's a bedtime story being read to children! I found it so annoying that it detracted from the story. I'll have to read the book!