Deborah

Don't do it Jimmy Dale, don't do it...

This was a magnificent listen. God bless James Lee Burke and Will Patton. I was a little hesistant when I read Dave was going off to Montana, wondering how Burke could pull it off, but the same beauty of language, the same craft in his writing, and the same wonderful plotting held up to even the best of the Louisiana novels. I listened to it straight through, except for a little sleep, and found my self pacing back and forth several times and rewinding many times just to listen again to Patton's gorgeous rendition of Burke's beautiful words. I rarely talk outloud to characters in a book, but I was constantly giving advice to Jimmy Dale and Nix. There was an interesting juxtaposition in this book that I haven't seen in other Burke books, the seemingly evil and despicable Nix winds up a someone you feel like rooting for...odd for Burke.

As an aside, some of the vulgarisms Clete comes up with just stun me (and I raised three teenaged boys). It's Burke's knack for description in a different version. Also, lots of political swipes here that I wish would've been left out...it so jars the pace of the story. King, Parker, and now Burke can't seem to leave well enough alone.

Burke is a national treasure. His previous books will stand as testament to what New Orleans was pre-Katrina and I hope soon that he will re-visit New Orleans with the same love and deep lushness of description that we've come to expect.

Since Mr. Burke is getting on in years, I treasure each book with such love, hoping it won't be his last.

And as for Will Patton, he should receive every single reader award that can be bestowed on him.

Geez, what a great book this was...

I haven't been drawn into a book this deeply in a long time, perhaps since The Story of Edgar Sawtelle. Though it has a few weaknesses (could have left the romance-novel-type stuff out), it is truly a powerful story wrapped around recent history. Bad stuff happens and dire deeds are done, even by the good guys. The only real complaint I have is that not having a book to page back through, I sometimes forgot who a particular character was or how he connected. Initial chapters are focused on only one of the main characters. The narration is stunning - I can't believe one guy did all those totally complete and separate voices. I immediately recognized each character by their voice. Wonderful job and I hope to hear more from him.

This book has extremely graphic sadistic violence in it, but that's reality.

Five star read.

I have over 200 books in my audible library and this book and narrator are the best of the best. PLEASE GET THIS BOOK !! You won't be sorry. Sometimes after reading Sparks or Roberts or others, one forgets what truly incredible writing can do to the heart and soul. Stegner, with this book, makes one hunger for more of a deep and meaty, wonderfully written story. I lived this novel while listening to it. It will just take you over. And Mark Bramhall replaces Will Patton as my favorite narrator. He is perfect for this book.

If you want a book and narration that will make you smile, cry, and be furious, and is lyrical and sweet as well, this is the book for you.

Ditto on everything said here. Pantoliano has a distinct, almost cartoon-like voice naturally and for him to do voices was just jarring to the ear. I just finished listening to a wonderful narration of The Big Rock Candy Mountain (5 stars for sure) and I just can't, after three hours, continue to listen to Narrows Gate. And as an aside, I'm from the south and a New York accent is hard on my ears anyway -- to have it exaggerated is darn near painful to the ears.

This might be a book to read instead of hear.

The fake Boston accent was hard to take with these southern ears. I give two stars to the narrator for other reasons as well. There was a spark missing in this story as well as between the two
Kenzies; it isn't even close to the earlier books in plot or intensity. I think I'll try reading it to see if that makes a difference. And I'm tired of Russian mob stories. It's just an okay book.

This book is worth listening to just for the description of Clete Purcell given by Dave in the early portion of the book. Burke is at his best in this book with beautiful writing, though I sorta had everything figured out before it happened and that might be because I've read all his books 2-3 times. I had a hard time with the mercenaries too. I least like his stories when the family is brought into it. Alafair, to me, after her childhood has been an uninteresting character and I didn't particularly like her in this book.

However, after writing the above complaints, it was a get go book from the start and it was very hard to put down when I had other things to do. His prose is beautiful, the setting gorgeous, and the Bobsey Twins of Homicide are at their best and most loyal.

Will Patton is the best narrator around, hands down. Other narrators should listen and learn (do you hear me Scott Brick?).

I love dogs and have done dog rescue for years. I raised Labradors when I was younger. I still found this book dull and without much of a plot. It's mostly about training dogs and a little about crime.

The narrator has a sing-song choppy delivery which made me irritated after a few chapters.

I love Roberts' in death series and adore that reader, but this book is just terrible.

I wish I had my credit back.

I've absolutely loved Karin Slaughter's books in the past, especially Triptych. I don't know if it was because the narrator overperformed her role or if the story was just bad, but I had a hard time finishing this. I don't like the idea of a female narrator doing so many male voices...just read the book, please. The story seemed thin and Will didn't foster the sympathy or exude sex appeal as he has in past books - just seemed weak and boring. But really, I was so distracted by the narrator, it might be a better book than I thought.

This book is totally frightening because it is true. The examples of decent people gone terribly bad are just shocking. I couldn't stop listening, even when the book bogs down into back history/meth production details. Yes it does bog down, but reading those passages is absolutely critical to understanding the depth and pervasiveness of meth addiction. So many wasted lives and hurt and heartache.

This was really a thought-provoking read.

This book got rave reviews on Amazon and good reviews here. I don't understand why. I found the story to be totally predictable and it wasn't even interesting until the dog makes his appearance well into the book. The narrator's accent (New Jersey/Boston?) came and went but she did a great job changing voices for each character.

I did not find the characters likeable except for Alex and Joe (the dog). Whiney would be the best description. A teenage girl would love this book but it's run-of-the-mill for everybody else.

There is nothing new here.

I've read the two previous Virgil Flowers' books and was so happy to see another installment. While not as good as Heat Lightning, it's still better than the re-warmed-over latest Davenport books. I love Virgil's character and philosophy about life. He's funny and quirky (however the T-shirt shtick is enough already) and he's a joy to read. To me, the mystery is less interesting than Virgil's actions, thoughts, and love life. All the Flowers books are good and fun reads, but to really get to know Virg, read them in order.

Can't wait for the next one!