Jean

The narrator was excellent,so I would say I got more from the listening experience.

Ms. Lackberg wove an ingenious plot from strands of the past and present to create a riveting story. The suspense and uncertainty built inexorably.

Patric was the unifying character throughout, but each player was extremely well done.

Yes - it was difficult to pace myself.

I absolutely want to listen to more from this author. She is first rate, a thrilling new Scandinavian mystery writer.

So much is wrong with this book; where to start? With the cardboard, cartoon characters, I guess. The museum honchos - prissy, silly, clueless. Seriously, they're more concerned about the bad publicity of having to postpone the exhibition opening than the fact that three grisly murders have occurred there the day before, and the unknown person/thing who did the killing is STILL THERE? The hot shot, pompous head of the FBI in NY who snidely dismisses southern FBI agent Pendergast, he of the honey-dripping accent that everyone thinks makes him dim-witted? We immediately know that these folks are in for serious humilation when the sainted Pendergast shows them for fools.

Then there's the narration. The reader is adequate when speaking in a normal voice, but his accents (an Austrian and a Scot sound like Col. Klink and the Gorton Fisherman, respectively) are laughable.

But maybe the worst part is the loud and annoying special effects - tunnel, walkie-talkie, etc. - that had me grabbing the volume control button repeatedly to avoid ear damage.

There was never the slightest sense of tension or threat as the plot progressed. I did get this book on sale, but it was still a waste of time and money.

This book kept my interest because I believed I was listening to a well-crafted psychological thriller. The problem: it was all setup and no payoff. It needed clever twists, feints to keep you off-balance. Maybe that maturity will come to this author with time. The plot premise had good potential, but it didn't deliver in the end.

On the first page and doesn't let go. We are drawn in from the moment our hero climbs on the ledge to jump, and suddenly we're hip-deep in Ukranian bad guys who sound like a chorus of Boris Badenovs and enough plot twists to make us dizzy. You could bring your critical eye here and find many Oh Please moments, but it's much more fun to just go with it and enjoy the ride.

I realized nearing the end of this book that I was saying a silent prayer: Please don't end please don't end... I want to follow these people's lives forever. Arthur and Kel's characters were so deftly rendered that there was never a hint of self-pity or melodrama about them. I haven't felt such empathy for fictional characters in a long time. This wonderful book deserves more than five stars.

This is a great book, beautifully researched and written. I wish, however, that I had bought the hard copy. The narrator's style was cold and uninvolving, although at the beginning I was hoping to get used to it. After 40 hours, unfortunately, I did not; she lacked all passion for her subject. Doris Kearns Goodwin would have been a much better choice as reader. It didn't matter to me that Toren was a woman, and she has a beautiful speaking voice. This brilliant book deserved better.

This was a beautiful book, many-layered and satisfying. I know that good fiction can and often does end leaving open questions about the lives of the characters. I hadn't appreciated how warmly satisfying it is to follow a story like this one to its fully realized conclusion.

And who but Elizabeth McGovern could have rendered the story with more grace, empathy and warmth? Moriarty and McGovern combined to create a flawless listening experience.

Now I absolutely love him! This book was honest, inspiring, fascinating. He was unsparing about his flaws and mistakes, had no false modesty about his many achievements, and generous to his colleagues. When there was criticism, he gentlemanly changed the names of the characters involved. Although I was moved to do a little research to discover the identity of "Mr. Pleasant" in one story. His is a life well lived and well told.

As a descendent of Irish immigrants who escaped the Potato Famine, I was very interested in the hardships and discrimination they endured. It was an unsparing account of a desperate time, and the story was tightly written with a compelling plot. The murder mystery kept my interest throughout. and I especially appreciated the author's research in uncovering the vernacular of the time.

My one quibble is with the narrator, who seemed to be adept at accents, and yet when he was speaking with the voice of Tim, the protagonist, he returned to one of a 21st century American. That made the quaint language sound false and awkward to me, and was distracting. I wished that the reader could have adopted some sort of "antique" accent that would have placed him in mid-19th century New York.

Overall though, a very enjoyable book.

Not really. Once you know the resolution, it's hard to relive it.

Yes, she writes with elegance and weaves her many characters in with skill.

It's hard to choose, because she is so talented that she brought each character alive. It was difficult to believe that she was the same person - from Grandma Marie's island lilt to the streetwise attitude of Angela's son - Robin Miles has an amazing range. I would happily hear another book narrated by her.

No, as I said, it was somewhat uneven and didn't hold my attention all the time.

Tananarive Due is certainly the equal of Stephen King, writing with a discipline that he often lacks, especially at the end of the book.