Judith

Expecting a likable and entertaining murderer without a conscience, and being a huge fan of Patricia Highsmith's Ripley series, I found this a ho-hum listen. The Butcher's Boy could have been clever and entertaining, even though he was a murderer; but, he was deadly dull and not the least entertaining. It was an effort to find him likable. If he had some personality, it would be worthwhile. But, as popular as this series seems to be, I find it pales in comparison to the truly complicated, entertaining yet twisted Thomas Ripley. I have tried two recommended Perry books, that may be enough for me.

I have become a Perry convert, but not of the Butcher's Boy series. I love the other books, such as this, where invariably, an innocent bystander, minding his own business, somehow becomes involved in a mess of someone else's paranoia or misunderstanding, and goes from boring pacifist to intelligent activist. And, often these "nobodies" turn out to have depth and character they never would have realized, had it not been for strange twists of fate.

The narrator is great--much the same stealth-type characterization as the tone of the books--seemingly monotonous, but just understated--perfect! Love him, but he does need to learn to pronounce "careen" (he says "Karen") and "jewelry" (he says "jew-le-ry"). Kind of jarring.

But these books, unlike the Butcher's Boy book I read, actually develop the characters, and show their foibles; which practically all have. They are really hilarious in a not-laughing-out-loud sort of way. Kind of like Tony Soprano going the the therapist.

It took me a long time to warm up to Perry, as I didn't like the one Butcher's Boy book I read, for lack of personality, humor or cleverness. This book, however, has it all. Twists of fate turn into convoluted disasters born of mistaken impressions and identities. Although read in somewhat of a monotone, the narrator was perfect--understated irony. And, these unwitting villains/victims have personality and perseverance. It is a thoroughly enjoyable romp worthy of O'Henry. I'm now a Perry fan!

I was so looking forward to this Baldacci book--they are almost always so entertaining and engrossingly narrated. I don't know where they found this "narrator", but he is so monotonous and downright unbearable, I'm not sure I will finish the book--or if I do, I won't remember, as he certainly doesn't hold your attention. He reads as though faced with the daunting and boring task of reading a long book out loud quickly. His voice intonation seems always the same, and begins each sentence with a higher pitch and ends with a lower pitch. The story does not deserve this, as it would be worth listening to with a decent narrator. Scott Brick would have the reader totally engaged, but this guy is a great remedy for insomnia--puts you to sleep even if you're not sleepy. He also fails to characterize voices well, or at all, and it is difficult to distinguish between them, so they all run together. It is infuriating to wait list a book and eagerly look forward to it, then have it mind-numbingly presented.

Th e story COULD be engaging, as it is a decent plot. Plane crash, industrial espionage, survivor struggle to uncover the plot. I haven't finished it, and don't know that I will--it doesn't hold my attention. It reminds me of someone being forced to read a very long book to a child, and just going through the motions, making it as uninteresting as possible, so the child will go to sleep. He succeeds--the monotony and lack of any discernible talent or characterization will definitely make you tune out.

A lesser author maybe--but Baldacci? What were they thinking???

I will probably prefer to read the written version of this, and not subject myself to the discomfort of trying to concentrate on this awful reading.

I would NOT recommend it, even though I adore Baldacci. This reader does his work a terrible injustice.

I originally loved Coben for his Myron Bolitar books, which were entertaining based on, not only a good mystery, but great characters with witty repartee, such as Myron and Winn. Myron was self-effacing and the wise-cracking was clever. Then Coben switched to a much more dramatic and less fun venue, where there was always a missing or abducted child or loved one, and has basically continued that formula through to this book. This book, in my opinion, was better than the heart-wrenching loss dramas of most preceding books, in that it was more entertaining. But, it was also kind of sappy and melodramatic with Scott Brick making it even sappier than it had to be--and I'm a huge fan of Brick's. However, the wit and clever dialogue balanced out the over-the-top drama, and all in all, I think the book is a big improvement, and a winner.

One of the many reasons I love Cara Black's novels which take place in Paris, is that it brings back wonderful memories and allows me to actually visualize her settings. I spent several months a year in Paris, and had become accustomed to her "in" way of doing things. Another reason was that I liked the mysteries and story line, which in the past were brought to life perfectly by a great narrator, whose French accent and pronunciation were right on. It was like having a mini-French review with each book, and learning more slang. I also learned even more about Paris, which seemed impossible.

Not with this book, however. It still has a great story line and offers great visual insight into Paris haunts, habits and customs, but not pronunciations of the French terms she uses repeatedly in all her books. They are continually mispronounced in French, or pronounced here as one would in English. It is terribly distracting. The French word "frison" is pronounced "freezone" (accent on the last syllable), not "frishin".

The second thing that was irritating about this narrator was that she read so fast! I had to keep checking my iPhone to make sure the speed was set correctly at 1x. It was.

The third in many of the irritating qualities of this narrator was that she could not vocally characterize men. Morbier sounded ridiculous, the young kid intern sounded as if he had a cold, and every other male was cartoonishly voiced. Why change narrators?

In short, this book would be better read than listened to, with this narrator. I don't follow the plot closely due to her hurried mutilations.

Cara--please write more books, but PLEASE go back to the former narrator!!

I am still finding what I like in Perry's books--I tend to not like the Butcher's Boy series, unlike most listeners, in favor of a more human and personable murderer. It does bother me a bit that all females appear to be characterized as brainless and trivial to the plots. However, this is a good story, but the Till protagonist is so poorly narrated that it almost ruins it for me. He is made to sound like he has perpetual laryngitis, or like Batman trying to disguise his voice. He also makes the female characterizations whiny and over the top. But, it has encouraged me; and, although not at delightful as the Ripley books, Perry's murderers are oddly interesting.

To anyone who has spent any time at large amusement parks (I lived near Disney World for awhile), this is too close for comfort. So many points hit home and ring true. This was a farfetched (as are many of Child's) but close enough to reality to cause pause. Scott Brick, as usual does a masterful job; but someone has GOT to clue him in on how to pronounce "careened". He has pronounced it "karinned" in one too many books. Other than that, typically masterful in suspense and unique subject matter.

Somehow Harry seems older and gruffer with Len Cariou narrating. It is hard to picture him as a relatively young man, given the characterization. However, the Bosch series never disappoint, and this fits the bill, as well.

I didn't expect to like this, as I am one of the very few that doesn't seem to like the Butcher Boy series. I fell in love with the Ripley series, and that was my standard for a likable conscienceless killer. Ripley had charm, wit and personality. He was articulate and truly likable; whereas the Butcher's Boy was monotone in articulation and personality. But Perry manages to put just enough quirkiness in a murderous couple in Silence to make it truly interesting. There are double and triple crosses, and it is predictably unpredictable. In my opinion, he should do more of this type of complex interaction books with the more developed characterizations of these types of killers.

I originally decided to give this a try because I adore the narrator, Simon Vance, and believe he can bring any character to life. I was unprepared for the setting, however. It is kind of a combo of tried and true themes--Orwell's 1984, Phantom of the Opera, and The Shadow--but set in London of the future where fascism now reins due to an overly conservative government borne of rebellion and intolerance. The story reads like WWII in Paris, where all lived in fear and poverty, with all luxuries forbidden or taken. It is a predictable and overused premise, but manages to be still an interesting listen. When I figured out the premise, I didn't expect to be the least interested; maybe it was Vance, but it did pique my interest, even though predictable.