Gypsy Wife

I purchased this wanting to hear all of Chandler's wonderful prose. Despite the indication that it was unabridged, this recording (and I suppose the others in the series, on which I wasted my credits, are simply characters spouting dialogue without the full unabridged prose. A huge disappointment. I couldn't listen to it.

Yes. I read the book years ago, and Joe Barrett's narration brought it back to life for me.

I can't say; everything about this book is memorable.

His voice with its gruff edge brings forth the writer's sense of humor along with his respect for people of all walks and means.

Worth the listen!

I wouldn't want to say for fear of writing a spoiler.

Dick Hill does an excellent portrayal of the very realistic and unglamorous Wallander, a character whose flaws and indecision are a refreshing yet very tense contrast to the usual do-it-all perfect detective. Wallander maintains his humanity while struggling with his near paralytic reticence. He changes, but very slowly.

Yes.

I liked all the historical details and the performance of the narrator. I most disliked the disjointed and repetitive writing style. It seemed that the author jumped back and forth too much, repeated information, and took a long time to get the story told. Also, the epilogue seemed more an intricate part of the story, with, again, much repetition. I think the book could have been organized to have a better flow while still including the interesting history.

No.

I thought she did an excellent job of portraying the personalities of the characters and keeping some of the more tedious historical facts interesting.

Yes.

It might be a good read for anyone.

I have no idea; I couldn't listen to the narrator more than a few minutes.

In every way. The narrator sounded like someone doing a car commercial. Weird inflection, little distinction between characters' voices. This was worse than some of the listens where the author has read the book himself.

No idea. I couldn't get into the story because of the narrator.

Skip the listen and read the book if you are interested in this story.

Yes. Because I love Harry Bosch and I relisten to all of Connelly's books.

Reminds me a bit of The Last Coyote, with all of Bosch's struggles with IA.

No, he is new to me. I didn't like him as well as Dick Hill or Len Cariou, but he really does a good job. Don't let the negative comments turn you off. Occasionally he sounds like the guy who does the Catsup Council skits on A Prairie Home Companion and that made me laugh. But give him a chance.

Of course! Since I'm retired I go around with my earbuds in my ears while driving, feeding my horses, mucking stalls, cleaning house, whatever. My husband is always saying, "Take those things out of your ears!"

Connelly continues to develop Harry Bosch and his daughter Maddie. I hope one day we will be reading a series about Maddie as an LAPD detective. Harry and I are the same age, and I feel like he is a real person. I will always relisten to the Harry Bosch series over every year. I just started the series again last month and I'm already up to The Last Coyote. I never tire of Connelly's writing. He DID NOT phone this one in!

Classic yet different

Dick Hill brings every character to life with a unique voice. Actually there'd be little need for character identification clauses; he's that good.

No spoilers here, but I will say Reacher's experiences are quite different in this book. He's still tough and smart but he interacts differently with the other characters, especially the females. Good tension throughout. I became a bit frustrated with hearing Reacher talk with a broken nose. I might have left out that narrative device, but it was a critical part of the story and Hill performed it well. Even with an annoying nasal tone Hill's portrayal was spot on.

The Andy Carpenter series is a delight. I just spent most of August listening to them in sequence and I could not be happier. The writing is both fun and well crafted. Andy's self deprecating voice is well portrayed by Grover Gardner, who also does a great job with the other characters. Rosenfelt has written a series with characters who seem real getting into interesting, dangerous situations, doing serious work while having fun all at once. The plots are woven neatly and credibly. I'm looking forward to the next one.

I read this because I watched the movie and figured the book would be deeper and better. Love Thompson's liquid descriptions. This book is thickly atmospheric, full of sights, sounds, rich aromas, heat and emotion. If you read (listen to) the book first, you won't like the movie too much, which combines a couple of key characters into one creating a decent movie which of course has little depth. A good read with compelling characters making decisions and choices, sometimes for the wrong reasons with the wrong results.

I'm a big fan of Mosley's Easy Rawlins series and was a little apprehensive about a listen with different characters. The book, the characters, the dialog and the narration all swept me along in vintage LA in a story of strange loyalties and soul searching. As a white woman who grew up in segregated Texas and witnessed (from afar and with joy) the civil rights movement, I'll never truly understand what life was and is like for black men and women, but Mosley's stories bring me so much closer. His characters are so real and so deep they walk around in my head like old friends I miss.

A wonderful listen. I have loved all the Reacher novels, but this one is the absolute best. Lee Child's writing continues to improve, which doesn't always happen with popular writers. In my opinion he's right up there with Michael Connelly and the Harry Bosch books. Can't wait for the next one.