james

First let me say I love Ray Porter, and his voice and narrative style will get me (and probably you) into a book I may not have enjoyed actually reading.

Second, Zombies really aren't my thing - but Maberry's approach is refreshing, and none of the characters ever lose their "you have to be kidding me - zombies?!" attitude that adds a nice touch of realism.

A good book, with a great narrator - get it!

J

I'm a huge fan of C.S. Forester's Hornblower series - I have them all in print, and was working my way through the audible version in series order. It was going swimmingly!

Then they changed Narrators. Disaster. Mr Coster's tone reminds me of someone reading a bedtime story - it is soft, even, and the volume lowers steadily throughout the sentence. Imagine "he parried the blow, then hacked and hacked again, fighting for his life" being read in the same tone as "lullaby, and good nite..."

I'm sure his melodic drone is great for some stories (Copperfield?), just not this one.

This book has always struck me as an odd one in the series; not bad at all, just odd. Told more from Bush's point of view almost, or certainly focused more on him. I suppose to get you ready for Bush as the best friend.
I didn't like the narration quite as much on this one, as the characterizations slipped a bit between Bush and Hornblower causing a bit of confusion, but not anything to cry over.
A solid part of the series though, and well read all in all.

Except when it all gets too quiet and you can't really hear it. Maybe you can if you are sitting at home in your armchair listening with headphones on, but I tend to listen in the car to and from work or on other errands. The volume of Mr Rodska is good 90% of the time, and I think it's his flair for the dramatic, which is a good thing all told, which causes this small problem.
Every so often someone with a small voice comes in, or there is something whispered or shocking and it's hard to hear at normal volume for the rest of the piece. I get by because I've read the books already, if you haven't you may end up rewinding or palying with the volume.
As for Hornblower? An awesome tale of high seas adventure in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Era!

There are plenty of other versions, but after listening to some samples I went with Bill Homewood. He's the man. A different voice/ characterization for each person in the story - different enough that sometimes I forgot their names but remembered them from earlier in the story by the voice!

It's a good story, and I'd tried to get through the book before but could never fight through Dumas' long winded prose. Mr Homewood battered it down for me in style and has a great dramatic style.

If you like the classics, you should give this a listen. If you're going to listen to The Count, you should listen to this one.

I love Joe Ledger, and Ray Porter is, in my opinion, the best Narrator working. So, this "book" was a automatic buy for me.
That being said, it is full of all the Maberry goodness that makes Joe Ledger who he is - from book one, the thing that made Ledger different was his continued disbelief "zombies? c'mon!!"
Assassin's Code to continues to live up to the hype, with solid action and continuing plot lines. A great listen!

A great listen once you get used to the snide-sounding narrator. I love the story, and would put it up there with the George RR Martin's Wild Card series, even though it's just a single story. It's got a great writing a character you really get into.

And once you get used to him, you know why they picked the narrator - his voice totally fits the lead. I recommend it...and I'm waiting on a sequel!

This book is a great first person account that takes you through training, missions, and family life for one of America's elite warriors. I made my friends read this book.

And if you don't laugh about the "front butt", you have no soul. :D

If you like pulp-fiction, this is a great book. Hubbard excelled at good pulp fiction stories; they flow, there's action, and the story moves at a good clip.

This is a great book. Not good, great. Full-on immersion into the life of an Army Infantryman from go (wading through sewage to get to an objective), no blinders or Political Correct-washing.

Fast, hard, and real - and read by the great Ray Porter.

J