Debra

This book is teeming with its relationships and interconnected lives. The three interrelating, but separate stories are all wonderfully written. Some books lend themselves better to audio than others and this is defently one of them. I found myself relistening a few times and picking up more from the book each time.

It took a couple of days after I finished the book to begin to appreciate it. It is true that some of the content contains some extremely hard core violence and sex but moving past that, admittedly not easy, there is another level to this book. Is Patrick Bateman guilty of crimes or fantasy? The excessive description of the clothing although annoying serves a purpose of showing the reader that the characters are all focused, to the point of obsession, on all the wrong things.
When the critics are comparing his work to Dostoyevsky you have to expect depth and tragedy.

I was hoping the format would be more like the radio show "The Ongoing History of New Music" (on the radio station 102.1 The Edge/Toronto) by Alan Cross, which ROCKS. It's great to hear at least clips of the music they are talking about especially when it may have been a year or two (or thirty) since you have heard the music they are talking about. Hard core fans may find this enjoyable but without the music it falls flat if your not. On a positive note it did make me want to listen to the album, if I had it....

Do not hesitate using two credits for this book, it is worth that and more.

A mix between Harry Potter and middle earth, leaning towards middle earth. If thats your thing you will love it. If not don't use your credit.

A very enjoyable book! A few of the characters are a bit shallow, but that is the point in many of the cases, and I would have liked some of the plot lines to have been better developed, reveling themselves to be more exciting than they turned out to be. The book drops the reader in a very recent time in history and it is almost unbelievable that it could have been a reality only 50 years ago. I would highly recommend it.

Unfortunately it happens that I am more likely to write a review when I dislike a book, rather than when I really enjoy a book. I have enjoyed Ken Follett in the past but found that he adds explicit sex to his stories for no other reason than to be exploitive. In most of his books the story has been good enough to ignore the complete inappropriateness of its use, but not in this case. This book reads like a bad soap opera. The prostitute with the heart of gold, the plotting and vindictive vileness, and the men that are otherwise intelligent except for the fact that they are completely outwitted and manipulated by her all add up to a cringing bad story line. The plot takes turns only to go nowhere. There are a few characters you almost make contact with but as soon as you get interested in where they fit into the story he jumps so many years in their lives it is easy to loose interest in why they are in the story in the first place.
I have listened to hundreds of audio books and this one is up there on my list of use of credit regrets.

The extent of this woman’s self absorption is astonishing. Spending a year contemplating your navel is a luxury not many could afford or stomach. By the end of the book there isn’t much doubt that the most important person in her life is herself. I think an author reading their book allows for the reader to get the truest vision of the story they are telling, but I found Gilbert to be very unlikable and too much like a spoiled adolescent.

This book was very well written and enjoyable for the most part, but I think it would be best enjoyed by someone that has more intrested in the Dominican Republic than I do. The core story held my intrest, but I think I missed a lot of the story especially when they broke into Spanish without explanation to their non-Spanish speaking audiance.

A brilliant novel is in there somewhere and with the help of a good editor and a few more revisions I think it could have been uncovered. A lot of the dialogue rings false and the characters get extremely wearisome. If soap operas are your thing this is right up your alley.
I have enjoyed several other novels written by Bryce Courtenay. "The Power Of One" is brilliant, and I quite enjoyed "The Potato Factory" and "Solomon's Song" but could have done without "Tommo and Hawk" in the trilogy. Courtnenay's writing concerning The Battle of Gallipoli was insightful and moving in "Solomon's Song."
The formation of Australia is obviously close to the author’s heart and in this case I think he let his hart guide his pen a bit too much.