Vira

The beginning of this book (and sample) were fascinating. I couldn't wait to hear more about the intriguing Rasputin and his antics. But that ended right there, and jumped into the modern era, with murder and mayhem.

There's plenty of suspense and action in this historical thriller, combined with political corruption and assassination which goes on and on, from one scenario to the next.
But the hero, a highly intelligent lawyer, is unable to figure out who is betraying him. He makes assumptions, but never seems to engage his brain and think about it. It requires much suspension of disbelief, as he miraculously escapes each murderous attempt on his life. Nobody in this world would've stayed alive, considering who was trying to kill him. It was totally unrealistic, and therefore frustrating for the listener.

Some redeeming factors are the interesting historical background, and good narration.

This Booth/Cosham combo produces a book in easy conversational style, about what its like to be an assassin or assassin’s assistant.

The scene is set in a quiet Italian village. You feel as if Mr. Butterfly, this pleasant and likeable gentleman, is sitting in front of you, in an easy chair, with a glass of wine, describing his life as assassin. His way is casual, gentle and quiet. Introspective. You cant quite imagine him doing what he does, but the way he tells it makes it seem quite natural and acceptable. Almost.

The irony is, that because he is an agent for killing people, he doesn’t have a life himself.

A good, well-written and interesting book.

This book, in 3 Parts, is almost good.

Part 1 introduces the characters. There’s the hero, a priest, who’s sworn his life to fighting evil. The anti-hero, the Hunter, lives in a deep, dark, evil forest. The maiden, who must be protected. And some others.

Part 2 is entirely about travelling. This little group travels endlessly, to get to the evil they need to fight. They travel over mountains, and they travel over rivers, and they travel and they travel. Yawn.

Part 3 gets interesting again, with a very good ending.
I like that the characters are not stereotyped. Not fully, anyway. The goodies have flaws and find it difficult to resist temptation. The baddies have likeable and redeeming qualities.

I liked the book (Parts 1 & 3), but not enough to rush off and get the sequels.

Is this the same Dekker who wrote "Adam"? He's obviously matured somewhat if a comparison of the two books is anything to go by, since this was written almost ten years earlier. I bought it because I enjoyed "Adam" and wanted to try more by the same author. The book has some good reviews. Has it been applauded by Christians out of a sense of duty? I feel as if I've skirted the fringes of lunacy for 16 hours.

I find almost nothing likeable about the main characters. The hero, Kent, is a highly intelligent man who becomes mentally unhinged and starts acting like a moron. The other main character, his mother-in-law, is depicted as a warm and caring old lady. Actually, I find her pushy, self-righteous, hammerhead preachy, and almost abusive in the way she lords it over others. She has visions of heaven, where they seemingly spend their time in continuous histrionic laughter. Well anyway, that’s all she tells us about it. Sounds scary. But we should strive for it.

The rest is preachy ad nauseum, with the single expletive of “Goodness!” repetitively thrown in at every turn. I waver between irritation and annoyance. Its one of the worst books I’ve listened to. I feel robbed! I think the only "goodness" out of this would be to gather all copies and send them for recycling.

The sole redeeming factor is the excellent narration.

A riveting thriller about a serial killer, as good as any the genre has to offer. It incorporates aspects of psychology, child abuse, religion, and most of all love - as the only force which can overcome evil.

I believe that every murder has at its core an element of evil, and often its not only the perpetrator who is to blame. Sometimes its the victim, sometimes society - but there's always a complex interplay of forces and influences. This book highlights the complexity of factors involved, and, together with seamless narration, deserves 5 stars, in my opinion.

What fun to get this rabbits-eye view of the world! I simply loved these creatures - their innocence, loyalty, friendship, and absolute heroism. (Who'd think of rabbits as being heroic, but it seems all creatures, great and small .....).

Pure, clean, innocent, and touching. A wonderful listen.

This is not some macabre book about corpses, dead bodies and things that scratch your door in the dead of night. Not at all. Instead, its a book written in journalistic style, always respectfully, which brings to light knowledge which is not easily available. Its a topic we'd rather not approach, until we suddenly need to. And this stuff is not only interesting, but some of it is also useful and good to know. Also easy to understand and very accessible.

The body is regarded as a vehicle which we all at some stage will leave behind, and which then needs to be disposed of. The question is, whether we do so with a more emotive mindset, or alternatively, a more helpful one.

Its about how much the dead have already helped the living, and a sense of gratitude pervades the writing. Its given me a much broader outlook towards organ donation, which I always thought was only for students in anatomy labs. But its more. Much more.

There's a fair amount of historical background, and info about what other cultures have done in other ages. Some gruelling stuff there.

Finally, Ms Roach presents some of the latest "disposal" technologies, such as composting (mostly in Sweden) and liquefication (I forget the exact terminology). This is news to me.

Overall, a sensitive and extremely well-written, interesting expose of what happens behind closed doors. Lots to think about.

Some Art History 101. Not particularly interesting. At all. The author could have made much more of this, by incorporating Renaissance symbolism relating to the circle and the square, the new religious outlook and ascendancy of Man in that era, and the effect it still has on modern times.

Instead, he drones on about the various historical personages and art sponsors. The same old same old. I remain unimpressed.

I learnt much about the Black Death from this work, and often felt quite sickened but informed. An entertaining read, with the time-travel theme similar to that of "To Say Nothing of the Dog", which I also enjoyed.

One easily relates to each character, in typical Connie Willis style.

My heart bled for the cow!!!!!

Excellent narration. I loved the British accent, and I love lengthy, quality books from Audible.

This book recalls the Old Testament dictum of "An eye for an eye". Or the concept of Karma, where what you give out is what you get back.

Its different. In the end we almost feel sympathy for the murderer, and antipathy towards the victims.

I enjoyed this different-ness. The reason I didn't give it four stars is simply because this is not my favourite genre.