pewter

I had high hopes for this book since I thought the previous book, Celebrity in Death, was just average. Thankfully, Robb (Roberts) is back up to her high standards in Delusion in Death. I thoroughly enjoyed it!

This story featured a unique murder method with entertaining plot twists. Dallas made significant progress in her lifelong struggle with nature versus nurture. Dallas' relationships with Peabody, Mira, Roarke, and Summerset continue to grow stronger. Kudos to Ms. Roberts for a well-balanced mixture of drama, introspection, and humor.

Susan Ericksen gives a wonderful performance. The genders and accents are perfect, and the more dramatic scenes with Dallas and Peabody were especially moving. Ericksen's voice is the perfect instrument for Robb's stories.

I eagerly anticipate every new "In Death" book. First and foremost, the success of any audiobook rests on the narration, and Susan Ericksen gives a wonderful performance as usual.

Eve and Roarke are probably my favorite fictional couple, but fans will realize that they have overcome most of their past traumas and inner struggles that contribute the tension necessary for a truly great story. Robb will need to find other sources of inner turmoil and drama. However, this was an entertaining story with an interesting plot. Most of the characters are well known and long-time friends, and the story was true to their natures. There was a good blend of mystery, adventure, humor, and romance.

Robb is such a great author; this book was just average for her In Death series. Still, it was very entertaining and the series is one of my favorites. I consider this installment to be a stepping stone as I eagerly await the next book.

I am asking other customers who listened to this book the same question I asked Customer Support. Did you notice the missing content at around 3 hours 40 minutes, 40 seconds? At this point the characters are in a deposition ten days before the trial, then the story abruptly jumps to the trial with no transition or explanation.

Specifically, the audio matches the Kindle version from page 127 where the chapter ends with (audio 03:40:43): "I return the smile. 'Then we'll just have to talk to him on the stand.'”

The audion version immediately jumps in time to the trial, with, "Wallace finishes just before lunch, and Laurie, Kevin, and I have two hours to decide whether I should give my opening statement now or wait until after the prosecution's case is finished and it's time to present ours."

Unlike the audio book, the Kindle print version takes a couple of more pages to explain the transition from deposition to trial: "TEN DAYS FLY BY AS IF THEY ARE TEN MINUTES, AND THE next thing I know the bailiff is intoning, 'In the matter of the people versus William Miller, the Honorable Justice Walter Henderson presiding …'” These pages are in the Kindle version but not in the audio book.

I pointed out to Customer support on Dec 10, 2012 that the story seemed to skip in chapter 4. Steven Lloyd in Customer Support finally got back to me on January 22 (yes, over 6 weeks later!) and informed me that the audio file was complete. He even said the publisher verified that it was complete. Since it still made no sense, I purchased the Kindle version and compared for myself, finding the above discrepancy.

On January 22, 2013 I again emailed Steven Lloyd and also to Customer Support with the specifics I found, including times and page numbers. I have heard nothing further from Audible on this matter, so I am asking other listeners to point this out to Audible Customer Support. They do not seem to hear me.

Thanks!

This book bumps up the relationship I've been waiting for since Rachel squeaked in a cage in Trent's office. If you don't know what that means, just go back to the first book (Dead Witch Walking) and enjoy the complete journey. Kim Harrison's imagination is the best of the best, and Marguerite Gavin provides the unique voices and personalities for a whole bunch of old friends. I eagerly anticipated this book, and it delivered in spades!!!

I love the pure entertainment found in a well-narrated historical romance novel. I accept that these books follow a certain formula with misunderstanding, angst and reconcilliation. Sometimes the journey is humorous and sometimes the journey is sad, but the best books have a mix of both. This one did not.

I liked the premise of this book with the ugly duckling and the rich handsome hero who has the character to see past the surface. I didn't get too hung up on the fact that they were raised as siblings. I just couldn't get beyond the passive behaviors of supposedly strong personalities -- a take-charge woman and a successful pirate captain -- who wallow in misery for years. Even the life changing events are weak -- she says "get out" and he says "OK" and disappears for seven years.

I could have gotten past the plot weaknesses if there had been a touch of humor or quirky secondary characters. For my taste, the pendulum swung too far to extreme sadness and wallowing. I had to keep listening because I knew there would be a happy ending -- I just wanted to get past the many years of truly miserable lives. The books I enjoy tend to have some relief along the way, but this one required perseverance.

As usual, Susan Duerden does a stellar job of narration. It's always a pleasure to hear her performances.

I picked this up on the Beachcomber sale and saved my credits, and I'm very happy I did! This is a classic Nora Roberts story with strong family ties, Irish roots, characters carrying childhood baggage, and a mystical legend to tie it all together. Unlike some of Roberts’ series books and trilogies, all three relationship stories are included in a single book. I personally liked that because the character perspectives and differences are more immediate, and the relationships progressed without endless filler pages of introspection. Combining the stories gives a more integrated feeling to the plot and action, and the story seems to move along with more purpose. Another bonus is there are three happy endings and the suspense gets wrapped up without a cliff hanger (that's no spoiler if you're a Nora Roberts fan). The humor and suspense are there as well. On the downside, it was over way too soon.

The narration was awesome with excellent male and female voices. For the reviewer who was disappointed in the pronunciation, the traditional Irish name Malachi is not pronounced the same as the Biblical name with the long “I” at the end. It is truly pronounced “Mal-a-kee to rhyme with key,” and kudos to Bernadette Quigley for getting it exactly right.

All in all, a good entertaining story.

I absolutely loved this story featuring Andrea Nash. Her background as well as her growth from the earlier Kate Daniels Magic books was fascinating, with a bonus that it was fun to see Kate, Curran, and the rest of the gang from Andrea's perspective.

There is something special about the writing of Ilona Andrews -- it may well be the perfect blend of male and female perspectives coupled with the humorous approach to the magical worlds they describe. This was an action-filled story with just the right touch of romantic conflict to add a bit of stress and humor.

This story did not disappoint, and the narration by Renée Raudman was spot-on as usual. She truly does justice to the human and beast voices of both genders. Very entertaining and highly recommended!

I enjoy this Virgin River series when I want light reading (listening) with a feel-good ending. This book is a good addition to a light series about normal men and women with everyday lives and problems -- there are no super powers, no world-shattering conspiracies, no extreme technology or special effects. These are stories about people I can relate to and understand.

Although I'm usually a stickler for reading a series in order, this book can stand alone. Other characers from around Virgin River are included, but this story does not rely on their histories. However, if you're interested in Reverend Kincaid and Ellie, you can go back to read Forbidden Falls, or if you want to find out more about Jack and Melinda, you can go back to the first Virgin River book (very humerous and touching). The Riordan brothers have their own books in Moonlight Road and Wild Man Creek. As for the narration, Therese Plummer's performance of Robyn Carr's books will alway improve my mood!

I started reading the Anita Blake series with a true appreciation for the story and characters. As the series developed, I treated the series like an old friend, overlooking the annoying traits and focusing on the familiar good qualities. Like many fans, in the later books I enjoy parts of the story and cringe at other aspects. In book 21 it becomes even more difficult to wade through the slimy swamp to get to the island of plot.

In fairness, there is a bit of story here, and there is a crime to be solved. In typical LKH fashion and without spoilers, there is a speedy conclusion without a lot a detail -- LKH's usual, "Oh, by the way, we got the bad guy" ending. The villian is not well integrated into the story and the wrap-up is much too simplistic after drama point is reached.

While there was not quite as much sex as some of the books in the middle of the series when the ardeur ran amuck and bad guys were forcing events, this book reached a new level for passionless, emotionless, thoughtless, mechanical sex. The in-the-moment discussion and analysis of size and position, coupled with post-game player comparisons and performance appraisals of "you were AMAZING," were at times truly cringe-worthy. While in the past I did not agree with many of the sex-scene decisions made by LKH, I could feel that the author thought they were necessary to her vision of the events and characters. In this book, I didn't get the feeling that LKH wanted to include the sex.

For me, the Anita Blake series has been like a delicious nut with a tough and enormous shell, but there is usually enough enjoyment to reward the effort. LKH has a fantastic imagination and has created a wonderful world for her characters. I feel that these 21 books could be edited and culled down to about 3 or 4 works of fantastic fiction, but that is pure hindsight. What I do know is that this book was greatly overwhelming in shell with very little nut to be found.

The Hollows is one of the most imaginative and entertaining series in the paranormal fantasy genre. The stories are told with drama and humor, with interesting plots and well-developed characters. Like other reviewers, my assessment of The Outlaw Demon Wails is based on the distracting narration rather than the most excellent story.

A voice can make the difference between wry self-deprecation and whiney complaining -- therein lies the problem with this book. The initial problem is that Gigi Bermingham redefines the already familiar pronunciations of names like Piscary. Often repeated words like "ley lines" are annoyingly mispronounced to the point of distraction. But more significantly, Rachel does not sound like the intelligent, assertive, risk-taking, introspective and wryly self-deprecating heroine of the other books. She sounds whiney, indecisive, stumbling, overly dependent, and incompetent.

With Marguerite Gavin???s performance from the other books, we never forget that Jenx is a man's man -- a proud, strong, hard fighting, heavily cursing, protective, sensitive, and happy spirited pixy who is sometimes annoying. His integrity and humor raise the stories to a higher level. Ms. Bermingham???s voice interpretation makes Jinx sound so weak and annoying we could almost forget his higher qualities.

This is an instance where the voice performance overshadows the story and all but ruins an author's wonderful creation. Good narration can make an audio book. Marguerite Gavin is the voice of the Hollows, much like she is the voice of Carrie Vaughn's Kitty Norville series, Dana Stabenow's Kate Shugak series or Tanya Huff's Confederation novels. As a diehard Hollows fan, it is my personal fantasy that all Hollows fans would band together to hire Marguerite Gavin to re-record The Outlaw Demon Wails. I would certainly pay double to hear the complete series in one voice (Gavin's, of course).

I eventually got through the book because it is necessary to the series and just so excellent I could endure the horrible narration. I know it would even be better without Gigi Bermingham???s horrific narration.