"If you like Jack Reacher, you'll enjoy this"
Perry does a great job creating a tension between a surprisingly sympathetic mob hit man and the Department of Justice lawyer who is chasing him. First in a series that I've pretty much finished.
Not your prototypical enjoyable listen. The reader sounds a bit like a 50's film noir detective (just the facts, ma'am) and the hit man guesses right just a bit too often, but it all ... just ... works.
If you like Reacher, I'm guessing you'll like the Butcher's Boy. Not 6'4", but the same kind of analytical thinking and get 'er done attitude. A total steal at the $4.95 sale price; definitely worth it at full retail.
"Stuart Woods before he Turned Bad"
Woods wrote two or three amazing books before he devolved into the James Patterson-like, formulaic book a year for the money-type author (Stone Barrington-drechhhh). This book is a total classic, great characters, intricate and compelling plot line, awesome story telling and a very satisfying long length. An interesting picture of the old south in a small town in rural Georgia.
I read the book back when it first came out, and bought the audiobook recently on a whim during a down month for new titles with an about to expire credit. I was not disappointed.
"A Cartoon"
This was a cartoon from the clumsy plotline to the ham-handed reader performance. At first I thought it was so bad it was good, but I finally concluded it was just bad. Been with Audible since '01 or so; this was the second book I didn't finish.
"Highly engaging listen"
A unique and interesting character (the Ghost Man) escorts you into the world of high profile bank robbery. A great match of voice and character personality.
"Essential Reading for Professionals and Parents"
There is lots of repetition, and some since de-valued examples, like Tiger Woods and Roger Clemons. Still, the book delivers invaluable insights to those who frequently face new challenges and opportunities. It's the one book that you wish you could get your teenage children to read (still trying to work that one out myself).
"Serviceable Clancy"
You know how Clancy books (most books) go; someone is attacking the US, it looks bad, gets worse, the tide turns, the good guys win with only minor injuries via displays of brilliance and bravery. Jack Ryan and progeny come out shining like a rose.
Knowing that going in, this book is serviceable, but not exceptional. Good plot line, fun locations, reasonable action, characters you know and love. Better for old time Clancy fans than for newbies trying their first (start with Patriot Games, or Without Remorse).
"Fair story, mediocre performance, awful production"
This is one of Baldacci's worst; the characters are put in hard to imagine places and keep doing incredibly stupid things.
The narrator sounds like a 50's detective with all characters; young, old, male, female, like Joe Friday on a particularly monotone day.
There's an audible pop at the start of about 15% of the sentences in the book, but concentrated, like 10 sentences in a row, so it gets irritating. Not quite sure how the audio engineer missed it, but it's distracting.
I finished the book, so it's not terrible overall, but a definite 2 stars max.
"Looking for the Next Lee Child?"
I'm always on the lookout for multiple book authors like Child, John Sanford, Crais and even Clancy and Grisham. Judging from this first book, Ms. French could be next.
This book was a nice break from the American, everything ties up neatly in the end approach. The characters are intriguing and flawed, and ultimately pay the price (and that's the good guy), but oh so compelling, the realpolitik is (gasp) realistic, the story complex and engaging.
The reader was awesome, crafting words and accents with care, precision and art. Definitely a pleasure and a lovely change of pace to listen to an English accent.
As other reviewers have said, I cleaned the kitchen much longer, took the long way home day after day and stayed up late multiple times to get to the end of this one.
First novels by great authors are one of the rarest and greatest pleasures in reading/listening. Don't miss this one.
"Essential reading for all professionals"
Gosh, where to start? The chapters on how sleep and exercise are critical for anyone who thinks the can burn the candle at both ends and succeed long term. Multitasking? Hah! An urban myth.
As I write and speak frequently, I found the chapter on maintaining the attention of readers and seminar attendees/students/delegates particularly useful, and it will change how I perform both of these tasks forevermore. This chapter alone was well worth the Audible price and I ended up buying the hard copy for future reference.
The performance was competent and the reader/author was likeable and he kept my attention during the long Christmas drives I used to listen to this book.
Overall, a very valuable read that I'm sure I'll listen to/read again.
"I was disappointed"
Like many reviewers, I read this book many times back in the 80's and 90's and loved it. I was enticed by a recent $4.99 special to buy the audio version. I found it lacking in three respects.
- Direction - Manny's Russian accent was appropriate, but he spoke with the flatness of a cyborg. Prof feels totally wrong, sounding more effeminate than the practical, crusty and insightful academic/revolutionary. He sounded closer to 30 than 70. Plus, the director failed to catch the deficits in the performance noted below.
- Editing - too many gaps in conversations that were both distracting and confusing.
- Performance - Manny's Russian accent often lapsed into ordinary American English, and many characters sounded very similar. Old, young, male, female, it was often hard to tell them apart.
Overall, I wanted a performance that lived up to the story, which is one of Heinlein's best. This didn't.
If you've never read this book, ignore this message and have a listen. The story is that good. If you read the book and loved it, and are looking to enjoy it anew in another medium, you may be disappointed.