Lisa

I love survival stories and shipwreck stories, and expect them to include some desperation and dark times, but this one had a bit too much, and also throws in some extreme brutality and a bit of horror on top. Even that's O.K if there's an uplifting payoff at the end, but after suffering though many long hours of listening, there wasn't much of that at all.
As for the chapters about religion at the beginning, you'd have to be really interested in the subject to not give in and fast forward through them as I ended up doing.
It's a well written story, but if you don't want to be depressed and disturbed, don't listen to it.

I love stories about epic journeys on foot, and the A.T is one of the most epic.
Really enjoyed Jeff's good natured, upbeat, steady-paced telling of his journey, could totally visualise being on the trail and it was engaging from beginning to end. Loved hearing about the landscape and terrain, the psychological ups and downs, the hiking strategies, the fellow through hikers, the shelters and the towns along the way, all very entertaining. For a non-professional writer, Jeff writes very well.

I'd already read Bill Bryson's Walk In The Woods, and if you want lots of reseach, history and hilariousness I highly recommend that - but it was great to hear this story knowing that Jeff had made it all the way to the end. In fact there was barely a moment when he doubted he would, which I imagine is pretty rare on the A.T.

As for tears and laughter - quite a few gentle laughs and just a few tears at the incredible acheivement of completion. If you like hearing about heroically long hikes over mountains and through forests, you should DEFINITELY get this.

Bought it because I like William Roberts and outdoors and kayaking are subjects I like reading about. But it was a big mistake.
Characters were dull and brutish, humour was dim and crude, not really anything original or engaging or redeeming about it and absolutely no incentive to keep listening after a quarter of the way through. Just a bunch of dim-witted thugs blundering around in Florida.
If you know and like the author go ahead; if you think - like me - it might be an entertaining story set in the everglades, with a bit of amateur crime solving and hide and seek in kayaks, give it a big wide miss.

If two thirds of it had been left on the editing floor it could have been a good story, but it was so long, so convoluted, so repetitive and ultimately so tedious it kept putting me to sleep. Eventually I forgot what the heck was going on and who was doing what, then forgot I was meant to be listening and eventually just fizzled out and gave up. Only the second book I've ever given up on.
Really quite hard to fathom why so many thousands of unnecessary words were written about so many mundane details and why the author had the will to do it.
If you specifically absolutely love this genre and the longer it is the more you like it, then give it a go. If not, don't even think about it.

I don't generally go for the standard Crime/Mystery books, often seems like you're reading the same story, just different names and places, but the desert, canyons and lake are centre-stage in this, the landscape and surroundings are a constant main character of the story so that gets 10 points from me for a start. I'll try almost anything with that kind of setting and this book delivers totally in that department.
Also a great, well paced adventure mystery with a feminist slant that gives it a bit more interest.
Very entertaining, easy listening - not a dull moment as the action moves from the park housing village, to the sink-hole prison, across the desert, down into to the cold water of the canyon, up the rock climbing faces and back, escaping death by thirst, hypothermia and cliff-falls at every turn.
If you like a fast moving adventure story set in the extreme outdoors, you'll love this.
Only the third Anna Pigeon I've read, but I plan to start working my way through the series.
And narration is good too.

I've listened to some of Tim's other books and enjoyed them but this is not his best work, more like a bunch of B sides that didn't make the first cut.
Some of the stories seemed a bit pointless; could only describe them as vaguely interesting and mildly amusing and quite glad when it finished.

Witty, funny, satirical, topical, intelligent as always. Even though I'm not particularly interested in American military goings-on I read/listen to everything Ben writes and enjoyed this one as much as all the others. Never found a subject he can't make entertaining.
Narration not great though - the male lead sounded nothing but sinister in a kind of camp,comedy fake way - kept reminding me of the actor who plays the guy in the wheelchair on Family Guy.

Not usually the type of book I'd choose but heard rave reviews from several people so thought I'd give it a go. If you're fascinated by Scottish history and love romance novels you'll probably like it, but a couple of things worth knowing:
The fact that she falls 200 years back in time and into another life doesn't seem to cause her much trauma at all, in fact after the first couple of hours she barely seems to give it a thought, which is a bit hard to swallow. Second - no one told me it takes a sudden dive into porno about a quarter of the way through, which leaves you feeling like you're reading an R18 Mills & Boon. Which is fine if that's what you're after.
I guess I'm not a big enough fan of Scottish history or romance - held out into Part 2 but had to give up soon after, had no inspiration to do another 20 hours of it.
And the narrator - good at all the male voices and accents, but made the herione sound downright prissy, which I don't think she was written to be.

If you like Ben, you'll love it. Never a dull moment - witty, entertaining and fast moving as always, fantastic characters, topical , brilliant multi-layered plot. He nails the whole celebrity/rock star/politcal/human traffic culture - yes, all of them. Gritty and hiliarious. Loved it.

Absorbing, entertaining and funny as Bill always is. No one else can pass on such interesting and detailed research as Bill does, while making you laugh the whole way. Highly recommended.