Kristine

This is an interesting mystery with lots of excitement, which takes place both in the present, and in the past. It involves both fictional characters and persons who really lived in American History. The book looks at prejudice against the Irish immigrants, the rights of women, issues of class and status, and the appalling condition of the practice of medicine in the 19th century. You will thank GOD for soap and antibiotics after you listen to this engaging story!

The ending is a tear-jerker, but some of the conclusions are just a little too coincidental for my taste. Also, I got tired of the reader's voice about halfway through. Her Irish accent is good, but one of the story's heroines whines too much. Sometimes the story verges on melodramatic. That's why I give it four stars instead of five.

If you have a weak stomach, you might want to pass on this one. Lots of gross anatomy!

I found this book entertaining - until the author launched into full-fledged Catholic bashing. Wyclif and the Lollards heroes? OH PUH-LEEZE! Come up with something new, will you please?

Maybe if you've seen the movie or read the book you have some kind of attachment to this story. I bought it thinking it would be great. So far, after nine hours, it is just boring. So far, after nine hours, there is NO PLOT. A bunch of cowboys decide to go on a cattle drive from Texas to Montana. So what? The characters are flat, 2-dimensional, and nothing seems to compell them to take this journey. it is impossible to tell which is the MAIN character, and above all it is just plain dull with a Texas drawl and a lot of crude and stereotypic "guy" jokes. I wish I hadn't wasted my credit on this.

Not great, not bad. I liked parts of it and liked some of the characters. The reader does a good job. BUT I am a huge George Smiley fan, and this book seemed like a just-okay knockoff. It had English spies, it had Soviet spies, it had a mole. BUT unlike in LeCarre's novels, the mole was easy to figure out well ahead of time. And when I found out who it was I felt sort of "so what?" I might listen to the next one. Several reviewers said they get better.

I should have been suspicious of all the glowing reviews! Bottom line - I quit about three-quarters of the way through this book because the sex scenes are pornographic. I am no prude - I read a lot of fiction and have no problem with authors telling a truthful story, but this one crosses the line. The sex scenes are always like some stereotypical male fantasy - tells me more about the author than about the characters. And the violence-rape is disgusting. Yes, people have sex. Yes, people experience horrible things. But for hundreds of years GOOD authors have managed to tell the story without detailed pornographic descriptions of each thrust or grunt. If you don't like this kind of thing, the book will disturb you. If you like it, hey, this is America! Anyone can write anything and sell it to anyone else.

The info about cathedral building is interesting, but the characters are flat - bad guys are REALLY bad, good guys are OH SO WONDERFUL AND ABUSED. And of course, it is sneeringly anti-Catholic. How unoriginal. It's long, long, long. It wasn't worth finishing.

If you like Soviet era spy stories, Le Carre's trilogy is the best of the best. Start with Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, then read Honourable Schoolboy, and finish with Smiley's People. You will be treating yourself to some of the best-written (and best-narrated) fiction on this Audible list. I've listening to these three books over and over again - at least once a year - because they are such a delight to the ears and mind. Frederick Davidson is one of my favorite narrators - every single character has his/her own recognizable voice and intonation. You will completely forget that one man is reading all the characters. Superb! If I could give Smiley's People (and the two books that come before it) ten stars, I would. And don't read them out of order! You'll know too many secrets...

My kids love these books, so I thought I'd try listening to one. Sorry. It was so boring I quit after four hours. I could not bring myself to care what happened next. If you already love these stories you'll probably love the audiobook, but if you are completely unfamiliar with the animal world of Redwall, you might want to check out the book first and see if it grabs you before you pop for the audio version. Wish I hadn't bought it.

I love a good classic, well-read. Frederick Davidson is one of my favorite readers - he gets every accent just perfect. That is exactly the downfall of this audiobook - lots and lots of totally unintelligible Scottish accent-REALLY unintelligible. I have never read this book, was not familiar with the story at all. After six hours, I quit in frustration because I had lost so much of the plot. IF you know the story, IF you are good at deciphering Scottish accent (and I mean HEAVY, not Star Trek Scotty) then go for it. Otherwise, pass on this version of Rob Roy.

I am a total idiot. I listened to all 40 hours of this audiobook...hoping, hoping, hoping it would all be worth it in the end. Simply put, it is long, boring, and not worth it. The first ten hours were pure background. VERY boring. The next thirty hours had a sprinkling of action, but that's it. Compared to LaCarre spy stories, this was like listening to someone reading the phone book. The characters had no depth, descriptions were cliche, yuck. And then there's the reader. All of his American males sound the same (except for JFK and Ronald Reagan) and all of his Eastern Eurpeans have the same accent. He also does "Jewish" which bordered on stereotypic. His females were awful and unbelievable. He should take some acting lessons. Again, if you want to hear AWESOME voice acting, listen to TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY or any of the George Smiley Trilogy. I won't be buying anything else by this author or this reader.

This is a useful, beautiful Catholic classic for anyone who is interested in following Christ in each moment of the day. I was totally inspired! I am going to buy the physical book so I can underline, re-read and absorb this wonderful author's teaching. BTW, this book was one of the inspirations for St. Therese's "Little Way."