The Hanged Man's Song

By: John Sandford

Narrated by: Richard Ferrone

Length: 8 hrs and 48 mins

Publisher's summary

Prey fans everywhere have embraced the return of Sandford's other charismatic hero, Kidd, artist, computer whiz, and professional criminal, and his sometime partner, sometime lover, LuEllen.

In The Hanged Man's Song, a superhacker friend of Kidd's named Bobby suddenly disappears from cyberspace, and Kidd knows that isn't a good sign. Then, when he goes to Bobby's house, Kidd finds him dead on the floor, his head bashed in and his laptop missing, and Kidd knows that really isn't a good sign. The secrets on that laptop are potent enough to hang Kidd and everybody else in Bobby's circle, just to start with, so there's no question that Kidd and LuEllen have to try to track it down, not to mention that Kidd would dearly love to get his hands on the man who killed Bobby. But before Kidd can get very far, the secrets start coming out anyway...and they're more staggering than even he had imagined. Because it's not just about the lives of a circle of friends and colleagues now, oh no, it's about something much, much bigger. And much, much scarier.

Filled with the atmosphere, characters, and exceptional drama that have made John Sandford one of America's best-loved thriller writers, The Hanged Man's Song is a masterpiece of suspense.

©2003 John Sandford (P)2003 Putnam Berkley Audio, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc., and Recorded Books, LLC

Critic reviews

"This latest intelligent and exciting thriller proves a worthy addition to Sandford's overall body of work." (Publishers Weekly)
"Richard Ferrone's gruff voice fits the novel's tone. His intense style keeps the story moving and gives the characters vitality." (AudioFile)
"Ultimately, thrillers are defined by the scariness of the villains, and the bad guys Kidd contends with are a special breed indeed, capable of rendering lives meaningless by the thousands with a few key strokes. Clear a spot on the best-seller lists for this timely and entertaining thriller." (Booklist)

Story is not reader friendly.

Would you try another book from John Sandford and/or Richard Ferrone?

Love both John Sandford and Richard Ferrone. But the Kidd story is of no interest to me. I kept hearing myself say, "Who cares?" It seemed to rattle on with not build up of suspense.

What do you think your next listen will be?

I am going to start the Virgil Flowers series.

What about Richard Ferrone’s performance did you like?

Ferrone IS the voice of Lucas Davenport. Excellent!

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Definitely disappointing. I don't know if I will read another in this series.

Please turn it off

I gave this one about 45 minutes before I had to cut bait. I am a Sanford fan, but this time his writing was unbearably formulaic. I actually shuddered a couple of times listening to his descriptive passages, which were trite and far too long.
Also there was something going on with the quality of the read, which made Ferrone sound as if he had recorded it in the shower. Tinny and weird.
Overall, a real bummer.

Last (not first) Time

I didn't like the first Sandford book I read (one of the something prey series). I tried again based on reader reviews. Don't make the same mistake. If you have ever read Sandford before, and didn't like it, you won't like this one either. He writes too much about inconsequential issues and too little goes into the plot.

Didn't finish

Characters were not interesting and the story was taking forever to develop. Did not finish.

The Hanged Man's Song

I did not like this book. First of all, it starts right out with the murder. It's not so much a whodunit, as a "why does it matter?" And that is very difficult for me to figure out, since the author will not let me delve into each character. With other authors, I have felt completely comfortable with the amount of character development in the story. The plot is also somewhat lacking. So much so that I cannot even figure out that the good guys are carrying the story until halfway through the book. In the final analysis, this book cannot qualify as either a plot-driven novel or a character-driven novel. There doesn't seem to be anything driving this novel...yet. Maybe by the time I finish it, I will figure out what it was all about. But I did not enjoy the first three quarters of the book.

Unfortunately another disappointing book from JS .

I read /listened to all of the John Sandfords books and use to love his work and style
Maybe be he created a higher standards with his previous books, however everything that was published in the last 5-7 years is mediocre, simple at best and sometimes clearly boring. Same repeated characters /lines eq rescued girls, all knowing/powerful supermen with abundance of money, unnecessary details of food or hotels /rooms, etc. I still hope and expect better but as rn, I will not pay another $30 for another disappointment and waste of my time.

Boring just boring

The reader's book was scratchy and irratating and scratchy. The story line out me sleep, the reader's voice kept me awake. Boring.