Folly

By: Laurie R. King

Narrated by: Frank Muller

Length: 16 hrs

Publisher's summary

Laurie R. King creates unforgettable characters and situations in her mystery series featuring Kate Martinelli and Mary Russell. In Folly, she tells the gripping story of a woman on the edge of the world--and the edge of sanity. Tragedy and mental illness have been dark companions of Rae Newborn for more than 50 years. Her life seems to start rebuilding itself, though, when she moves to a deserted island to restore the house her mysterious great-uncle built in the 1920s. But Rae senses powerful forces stirring on the island. Is the skin-crawling feeling she has of someone watching her only in her mind, or has something disturbingly real taken notice of Rae? Like King's best-selling suspense thriller A Darker Place, Folly brilliantly portrays a woman pushed to her limits and beyond. Frank Muller's powerful narration captures all the terrors that stalk Rae from without and from within.

©2001 Laurie R. King (P)2001 Recorded Books LLC

A solid read

exceptionally insightful, and well crafted story. characters who feel real, even the ones that turn out to be delusions. surprise ending felt a little off, but otherwise a solid read.

Fantastic story!

Loved this story! The location the characters the plot kept me listening🙂 definitely worth a listen!

Folly

Whenever I have been compelled to write a review, it has always been for the negative. Well, I will remedy that with Folly.
I have never read Laurie King before, so I purchased this book on the strength of Frank Mullers narration alone and have been very pleasantly surprised. A well written, well narrated, great story. I will read more of Laurie King.

I really wanted to give more stars. But...

Laurie King is one of my favorite authors. Frank Muller is absolutely beloved as a member of the narrator community. All of this came to naught in this book.

The character development took front/center stage to the deficit of every other component. Muller's narration sounded like an elderly grandfather reading a bedtime story to a very young grandchild. The plot dragged along in circles with only hints about what was important to pay attention to. And as it turned out, there really wasn't much.

The character development was top notch ... nothing else came up to that standard. If you haven't yet listened to King's series, do NOT take this one book as indicative of what she can do. She is wonderful. This book does her no justice.

Folly

Loved Rae and her story, but felt as if I'd read it before. Plot is well done, but mostly derivative.

An unexpected gem

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

No the plot did not keep me on the edge of my seat, I don't believe that this was the aim of the author. Instead she took us on a slow and deeply moving journey as the main character fought for her right to live as she did, her ability to manage the inner voices and her external struggle to build a house on her own. I loved this story but not because it kept me on the edge of my seat but rather because it was well paced, interesting with likeable and well developed characters.

Hang in there...

I really only bought this on the strength of the narrator. Was worried it would be some tiresome supernatural journey but it has great characters and some memorable moments and descriptions.

Love this!

Many laugh out loud moments to be had in this great adventure of a fragile woman finding her strength. I love Laurie R. King’s writing style and while I love Frank Muller, his performance of a woman’s story is just okay. Why would they pick a man when there are so many outstanding female narrators? I think I actually enjoyed this book more in print, which I read many years ago, but the character-driven story carries the day.

Second reading

Frank Muller, Need I say more? A brilliant book and a brilliant performance. Rest well, Frank. You’ll always be remembered

Another Frank Muller delight.

I hadn't read anything else by this author, but if Frank Muller read it, I will listen. And, I was rewarded with a marvelous story. A woman, 52, has a psychotic episode and then loses her husband and their daughter in a car accident. She retreats to an island in the San Juans that her family owns. She rebuilds her life, and the house which has burned down to its foundation, in a book that is satisfying, romantic and beautifully told. Rae rejects psychiatry, throwing her medications into the ocean, but keeps in touch in her thoughts with the psychiatrist who cared for her. The caring was clearly personal as well as professional.
Rae has had a very successful career as a woodworker. She has a deep and abiding love for wood, and she is able to create both gorgeous pieces of art and a very personal, deeply livable house on the island. She researches the history of her ancestor, Desmond, the original builder of the house, and through him she makes a certain peace with her own family, including a son-in-law whom she hates (no peace is made here), a daughter about whom she is quite ambivalent, and a granddaughter whom she loves unconditionally.
If you have listened to Frank Muller before, then you can anticipate the thrill of just listening to his voice. I hope he taught younger narrators how to do this work. If not, it is our loss. He never missteps. The actress Cate Blanchett comes to mind when I try to think of a living artist with talent comparable to Frank's. Maybe we'll get really lucky, and Cate will someday read for us. Until then, Frank remains the best.