Kiss the Girls

By: James Patterson

Narrated by: Robert Guillaume, Chris Noth

Length: 2 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's summary

In the most suspenseful thriller yet from the author of Along Came a Spider and Jack and Jill, Detective Alex Cross is on the trail of 2 murderers who may be working together. Casanova preys on talented college women from the Carolinas to Florida. The Gentleman Caller is terrorizing Los Angeles. The case takes Cross coast to coast and to the Deep South, where his niece, a law student, has been abducted. Will she be the next victim of one, or both, of the killers?

©1995 James Patterson, Abridgment Approved by the Author; ©1995 Time Warner AudioBooks, ©1995 Time Warner AudioBooks (Packaging Only), A Joint Venture of The Atlantic Group and Time Warner Trade Publishing

Critic reviews

Winner of AudioFile 1996 Earphones Award, Mystery/Suspense

"This three-hour abridgment is riveting. Macabre sound effects, careful editing and chilling performances by Guillaume and Noth produce a viseral reaction in the listener. Though complicated and fast-paced, the story is easy to follow and hard to forget." (AudioFile)

Abridged; Distracting Music; Story Fine

I hated the theatrics of the music in the background. I did not like the reading technique of the principle reader. He read in phrases and accelerated at the end of sentences. His voice was too old for the character. I did like the second voice to portray the ‘bad guy.’ Both voices were recorded too softly and the pauses in new sections were not apparent.
Good Alex Cross story. However I would never have purchased an abridged version of anything. I won’t make that mistake again.

Sound effects

The sound effects were annoying and distracting was more like a b move. The otherwise the performance was nicely done.

Abridged stinks-musics detracts from story

What did you like best about Kiss the Girls? What did you like least?

Not sure-abridged version does not go much into detail of character-real overview.
Dislike unabridge but all that is available on Audible.co

If you’ve listened to books by James Patterson before, how does this one compare?

Loved the complexity of the story but prefer someone reading as opposeed to acting out.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Robert Guillaume and Chris Noth ?

Doesnt matter as long as not shrill voice

Did Kiss the Girls inspire you to do anything?

read another book

Any additional comments?

Really dislike music or noises and multiple voices acting out part. This is supposed to be Audible BOOK not PLAY ON TAPE.

I can't believe I didn't notice this was ABRIDGED

What did you like best about Kiss the Girls? What did you like least?

I liked the storyline but it felt rushed and now I know why - majorly abridged

Did Robert Guillaume and Chris Noth do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

They did

Good story, terrible sound effects.

Good story, performances were good. But the sound effects and music were terrible. Very short book.

Thriller

James Patterson has done it again the audio was very good keeps you on the edge of your seat from the very start

Great Read

very good book, I would recommend it to anyone that likes murder mysterys.
give it a try!

This is an ABRIDGED edition! Aka parts are cut out.

I didn’t realize this was an abridged edition. Please be aware, it has much of the book cut out. It’s still an excellent book, it’s just not what I wanted to listen to, I wanted to full book, the unabridged edition.

don't waste your time on the abridged version

I could not finish this version of kiss the girls. the voice actors are hard to understand at times, the background music is distracting, and so much has been removed from the original that it is hard to follow the story. I was almost to the end and had no idea what was going on or how it got there. most of the story focused on the killer and very little on Alex Cross himself. the unabridged version may be a couple hours longer but worth the listen. particularly if you are a fan of the Alex Cross novels and want to know more then just what the killer was doing.

Poor Abridgement & Reading

I read this book for continuity in the Alex Cross series, but I was disappointed. Robert Guillame read with a quick staccato and with a "matter of fact" flatnes and timbre that was inappropriate for the character and plot. The book did not have the cadence and tension that other Patterson books have which might be related to the quality of the abridgement. Chris Noth's reading was superior to Guillame's, but the quality of the sections he read were undermined by the tacky sound effects. "Willful suspension of disbelief" was not possible with the audio treatment of this book.