Silence

By: Thomas Perry

Narrated by: Michael Kramer

Length: 13 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's summary

Six years ago, Jack Till helped Wendy Harper disappear. But now her ex-boyfriend and former business partner, Eric Fuller, is being framed for her presumed murder in an effort to smoke her out, and Till must find her before tango-dancing assassins Paul and Sylvie Turner do. With masterful plotting and unnerving psychological insight, Thomas Perry delivers another mesmerizing thrill ride.

©2007 Thomas Perry (P)2007 Tantor Media Inc.

My third try with Perry did the trick

I didn't expect to like this, as I am one of the very few that doesn't seem to like the Butcher Boy series. I fell in love with the Ripley series, and that was my standard for a likable conscienceless killer. Ripley had charm, wit and personality. He was articulate and truly likable; whereas the Butcher's Boy was monotone in articulation and personality. But Perry manages to put just enough quirkiness in a murderous couple in Silence to make it truly interesting. There are double and triple crosses, and it is predictably unpredictable. In my opinion, he should do more of this type of complex interaction books with the more developed characterizations of these types of killers.

Can we forgive ourselves?

I found myself listening to this book as often as I could. The plot played out nicely, it kept pulling me along with little nuggets of information & interest, like the seabirds in Morro Bay being drawn to the sand crabs, I kept returning every chance I got to find what would happen next. The ending? It had a bit of a surprise, which I appreciated, like one of their small fine desserts at the end of a meal. There is some violence, but not long & drawn out. Sex scenes are left in the bedroom, while we're mostly somewhere else. The action scenes are great, like a movie script. And being a CA girl for 50+ years, my large CA family has lived from one end to the other, especially the Central Coast. My Dad, lived in King City, so I enjoyed the references to places that locals only know. I highly recommend this book. It is an action book, there is violence, I don't remember any bad language, perhaps a small amount with some young background info. There is talk about sex, between characters, but no long drawn out sex scenes that some people find uncomfortable. Again, I find this book is able to carry the plot along without all of the above and highly recommend it. Eight paws up & two thumbs.

Fun thriller

Not Perry’s best but a great listen regardless. He goes into all different points of view so everyone’s delusions become obvious to the reader. The hit couple is perfect.

Interesting Cast of Characters

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I enjoyed the characters most. The prosecutor was a surprise

Who was your favorite character and why?

Till and the prosecutor

Which scene was your favorite?

several not sure I can pick

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

the ending

nice who done it.

the book was great overall ending lack something. when you rate something you should be able to use as few words as you like.

long

for me not enough action but it was well placed it was also intriguing and well-woven together with the intricate characters

Silence almost golden

Thomas Perry, the creator of the Jane Whitfield series pulls a switch, and with another stolid character...Grizzled Ex Cop with gimmicky crosses to bear...has to find a someone he helped disappear. Mayhem ensues. Body count rises, reader is taken on a road trip along California's Highway 101. Nice scenery.

Now the problem: if you are Tantor Media, and you are having an actor narrate a book which takes place in California, with important sequences taking place in Los Angeles, would it be too much to ask the actor to at least learn how to pronounce place names which have made it into the general lexicon. Streets like La Cienega and Sepulveda are mentioned on TV all the time. In a pinch, I understand Los Angeles has actors who do good narrations and know how to pronounce local street names.

And yeah...Simi Valley is not pronounced SEMI.

Problems like this occur thruout the reading, and detract from...er...the authenticity of the mileu Perry spent a lot of time creating. Because...yeah...he is an LA writer.

A real page turner

Couldn't put it down; some very nice twists that I didn't really see coming, lots of interesting characters; one of the best detective stories I have read all year. The narrator did have a few problems with place names, but he had a unique voice for each character, and overall I thought he did a good job. The book left me looking for more!

Believe it or not you will root for the perps

Silence has a very intriguing and complex plot and I binged on it. This is the only book I have ever read in which I was rooting for the perps as well as the good guys. That takes clever writing and makes me want to read more of Thomas Perry's books. However I certainly could have done with a bit less back story on the main characters. To me the backstories were the slowest parts. But I loved the ending! Perfect!

This book was recorded in 2007 and yet to this Californian's ears I had some real problems with Kramer's pronounciations of streets/towns. I cannot not believe that Tantor Media did not redub the mispronunciations of the reader. Here is the list of mispronounced streets/towns:
La Cienega (C-N-ega accent on "N")
Sepulveda (Sa-pull-va-da accent on "pull")
San Rafael (he did get it right once--San Rafell--but wrong about every other time)
Simi (seamy)
San Luis Obispo (San Lewis A-bispo).

I realize that most people live in areas without Spanish names but if you are a reader for a book set in California you might want to bone up on pronunciations.

Mixed Review

In a lot of ways, I liked this book a lot. Good narrator, good main character. Interesting story. But just about everyone else in the book (except Jack’s daughter who has Down Syndrome) is evil, evil, evil! Kind of unrealistic. But I would try a sequel.