The Cuckoo's Calling

By: Robert Galbraith

Narrated by: Robert Glenister

Length: 15 hrs and 54 mins

Publisher's summary

Published under a pseudonym, J. K. Rowling’s brilliant debut mystery introduces Detective Cormoran Strike as he investigates a supermodel's suicide in “one of the best books of the year” (USA Today).

After losing his leg to a land mine in Afghanistan, Cormoran Strike is barely scraping by as a private investigator. Strike is down to one client, creditors are calling, and after a breakup with his longtime girlfriend, he’s living in his office.

Then John Bristow walks through his door with a shocking story: His sister, the legendary supermodel Lula Landry - known to her friends as the Cuckoo - famously fell to her death a few months earlier. The police ruled it a suicide, but John refuses to believe that. The case plunges Strike into the world of multimillionaire beauties, rock-star boyfriends, and desperate designers, and it introduces him to every variety of pleasure, enticement, seduction, and delusion known to man.

You may think you know detectives, but you've never met one quite like Strike. You may think you know about the wealthy and famous, but you've never seen them under an investigation like this.

Fast-paced and sharply drawn, this dazzling detective novel inspired Strike, the BBC crime drama series that has captivated millions of viewers worldwide.

©2013 Robert Galbraith (P)2013 Hachette Audio

Slow and Slower

Would you try another book from Robert Galbraith and/or Robert Glenister?

Not from the author, maybe from narrator

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

Shorten it, take out extraneous info

What does Robert Glenister bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Does a good job will varied voices, awful job on Latin

Did The Cuckoo's Calling inspire you to do anything?

No

Any additional comments?

The book started if ok, the main characters seemed good, but somewhere around the halfway point it started to seem long. It just went on and on. The ending was disappointing as to who done it.
The ending explanation was painfully long.
To make matters worse the epilogue was even longer. I got the impression several times she used words and ideas specifically to demonstrate that she was a serious author, writing for adults.
I wouldn't have finished it but I didn't have any credits left for the month and wanted to have something to listen to on a long drive.

Kept me on the edge of my seat...

I don't usually like books narrated with English accents, it is usually difficult for me to understand. However this narrator did an excellent job. I loved this book. I hope that there will be sequels. I really want more from Detective Cormoran Strike and Robin. Great entertainment.

Everything a Good Mystery Should Be!

I admit I bought the book because it was written by J.K. Rowling - but that's the end of anything Potter-ish in this delightful new mystery. I love a good British mystery because they tend to be less violent and more intellectual than many of the standard American mysteries. The Cuckoo's Calling has everything in it that makes a mystery worth reading - an interesting main character who is neither perfect nor pathetic, a smart sidekick who thank god does NOT need to be rescued in the final scenes, a lot of clues but no dead give away to the final resolution, and supporting characters who are not simply two dimensional backdrops. No dramatic chase scenes or gun battles - just solid detecting and some intriguing plot twists along the way.

The narration was perfect and captured the voices in a way that was believable and engrossing. I had a hard time putting the book down to get any work done, and when the story ended I could only hope that Rowling/Galbraith is working on the next Comorant Strike mystery. Whether you're a J.K. Rowling fan or not really doesn't matter - if you like a good mystery, this is the best one to come along in a long time!

I am hooked on the series

Finally a book that is purely for entertainment. The characters in the novel are over-the-top and brilliantly flawed. The reader is perfect and I heard that there is another book already finished. Selfishly, I adored the secretary - efficient, tight-lipped, and the backbone of the novel.

JK Rowling Weaves A Masterful Mystery

Would you consider the audio edition of The Cuckoo's Calling to be better than the print version?

I have only listened to the audio version of this book but the combination of JK Rowling's writing, which draws you into whatever world she creates, and Robert Glenister's bravo performance as narrator has made it one of the most enjoyable books for me in a long time.

What about Robert Glenister’s performance did you like?

Robert Glenister does an incredible job in The Cuckoo's Calling by bringing to life very distinctively and convincingly each of the characters in the book. Very few narrators have the talent to pull off a convincing female character as well as a gruff male one. Usually something has to give and some characters vocalizations will be stronger than others. In this book the narrator nails every character regardless of gender.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Very few mysteries really keep me in suspense but this one did. The entire book was a great listen and left me with a great feeling of satisfaction at the conclusion. It was time well spent.

Any additional comments?

I hope this is just book one in a series of books where we can follow the adventures of Comoran Strike and Robin.

Harry Potter Brings You Cormoran Strike

This book is very readable, and a credible entry into the crime fiction genre. It is written by J.K. Rowling of Harry Potter fame, under the nom de plume Robert Galbraith.

Plotting is tight and moves well, keeping the reader's interest from start to finish. However, it's the characters that really drive this book.

Cormoran Strike, the sleuth and our hero, is a veteran of Afghanistan, who returned with one leg, the other having been blown off by an IED. His struggles with his prosthesis are devoid of self pity. Indeed, he succeeds despite his injury in large part because he simply refuses to allow it to take over his life. He's the illegitimate son of a famous rock star (I thought of Mick Jagger), who has never met his father. His mother, a famous groupie, had drug and alcohol problems and although she apparently loved Strike, wasn't' much of a mother. Following her death, ruled as a suicide but believed by Strike to have been murder, he leaves Cambridge (who paid for that?) and enlists in the military. He served as a military cop. He could have continues to be one even after the injury, but chose instead to go into business as a private investigator. His motives for this are obscure.

Strike's business is struggling, and he's a step away from insolvency, when Robin Elacott enters his life as a temp he can ill afford.

As Robin begins her week, Strike is hired by the (adoptive) brother of high fashion model Lula Landry to prove that her plunge from her balcony, written off as suicide by the London metropolitan police, was murder, not suicide. They discover that Robin is much more than a secretary, and that they make a good team.

They make good reading too.

The narrator does a good job, although I found some of his pronunciation to be a bit quirky.

Pay attention to this book. Several times there were single sentences that explained quite a bit and added a lot of weight and interest; had I not rewound, I'd have missed them. The truth behind Mr. Gillespie's collection efforts almost shot by me unnoticed! I won't say more because it would definitely be a spoiler!

This is the first of a planned series of seven books. It's a good start. There are three of the seven available at this writing. Having read all three, I'll also post reviews of the other two, Silkworm and Career of Evil. Those reviews will build on this one. Suffice it to say I didn't care for Silkworm because of the gratuitous mutilations that are repeated far too often. Career of Evil, although still gruesome, didn't play on the mutilations as much as Silkworm.

Great crime novel

Would you listen to The Cuckoo's Calling again? Why?

We probably were all victims of a publicity stunt. This is still a great novel.

It was okay

I constantly wanted to stop, however the writing was so so good and the writer painted a clear picture of everything that was going on. I just thought maybe I needed less detail and more action. I managed to complete it. I never would've guessed the killer. A little tedious for my taste. Not sure if I'll be reading book 2.

Great writing

The fact that Rowling wrote this book got me to listen to it. Very happy I did because it was great read. Great mystery well written and with a great narration. Only similarity between Cuckoo and Harry was the superb writing. Hope to hear more from Ms. Robert Galbraith.

Eh.

Love J.K. Rowling. I dont like this version of her though. Language is rough. wouldn't recommend for your kids who live Harry Potter. She shoukd stick with what she does best .... fantasy.