The Outlaw Demon Wails

By: Kim Harrison

Narrated by: Gigi Bermingham

Length: 16 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's summary

To save the lives of her friends, Rachel did the unthinkable: she willingly trafficked in forbidden demon magic. And now her sins are coming home to haunt her.

As Rachel searches for the truth behind a terrifying murder, an even greater menace threatens, for the demon Algaliarept will stop at nothing to claim her, and the discovery of a shocking family secret throws Rachel's entire life into question. If she is ever to live free, Rachel must first walk willingly into the demonic ever-after in search of long-lost ancient knowledge.

But when you dance with demons, you lay your soul on the line...and there are some lines that should never be crossed.

©2008 Kim Harrison (P)2008 HarperCollins Publishers

The performance of the narrator was atrocious.

The story was pretty good but the narator was atrocious. Why is it that when a new narrator performs narration to a sequal they can't appear to take the time to listen to previous narration of the previous books to use similar pronunciation? I also think it is strange when you pronounce words that are supposed to be clean and smooth like a German with gutteral sounds. every mans voice sounded like an old woman to me and the pixies all sound like a dogs squeek toy. I really would prefer this book if it were to be re narrated by the same narrator as the previous and next books.

Production and Narrator are different

What did you like best about The Outlaw Demon Wails? What did you like least?

I was really disappointed in the production of this audio book. It is so annoying when the narrator changes. Her enunciation of the names of characters and certain words used throughout the story were pronounced phonetically. Equally annoying was her sometimes New York accent leaking through. The main character is from Ohio. Lastly, there was this annoying track of ominous music played throughout at seeming random places throughout the reading (rather than being at the end of a chapter). All in all, it makes me wonder who hired this lady.. and that whoever was in charge of production should be fired. By contrast, the story by itself was fantastic.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Gigi Bermingham?

Marguerite Gavin

narration not so bad

I almost skipped this book in the series due to the bad reviews of the different narrator. I decided to go ahead and purchase it because the story line of each book leads into the next. While I do prefer Marguerite Gavin the performance by Gigi Bermingham wasn't really all that bad. It was an okay listen, and good to keep up with the story line.

Really should have stayed with the original narrator!

I am really disappointed with the narrator that they chose for the reading of this book. There is so many big reveals in this book, that the narrator's performance was marking it really hard to enjoy!

The pronunciations of so many of the names and word that we have become so used to in previous books, was like listening to nails in a chalkboard. I agree with an earlier review when they said that the narrator should have done some research on the other books! At lest she would have known how the original narrator was pronouncing certain words and names.

With that being said, I am glad I stuck it out because the book was great! Love where this is going. They have Marguerite Gavin ( the original narrator) back for the rest of the books!
Thank HEAVENS! She does such a wonderful job. Love me some Jenks.

Great book! Horrible narration!

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The book, no. The narrator, oh YES.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Outlaw Demon Wails?

No spoilers. The entire story was good. I did tire of Rachel's whining about Ivy and the blood, etc. - sheesh.

Would you be willing to try another one of Gigi Bermingham’s performances?

I'd rather not, but I suppose I'll have to if she has narrated the next ones in this series.

Any additional comments?

Why didn't someone give Gigi the previous audiobooks to listen to so she could make notes on how certain words were pronounced so as to perform this one with a sense of continuity. I realize each performer is different, but good grief, this one is like night and day compared to previous audiobooks.

Love the story; not a fan of the narration.

Please make the narrator confirm the pronunciation of names and the accents of characters when they step into the middle of a series like this. I'm sure I would have enjoyed Ms. Bermingham's narration if she had not changed the pronunciation of primary character names and used such different accents for known characters. I spent the time listening cringing every few minutes and if I didn't already love the series so much I would have returned the audible version.

Performance Drags Book Down

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

To continue with the series it was worth it, but if Gigi Bermingham was the narrator for the remaining books i would not have bothered and got hard-copies

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Word pronunciation changes, tone of voice changes from previous narrator

Any additional comments?

Overall i don't agree with publishers switching narrators in a series, especially one told in the first person, mid way through. That said, there are often budget reasons or other reasonable reasons for doing so, so i tried to have an open mind when i downloaded this book.

The choices Gigi Bermingham made in her interpretation of Rachel and even general word pronunciation were so far off the mark from the previous narrator that i would have put the book away never to go back to the series on audio if she continued. Aside from her tone of voice, changing the way certain words (Like Piscary and Ley Line) are pronounced really threw me off and made it hard to listen to at times, especially when a string of them were put together.

At the end of the day, it is entertainment and not the end of the world - but i wanted to put my 2 cents in.

I liked the Narrator change

A lot of people haven't liked the narrator change but I found her much easier to listen to than Marguerite Gavin who I find a little dull. Yes some pronunciation is different which can often annoy but it didn't bother me too much. Gigi is much more up-beat in her narration which for me, made it easier to listen to.

Anyhow..back to Marguerite for the rest of the series anyway...I have listened to worse narration changes so this one was a pleasant surprise.

Different narrator

How could the performance have been better?

I understand that sometimes things happen and choices are made. I never did get used to the narrator for this book. I've heard the previous ones and this narration would have been better if she had listened as well. If for no other reason than to get the pronunciation correct, had that been better then the higher pitch of her voice might not have been so annoying. It's not the narrator's fault and if this had been a stand alone book or the first one then it wouldn't have been an issue. She gave a good performance, it was the change in the middle of a series that didn't really work. Overall it wasn't bad, my mind just kept correcting the pronunciation and the voice of characters.

Gigi Bermingham

What to say about this book? All I can think of is how the narrator chooses to pronounce certain words and the way that she uses her voice to make the action in the book stilted and hard to follow. I love Kim Harrison's works and the hollow series is my favorite of hers. I cannot however listen to this audiobook anymore. Without a doubt it is the hardest thing that I've ever had to sit through and I will be getting a refund. I look forward to the next book which is a return to the previous narrator. I suggest that this is one title that you get physical copy of to read.