The Poet

By: Michael Connelly

Narrated by: Buck Schirner

Length: 15 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's summary

FROM THE #1 BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE HARRY BOSCH AND LINCOLN LAWYER SERIES

An electrifying standalone thriller that breaks all the rules!

Death is reporter Jack McEvoy's beat: his calling, his obsession. But this time, death brings McEvoy the story he never wanted to write - and the mystery he desperately needs to solve. A serial killer of unprecedented savagery and cunning is at large. His targets: homicide cops, each haunted by a murder case he couldn't crack. The killer's calling card: a quotation from the works of Edgar Allan Poe. His latest victim is McEvoy's own brother. And his last...may be McEvoy himself.

©1996 by Michael Connelly. (P)1996 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

Think you know who done it?

Great story with unexpected turns. Unfortunately the narrator's voices lacked uniqueness and he could have used help.

Great story, great performance...a real winner!!!

Would you consider the audio edition of The Poet to be better than the print version?

never read the print version

What did you like best about this story?

The way the author weaves each character into the story. This story is one that is hard to stop listening to.

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

The characters are done so well. He has a talent for bringing the book to life. I will look for him as the narrator on other books.

Riveting Listening

Michael Connelly is a master of his craft and this book is one of his best. I am a huge fan of the Bosch Series but this book seems even better than most of the Bosch books. The narration was good as well.

A good story & superb narration

Although the ending was a bit weak, this is a great story. The narrator is so good that I searched for other books that he had narrated- he really enhances the story and the different nuances of emotion experienced by the main character, Jack. Hope the author adds to the series- Jack McEvoy is a great character with a bit different view than the usual crime thriller (he's a crime reporter for a newspaper). One star off for the ending, though.

Connelly at his best

The Poet is a well crafted thriller that is hard to put down. Buck Schirner is an excellent narrator.

Good Story

I enjoyed this book. The story was a good one, kept me entertained and wasn't a storyline I felt I could anticipate.

I do recommend this audiobook.

good

loved it but it is almost the same as another book written by Michael Conelly that I recently read so not as enjoyable for me towards the end as it could've been. It was still really good.

One of Connelly's best!

If you could sum up The Poet in three words, what would they be?

Fast, exciting, filled with twists...

Who was your favorite character and why?

They were all great!!!

Which character – as performed by Buck Schirner – was your favorite?

Jack MacElroy

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

Very enjoyable. Really held my interest...

Any additional comments?

Great listen (or read)...

Buck Schirner was not really suited to Jack McEvoy

Would you try another book from Michael Connelly and/or Buck Schirner?

I'm reading (and listening to the Harry Bosch books in order) so will definitely keep on with my project. Buck Schirner has a nice deep, resonant voice, but I feel he was not suited to narrating a novel with Jack McEvoy as central character--a slender 35-year-old man should have a lighter, younger sound than Buck Schirner, who sounds like he's at least well into his 50s.

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

You can't really put a Michael Connelly book down--but this one didn't stand out since I've been madly plowing through the Connelly oeuvre at a clip of one book every couple of days.

Did Buck Schirner do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

Not really. Especially after listening to the first 5 Bosch books narrated by Dick Hill--who was perfect with differentiating characters by sex and accent--really gifted. Schirner sounds pretty much the same in every voice and does not have a good ear for a Spanish accent and is really unconvincing when he plays a woman.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

This might be better as a movie than a novel--told in a very visual way.

Any additional comments?

Might be better read than listened to. I think Connelly is trying to find his way here with another lead character besides Harry Bosch. His writing is not as sure-footed in this novel as in the Bosch books--he uses first-person rather awkwardly and his sentences are much shorter and choppier than in the Bosch books that come before and after this one.

Great read

I read the entire Harry Bosch series before reading this book. This was a great book to read the only problem was knowing the ending while I was reading