The Woodcutter

By: Reginald Hill

Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble

Length: 16 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's summary

Wolf Hadda's life was a fairytale - successful businessman and adored husband. But a knock on the door one morning ends it all. Universally reviled, thrown into prison, Wolf retreats into silence. Seven years later Wolf begins to talk to the prison psychiatrist and receives parole to return home. But there's a mysterious period in Wolf's past when he was known as the Woodcutter. Now the Woodcutter is back, looking for truth and revenge...

©2010 Reginald Hill (P)2010 WF Howes Ltd

Second half is better

Great read, the english accents in the first half are a bit distracting but the story gets better as one reads on and the characters are introduced.

Jonathan Keeble Brings the Characters to Life

What made the experience of listening to The Woodcutter the most enjoyable?

The story was great, but Mr. Keeble's narration made it that much better.

What did you like best about this story?

The characters and narration

Twists and turns until the end

Satisfying ending to a good thriller. There was never a question about who was guilty or not—it’s the how and what will happen in this tense revenge-and-redemption story that keeps you guessing.

Listened to it twice....

Great story. Great narration. I enjoyed it so much the first time and rarely get a book this good, I had to listen to it again.

Characters you'll care about in a story of revenge

Exquisite writing and excellent narration make The Woodcutter a must-listen for those of us who love a mystery fraught with human foibles.

Author and Narrator Combination Works Well

The combination of Reginald Hill and Jonathan Keeble makes for an ideal audio book. The narration is well crafted and is full of cleverly constructed scenes and phraseology. At times the plot dips to the predictable but there are enough non-standard moves to keep it from becoming banal. Keeble's narration is excellent as he displays a wide range of voices and does much to help Hill create the characters. The author's pace is also complemented by the narrator's patience and consistency. This book may be one that is much more enjoyable to listen to than to read. In any medium, it is worth the experience.

Don't usually like revenge tales, but........

Revenge stories aren't usually my thing, but I found this one was really more about the people than the incident or the revenge, and that's why I liked it so much, I think. Interesting characters and subplots, with enough action to make the story make sense without the action of taking revenge being the main focus of the book - though we know Wolf wants and will get revenge, how he gets it isn't nearly as important to the plot as when and why. Some may find that different focus bothersome, but I found it was a big reason about why I enjoyed the book.

Great Story, better ending!

I've listened to this book twice, which I don't do that often. This was a great read. The characters were well defined and you either love or hate them, not too much apathy on these people. You can tell that the author is a definite Count of Monte Cristo fan. But who isn't? Great book, interesting ending.

Just average

This was my first Reginald Hill novel. Maybe an earlier work would've been a better introduction, because this one seemed like a million others I've read, which isn't necessarily bad, it's just average.

I did enjoy the character development and setting very much; the author has created a very likable main character and his plight kept me engaged.

The ending "twist" though, was ridiculous, and all-in-all, the wrap-up a bit anti-climactic.

Spoiler-alert:
How on earth can a therapist fall in love—even unconsciously — with a man she professionally believes to be a pedophile?! That is a very weird line for an author to cross, and I found it hard to reconcile.

For that matter, how could such an intelligent, likable main character surround himself with frenemies at every turn? The deplorable idiocy of his partner/best friend, the backstabbing wife who has pretended to "love" him for a few decades while basically biding her time?

Anyhoo, that's just me.

A great listen and would make a good movie

I couldn't stop listening. It held my interest and attention all the way through. The plot's twists and turns and the interesting characters made this a good listen.