Nightfall

Nightingale, Book 1

By: Stephen Leather

Narrated by: Ralph Lister

Length: 12 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's summary

Uttered by the abusive father of a nine-year-old girl, that phrase ended Jack’s career as a police negotiator and has been haunting him ever since. Now that he is a struggling private detective, those words return with a vengeance when he inherits a mansion - and some terrifying information. Apparently Jack’s soul was sold at birth, and a devil will come to claim it on his 33rd birthday just weeks away. It’s a hard pill to swallow, given that Jack doesn’t believe in hell (heaven, either). But when people close to him start to die, he is forced to consider that real evil may be at work, and if he doesn’t find a way out, he’ll be damned to hell for eternity.Brooding intensity, unrelenting suspense, and surprising wit fill the pages of Nightfall, the first installment of Stephen Leather’s mesmerizing trilogy.

©2012 Stephen Leather (P)2012 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“Authentic...tersely written...exciting stuff with plenty of heart-palpitating action gingered up by mystery and intrigue...." ( Daily Mail)

“Leather is in the top rank of thriller writers.” (Jack Higgins, New York Times best-selling author)

Not my cuppa tea

i like Leather as a storyteller and he is the excellent storyteller in this book. i did not like the story, more specifically the subject. If you are into magic you will perhaps enjoy it.

I Quite Liked the Story and Narration

First the narrator, Ralph Lister was excellent. I haven't run into him before but I thought he voiced the dialogue very well and his narration had excellent pacing. Clearly read but not dragging.

The points at which I did a little fast forwarding was the visit to Tyler's house and the first visit to Mitchell. Listening to someone repeatedly losing at pool (or was it snooker?) is only so interesting. And the Mitchell thing, well I did get a laugh at the end of the first visit, but the author put in a little too much information at the beginning. I kept waiting for the coffee making to have some plot significance, it finally started to seem like the innumerable cups of bad tea that English cops down while talking to suspects-- more a prop than anything of interest.

Otherwise, I thought this was a entertaining story and I am going to take a shot at the next two-- if I can get my hands on the audible versions. Not being able to purchase books available on other Audible sites is very frustrating.

Just to show where I stand on the Felix Castor, Dresden scale-- The only Dresden book I started, first in the series, was a DNF for me. Felix Castor books are autobuys.

I really like this character

Just starting and feel like I want to know everything about Jack NIghengale. Look forward to reading and audio. Also audio done very well. Check it out. I'm loving it.

Too Much of a Good Thing

The plot and storyline was unique; with only a few books written with so much depth on satanism and their cults. Many books may elude to Demons, fallen Angle etc. but the authors did a lot of research into the occults. i found that the story drags a lot in many areas of the book. like eating too much candy, good in small amounts but too much candy can be clawing; Maybe the abridged version will be better.

Fun read

Enjoyed this story for the most part. The exciting scenes carried me thru the tedious ones. I wanted to smack Jenny numerous times! "Jack, don't, Jack stop, you can't" on and on, just wanted her to shut up! Jack asking over and over to everyone "do you believe in hell, the devil etc" then going off on the SAME discussion,ugh! Those scenes brought the flow to a screeching halt. The final conflict was pretty good. Was angry at first thinking "aw this is a cop-out, she's going to KNOW his plan"!
Liked it enough will read the rest of the series

Good leading character

I enjoyed this character driven detective story that has a good supernatural ending. Looking forward to reading more of this series.

Listen to Books and Hail Satan!!

I enjoyed this book, it isn't your average Urban Fantasy story. If you are looking for Harry Dresden or Atticus O'Sullivan than skip this series. This world is the closest to the real world that most Urban Fantasy gets. Normal guy falls into a heap of crap and struggles to get out. Maybe not normal, he was a police officer after all and they have their own super powers (connections, procedures, interrogations and such) but the magic and fantasy is limited. It keeps within the Judeo-Christian mythology but I'm only a couple of books in so that may change. I enjoyed the narrator even though he does a horrible American accent.

Stunning!!

This book, specially in it's audible form kept me so riveted that I stayed awake listening to it all weekend. I cried, shivered, laughed a bit here and there, and with wonderful imagination pictured all characters. Specially Nightingale who is the key character. I believe in certain things mentioned so they were brought home to me all the more: such as the power of good over evil and how evil can be misguided and misused. What a fantastic and lyrical read. Truly enjoyable with all emotions turned up!

a different Stephen Leather

I am reading Stephen Leather's other series, Spider Shepherd. It is really good. This series I just started listening to has very different characters. I was not too sure I was going to like it as much, but it is good. The best part is the narration! Fantastic.

Very Stimulating

I could not stop listening to this book because I wanted to know what was going to happen next. Excellent narration. I bought the next two books in the series.