Scout Force: Kelly Blake Series, Book 1

II don’t know if the playback speed was intentionally slowed down or if that if just the way Mr. Word reads. I found myself constantly waiting for the next word to come out. It was almost as bad as listening to someone read a children’s book except most readers of children’s books have a lot more range of voices for the characters. Increasing the playback speed to the next fastest setting helps a little. The story line is a bit juvenile in places but still good enough that I would listen to the next in the series if Mr. Word is not the narrator. Mr. Word as narrator is a definite “do not purchase” flag for me for any future books.

I have never given up on a book , not once...until now. I have even listened to Tom Wopat Narrate and it wasn't as bad as "The Word" narrating, sadly I couldn't do it. I tried to get into the story but just couldn't follow along. There is absolutely no character distinction, he just drones on and on and on.

Story has promise but not with this narrator. I will probably buy the hard copy to read it.

Yes, the story had promise. I just hope this is Rodney Smith's first (or one of his first) book(s).

The story reads like it's a wish fulfillment of his juvenile (or current) daydreams.

The main character gets somewhat screwed in the beginning, but that of course turns out to be a good thing. He gets somewhat bullied by a superior officer but later gets his absolutely spot-on sweet-sweet revenge. Every attractive female in the book (despite the character describing himself as being "nothing to look at" and "not bad, but had never considered himself that good looking" is not only attracted to him - but very aggressively pursues him. On top of that, they're all OK that he doesn't want to be monogamous and are all OK with him dating around. Then, of course, there's the thinly veiled hint towards the end of the book after the girls meet one another (and all think that each other are soooo great) that he's probably going to wind up with a foursome out of the deal.

Additionally, over all there's no real conflicts for the main character to overcome. For effectively the entire book everything goes his way, all the time. He's the smartest, and best and etc, etc at everything. His superiors also immediately recognize this and give him all the kudos/rapid promotions/etc.

Everything. There's little discernible difference between the various character's voices. Females are read in a slightly higher pitch, but that's about it.

Mr. Word's reading of the story is soooooo rote and robotic, with unnatural sounding timing and what sounds to me like an over-enunciation of nearly every word. Add to that a near lack of emotion (or what I'd think a computer would sound like if it were trying to emulate what an emotion sounds like..)

Decent start to a series given all my caveats. Hopefully the author's writing matures more and they use a different narrator going forward. Alternatively, maybe Mr. Tin Man narrator will get a heart.

he cant read........ he knows the words but cant read

this might be a better book than i rated it ,but the narrator was so bad you could not tell.
i have had other books with him narrating and it had to get through them.

Yes I liked the story a neat blending of old and new Tec.

NO!!!!!!

yes but had to stop because the Narrator made it sound like a Dick & Jane book

Despite the reviews complaining about the performance, I decided to give it a go. I enjoyed the story, as it's fun and shows potential for a good series.
Unfortunately I agree with many other reviewers - the Narrator, Mr Word, is not right for the job (at least not now). Mr Word's delivery is, most of the time, so unusually mechanical that it sucks the life out of it! He... pronounces... each... word... so... clearly... and... precisely....., that he forgets that he's telling a dynamic story to a group of eager listeners! I get the impression that he would read a workshop manual very well! Sadly this isn't a workshop manual! It's such a shame, because he has a really great voice and on those few occasions during "Scout Force" when you could tell he was starting to relax, the story flowed very nicely...but it just didn't last.
If Mr Word could relax more (perhaps a stiff drink would help!), it would make the "Scout Force" series much more worth the listen! Keep working on it!

It is obvious that Audible and Amazon allow full on shills for reviews.

There is no possible way anyone with ears could comment positively on this narration.

Odd pauses and weird pronunciations. Sometimes I wonder if 'Bill' is a native speaker of English.

Try reading the story before you record it. Did you record this in one take?

Dear Authors, picking bad narrators reflects poorly on you.

I love the series however the narration was the worst that I've ever heard. I'd ask for a refund if I was the author

I have read this book and the rest of the series, was looking forward to a relaxing listen on commute but the narration was abysmal!, mispronunciation of words, weird inflection, almost as if a new English speaker was sounding out the words to the story. Absolutely the worst narration I have ever tried to struggle through, couldn't make myself finish it.