The Golden Cross

By: Angela Hunt

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

Length: 14 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's summary

A line of women who would be warriors for truth

“It is said that as Cahira, daughter of the great Irish king Rory O’Connor, lay dying of a wound from a Norman blade, she lifted her hand toward heaven and beseeched God that others would follow after her, bright stars who would break forth from the courses to which they are bound and restore right in this murderous world…”

To Kathleen O’Connor, Cahira’s story is nothing more than a charming legend—until her research divulges that several of Cahira’s heirs did, indeed, leave the traditional roles of womanhood to fight for right. Stunned, Kathleen realizes she herself bears Cahira’s mark. Is Kathleen destined to continue the legacy in the twenty-first century?

To discover how the histories of these women relate to her own future, Kathleen must delve deep into the past to learn the truth about The Heirs of Cahira O’Connor…

Aidan O’Connor

Aidan O’Connor was raised among pickpockets and prostitutes in a Dutch colony on Java, Indonesia. But when a world-famous cartographer discovers her natural artistic talent, she is given a chance to leave her troubled life behind. Disguised as a boy, Aidan joins her benefactor at sea and begins the work of drawing the flora and fauna of the new world. This fresh beginning leads her into adventure--and to a great love. But can this love survive the force of Aidan’s past…and her ambitions for her future?

Enjoyed book, HATED Virtual Voice

I recently became aware of author Angela Hunt and have been enjoying her books. I saw this book was narrated by Virtual voice and thought I'd try it. I did enjoy the book. If it had been read by even a mediocre human narrator, I think I would be raving about it.

Instead I am raving in the NEGATIVE about the Virtual Voice. Yes, I listened to the sample. Initially pleasant, female, not robotic voice with cultured British accent to my ears. As the listening progressed however, I realized there was a harshness to that voice as it droned on and on with no real variation. I kept turning down the volume. With nearly no inflection, I missed quite a few points and had to back track to see where I'd lost track.

But the WORST (not listing them all) were:
1) character dialogues were absolutely flat.
2)Colloquialisms and common English accents or expressions were totally wrong in inflection and pronunciation.
3)Foreign language words (and there were LOTS of them) were totally butchered. And in a 14 hour book, the repetitions can REALLY grate on your nerves.


Quek examples: Herr, Dutch word, is pronounced as HEAR. Ja, instead of being a nice soft Yah was a harsh and jarring JAW sound.

I am sure this was done with AI. And I have to admire how well the VV could do plain reading. It would work for a how to manual. But NOT for a complex novel.

Why can't they just program in the words that could be problematic? I don't know. But I expect character dialogue will always be a difficulty with VV.

We all know a really awesome narrator can make even a bad book seem so much better. And a bad narrator will affect even a wonderful book poorly, as happened with this book.

So, thanks but NO THANKS, no more VV for me!!