Gods and Beasts: A Novel

Why, oh why, oh why didn't they have the wonderful Jane McFarlane perform this one? The writing is typical smart, lucid Mina -- the performance is distractingly mediocre. Not sure I'm going to finish listening -- and I've never done that before. Pity.

No.

Mina's Alex Morrow series is one of the best available in the mystery genre. Gods and Beasts may not rank as high as the two earlier entries in the series but it's still a great listen.

Quirk is not as good as previous narrators, but for me she did not detract from my enjoyment of the novel.

This was an interesting continuation of the Alex Morrow series. The book itself was good, with the intricate plots I expect from Denise Mina. The performance, however, was barely average. I had enjoyed the performance of the first two books in the series, and wasn't concerned about the poor reviews of Moira Quirk's performance. After listening to at least 100 audiobooks, I can only think of two that I did not finish because of the performance. Well, this one was almost the third. For the next book they need to go back to the narrator from the first two books.

The only other comment was that I did not like the ending - or rather I did not like that the book seemed to end without resolving a number of the plot lines. The ending made it obvious that there will be a fourth book. It just seemed to end at an incomplete point.

I recommend the story. Denise Mina's writing is strong and this is no exception - the story moves well, the characters are clear and strong, the storyline is well-written and a good read.

She didn't hit the range and depth of the characters. She made some of them sound whiny and I didn't feel the same connection to the story and characters that I did with the earlier narrator - who I felt was a great match for Mina's writing. This narrator didn't seem to be able to get into the world of the writing and it created a disconnect with it at times as I listened. Some of the characterizations were way off base and at times I felt like I was listening to an elementary school teacher in a room with young children - it just did not fit the story and characters.

The writing is solid. Solid enough that I can listen through the narrator's lack of "getting" a good handle on it. I'd say it's still worth a listen - or at least buy the book and read it. The story is good.

I've quite enjoyed all three of the Alex Morrow books. Well-written, believable with good characters. I was concerned when I read one review that trashed the reader, someone different than the wonderful lady who voiced the first two books, but after listening for just a short while I thought she did just as good a job as her predecessor. Will certainly read more of this author's work,

Denise Mina's narrative voice is so genuine. There's nothing like it. She has been my favorite author for years.

The conversations between Rosie and Martin were captured with such nuance I felt as if they could be real people.

Her use of accents seems right-on.

Though not Denise Mina's best work, perhaps, I loved soaking up every minute of the story.