Come Home

I am a Lisa Scottoline fan. Unfortunately, I won't finish this particular book. The production is just awful. Whining, crying at full volume (we listen with earbuds, producers!), and really poor voicing of the characters made me give up about 10 chapters in. Maybe I'll pick it up and read it some day. Can't get through this.

The first 5-6 chapters of this book is non-stop crying, wailing and screeching. Like the previous reviewer, for me it was nearly intolerable. Whatever happens during this sobfest could be handled easily in one or two chapters max.

Other than the narration, the story was actually pretty good, even though I did not find the main character's controlling behavior relatable or likable at all. I guess there's a reason for all the step-children, ex-step-children, present bio child but the confusion muddied the waters for me. But then, if there weren't all these conflicting previous children of previous spouses, and all the micro-managing behavior, there would be no story.

I actually liked the main character's husband and took his side in all the arguments.

Probably wouldn't recommend to a friend. I finished it, but I was annoyed by the lazy writing.

Meh. It was ok. Everything got resolved about as you'd expect.

She had a good voice for the part.

Probably not.

As others have noted the narration of this book was too much and it ruined the story for me. After the first 10 minutes I realized it was a mistake and should have purchased a print or electronic copy (or borrowed it from the library). Thought I would take a shortcut using an Audible Book to listen to Lisa Scottoline's latest but it was ruined by the narration/direction. The whining, wailing and screaming as other reviewers noted was way over the top. Too bad. I stuck it out but the narration was still annoying throughout.

Used another narrator or director or provided different direction on how the book should have been read.

It is one thing for a narrator to emphasize the words, or to slightly change voices to reflect characters but the use of loud whining, crying, screeching, wailing and over-dramatizing the first part only annoyed me. Save that for the screen..

Not based on this performance.

If you can borrow this one from the library in audio.

good story. The narration of the kids voices was so irritating I had to literally take the ear buds out of my ears so as not to hear.

I have always enjoyed Lisa Scottoline's books before. This book would be a disappointment for any fans of hers.

The characters were unsympathetic. The narration was overly dramatic and some of the characters appeared to be constantly whining. It was very difficult to care for the characters or the storyline. All of the characters were very unrealistic.

I would listen to the sample of her narration before purchasing another book.

The youngest daughter.

I will continue to watch for this author but will probably rely on reviews before making another purchase.

I usually enjoy Scottoline's stories but had this been the first one that I had read, I would never read another. Perhaps the book would have been tolerable had Maggi-Meg
Reed not been the narrator. She failed to bring life to the characters. In fact, her whiny, and often overly dramatice oral interpretation eliminated all possibility of sympathy and belief. I doubt that I would purchase any other stories that she might read.

The plot was trite, the characters insipid, and completely unbelievable. Her other books may have tested credulity but this one was ridiculous and not up to her standards.

Emphatically NO!

Disappointment

I seldom talk back to books but this one was an exception.The protagonist, a supposedly intelligent woman, failed to engage my sympathy. Even for fiction, her behavior and thought process suggested a self-centered, self-involved fool who had no sense of consequences for her actions. I found myself muttering "how can you be so stupid? what else did you expect? you must be kidding." Please Ms. Scottoline, don't torture your readers with books that fall far below your usual standards.

I can't stand the whining. I taught my kid not to whine from a very early age - I sure didn't want to pay to hear some other kid whine. I love all of the author's legal thrillers. They are well written and full of humor. I also love her two books of short articles. But I couldn't stand this book and I gave it up after a couple of hours (which I almost never do). If the kids have to cry in that book, mentioning it will suffice. I don't want to hear it.

I am half way through the book and I'm wondering where the suspense in supposed to be. I feel like I have to finish it because I just spend 6 hours on it..

I agree with the other reviewers that the crying/screeching at the beginning was very annoying. I don't like this narrator at all.

Also, there seems to be something wrong with this audio book..the end of chapter 31 seems to be missing

I would not recommend this book to anyone.

The voice of the teenagers, especially Meghan. Her voice was so overdone with the "braces lisp" and the "over-the-top" drama, I almost clicked this off and moved it to "archived". I know how dramatic teens can be, I had two, but the narration was just so repulsive to me. Also, the character of Jill was too unbelievable. There is no mother on earth that would not love and protect her children, but she was just "too much".

Tone down the voice of Meghan. Jill needed to be more realistic.

Yes.

No!

I love Lisa Scottoline, but, this one left me unsatisfied. The basic storyline was great and initially stimulated my interest, but it left me cold. I barely listened to the last few chapters.