One Summer

I love David Baldacci's books, any genre. And I think Ron McLarty is a wonderful narrator (and author). That said, I have no idea whether this book was any good because I simply could not tolerate the way it was produced. Those of us devoted to audiobooks love BOOKS of all kinds, and audio is just another way to "read" them. Unless a book is expressly written to be a PLAY, please do not try to make it into one by having other narrators inject quotes by different characters. Great narrators like McLarty have their own way of creating different, identifiable characters (male and female) in an understated way; this works well and doesn't disrupt the flow of the story. Using multiple narrators works in some cases, such as "The Help," because there are whole sections coming from the point of view of a certain character; note, in those cases each narrator will do all the quotes in a section.

This is the second Audible book in as many weeks that I have abandoned due to this annoying method of production.

(Apologies to Mr. Baldacci - maybe I'll get this one on my Kindle.)

I really enjoy David Baldacci's books, and Ron McLarty's performances of them, so I expected to settle in with this one and be pleasantly entertained with a different type of story from an author I much admired. What I got was a cheesy gloppy sappy predictable mess. Added to the predictability of the plot was over the top schmaltzy piano music that made me want to gag. I am so disappointed. Baldacci fans will want to avoid this one.

The book itself was a decent read, but the female voices were like chalk on a blackboard. I could not figure out which one I disliked more. I found the attitude of the daughter......even for a teen!.......unbelievable under the circumstances and the voice given by the reader magnified it. Let's let a seasoned narrator like Ron McLarty do his own voices.

I think someone--probably Nicholas Sparks-- took over David Baldacci's body and wrote this. This was so disappointing. I have loved Baldacci's other books and couldn't believe that this came from him. Totally predictable and quite boring.

I personally don't like high suspense mysteries as is the case with most of David's books. This one and the Christmas Train were ones that I absolutely loved. Reading Wish you well now and loving it too!

First Baldacci book I read; I really enjoyed it & It kept my interest. I'm sure I'll read more.

I love Baldacci's works and thoroughly enjoyed his other non-traditional book--Wish You Well. But this was a ham handed attempt to play the violin. His inspiration was right--it was a story that had great potential, but the execution was clumsy.

I couldn't believe how much this seemed like some of Sparks' novels-death, beach setting, the dialogue. Several years ago Baldacci wrote "Wish You Well". It was not his typical novel but it was a wonderful story, well written and great characters. It reminded me of "To Kill a Mockingbird".I can't say the same for this one.
I like Ron McLarty's performance but didn't enjoy Orlagh Cassidy's.

This is my first Baldacci and my first audio book experience. I think the book was well written and a nice, light summer read. I think the bad reviews may be because people want a more traditional "Baldacci" book. I think its great that the can step outside of the box and dabble in a different genre. I wasn't a huge fan of the Narration, but that may be because Im used to hearing my own voices as I read. If your looking for a quick, beach/pool read, this is your book.

I seldom write about my listener experience... however, this novel is pretty bad... not well written and more of a "chick" flick despite the faat that I am an elderly "chick"