The Other Woman

The author is pretty famous here in Boston but I didn't know she had a book series (I don't watch the channel she is on). The plot seemed interesting but it was inspired by a number of local references, so us locals may have a slight positive bias.

The writing wasn't bad. She's no Lehane but the characters and the dialog were ok however with the bad production its a little hard to tell.

No. As I said in the subject: bad production. Might recommend the print version although not strongly.

Really really bad. The novel has a lot so short chapters cutting quickly between characters and scenes and this reader does no voices and almost no tonal changes so it is very hard to follow. Around the middle of the book she at least gets some emotion in her voice during action but that's about as far as it goes. To compound matters there are often no pauses between chapters so one chapter ends. The next chapter begins with the different character talking with no tonal shifts, no pauses..you're like wait a minute. This is a completely different character/scene.

On top of that this particular book resets to the beginning every time you pause. You have to keep track of where you are yourself and skip all the way from the front every time you play it. I've had problems with other books but never this bad. Even pauses (not stops) reset to the beginning.

It was ok. Nothing special. Very very annoying from a usability point of view.

Tried to listen up to chapter 10, then had to abandon. It just did not grab my attention at all. Another wasted credit.

A better narrator might have helped the incredibly ridiculous story. More likable characters and a more believable plot might have also helped - although I really felt this book was irredeemable.

Created characters that I cared about. None of these people seemed real or likable to me. The main character seems to bumble her way to a big story.

This book was set in Boston, yet not one character had a Boston accent. In fact, it was hard to tell one from the other because they all sounded essentially the same.

Disappointment would be the primary feeling. The author is apparently an award-winning television journalist and may be a great reporter but it would take a large sum of money to get me to read/listen to another one of her books.

I never felt this book had any focus or purpose. The lead character had integrity, I guess, because she wouldn't sleep with the cop she really liked because it would have violated her journalistic ethics and put her job at risk. But other than being ethical, she does not seem exceptional in any other way. Likewise, each of the other characters seem to have their own problems that kept me from caring about them. This may just a matter of taste, but I found this whole experience unfortunate. This is one of the few Audible books that I have not liked at least a little bit.

The amazing thing was that, at the end, best-selling author Lee Child interviewed the author and told her how great he thought the book was. The interview was more interesting than the book but it sounded like it was recorded on a bus based on the amount of extraneous background sounds.

I was so disappointed by the opening of this book I could go no further. Writers are told that the first scene of a novel should capture the reader, make them feel as though they are in the hands of a master who will take them on a wonderful journey.

The writing in the opening is amateurish, characterization and dialog poor. The author tries awkwardly to give us time, place, backstory. Do the following excerpts sound to YOU like what a realistic seasoned detective is thinking and saying at a murder scene? Or does it sound more like Jake, the new boy-detective, the master of cliches and dumb thoughts?

He recognized television. Radio. That kid from the paper. How did they get here that fast?

Too bad I can’t call Jane. She’d love this.

What does Jane always say? It bleeds, it leads. At least her stories aren’t like that.

The EMT’s scrambling out of the doors. No need for them to hurry, Jake thought. She’d been dead for at least three hours. Just like the other woman.

***
And, REALLY, can you "hear" this exchange among crime reporters at a murder scene?

“One a couple a weeks ago, one today, that’s two.” "Is two murders serial?” “Both by water. Both by Bridges...That’s serial. We’re going with that. Maybe… The River Killer.’
“We are, too. The Bridge Killer.”
***

The description is pretty well written. But if I'm going to spend hours of my time listening to a novel, I expect good writing. I gave two stars for the story because I had to rate it. Actually I have no idea.

If you're thinking of buying this one, listen to the sample. My own fault, buying this loser. Should have listened to the sample. Got caught up in the reviews. When will I learn?

The book itself was interesting, however, the quick switching between characters didn't lend itself to an audio book, as it took a while to figure out we had changed scenes. That could have been corrected by a reader who would indicate, through voice tone or pauses, that a change had occurred.

No. The narrator was too irritating.

I'm not sure, but this narrator ruined the audio for me. First of all, she kept switching the pronunciation of the main character from "Jean" to "Jane." I didn't know until I checked a written description, that the character's name was "Jane." For a while, I thought there were two characters with similar names. She also mispronounced another character's name, though not as much. Most of the time it was "Moira" pronounced "Moy - Rah", which was a somewhat irritating name. Sometimes it was "Maura" or "Mora".

I have noticed similar comments from other reviewers. It is really important who narrates a book.