Case Histories: A Novel

I was looking for a lightly entertaining british mystery novel, but instead found this artfully interwoven collection of timeshifting stories that manages to never feel gimmicky and delivers terrific payoffs. I regret the former reviewer didn't stick with the story, because they missed out on some fantastic character development, truly fine writing and what ends up being a really satifying narrative. Speaking of narrator, Susan Jameson does a fantastic job and her rich delivery of the many different dialects really brings the story to life. She also does a great job with the male characters, which is so often the downfall of opposite sex audiobook artists. Highly reccomend!

i loved this book. i was fascinated by the stories and the structure of the novel, watching the characters and their stories unfold. when it ended, i so wanted it not to be over. the narration was excellent. lots of characters, but she managed to imbue them with enough individuality that a listener can easily follow. i'm looking for other works by this novelist for my library.

Kate Atkinsons' writing is on the sunny side of popular fiction. Mostly because, it's her story-telling talent which make her books enjoyable, and not a low common denominator type of popularity.

I must admit the core plot is just a tv series type of "cold cases" suspense story. However, what makes it a worthwhile listen is the focus on the individuals left behind these "cold case" stories.
In addition, the book provides a variety of bitter-sweet lovable characters, that make the story captivating.
(and ofcourse there's Susan Jameson's next to perfect narration).

I liked this book a lot, it was really different. At first, the story seemed disjointed. You are slowly introduced to the tie-ins but it comes together smoothly. The characters in the stories are explored and exposed. The ending was kind of abrupt, I thought I missed something. I liked the narrator. She had perfect delivery and emotion. I was looking forward to listening to the second in the series, but it is abridged. I don't do abridged. Instead I look forward to listening to the third in the series, which has been highly rated. Give this one a try.

I got this book despite some negative reviews because many people said it was really good. The story was good and eventually I did become engaged in it, despite the fact that the first chapter was really quite annoying. I think the narration harmed the book rather than helped it, the narrator was fine when just reading but as soon as she did dialogue her voice became very grating and men and women took on a strange high pitched tone which made many characters very unlikeable. I think this book would be better in paper form and I do plan on getting the next one but will probably read it myself although I might listen carefully to the audible preview to see if the different narrators do a better job.

I admire Ms. Atkinson's ability to weave a simple sentence into a beautiful tapistry. She writes beatifully. But, I found this book difficult to keep up with. It jumped from one scene to another, from one time to another, and often seemed to have missed entire scenes until they appeared suddenly much later. At first, it felt like a series of exercises in a class for descriptive writing. The stories seemed totally disjointed and I found myself wondering if I even wanted to continue. But threads became evident, and eventually the connections were made. By the last 3rd of the book, I was no longer interested enough to care and when I fell asleep, I didn't bother to back it up to replay it. I, personally, was disappointed in it overall, but I must say again, the author has a beautiful technique and talent for description. Couple that with the voice of Susan Jameson, and the issues I found with the structure become tolerable.

Ms. Atkinson's writing is silky smooth constantly going down little lanes full of character details. I was totally drawn in to this book which is full of tension. The biggest tension is between the smooth, slow pace of the sentences and the feeling something big is just around the corner. When that big thing comes, it really isn't as big as the details of the characters' lives. For some readers, this is a let down; for me, this is an honest approach, very grounded, very real. I can't wait for more of Kate's voice.

This novel is a well written collage of several stories which intertwine mysteriously. I enjoyed it very much.

It always surprises me when I read negative reviews of a book I completely enjoyed, and in this instance I couldn't disagree with the naysayers more. If you prefer your characters well rounded and real, the story line captivating and the narration a delight to listen to, you'll enjoy this listen.

I thought the characters, plot, etc. were realistic and very well "painted" by Atkinson. I liked how no one was "all good" or "all bad." Like real-life, I found the people portrayed to be interesting, but also full of surprises (some good, some bad). My only "quibble" with the book was the end felt quite rushed. Having been quite eloquent and verbose, the final chapters seemed to somewhat "fall off, abruptly." But still didn't undermine the book! Woo hoo! Well-done, Kate!