Close to Home

When people write about the "Golden Age of Mystery" they're always referring to the 1930's. Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers and all that. Well, as much as I enjoy those classic mysteries, I say the Golden Age of Mystery is right now. If you don't agree, just check out this first rate contemporary suspenser from Peter Robinson.
The audio version adds immeasurably to the experience. Reader Ron Keith brings the characters to life with a wide range of English accents that I, as a Midwesterner, couldn't have begun to conjure up. (No, not even with close study of Masterpiece Theater.)

I enjoy this series. I do not enjoy the reader. I would give the book and the series a 4+ and the reader a 2-. Average is 3, a very real compromise.

This is an OK story with an OK reader, but it has a meandering pace and is slow going.

I looked forward to reading another Peter Robinson book after Friend of the Devil. Couldn't even give it a chance because the reader was so AWFUL. Weird intonations, nasal, bizarre.

Interesting, well written, all the usual suspects, but it felt a little flat for me. I good listen and worth the credit just not my favorite Banks so far.

I liked the dual storyline, connected only by Banks' perceptions of each boy. How we often pick out traits in a person that we long to be or fear then idealize or condemn.

I would only recommend it in written form. The narrator totally distracted from the story.

He made Banks sound (to quote my Yorkshire Dad) A pompous pratt. Stilted nasal narration, and no resemblence to either a Yorkshire or southern dialect. The narration waa so annoying that it spolied the whole book.

I note the same narrator has been used in another couple of Peter Robinson's books. I shall buy them to read as I cannot listen to this narrator "murder" another good book.

At the four hour mark, I have to agree with the other reviewer(s) - the narrator?s nasal Scottish brogue and stilted, halting delivery are both annoying and distracting. And maybe I've been spoiled with faster-paced American mysteries by Jonathan Kellerman, John Sandford and Patricia Cornwell. By comparison, Close To Home creeps along at an arthritic snail's pace. Perhaps it will get better, but so far . . . pretty underwhelming.

I'm about halfway through this lengthy audio book and only now have become accustomed to the nasal British accent of the reader. His voice is not one I really enjoy listening to--much of the reading sounds very stilted and forced. As for the story, I have found myself daydreaming while listening and when I start to pay attention again have missed little. There is far too much reminiscing about life 30 years ago that has nothing to do with the story. Now, at the halfway point, the pace seems to pick up a bit.

Too much unnecessary detail. The reader's speech may be typical of the area of England but I found it harsh and women not very well done.
The story itself has potential. Maybe a better read where you don't have the voice and you can skim.

Holey moley, what a snoozer. Skip the book and just pop an Ambien if you're in need of a good night's sleep. If this book was condensed into 3-4 hours, it would have been at least a little bit more tolerable.