Agnes and the Hitman

I've recently become a fan of Jennifer Crusie and I think the "Hitman" book is a nice addition to her list of titles. The book itself seems to be a lot of fun; the characters are a little stereotypical but it's fitting for the genre and entertaining nonetheless. My biggest problem with the book was the narrator. The Cranky Agnes character could be a lot of fun for a narrator to read and this could have been one of those books that enhances the writing with a great narration. But to me it sounded like the narrator was going for a Marilyn Monroe-esque voice for Agnes that, in my opinion, did not fit with the descriptions, dialogue or character. The other characters talked at times about their fear of Agnes when she is angry, but the little breathy Marilyn voice just didn't strike fear into my heart. I didn't hear Cranky Agnes, I heard Ditzy Agnes.

I agree with other reviewers that the echo chamber effect used when characters are thinking is annoying and unnecessary, plus very difficult to hear. A good narrator is generally able to distinguish thinking from dialogue with vocal inflections and I have almost never found myself confused as to what is a thought versus dialogue in other audiobooks. It's still a good book, and it's still a fun listen, but I think it could have been a lot more with some different choices on the part of the narrator and producer.

This book had great characters and was laugh-out-loud funny! If you like comedy with a splash of mystery and romance, you won't regret this purchase.

Crusie and Mayer have written a fun action-romance book with compelling characters. Unfortunately, this audio production is annoying. While Sandra Burr does a credible job switching between characters, her vocal performance as Agnes gives the character an almost lightweight presence, which made me take her less seriously as a heroine. More irritating are the echo effects applied to the characters' interior thoughts. I usually walk while listening to audiobooks, and I found the echo was difficult to hear unless I had the volume turned way up, which then made the main body of the piece too loud to hear anything else.

I'm about a third of the way through this and am not sure I'll finish it. The narration is horrible, although it's not necessarily the narrator's fault. The author uses lots of "asides" given in the characters' thoughts, and the director or producer of this book decided to use a "canned" effect to differentiate the thoughts from the general narration. These asides have a "canned" sound, and are recorded at a much lower volume than the rest of the narration. If I don't turn the volume way up (so it then blasts my eardrums when regular narration resumes), I can't hear them, so I feel as if I'm missing half of the book. This is so disruptive that I've tuned out a lot of what I've been trying to listen to. The main character has imagined conversations with her psychiatrist in addition to other asides, but I can't understand what is being said in any of these parts because of the "special" effects. Whoever controlled these effects did a real disservice to the author, the narrator, and the listener. I generally like Jennifer Crusie books, but I don't know whether I'll finish this one. Thumbs down!!

I'm always a bit skeptical when I see two authors have paired up to write one book, but in this case, it worked. Jennifer Crusie's great characters and humor, but with an edge to it that makes it very different. The narrator does a great job, too, wtih all the different voices. Totally improbable plot, but I enjoyed it nonetheless!

This is a great fun book. The narration was perfect and I found myself smiling while listening to most of it. I recommend this if you are looking for a light read that will keep you interested and make you laugh.

You want to laugh you pants off then give this book a listen what Agnes can't do with Frying pan the hitman takes care of the rest a great well writen story with a great reader.

Excellent narration. It's amazing how one person can do all those voices and keep them straight. The book was a fun romp and I didn't want it to end. I hope we'll see more of these characters in another book in the future.

The narrator is distracting, and takes away from the story, but the story itself if fun. I enjoyed the characters. It definitely took me a while to get into the story, because of the narrator.

What a great book! Murder to romance all with wise cracks. I try to listen 15 minutes at a time, but got so caught up in the book that I ended up staying up to listen. It's genuinely funny and heartwarming.