The Fifth Vial

This book seems to be only a rearrangement of some core concepts found in his other books with simple modifications. While the concept is very intriguing, the dialog is simple and the plot twists can be seen miles away. The ending is especially ridiculous, complete with warriors sacrificing their lives, good guys double-crossing and turning out to be evil, bad guys getting their comeuppance, and the heroine saving the day and all turning out wonderfully for her. More cheese than a pound of Velveeta.

the narrator ruined it for me. Unfortunately, the story calls for a wide variety of foreign accents, all of which are affected by the narrator as a sort of transylvanian vampire/swedish chef.

great narrator, thriller plot

Natalie's lifesaving receipt of a healthy lung at story's end

no I haven't but I will definitely do so now!

when Natalie almost lost her niece in the fire

if you're looking for a story which has many twists and turns, and lots of surprises, get The Fifth Vial! It took me awhile to like the private detective in the book; he didn't seem too inteligent! But by the time the story ended, he had my respect. J Charles was a new narrator to me, and I wasn't sure how he sounded. But, he was great! Get The Fifth Vial by Michael Palmer, you will not be sorry!

This book had everything I expect in a good novel; 1) Characters I grow to care about 2) An interesting plot 3) Enough action/events to keep the story moving. You are pulled into the story quickly and not let go. Good narration. Not the best out there... I recommend Chris Ride's books. Worth a credit though.

In general, I love medical mystery / dramas but this one just didn't do it for me. First, it was poorly written; the author frequently would repeat words and phrases - like, "She ___ to anyone and anything," and the word "conflagration" which I can only assume the author came across in the thesaurus and fell in love with, hence the repetition. Unnecessary words are added too, which I think the author added to give it a more "medical" feel, but just had me shaking me head and chuckling sadly, like "She felt for a pulse in her carotid artery." Couldn't he have just said, "She felt for a pulse"? Second, he throws in completely un-related scenes, many of which had me thinking they had something to do with the story, so I slogged through them - only to find out that they were, in fact, pointless. What a waste of time!

Lastly, the narrator sounds like he's suffering a terrible head cold. I kept wanting to yell at him "just clear your throat already!!" And as if all that wasn't so bad, the voices the narrator uses to distinguish one character from another are just terrible. The accents he puts on are poorly done and the woman-voices he affects are laughable.

Terrible experience, all around. Like my review title says - I really wanted to like this book, but I just couldn't.

The story was interesting...as far as I got. This is the worst reader ever. I do not understand how an author or Audible publishes audiobooks with such terrible readers when there is so much talent out there. Do not waste your credits. Go to the library and read this one.

A little predicable in parts but overall an enjoyable listen

I'm not the type that wants all the good guys to be saints and all the bad guys to be demons. I'm the type that likes the protagonist to have a really humanistic personality where the good does out way the bad but he/she is not perfect. This book is one of those predictible cheeseball books where good always prevails and it's perfectly obvious that it's going to no matter how the odds may be against the good guys. Narration was good. It was brutal to get through though.

Palmer is one of my favorite authors and I love all his books...but he just gets better and better with every book he writes...more twists and turns than the best roller coaster.

What a great read (listen) The Fifth Vial by Michael Palmer was! I didn't want to stop until it was over and when it did end it left me wanting more! It is a great book and I think one of the best I have read (listened to) in quite awhile. Enjoy!