High John the Conqueror: A Novel

De: Tariq Goddard

Narrado por: Tariq Goddard

When children start going missing in a rural town, the investigation takes twists and turns into the strange world of privilege and the realm of the occult.

"I always wanted to be a writer, but I became a policeman instead."

Wessex, 2016. Teenagers are vanishing off the council estates of a small provincial city. A crop of herbs that are said to posses magical powers which only grow once every 50 years are found in the woods. A supernatural creature believed to be the guardian of the herbs is seen in nightmares. Rumors of orgiastic rituals on the estates of the rich and powerful excite the curious. And the queen of England decides to celebrate her 90th birthday with a visit to the city’s famous cathedral spire.

Into this madness, two ambitious detectives, one with doomed literary ambitions, seek to solve the mystery, their only lead that “posh people are taking our children”.

Blending mysticism, class war, societal malfeasance, and transcendence, High John the Conqueror identifies the point in our recent history when the ghosts of our past become the political monsters of the present.

©2022 Tariq Goddard (P)2022 Watkins Publishing

Great Novel, So-So Author Narration

I'd like to begin positively by saying I really liked this story. The author did an excellent job of describing people in their own minds and situations, and he sure can turn a phrase. His voice is superb, gravely and sexy even, and fits the main character very well. However, this book could have been elevated to incredible status of he had even a days worth of voice coaching/acting. He just.... reads it. Audiobooks are a *performance*, I want to be immersed in their world for a little while. Also, he does zero distinction in voice between ANY of the characters. Not even a differentiation between male and female, which makes it very hard sometimes to know who is speaking when the main character goes from a long inner monologue, and then back into conversation. A shame. Could have been five stars instead of three if only he'd been assed to think about this.

That said, it's not enough to put me off his books, The man can write!