The Ryder Quartet

Volumes 1-4

De: Ian Patrick

Narrado por: Ian Patrick

Four high-octane crime thrillers, each critically acclaimed as separate publications, now collected in a set. Hundreds of five-star reviews of the individual volumes testify to their reputation as action-packed thrillers steeped in authenticity and plausibility, reflecting the real world of police encounters with the dark world of crime.

©2017 Ian Patrick (P)2017 Ian Patrick

Couldn't stop listening.

Listened to all four volumes within one week. This is an accurate account of the crime and corruption faced by people living in Durban, South Africa. The crimes are truly awful and corruption exists at all levels. The story is engaging and the characters well developed. I was quickly drawn into their lives and found myself caring about them. Ian Patrick clearly understands the characters, both good and evil, and captures their wide variety of accents with ease. I highly recommend the audible version.

Thrills all the way and so relevant

I live in the region where these books are set and they are so real and powerful. It's quite depressing, actually, how accurate they are. These crimes take place every day and the locations of the crimes are places known to me in many cases. The characters are the kinds of people I bump into every day, and the accents are very well done.

I thought that the women characters needed a woman's voice, but I don't know whether that is the convention in audio-books. Anyway, the women characters are particularly well created in the books, I thought, and they would benefit from having a woman narrator in the audio version.

That's a small gripe but I thought the thrillers were among the best police crime books I've experienced.

Very satisfying

This was a super set of crime fiction books. I was completely taken in by the mood and atmosphere, the friendly teasing of the detectives (especially their rendition of different versions of the main game at the rugby world cup - that was hilarious), and the struggle between good and evil: cops and robbers. There is a dog in the story who is almost like the main good guy. I won't spoil it for others, but that dog is a champion. The way in which the stories fall into place together - with each one of them being an independent ("stand-alone" as the commentary on the books says) book, is fantastic. I didn't feel that I was listening to (and reading while listening) episodes of the same book, but at the end it felt like I had. It is all a great epic struggle and I couldn't wait for the next chapter in each case. Most of all, this is not just a set of crime fiction thrillers. It is a wonderful essay on the social and political turmoil of South Africa and the way in which crime is destroying the country. This is a really important book to listen to.

narrator gets better

Worth sticking with the first couple of volumes. Narrator gets better as he goes, but relies too much on tempo and volume rather than more subtle voice inflection. Transitions sometimes too fast so it is difficult to recognize who is supposed to be speaking, thus can be a bit confusing. Otherwise a good story in a new setting.

Very, very good.

I read / listened to some short stories by the author some time ago and I've had this on my Audible shelf for years. I finally got to it this past week. It is so brilliant. I'm hugely impressed. The characters and the real-world violent interactions between police and criminals is breathtaking. There are four stories here which can be read as single dramas, but they also make a four-part series with the central characters there all the way through. Like a Netflix series. Very, very good. Narration is clear and the accents well created.