Banking on Death

Booktrack Edition

By: Emma Lathen

Narrated by: Deaver Brown

Length: 6 hrs and 11 mins

Publisher's summary

Banking on Death: Booktrack Edition adds an immersive musical soundtrack to your audiobook listening experience!*

This is the first of 37 Emma Lathen best sellers. The Sloan receives a request for an advance against a trust that does not permit it. John Putnam Thatcher gets involved by one heir, Arthur Schneider, President of Schneider Manufacturing, and grandson of the founder who left a trust for his grandchildren upon the death of all of their parents. The last parent is about to die from natural causes. One heir is missing and Thatcher, Trinkam, and Nicholls, all Emma Lathen regulars, work to find the missing heir. Soon they learn a murder is involved and it takes Thatcher to unravel the Gordian knot. This is Emma Lathen at her best.

Booktrack is an immersive listening experience that pairs traditional audiobook narration to complementary music and sound effects. The tempo and rhythm of the score are in perfect harmony with the action and characters throughout the audiobook. Gently playing in the background, the music never overpowers or distracts from the narration, so listeners can enjoy every minute. When you purchase this Booktrack edition, you receive the exact narration as the traditional audiobook available, with the addition of music throughout.

Please note: The audio for this title has noise issues at the beginning and end of each file/chapter.

*Booktrack is an immersive format that pairs traditional audiobook narration to complementary music. The tempo and rhythm of the score are in perfect harmony with the action and characters throughout the audiobook. Gently playing in the background, the music never overpowers or distracts from the narration, so listeners can enjoy every minute. When you purchase this Booktrack edition, you receive the exact narration as the traditional audiobook available, with the addition of music throughout.

©1961 Emma Lathen (P)2017 Deaver Brown

I wanted the words, not the music

This is an excellent book. I wish I could have listened to it without the strain of sorting out the words from the musical noise. I won't call it background music--it's foreground music! I could hardly hear the narration. How this ever got past the audible staff I can't imagine.

Uninspired by the performance

I have read many of the Emma Lathen books over the past 15-20 years. I have always enjoyed the mix of business and murder mystery the authors bring to the stories. Since I started listening to books, I have looked for Emma Lathen in audio. I was very excited when I recently found several of the John Putnam Thatcher series on Audible. I couldn't wait to hear the voice of the famous sleuth. Also, all of the audio books I listen to have one or two people acting the voices of the characters. These types of performances are usually excellent. This performance of someone simply reading the book was disappointing. I have books 2-5 in this series but I am not sure I will listen to them.

Scrub white noise from sound track

The background music and other white noise makes this book unbearable. I could not follow the narrator. Who thought having constant droning while the narrator is reading would be a good idea? I kept hearing Dr. Phil “WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!?” I want this scrubbed up and the cover to say new and revised. It could be a good story. I wouldn’t know.

Background effects ruin the story

Back in the day, I read all of Emma Laathan's work. This audio version ruins the experience--strange sound effects--make it difficult to listen.

Bad Reading and Awful Sound Track

It takes a lot of effort to ruin Emma Lathen. This recording tried hard and did so. The narrator read badly, pausing inappropriately. The distracting music, crowd noise, and doorbells never end.

Unfortunately, I’ve already bought the next one.

Narrator is awful!

The background music is distracting. The narrator is unintelligible. He stops when he turns the page. He makes mistakes and corrects them. These are classic stories and this one is just awful as a listen.

Disappointing

I am a long time fan of Emma Lathen. I was delighted to see that Audible would be carrying her books.

However . . . .

This is quite possibly the worst recording I have ever purchased from Audible. Aside from the distracting (and in many places irrelevant) sound effects, the reader is wrong for these books. He sounds significantly older than the characters and he stumbles over simple words. These errors were not corrected by the sound editor, so evidently this reader was deemed acceptable to the production company.

I am so disappointed that the other books in this series are read by the same reader. I strongly recommend you listen to a sample of the book (either version, with/without sound effects) before purchase.