Corridors of the Night

A William Monk Novel

By: Anne Perry

Narrated by: David Collacci

Length: 10 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's summary

Anne Perry, that incomparable novelist of life in Victorian England, has once again surpassed herself with this 21st installment of her New York Times best-selling William Monk series. In Corridors of the Night, nurse Hester Monk and her husband, William, commander of the Thames River Police, do desperate battle with two obsessed scientists who, in the name of healing, have turned to homicide. The monomaniacal Rand brothers - Magnus, a cunning doctor, and Hamilton, a genius chemist - are utterly ruthless in their pursuit of a cure for the fatal "white-blood disease". In London's Royal Naval Hospital annex, Hester is tending one of the brothers' dying patients - wealthy Bryson Radnor - when she stumbles upon three weak, terrified young children and learns, to her horror, that they've been secretly purchased and imprisoned by the Rands for experimental purposes. But the Rand brothers are too close to a miracle cure to allow their experiments to be exposed. Before Hester can reveal the truth, she, too, becomes a prisoner. As Monk and his faithful friends - distinguished lawyer Oliver Rathbone and reformed brothel keeper Squeaky Robinson among them - scour London's grimy streets and the beautiful English countryside searching for her, Hester's time, as well as the children's, is quickly draining away. Taut with intrigue and laced with white-knuckled terror, Corridors of the Night is Anne Perry at her magnificent, unforgettable best.

©2015 Anne Perry (P)2015 Recorded Books

Another thriller

There are two stories in this thriller. One involving Monk and a separate one with Hester. Hester is kidnapped and held to assist in the care of an ill patient who suffers from "white blood" disease. The doctor is trying to find a cure. I loved all of the medical references. Especially those about whole blood transfusion and their lzck.of knowledge concerning why it didn't work most of the time. The "posse" that comes to rescue Hester and the children includes Squeaky and Worm. The story is wel! written, overall it was kind of a downer even though there is a moral justice at the end.

awesome ending!!!

great ending...edge of seat the whole way! I would suggest this book most definitely. Everyone got what was due!

Brilliantly written

This is book 21 of the Monk series. The books are historical fiction based in the 1850’s London. This book features my favorite character Hester. Hester is a nurse who was one of Nightingales’ team of nurses in the Crimean War. In this story Hester is filling in for a friend on the night shift at the Greenwich Hospital. Hester discovers research is being conducted on indigent men, women and children without their knowledge. If you have read other books in this series you know that Hester’s ethics are of the highest caliber. She sets out to correct the situation and suddenly disappears. Monk and all their friends are hunting for Hester.

Perry again exposes the rotten underbelly of 19th Century London, with its huge disparity between the wealthy elite and the impoverished lower working classes. (Sound familiar.) Perry is a fantastic writer of historical fiction, her characters are alive, complex; their personalities are real and the speech reflects their status and upbringing in the Victorian era. Perry provides a nuance and strong layer of moral questions which elevate the story. The story also demonstrates how far the criminal justice system has advanced with crime scene investigation and forensics. I was particularly interested in the status of nursing and medicine Perry revealed in the story; also found the information on blood transfusions fascinating. Perry not only tells a good story but educates the reader about the history of the Victorian era. David Colacci does a good job narrating the story; he is one of my favorite narrators.

Starting to get kind of predictable

Another good series that I will continue to listen to for now. The plots are becoming very predictable but I still like the characters.

This mystery kept us on the edge of our seats.

This book was enjoyable and suspensful from syart to finish. The narrator is good and the writing was well researched and written.

Magnificent writer.

This book was stupendous. Ms. Perry developed the characters with such a precision, provoking in me all sorts of feelings, including Hate.

Hester: kidnapped!! Medical mystery

Interesting and different from a usual murder mystery. The plot causes the reader to think about the progress medicine has gone through over time.
Liked learning more about Hester.

Loved it!

Anne Perry is a lovely writer. You can always expect that twist in the end. And Hester could never be replaced.

Justice served cold

This book features wonderful, beautiful irony. Everybody gets what they deserve, but not in the usual way.

Interesting story not as harrowing as some

Either I have gotten used to Anne Perry's storytelling, or she has slacked off a little in this one. Or possibly it's the way David Colacci reads it. This was an involving tale of a medical and criminal mystery, but there were elements of it that were not entirely satisfying. Even so, it's far more entertaining than a lot of what gets published and recorded.
I will say this – Colacci's English accent is distracting, far more so than if he had just read it without trying. He's a wonderful narrator – I enjoy him in other audiobooks - but for some reason, for these, he has developed a speech pattern that features an odd emphasis and rhythm, which I think he thinks makes him sound grave and British. It doesn't. It just sounds sort of, I don't know, pompous?
I am a little puzzled why the gig wasn't given to an actual Brit. Even so, an involving mystery, with hints at future developments, which seems to be the norm for series writers these days.