Crow Hollow

By: Michael Wallace

Narrated by: Rosemary Benson

Length: 10 hrs and 36 mins

Publisher's summary

In 1676, an unlikely pair - a young Puritan widow and an English spy - journeys across a land where greed and treachery abound.

Prudence Cotton has recently lost her husband and is desperate to find her daughter, captured by the Nipmuk tribe during King Philip's war. She's convinced her daughter is alive but cannot track her into the wilderness alone. Help arrives in the form of James Bailey, an agent of the crown sent to Boston to investigate the murder of Prudence's husband and to covertly cause a disturbance that would give the king just cause to install royal governors. After his partner is murdered, James needs help too. He strikes a deal with Prudence, and together they traverse the forbidding New England landscape looking for clues. What they confront in the wilderness - and what they discover about each other - could forever change their allegiances and alter their destinies.

©2015 Michael Wallace (P)2015 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

well worth the time, if the book is on sale.

This book is not high art by any means, but I appreciate it's existence, as someone who enjoys audio daily. It is a nice clenser between heavier works. While the story is nothing spectacular, nor are the characters, they are well serviceable. I will admit to being impressed with the care put into setting and wondrously avoiding many tropes other historical novels use.

Just okay.

Would you try another book from Michael Wallace and/or Rosemary Benson?

This will be a short review.

I listened to this one on Audible and I found the narrator to be a little overwhelmed by playing several male characters all which had the same inflections in their voices. Unfortunately, I was a little underwhelmed by the story in general. Prudence Cotton is a New Englander puritan whose village was ransacked by Nipmuck natives. She was taken hostage along with her young daughter and held captive for several years. Since then she has been freed, but her daughter is thought dead when the British soldiers raided the Indian village. Prudence believes she is alive.

James Bailey is an English spy, in the colonies to steal their charters. With the help of Peter Church he hopes to investigate the native attack on Prudence's village and that of Crow's Hollow. Events bring Prudy and James together to solve this mystery. While I find myself fascinated by historical fiction, this one felt strained. The unyielding Puritan faith was often quite annoying and while I was sure the author purposefully injected Gods wrath and the threat of eternal torment to depict the people of that age as well as the hypocrisy of their actions, I eventually found it so incredibly tedious.

That isn't to say that I didn't enjoy the book. Prudence is clever but she feels opportunistic and you never know what to make of James, who comes off as arrogant for the majority of the story. There are no good guys and no bad guys in this story. The native Americans are portrayed as villains and victims, as much as the British. Other than a few brief mentions, Crow Hollow has little to nothing to do with the story making me believe the name was selected because it sounded cool.

Enjoyed

enjoyed the story. The narration was very good and expressive. Love history, and this was a good piece of history that I haven't spent much time thinking about.

Don't pass this one up!

Great story. Overall plot slightly predictable but there were plenty of twists, turns, and the sort to keep me guessing. In one sentence: I loved this book!

This was actually my first audiobook and I couldn't have had a better experience.

Glad I stayed with it....

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, it was a good story set in historical New England about 100 years before the US Revolutions. Provided some insights as to harsh living conditions of that time and how early Americans lived.

Have you listened to any of Rosemary Benson’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No

The author gives you a great internal struggle

The story gives you pause in your sense of patriotism, your turn between wanting the protagonist to win and wanting him to lose much like Putacotton in the story. a great listen, the reader does an alright male voice and remembered whose voice belonged where, better then others I've heard. Full of adventure, some mystery, and intrigue, I could have gone for a bit less descriptive during the proactive scene but I don't think you'll be disappointed at all. Buy the book and enjoy!

An intriguing story.

Hard to stop listening until the end. I would have preferred less graphic sex. Overall a very good story.

1676 Puritans, Kidnapping, Indians and Intrigue

When The King’s Man, James Bailey shows up to investigate the murder of Sir Benjamin Cotton, husband of Prudence Cotton, there seems to be more on the agenda. Sent by King Charles II, James has a mission to perform, and several agents in and around Boston to help him. The Colonies are organizing and seeking to form a separate government for independence from England. The peaceable Puritans, as all Christians, are not as pure as they’d like others to believe. One of my favorite parts of book is the Praying Indian, Peter Church, and his boldness in standing up at the Puritan church meeting in defense of his faith. The intrigue surrounding his demise tore at me until the end when it was finally solved. Feisty Prudence is a great match for James Bailey, and as they travel in search for her kidnapped daughter, they both mature and change . . . for the better. Excellent historical tale of the earliest Americans, their struggles and of their encounters with the Indians . . . well told . . .

Well...

The narration portraying a strong Puritan woman is halting and breathy - frustratingly portraying her as weak. The overall performance was fair.

The story was fine as well - taking a good while to actually engage me, but keeping me interested after it finally did.

After listening to The Midwife's Revolt by Jodi Daynard, which I found was excellent - well researched and beautifully read - this was a little less than enthralling, however it was good enough.

If you can find it on sale give it a try. But not sure if I'd spend a credit on it.

Amazing!

I absolutely loved this book, was very well done caught my attention quickly, even though starting it off was hard to follow once you understand the main characters and can decipher between them it gets alot simpler to follow along and to enjoy. Worth the money!