Stolen

Women of the Otherworld, Book 2

By: Kelley Armstrong

Narrated by: Nell Canning

Length: 14 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's summary

It was in Bitten, Kelley Armstrong's debut novel, that 30-year-old Elena Michaels came to terms with her feral appetites and claimed the proud identity of a beautiful, successful woman - and the only living female werewolf.

In Stolen, on a mission for her own elite pack, she is lured into the net of ruthless Internet billionaire Tyrone Winsloe, who has funded a bogus scientific investigation of the "other races" and their supernatural powers. Kidnapped and studied in his underground lab deep in the Maine woods, these paranormals - witches, vampires, shamans, werewolves - are then released and hunted to the death in a real-world video game. But when Winsloe captures Elena, he finally meets his match.

©2004 Kelley Armstrong (P)2009 Penguin

Almost DNF - couldn't stand narration.

What didn’t you like about Nell Canning’s performance?

This is obviously a female narrator, but she was giving a more feminine intonation to the male characters and a deeper, more masculine intonation to the main female character. Spoken narration of the characters came across like mumbling and almost struggled speech, where as this wasn't always present with the non-conversation "in between" narration.

It was almost like she was bored with the story but making a mild attempt to put something into the performance. This in turn made me bored with the story & wanting to shelve it as unfinishable. Only way I finished the story was to re-read it separately from the Audiobook & it ended up being not so bad.

Narrator Alert!

Never, never NEVER should the narrator change during a series! For an audiobook, the narration is 65% of the book quality. It’s really hard to get past the fact that the character of a twenty-something woman is being narrated by someone who sounds like she’s in her fifties, as I am. The character of Jeremy is spoken...very...slowly-not as though he’s calm but as though he’s not very smart. Clay’s accent is...indescribable.
In any case, it’s like listening to completely different characters and it’s very distracting. I can’t imagine why this decision was made, but it was a huge mistake.

Good Book but Positively the Wrong Narrator!

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I really enjoyed the first book in this series. In the first book wherein Elena Michaels, a werewolf, had left her pack and has been successfully living away from her pack, albeit at times inconveniently, in the big city of Chicago. She has a job, a boyfriend, and friends, just like a normal young woman should. No one knows her secret but she still has to satisfy her primal needs as a werewolf and this makes it difficult for her to live a normal night life with the man she loves. She sneaks out in the middle of the night to hunt animals but she is always conscious that she might be discovered. She is lured back to her pack by a call from the Alpha male, Jeremy, because of an "emergency", or so he said. Elena didn't believe him but she went anyway. Once there she has to face the one man she never wanted to see again, Clay, a handsome, self-centered, irresponsible, and self-indulgent werewolf. In this book, the second in the series, Elena becomes a much stronger character. As the only living female werewolf she is in a unique position because females do not usually survive the rigors of transformation. She is respected by most but much sought after by others, particularly a group of highly specialized scientists who view her as a valuable "specimen". It is left up to Elena and her fellow werewolves to solve the mystery of disappearing werewolves and witches and to break up a cadre of doctors and scientists with plans to change the face of mankind but they cannot perfect their theories without specimens. Specimens to test their theories on. They begin kidnapping individuals with special powers so they can more or less dissect them to find out what makes them "tick". The book is full of witches, vampires, werewolves, and demons. The story is good, although not as good as the first book, but the narrator was so bad I wanted to turn the book off on multiple occasions and just give it up! Her voice sounded nothing like Elena's should. She made Elena sound like a boy going through puberty. In the first book, the narrator sounded exactly like I thought Elena should sound. Her voice was that of a young woman just entering adulthood but straddling the fence between her teenage years and her young adult years. The narrator's voice and inflection portrayed Elena's emotions so well that her joy and her angst were palpable. Her ambivalent feelings toward Clay seemed real and heartfelt. The narrator made Clay sound like the spoiled and self-indulgent young man he was yet she managed to portray the softer side of Clay as well. She hit the nail on the head with Jeremy, the Alpha male. I highly recommend the first book in the series. If you can get past the narrator's voice in this book, the story line is entertaining and imaginative.

If you’ve listened to books by Kelley Armstrong before, how does this one compare?

This book is okay compared to the first book in the series which was very good

What didn’t you like about Nell Canning’s performance?

Everything. She was a poor choice as a narrator for this book. See full comments above

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

I would probably rent it on DVD but only after I watched the first "book" in the series. If I saw it in the theater I might enjoy it but I would wish I had waited until it came out on DVD. I would expect the first & second books to be the same movie but I doubt it would be a big hit, unless a really good producer, writers and actors take the script on.

Any additional comments?

Please see full review above

Great Book but......

Is there anything you would change about this book?

I really enjoy the story, it fell right in line with book one and the pace kept me interested. I was very hesitant with this book series as its not something I would typically listen and based on the other reviews I was concerned about the reader. Like the first book however the story and continuation of the character development really grabbed me and was very enjoyable. This is not a review of just the book and story however and I just could bring myself to give it more stars. The book itself was great. The writing, story and characters all very enjoyable. The issue like so many other reviews was the reader. I tried over and over to give Nell Canning credit and adjust to her style. The voice of Elena was just not right. I struggle trying to find the right word but in the end it just didn't work for me. In no way was Jeremy's voice powerful enough to really get his power or status as a pack leader across. While the reader of the first book absolutely nailed Clay's educated, playful southern accent Nell, sadly did not. I did enjoy her portrayal of Paige and I tried over and over to like Nell's version, but every time Jeremy or Clay would be involved I just shook my head. If you are able to go into this for the story knowing that the reader is not the best fit I think you will enjoy it. The book delivers where the audio doesn't.

Great series....HORRIBLE Narrator!

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The narrator.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Clay and Elena.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

She sounds like a 90 year old woman.

Any additional comments?

I hope people read the book to realize what a great series this is. Don't bother on the audio.

WORST Narrator Used

The narrator for a late twenties female - male or very old lady. Horrible

poor narrating

It was difficult to get passed the narrator using a deeper voice for the lead female. it was difficult to follow.

loved the story

I loved the story itself. the lady that read it sounded like she was at least 55 years old and it was awful.

Terrible Narration!

Love Kelley Armstrong, but this was the worst possible choice for narration ever! This is the second book in a series, if I had heard the narrator before I bought it, I would have skipped book two! This is definately a read your own book. Im usually listening from my phone so taking the time to come on my computer to write a review is more effort than I normally care to give. The reader sounds like an older woman, and the character is a young woman in her thirties........

This narrator is killing me.

If you’ve listened to books by Kelley Armstrong before, how does this one compare?

The first narrator in her first book sounded like someone who grew up in Canada, who was 5'10, 32 years old. This one sounds like she was raised in Jersey, and is at least 48 years old or older.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

The narrator again sounds as if she is 48, not 32, and raised in jersey. She also makes Clay sound like he is a southern redneck with no education, versus someone versed in anthropology and has grown up around Jeremy almost his entire life. It's not the she's a bad reader exactly, if it were another book she has nice vocal inflections when it is warranted, and story tells decently. I'm loathing getting to a sex scene that Kelley usually lays out between the two, as I don't want to imagine two with those voices go at it with each other. She does alright with Jeremy, but still has an "r" emphasis that she can't get away from in her natural speech. Awful. I'm almost considering just reading it instead of listening to the rest. I cringe every time I have to turn it on.

Any additional comments?

The story is a little weak in the sense that they make Elena so narrow minded, a lot less mature and level headed than she seemed in the first book. It is sad that the writer makes her go on for so long how she cannot believe that witches and the like exist, when she herself is a werewolf.