The Girl in Green

By: Derek B. Miller

Narrated by: Will Damron

Length: 12 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's summary

It's 1991. Near Checkpoint Zulu, 100 miles from the Kuwaiti border, Thomas Benton meets Arwood Hobbes. Benton is a British journalist who reports from war zones in part to avoid his lackluster marriage and a daughter he loves but cannot connect with; Arwood is a Midwestern American private who might be an insufferable ignoramus or might be a genuine lunatic with a death wish - it's hard to tell. Desert Storm is over, and peace has been declared, but as they argue about whether it makes sense to cross the nearest border in search of ice cream, they become embroiled in a horrific attack in which a young local girl in a green dress is killed as they are trying to protect her. The two men walk away into their respective lives. But something has cracked for them both.

Twenty-two years later, in another place, in another war, they meet again and are offered an unlikely opportunity to redeem themselves when that same girl in green is found alive and in need of salvation. Or is she?

©2016 Derek B. Miller (P)2017 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

Come back Dick Van Dyke all is forgiven.

Look, Will Damon is an excellent narrator. I've listened to him before. He has read ten thousand books. But he cannot do accents. Not, "Oh, he's not great". He CANNOT DO ACCENTS. Even my teenager was gasping. We almost had to stop listening as more than 2/3 of the book requires accent work. I am not comparing him to Meryl. I am comparing him to Dick Van Dyke's drunken "efforts" to do cockney in Mary Poppins.
We love Derek Miller and wanted desperately to listen to this book. We listened to both American By Day and Norwegian By Night with the EXTRAORDINARY accent work of Sean Mangan. Sean Mangan is truly perfection.
A comfort, nay fluency, with accents is a MANDATE for narrating these books. Mangan was masterful. Will Damron is so horrifyingly bad that it makes you physically uncomfortable listening. Why would he agree? Why not do what he is good at? If someone asks a hip hop dancer who is a terrific hip hop dancer with zero classical training to dance swan lake for a crowded auditorium of ballet lovers, the wise dancer would say, "Thanks for thinking of me, but NO. NOT A MATCH."
Perhaps you think I am now beating a dead horse. But this horse must be beaten because we had to listen to 12 1/2 hours of accent work that was so comically atrocious it made a diffident 16 year old boy howl in pain as we drove to and from school listening in a depserate bid to hear the resolution of the plot.
The book isn't our favorite, it is true. We prefer the two others we listened to. But Miller is always interesting. And I would listen to Will Damron read a phone book. He's a smart good reader. But I don't want to hear him do another accent ever ever again.

Slow

Book drags and gets superficial at times. I skipped through most of it. Narrator struggles with foreign accents.

excellent!!

Unbelievably good book. The intertwining of politics, suspense, intensity and character development was terrific!!!

Wrenching

This book is superbly crafted. At times I felt physically ill with suspense or regret. It inspired anger, laughter, and tears. I can't recommend it highly enough.

Spectacular

This is a phenomenal book. This story follows the main characters from 1991 in the first Gulf War through 2013. It begins and ends in Iraq. The middle is filled with some of the best action, funniest dialogue, poetic justice, and philosophical debate available in fiction.

Not only is this story wildly entertaining, it also gives the reader a lot of insight into how soldiers, NGO aid workers, innocent bystanders, and even terrorists think & make decisions.

Meh

The best part of this book was the excellent narration. The plot just seemed very unlikely and no matter how I tried, I just found this book to be uninteresting. It was a chore to finish.
3 stars

This book has stuck with me

I picked this up in the Daily Deal not expecting much. I was really struck by how beautiful this story was told. Redemption was the focal point against the setting of the Iraq Wars. Will Damron is one of my top five narrators and definitely added breadth to the story.

Another well-written story by the author

This is my second book by this author and he does not disappoint. The characters are well developed and the story multi dimensional.
Recommended.

Stunning, quietly life-altering

One of the best books I've read this year. Provides a well-written and heartbreaking story, while integrating the very complex political reality of American involvement in the Middle East. I will listen to this book again, after taking the time to digest its effect and information. Reminded me a bit of sections of David Mitchell's The Bone Clocks (Ed the adult reporter/war junkie), not in style but in the particular way that good writing and insightful character development deepen our understanding of humanity's failures and strengths. Have also read Norwegian by Night by Miller, and though I enjoyed it, found this book to be much more profound.

Pleasant surprise

Really was not sure I would like this. Very well done - both the story and the performance