Friend of the Devil

By: Peter Robinson

Narrated by: Richard Burnip

Length: 14 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's Summary

When Karen Drew is found sitting in her wheelchair staring out to sea with her throat cut one chilly morning, DI Annie Cabbot, on loan to Eastern Area, gets lumbered with the case. Back in Eastvale, that same Sunday morning, 19-year-old Hayley Daniels is found raped and strangled in the Maze, a tangle of narrow alleys behind Eastvale's market square, after a drunken night on the town with a group of friends, and DCI Alan Banks is called in. Banks finds suspects galore, while Annie seems to hit a brick wall - until she reaches a breakthrough that spins her case in a shocking and surprising new direction, one that also involves Banks. Then another incident occurs in the Maze which seems to link the two cases in a bizarre and mysterious way.

As Banks and Annie dig into the past to uncover the deeper connections, they find themselves also dealing with the emotional baggage and personal demons of their own relationship. And it soon becomes clear that there are two killers in their midst, and that at any moment either one might strike again.

©2007 Peter Robinson (P)2012 ISIS Publishing Ltd

freind not

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

i don,t know the narrator clips his sentences almost speaking the last word louder than the rest

Has Friend of the Devil turned you off from other books in this genre?

no this genre is ok it,s the narrator that i won,t get books read by

How could the performance have been better?

reading the book without clipping the sentence just keeping it more storylike than possibly trying to hard to make the point of the character

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

hard to say 5 minutes in i had enough of the reading voice

A good read ruined.

This is a good book, with strong believable characters and a great storyline. It is ruined by the editing mistakes in the audio recording. Parts of the book and the storyline are missing while other parts are misplaced or repeated. For example chapter 22 and 30 are exactly the same.

The whole thing is a mess. A good read - ruined by sloppy editing work.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Peter Robinson at his usual best.

Another wonderful Peter Robinson mystery narrated very well by Richard Burnip. Highly recommend this Audible version.

Gripping and involving

Another helping of superb writing by Peter Robinson that not only leads you on a winding path to work out the killer but gives a real insight into the internal lives of the teams major characters, making them leap off the page, rather than the some procedural police thrillers where the plot outweighs the character. Robinson keeps you guessing. Can't weight to read the next one.

Great book ruined by the narrator

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The narrator, he is hopeless at dialogue. Everyone sounds so ponderous when they are speaking and he obviously has not bothered any research as Annie and Banks are not from yorkshire and should not have Yorkshire accents. Very annoying and the narration generally is awful.

What other book might you compare Friend of the Devil to, and why?

Dont know

Would you be willing to try another one of Richard Burnip’s performances?

Definitely not.

Did Friend of the Devil inspire you to do anything?

No

Any additional comments?

Love Peter Robinson's books. Such a shame no decent narrator

Gripping story

What a fantastic story, really well told. The narrator had superb pace and delivery for such a fine tale.

Good story, badly read.

As always a great DCI Banks story. Probably one of the best. But so spoilt by a terrible performance.
Some of the male characters sounded as though they came from Trumpton and Annie Cabot sounded stupid. Also, there were many instances of incorrect emphasis. What a shame. Not again, thank you!

Excellent book

One of the best Peter Robinson books I have read or listened too. Excellent and well worth trying even if you don't usually read detective books

Bring on the next book.

Yet another brilliantly written story. Found it gripping right to the end. Was not in awe of the narrator though.

Had to give up after first chapter.

What would have made Friend of the Devil better?

Using the same narrator as in the other DC Banks books. Listening to DC Banks with a completely different voice from all the other stories just spoilt it for me!

Has Friend of the Devil put you off other books in this genre?

Of course not. It wasn't the story just the narrator.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Different voice from the other stories with the same detective.

You didn’t love this book--but did it have any redeeming qualities?

I couldn't continue for reasons given, so NOT the story.

1 of 2 people found this review helpful