Hope to Die

By: David Jackson

Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble

Length: 9 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's Summary

When the victim seems perfect, is it the perfect crime? The gripping new serial killer thriller from the runaway best-selling author of Cry Baby.

On a bitterly cold winter's night, Liverpool is left stunned by a brutal murder in the grounds of the city's Anglican Cathedral. A killer is on the loose, driven by a chilling rage.

Put on the case, DS Nathan Cody is quickly stumped. Wherever he digs, the victim seems to be almost angelic - no one has a bad word to say, let alone a motive for such a violent murder.

And Cody has other things on his mind, too. The ghosts of his past are coming ever closer, and - still bearing the physical and mental scars - it's all he can do to hold on to his sanity.

And then the killer strikes again....

©2017 David Jackson (P)2017 Audible, Ltd

Scared me witless!!

I love Nathan Cody - he is someone I wish I knew personally. Great police officer, honest, lovable. His tormentors are terrifying and I am not kidding around. I listen on my way to/from work and had to pause the book a couple of times to take it in. Am happy it wasn't dark when I got to those parts! The narrator is top notch and I could understand every single word! He brings all the characters to life. Please hurry with the next installment!

9 people found this helpful

Great book!

It was a great book to listen to. I really enjoy the characters and the follow on from the previous book in the series. There is good dialogue and the story is engaging. I got very excited to get in the car to continue listening. I highly recommend it. If you haven't read or listened to the first book you should check that out first. The performance was spectacular. One of the best.

6 people found this helpful

Drags in the Middle

The first DS Nathan Code book was a winner as far as I was concerned. There was horror and a touch of humor and the relationships between the characters was intriguing. However, DS Cody's second outing is not nearly as interesting.

It began with a brutal murder on the grounds of a Cathedral in Liverpool. Is it a one off or part of a future series? Did the killer know the victim or pick her out at random? And the more that Cody learns about the victim, the less likely it seems that someone would choose her as a murder victim.

Then things slow down and get far less interesting..Too much time is spent on the relationship between Cody and his former girlfiend who appears to be getting on with her life. However she still seems to be hung up on Cody. Then there is her fiance who is handsome, well off and devoted. Add to that some unlikely suspects and Cody's boss whose attitude toward Cody has not been explained. But the excitement and the sense of threat that filled A Tapping at My Door is missing. There was one scene in Tapping in a pub where Cody and his partner had to face off against some dangerous thugs that hated cops that I thought was nothing short of brilliant. There are no moments like that in this book.

Things do pick up at the end but it's too late to save the book in my opinion. I'll read the next one but I will be more wary about picking it up.

4 people found this helpful

I'm Hooked

This DS Nathan Cody guy is so frustratingly complex... Yet it's a frustration that's become a tractor beam for my imagination. CAUTION... DO NOT START THIS SERIES ANYWHERE OTHER THAN BOOK 1 - "A Tapping At My Door". While the clever whodunnit stands alone in this serial killer puzzle, the inner workings of Cody demand the setup in the first book. And those workings have captured me enough to wait impatiently for April of 2018 when I expect the next DS Cody will drop from David Jackson's keypad to my downloader.

Oh, BTW, this ain't a book for the feint of heart. Yep, it gets brutal. Not to worry, there's always another "Murder She Wrote" somewhere that you can buy if you feel a need for a warm murder tale :-)

Oh yeah, I can't imagine this ensemble from any lips but Jonathan Keeble's. He nails it.

13 people found this helpful

No Book 3 ?

Can't believe there is no book 3. Maybe one coming? A wonderful gripping story with a brilliant narrator. If Jonathan Keeble reads them I'll listen to them. :)

2 people found this helpful

4

This turned out to be the thinking
detective vs the thinking suspect.
Lots of other stuff going on but
the author keeps us focused on
outsmarting the criminal. This
volume follows the first in series
volume I just read. I think reading these two in order is a big
help in making vol 2 such a really
good listen. Now I'm impatient for vol. 3. This work is good and it has the potential to be really, really good. Good author and
fine narrator. :-)

1 person found this helpful

Great grisly fun!

What about Jonathan Keeble’s performance did you like?

Jonathan Keeble gives a powerfully dramatic reading which flirts with going over the top but never does. I was quite swept away by his work. Will be looking for his name again.

Any additional comments?

David Jackson is a clever writer that knows how to hook the reader into his plot quickly. Detective Nathan Cody is deeply damaged by the horrible events of the previous book, where he was tortured by clowns, yes clowns, who also murdered his partner and were never caught. Jackson makes it all work in a creepy funhouse Steven King way. The additional murder case Cody struggles through is eventually resolved (I didn't guess the plot twist, good for Jackson) but killer clowns continue to stalk and torment him right through the last page. Ends with a cliffhanger that ensures fans will be waiting with baited breath for the next installment. Great, grisly fun!

1 person found this helpful

Good follow up!

Good second edition to this series. Totally leaves you wanting more and dying to hear what the next chapter is.

1 person found this helpful

Looking forward to Book three

Would you listen to Hope to Die again? Why?

No, it was fun, not deep.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

Not the edge of my seat, but interesting enough to listen to in one day.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Send in the Clowns

Any additional comments?

Speaking of clowns, if we get book three, I hope he winds up this story line.

3 people found this helpful

Kept Me Guessing

The story had a similar plot with a different twist. The ending keeps you interested in the series.

Gobsmacked

Oh my god i read a tapping at my dor and was delighted to see a 2nd book about Nathan Cody. Please hurry with the 3rd Nathan cody book. This book had me gripped from start to finish. Narration was fantastic and wanting more from this series

11 people found this helpful

Jackson's Killer Thriller!

After the first book "A Tapping at my Door" I thought that this series showed some promise. Unfortunately all too often that second and third instalment can prove elusive for an author. Not in this case. Jackson has nailed it and I now consider myself a real fan. His writing is very tight and the pacing felt absolutely spot on to me. Similar to the first book it begins with a powerful, edgy and atmospheric opening. The main story then proceeds with clever twists and some genuinely harrowing scenes. It feels worth mentioning that this does include elements of domestic abuse. The characters have depth and while the front story drives along at a decent pace there continues behind it a patient, fascinating and methodical progression of the character back stories.

Cody himself obviously takes centre stage. His demons, both real and imagined, personal and professional won’t leave him alone. His relationship with his boss is rather unusual for this genre and also promises further intrigue. Grace, a civilian working with the force emerges as a new and interesting character injecting a more technological approach to the investigations and indeed difficulties of her own. Jackson feels like a chess master moving his pieces in patterns that an amateur like me can’t really discern and I’m now very engaged with these characters.

Of course listening to the audiobook the narration is all-important. Jonathan Keeble gives what I think is a genuinely impressive performance. I do sympathise to an extent with reviewers of the previous book who found his scouse accents difficult to live with. However, the rhythms and cadence that he brings to the important scenes and his ability to make multiple characters distinctive are more important to me personally. Notwithstanding the accents it’s a thoroughbred performance and adds significantly to the quality of the overall package.

In summary this is a very enjoyable police procedural with characters that are brimming with promise. I fully intend to follow the series and won’t stop ‘til I get enough (with apologies).

27 people found this helpful

His previous book is a 5* read. This one not so!

I wanted to love this. Indeed, I expected to love it after Jackson's previous book, which was excellent. Sadly, I struggled with this a lot of the time. If not for the previous book, I would probably have abandoned it fairly early. The narration also made it easier to continue. I felt Cody's back story and related problems were a bit OTT and distracted from the main story. Without giving anything too significant away, I also thought it was very sloppy to make a big thing out of members of a murder squad all being amazed to find that it is possible (yes, possible) for a expert to find which websites have been visited recently on computer. Surely, the average person knows that! For me Cody's back story made the book drag, and the big reveal left me underwhelmed. However, I must add that the main story and the characters are good.

14 people found this helpful

Too introspective (for me)

Found the murder's tale a bit annoying at the start but then saw how it wove into the story. Very good but a bit too introspective for me.

5 people found this helpful

Brilliant

Prefer the third book which is what I started with. I found the clown references quite weird but I haven’t read the first book yet. So glad I have found this author very gripping great style of writing - as before I find the narrator a little weird on the female side it does get a bit confusing

4 people found this helpful

Bloody Brilliant!!!

What a belter of a book and superbly narrated. Will be highly recommending this one!!

4 people found this helpful

Great series

Enjoying this series. Narrator definately draws you into the story. Looking forward to the next one.

1 person found this helpful

Fast & enjoyable, easy reading

Really enjoyed this one, and I enjoyed the previous one as well. This is very fast paced, it's light & enjoyable, not going to win any prizes for genius writing but I would certainly buy the next one & recommend the series so far!

3 people found this helpful

Compulsive

Edge of your seat reading with subtle unexpected moments of humour in a grim story line. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

3 people found this helpful

Disappointing sequel.

Weak storyline rescued by excellent narrator.
Will analyse reviews before deciding to chance the inevitable third installment.

3 people found this helpful