• Close to Home

  • By: Peter Robinson
  • Narrated by: Ron Keith
  • Length: 16 hrs and 7 mins
  • 4.1 out of 5 stars (263 ratings)

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Close to Home  By  cover art

Close to Home

By: Peter Robinson
Narrated by: Ron Keith
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Publisher's summary

Peter Robinson is the critically acclaimed New York Times, LA Times, and London Sunday Times best-selling author of the Inspector Alan Banks series, as well as a winner of the 2001 Anthony and 2001 Ellis Awards, and Le Grand Prix de Littirature Policiire. Close to Home traverses the difficult landscapes of a painful past, and an uncertain future for Inspector Banks. Two 15-year-old boys are lost, and the circumstances of their disappearances seem oddly parallel save one detail. The first boy disappeared and was presumed dead 35 years ago.
Follow Inspector Alan Banks as he investigates Yorkshire's toughest crimes.
©2004 Peter Robinson (P)2004 Recorded Books, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Suspenseful and engrossing." (Orlando Sentinel)
"This one is entertaining and sophisticated, crime writing of a high order." (Washington Post)
"Lots of suspense...richly complex...satisfying and subtle." (Publishers Weekly)

What listeners say about Close to Home

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
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Performance
  • 4 out of 5 stars
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Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Golden Age of Mystery

When people write about the "Golden Age of Mystery" they're always referring to the 1930's. Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers and all that. Well, as much as I enjoy those classic mysteries, I say the Golden Age of Mystery is right now. If you don't agree, just check out this first rate contemporary suspenser from Peter Robinson.
The audio version adds immeasurably to the experience. Reader Ron Keith brings the characters to life with a wide range of English accents that I, as a Midwesterner, couldn't have begun to conjure up. (No, not even with close study of Masterpiece Theater.)

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16 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

spoiled by narrator

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

I would only recommend it in written form. The narrator totally distracted from the story.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

He made Banks sound (to quote my Yorkshire Dad) A pompous pratt. Stilted nasal narration, and no resemblence to either a Yorkshire or southern dialect. The narration waa so annoying that it spolied the whole book.

Any additional comments?

I note the same narrator has been used in another couple of Peter Robinson's books. I shall buy them to read as I cannot listen to this narrator "murder" another good book.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Horrible Reader

I looked forward to reading another Peter Robinson book after Friend of the Devil. Couldn't even give it a chance because the reader was so AWFUL. Weird intonations, nasal, bizarre.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Good Story, Poor Narration

I have read several Peter Robinson's DCI Banks books, and have enjoyed them all. In this novel, there are two mysteries which unravel side by side - the 35 year old disappearance of Banks` friend, and the current disappearance and murder of a teenage boy. This one was not my favourite, but it was definitely a well-crafted story, and introduced a new female detective - Michelle Hart - who works with Banks as he delves into his past.


This is the first Banks novel that I listened to (the others I read on my Kindle), and while the story was good, the narrator was dreadful, and it took me half the book to get past the bad narrator and enjoy the tale.

Why is Ron Keith a poor narrator? Let me list the ways :

-he sounds, throughout the novel, like he is telling a joke, and working up to the punchline. It feels like he is repressing laughter. So annoying.

-At several points, he just doesn't get the tone right. For example, in one part, the narrator says something like, "It wasn't me" in a loud voice, then says, "he whispered". Well - then whisper it!!!!

-Another problem is the accents. Nobody seems to have a different accent at all, and yet Banks says to Michelle, "I thought that's where you were from by your accent". Well, what accent, I wonder?? Hers and everyone else in the book speaks the same.

One thing, though - the narrator did do okay differentiating between the characters. So, that's good.

I was able to mostly get past the narrator and enjoy the story, but I'm sure I would have enjoyed it much more with a better narrator. I will make sure to never listen to another book narrated by Ron Keith.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Love the book not the reader

I enjoy this series. I do not enjoy the reader. I would give the book and the series a 4+ and the reader a 2-. Average is 3, a very real compromise.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

Not bad, but slow going

This is an OK story with an OK reader, but it has a meandering pace and is slow going.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Too much reminiscing...

I'm about halfway through this lengthy audio book and only now have become accustomed to the nasal British accent of the reader. His voice is not one I really enjoy listening to--much of the reading sounds very stilted and forced. As for the story, I have found myself daydreaming while listening and when I start to pay attention again have missed little. There is far too much reminiscing about life 30 years ago that has nothing to do with the story. Now, at the halfway point, the pace seems to pick up a bit.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

The Inspector Banks series

What made the experience of listening to Close to Home the most enjoyable?

The writing.

Any additional comments?

The Inspector Bank's series is wonderful. I am listening to them in order. The last one I read was Cold Is the Grave and I am on to the next. Each one is great. I preferred the original reader to the current one. I am banking on Audible filling in the gaps which will start after the next 2.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

intelligent

Interesting, well written, all the usual suspects, but it felt a little flat for me. I good listen and worth the credit just not my favorite Banks so far.

I liked the dual storyline, connected only by Banks' perceptions of each boy. How we often pick out traits in a person that we long to be or fear then idealize or condemn.


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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

zzzzzzz....

Holey moley, what a snoozer. Skip the book and just pop an Ambien if you're in need of a good night's sleep. If this book was condensed into 3-4 hours, it would have been at least a little bit more tolerable.

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2 people found this helpful