Conspiracy of Silence

By: Martha Powers

Narrated by: Becky Boyd

Length: 12 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's summary

On a sunny day in July, Clare Prentice arrives in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. Although she is on assignment to interview the town's notoriously reclusive novelist Nate Hanssen, Clare is really in search of a different story - her story. Just months before, Clare was a bride-to-be, living in Chicago and looking to the future - until the day she learned her entire life had been a lie. Not only was Clare adopted, but there is no record that she or her adoptive mother ever existed. The only clue is a class ring from Grand Rapids Senior High School.

Unable to get on with her future until she reconciles her past, Clare breaks off her engagement. Unraveling the mystery is like trying to sculpt fog - until the first piece of the puzzle unexpectedly drops into place: Clare's birth mother, Lily Gundersen, was murdered in Grand Rapids. Lily's murder was one of the most talked-about events in the town's history, but no one is talking now. Clare doesn't know the whole story - and someone intends to keep it that way.

©2008 Martha Powers (P)2012 Martha Powers

Enjoyed the book

What made the experience of listening to Conspiracy of Silence the most enjoyable?

Playback was slow so I set my player to a faster speed and it listened much better.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

The surprise ending and enjoyable characters were the most interesting.

How could the performance have been better?

More drama.

Had to ignore narration to finish story

Narrator very fake sounding and made it difficult to listen to the book. I read the book some time ago and looked forward to hearing it. Don't listen - read!

Stopped listening and went to reading.

Didn't like the reader at all. Lots of time she was very robotic with no inflection, or it was in the wrong place. And she could have sped it up a bit. Story was ok...

Amateurish

Predictable plot line. Ms Boyd has a beautiful voice but she should definitely stick to singing and leave narration to professionals.

Narration POOR..

Would you try another book from Martha Powers and/or Becky Boyd?

I wasn't sure I could make it through the story because the narration was so poor. Sounded like she was reading to 5 yrs olds. I decided to "give it a go", though her reading really took away from the story. I am very surprised she was given the narration job.

Would you be willing to try another one of Becky Boyd’s performances?

NO.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

It was hard to come up with a reaction other than curiosity of the story.

Any additional comments?

I think it MAY have been a better story with a different narrator.....she was so influential (poor), though, that it was hard to tell.

A COMPUTER COULD HAVE NARRATED BETTER

Would you be willing to try another one of Becky Boyd’s performances?

I can't believe the narration was done by a professional. Isn't there a Director or other person behind the scenes who could have heard the narration and suggested changes or maybe just fired Becky Boyd? She reads in a sickening singing type of voice that doesn't sound anything like what you would expect if a person were speaking to you, with inflection all wrong. If you need a narrator so badly in the future, just call me, I'm sure I could do a lot better.

Terrible Narrator

Would you try another book from Martha Powers and/or Becky Boyd?

No

Would you ever listen to anything by Martha Powers again?

Probably not.

What didn’t you like about Becky Boyd’s performance?

Amatuerish and monotone.

Was Conspiracy of Silence worth the listening time?

No

Any additional comments?

I am impatient with filler material. I don't know if there is some minimum goal of words/pages for a novel, but this book had so many useless details, ie. she got out of the shower, grabbed a towel, looked in the mirror, dried herself, hung the towel on the rod, walked to the closet, etc., that I wanted to seriously edit the thing!

Horrible narrator

Is there anything you would change about this book?

A different narrator would make this book a much easier listen. Silences are too long, voice inflections make the characters seem like idiots! Especially the main character!!

What didn’t you like about Becky Boyd’s performance?

Silences are too long, voice inflections for adults are child like.

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

Maybe

Any additional comments?

I believe the story line to be well written, but will have to read a copy in order to be sure.

Good read poor listen!

I started reading this book and then switched to listening. if I had stared listening I would not have finished. not impressed with narration .

good book - struggled with narration

I loved the plot to this book. It was a clean read and kept me going to the end. The biggest problem was the narration! I really enjoy audio books. I've been a listener for many years . That said, I know a good narration when I hear one. This was NOT one.