Dark Harbor

By: David Hosp

Narrated by: George Guidall

Length: 11 hrs and 57 mins

Publisher's summary

From the opening chapter of the electrifying Dark Harbor, one thing is clear; this is the clarion call of an exciting new talent. Highly touted debut author David Hosp crafts an engrossing novel in the tradition of John Grisham, John Sandford, and David Baldacci.

Scott Finn survived a childhood running errands for crime kingpins to become a six-figure lawyer at a prestigious Boston firm. Now the sky's the limit...until his colleague and former lover Natalie turns up dead in Boston Harbor, her heart surgically removed. She initially appears to be the seventh victim of "Little Jack", a serial killer reminiscent of Jack the Ripper. But suspicion quickly turns to Scott, who must dig deep into Natalie's life to discover the secrets she kept.

The suspense builds to a crescendo as this stunning thriller travels at breakneck speed toward a shocking conclusion.

©2005 Richard David Hosp (P)2005 Recorded Books, LLC

Critic reviews

"Compelling characters pulse through attorney Hosp's surprisingly engaging fiction debut." (Publishers Weekly)

Great listen

Great story, kept my interest, easy listen, surprised by the ending, one of my favorite narrators... I will look for more David Hosp!

Very Good Author; Compelling Story; Excellent Narration

As a recovering BigLaw corporate attorney, I thought this story compared well with early Grisham. Smart move to include this title with my subscription as I will next be purchasing more of Hosp’s work. Excited to find a new author!

Shallow

Excessive profanity is used to mask the lack of a well developed plot and sub-plots. Mr. Hosp needs to leave out the f-bomb and G.D. John Sandford and Michael Connelly manage to do this.

Not a memorable experience

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

I think that the average high school graduate might enjoy this,

What was most disappointing about David Hosp’s story?

It was bad enough that I forgot I had it in my library.

Would you listen to another book narrated by George Guidall?

I would listen to George read calculus books.

Not worth the time

First book I ever read by this author, and for sure, the last. Plot is predictable. Events are not believable, aparent "setups" can be "read" a mile away. Terrible, and the voice of the reader only makes it worse.

A Minority Opinion

Obviously, a lot of people liked this book and reader. I am not one of them. I failed to find any similarity with the works of John Grisham, John Sandford, or David Baldacci, all of whom I like a great deal. I found character development severly lacking. For a former street thug, Scott is not very street-smart and the author offers very little background to support this past life. The police lieutenant is unprofessional, getting involved personally with Scott right away. Her rank is totally unbelievable given her active role in the investigation and her ineptitude. The plot line was massively predictable and the action just plain dumb; my eyes were dizzy from rolling them so often. The ending was laughable. George Guidall swallowed words and sometimes ends of sentences. He spoke so low he was difficult to hear in all but the quietest setting. This audiobook was, in a word, bad.

Can anyone write an ending?

This is not a bad book for a while. It has some clunky writing (like the detectives ham fisted handling of the case and her irrational suspicion of the main character) but the big problem comes at the end. Note to authors: pitched gun battles in mythical fortresses might have been fine for 1940s comics but they are not a satisfactory ending for modern readers. Incredibly disappointing ending but it takes several hours to get to it.

Did not enjoy this book

I could not get through it. I tried for 2 weeks to make myself listen and just couldn't. The main character went from being head over heels in love with the victim, to just being friends, to mourning her, to being attracted to someone else, to whatever in every single paragraph. Seriously, this happened at least 4 or 5 times per chapter with little explained motivation. It made no sense. There was no logical thought process. I get conflicted and mixed emotions but this was like a multiple personality disorder on speed.
Over all, the book was very disorganized, plodding, slow moving and difficult to understand. The characters lacked depth and development which made them hard to get invested in much less like or dislike. I do not recommend this book. Sorry.

not in the same league as Baldacci

Boring, trite and luckily was on sale for $4.95. Don't be taken in on the comparison to Baldacci.

Bulge-er NOT Bulgar!!!!

Would you try another book from David Hosp and/or George Guidall?

I might try another but it was incredibly irritating to have the narrator refer to Whitey Bulger as Bulgar! Why didn't anyone bother to find out how to say this? The name came up so many times and each time it took me totally out of the story. This was a huge news story and I never heard anyone mispronounce this simple name. Bul-ger (as in Germany) not Bul-ger (as in gelding).

What could David Hosp have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

The credibility of the setting--the characters being insiders in the Boston crime world is destroyed by mis-pronunciation and mis-naming. Everyone in Boston refers to 'Fort Independence' as Castle Island. No one in Southie would have any idea what you are referring to if you called it that.

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

George Guidall is an excellent narrator, not his fault but an irishman who came over when he was 8 still has a thick brogue 30 years later? Silly.

You didn???t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

No one mangled a Boston accent. Better to not attempt it. A good call.