Friend of the Devil

By: Peter Robinson

Narrated by: Simon Prebble

Length: 13 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

Chief Inspector Alan Banks and Detective Inspector Annie Cabbot must work together to solve two chilling crimes in a stunning new novel by New York Times best-selling author Peter Robinson.

One morning in March, on the edge of a cliff overlooking the sea, a woman named Karen Drew is found in her wheelchair with her throat slit. Back in Eastvale on that same morning, in a tangle of narrow alleys behind a market square, the body of Hayley Daniels is found raped and strangled.

Two murders...two towns....

On loan to a sister precinct, Detective Inspector Annie Cabbot draws the first case. Karen Drew seems to have lived a quiet and nearly invisible life for the past seven years. Try as she might, Annie turns up nothing in the woman's past that might have prompted someone to wheel her out to the sea and to her death.

Meanwhile, in the Hayley Daniels murder, Chief Inspector Alan Banks has suspects galore. Everywhere she went, the 19-year-old student attracted attention. Anyone could have followed her on the night she was out drinking with friends, making sure she never made it back home.

Then a breakthrough spins Annie's case in a shocking and surprising new direction, straight toward Banks. Coincidence? Not in Eastvale. Banks and Annie are searching for two killers who might strike again at any moment - and with bloody fury.

©2008 Eastvale Enterprises Inc. (P)2008 HarperCollins Publishers

Matters of the Heart

I liked it...! It keep my mind spinning. The charactors where phenominally narrated! Good Novel.....Great Narrator....Author DeAnn DeVille

This time Book 4; Reader 5

This is how the Banks series should be read! Try this one.

Stop the music

the music at beginnings of each part was ridiculous and distracting, to point of interfering with hearing the narration. Otherwise, the story ans Simon Prebble were very good.

Can't go wrong with Prebble...

Simon Prebble most Excellent. Hated the mixing in of that awful music? Not only awful but made it hard to hear the words at the start of the chapter.

Most suspenseful book so far. Complex story too.

Nice one

Whoever thought it a good idea to “enhance” this audiobook with unnecessary disruptive music: it’s not. Any good book can do perfectly without. This book is no exception. So please: don’t.
Otherwise a perfectly enjoyable book, read by an excellent narrator.

good read ruined by "music" between chapters

another good Inspector Banks story that included Annie but was ruined by loud, annoying 'music' between chapters. certainly didn't add anything to the story.

Enjoyed, but...

Always enjoy Simon Prebble as narrator. The yarn was a fun one. My only gripe is the music. Honestly those instrumental interludes grated on my nerves. I have ear buds and it was so obnoxious one can barely hear the narration.

wow

Hooray for a great narrator. Too bad for the foolish musical interludes! sigh! what next?

Simon Prebble’s narration elevates an already excellent story

Banks lives again in the voice of Simon Prebble. I jumped ahead and I’m not sorry. Someday I may go back and READ the books I missed but, for now, I am delighted to be back in Yorkshire. Twists and turns aplenty along with engaging main characters.

Improvement from previous narrator

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Yes, I liked the story. It was very complex and there was a lot of other smaller stories going on in the background with the main character, which added a certain amount of color to the story.

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

It is in keeping with previous books by this author.

Did Simon Prebble do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

Simon Prebble was definitely an improvement from the previous narrator, it took a little while to get used to the different take on the characters. I really enjoyed James Langton's narration, but this was definitely manageable. It was a little over produced, the music added at random times was annoying, and I am not sure why they felt they had to use that strange sound effect when Banks read Templeton progress note.

Did Friend of the Devil inspire you to do anything?

Yes, I think I might be able to continue with the series, I stopped when I listened to Ron Keith.