Not Dead Yet

Roy Grace, Book 8

By: Peter James

Narrated by: William Gaminara

Length: 13 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's summary

The return of a Brighton girl turned movie star spells nothing but trouble for Detective Superintendent Roy Grace in the gripping crime novel Not Dead Yet, by award winning author Peter James.

Gaia Lafayette has a movie to shoot back home and Grace is in charge of her security. Yet when a vicious gangster is released from prison and an unidentifiable headless torso is found, a nightmare unfolds before Grace’s eyes.

An obsessed stalker is after Gaia – and Grace knows that they may be at large in his city, waiting, watching, planning . . .

Although the Roy Grace novels can be listened to in any order, Not Dead Yet is the eighth thrilling title in the bestselling series. Enjoy more of the Brighton detective’s investigations with Dead Man's Time and Want You Dead.

Now a major ITV series, Grace, starring John Simm.

©2012 Really Scary Books / Peter James (P)2012 Macmillan Digital Audio

Critic reviews

“Peter James is on a roll with his Roy Grace novels. To date they have sold more than 11million copies and been translated into 34 languages. Not Dead Yet is the eighth…an authentic, well-researched and compelling read.” (Daily Express)

Boring boring

Definitely the most boring peter James book yet. He waffles on an on about meaningless stuff which I am now on chapter 88 and nothing has happened. I love the character s but this book is just Awful.

Not my favorite in the series

Interesting but I didn't care for it as much as previous books for some reason. I found the characters confusing - maybe because the narrator made everyone sound pretty much alike. Often, there was little difference between Roy and Glen, for example.

The story was disappointing. One of the reasons I read British stories is because of the British characters. Too many Americans in this one (and the previous one as well.)

And then there's still Sandy. I certainly hope this comes to an end soon. But her storyline did get more interesting.

And find a better narrator.

Always delivers!

This is one in a series of British police procedural potboilers with an enjoyable recurring cast of characters. Brighton, where they are set, becomes one of the integral characters in the stories. They begin to fit like a favorite pair of comfy slippers, and the plots all have interesting twists that are difficult to anticipate.

Not impressed by new narrator

I love the Roy Grace series by Peter James, but I really am so disappointed by the choice of narrator in this case. I have listened to all the books in this series, maybe the none of the other narrators were available (I have only now realised that there has been more than one - bravo to the previous ones who have done such a good job keeping it consistent for the listener!) but the new voices completely change the character of individuals who we have grown to love.

It is not this narrators fault but he was a poor choice for this series. I almost can't listen to this book. Maybe I will get used to it as I am only an hour in at the moment.

I'm sure the book will be enjoyable to listeners who have not read the previous books, and those who are already into the series will just have to make do with this one in order to find out what happens.

Seriously tempted to buy the paper version so I can read with the "proper" voices. (maybe I have just uncovered the purpose of the new narrator? Does this drive up paper sales?)

Grace Under Pressure

Not dead yet indeed but this series is most certainly not in as rude health as it has been previously. Not Dead Yet just doesn't reach the heights that the better books in this series have managed to scale. There are a number of reasons for this. The story lacks a villain you can really get your teeth into and the process of translating Hollywood onto the South Coast of England doesn't work too well.

On top of that there is the narration. I don't think this series has really found the perfect narrator and I have often found myself wondering just how much more successful it might have been with someone like Steven Pacey at the microphone. It hasn't done too badly as it is of course but I think that it would have been absolutely sensational if that had been nailed from the start.

I really don't think William Gaminara is the worst narrator in the world. The problem is really that he is at his flattest when he renders Grace, Branson and Potting who should be huge characters but are made to sound near anonymous.

Where both story and narrator do both score more highly is in the last couple of hours. The climactic scene of the main storyline I really enjoyed and it gives us some great Roy Grace action. In addition not long after that there is a massive twist that certainly caused me to do a double take that's for sure.

We also get a little bit more of the Sandy storyline but only a little bit. The character back stories do seem fairly glacial in pace but I think that's because the overall series has actually covered a relatively small amount of storyline time for the number of books.

I think this one is worth reading for fans of the series, particularly for a little mystery surrounding the delightful Norman Potting but it certainly won't be near most people's top five Roy Grace novels.

Bit disappointing

This was a bit of a tame, boring outing from Roy Grace. I love him, but it seems like P James is getting stuck in a rut with the series.

A rock/film star is coming to Grace's hometown and a stalker threatens her and the production she's starring in.

New narrator doesn't help the book

It's good to have Roy Grace back even tho' the book does lack some of the excitement of previous tales. But for me the biggest disappointment is the narration. It's as though Glen Branson is a different character and the mispronunciation of local places is unforgivable! I will look closely to see who is narrating the next instalment and may have to do back to reading the book instead.

Made me squirm, but not in a good way

I didn't think this was particularly good, but then again I did finish it, so at least I wanted to hear how it ended.



The trouble is, it's so full of crime fiction cliches. And the realism of people's behaviour is sacrificed in favour of the plot, to the point where I really don't care about the characters because I don't believe in them. For example, the main detective's ex-wife seems to have a complete 180-degree change of character, for the sake of setting up some tension that's supposed to make you reach for the next book in the series. But I don't think I'll bother, thank you.



Well-read by Gaminara though - I'll look out for other stories he reads.

Solid but not up to the earlier Roy Grace books

I'm hooked on the Roy Grace series but this one seemed to lacked the pace of the earlier ones. He's very good at the cliffhanger stories - this time about his missing wife.

Had enough of Grace and this series

Is there anything you would change about this book?

I maybe harsh to judge this so quickly, but I found this book began to to grate, both the storyline and the narration, very quickly. Perhaps i was spoilt with some great listens before I returned to this series, but I found it hard going and eventually gave up.Won't return to this series, there are so many better listens and reads out there.

Would you recommend Not Dead Yet to your friends? Why or why not?

No, boring!

Would you be willing to try another one of William Gaminara’s performances?

See above

Was Not Dead Yet worth the listening time?

It certainly wasn't. I moved onto James Oswald and was rewarded with an excellent narrator and a very good story.

Though it would have been a happy release!

My very first "Roy Grace" book, and I won't be making that mistake again.Another reviewer had described the police , as portrayed, as too 'nice', myself, anally-retentive, nit-picking, pettifogging, boring would describe this bunch.Peter James must have his fans and he indulges himself, pandering to his sense of power-as-author. It went on and on, crimes solved while you wait......and wait.........

Enjoyable!

A good book in the series by Peter James. Not the best one but enjoyable to listen to all the same and helps to develop the underlying thread that runs throughout the series. Looking forward to the next one....

Another great Roy Grace book.

Well written, well researched, well read. The Roy Grace books are a triumph. I recommend that they be listened to in order. You won’t be disappointed.