Patchwork Man

Patchwork People, Volume 1

By: D.B. Martin

Narrated by: Rob Groves

Length: 9 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's summary

Years spent hiding from his past. Today it finds him; a gripping psychological novel for fans of Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train.

Renowned British barrister, Lawrence Juste, is a man with a past so cleverly stitched together he thought it could never come unraveled - until now. Two things are about to pick it apart, piece by sordid piece: a child, and a blackmail note from a woman hiding as many secrets as he. As the past unravels, his carefully ordered world falls apart in a twisting spiral of taboo, passion, lies and revelations, with potentially tragic consequences. For Lawrence Juste, the future suddenly looks as dangerous as it is uncontrollable.

This is the hidden history of not just one man, but a whole family battling deceit, intrigue and conspiracy on the road to a unique form of atonement.

Patchwork Man is the winner of a BRAG Medallion Award.

©2014 D.B. Martin (P)2016 D.B. Martin

Different

This is a difficult book to review. There were some parts that really interested me & other parts where I wasn't interested at all.

It is told in the first person & there are scenes of past memories, but they aren't really written as an alternating timeline. I found that I was very interested in the main character's past & how it led him to his current life. Where I think this fell short for me were the connections between past and present & that everything didn't really seem to come together.

The narrator was amazing and I would definitely like to listen to more of his work in the future.

This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of AudiobookBoom

Clever!

This story is about Lawrence Juste, a lawyer who is brought a young man Danny who is accused of a crime. His job is to get Danny off. As he digs into the case more and more is revealed starting with his life as a child.

When Lawrence was just a child his parents had too many children and little means to take care of them all. The government stepped in and split up the children. Lawrence went to a home along with other of his siblings and while there learns life the hard way. As the story progresses more of his life and its secrets are revealed.

The story is clever and suspenseful. Not nail biting suspenseful but enough to pique the reader/listener and keep them posted. The plot unravels like a slow death to Lawrence. There are elements in the story many authors wouldn't broach but this author did and with taste.

The narrator Rob Groves does a great job. His voice is easy and steady. I wish he'd changed his pacing more to match the story but overall no complaints. This is an excellent story and written well.

I definitely recommend this book to readers who enjoy mystery, suspense and thrillers!

One can't run from the past

If you could sum up Patchwork Man in three words, what would they be?

fast, surprising, unexpected

What did you like best about this story?

Listening to“Patchwork Man” was like looking for some lost relic stored in a dark attic – shafts of light filtering down through the roof let me see the vague outlines of some “objects,” but every few minutes the story dropped an upsetting spider web onto my face. As I frantically tried to brush it off, I would encounter a new, even more startling sticky, filmy web in my path.

Have you listened to any of Rob Groves’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Rob Groves did a great job with the audio. The narration was easy to follow, and his articulation and intonation were excellent. He was able to produce the different voices and expressions needed for the varied characters. He did a nice job with the voices of the female characters as well, which is often difficult for male narrators. I listened on a portable device with headphones, and the dynamic range of the production was appropriate. There were no distortions or other difficulties.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

You can run, but you cannot hide

Any additional comments?

I really enjoyed the book. The other books in this series on audio, and I will certainly be listening and reviewing them as well. A big “Thank you” goes out to D.B. Martin for giving me the opportunity to listen to this great series.

An Okay Mystery of Family Drama

PATCHWORK MAN was an okay listen. It's not in the same league as Gone Girl nor Girl on the Train though. The author D.B Martin is a good writer nonetheless. I think he has the skill to bump this up to the aforementioned books. That said, I wasn't sure of place and time in this story. Also the characters were somewhat confusing as to who was who and their relationships to the protagonist Lawrence were confusing. At the beginning of the story too much time was spent with Danny and the social worker where Lawrence's thoughts kept wandering back and forth admiring her physically. It felt out of place. Many times I felt lost. This could've been edited down.

Rob Groves narration was good but dry. There weren't many voice inflections except with the other characters. The protagonist was monotone. He has a great voice, I'm just not sure why it was directed in this way. Overall, I think this is a good beginning to a series. The next book may tell more.

“This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of Audiobookboom”

Patchwork

After years of hiding, Lawrence comes face to face with his past. From a family with 11 children, Kenny and all except the babies in the family are taken from the family home and placed in child services. Learning to survive and make his way to adulthood Kenny grows up to become Lawrence a successful attorney. Only to have his childhood all come back to him with one case.

I received a free audio version of this book in exchange for an honest review. While it wasn't one of my favorite and was slow in the beginning, it did get better as it went on. I probably would not have finished it if I had been actually reading it instead of just listening,

Tremendous Excitement !!

5.0 out of 5 stars  You'll be hooked on Bobby Jacobi

By Jerry S. - July 6, 2014

Wow! Just finished reading Patchwork Man. It was given to me as a gift. Outstanding. I found it difficult to put this book down. In fact, I didn't. I read it in one sitting. Thought it was a fast moving dramatic mystery story with compelling characters that deceptively results in an epiphanous moment of self-examination and reassessment of values. Looking forward to more in this series. Highly recommended And intriguing story..

I received a free copy of this book and voluntarily decided to review."

Audiobook review for Patchwork Man

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

The ending was too rushed. There was this huge buildup and then it just absolutely fizzled. I am not sure if it was meant to be a cliffhanger that was trying to get us to read the next books, but to me, it just seemed like all the sudden it was over too easily; no big twist, not enough questions answered for as many plot lines as there were.

Any additional comments?

Writing a review for this book is a little difficult because it leaves many questions unanswered. The book opens with a back-and-forth between past and present day. In the past we have Kenny Juss' family being split apart as his mother goes into labor with her 11th child and he is sent to a children's home where we hear stories of bullying, rape/molestation and abuse; these children have it very hard. Then we switch back to current day where he has changed his name to Lawrence Juste and is a barrister defending (a 10-year-old?) Danny who is charged with manslaughter after a woman dies after a mugging. For about the first 35% of the book, we hear about the death of Kenny/Lawrence's wife, and his sessions with Danny and Danny's social worker Kat Roumelia. These scenes tend to drag on with Kenny/Lawrence going off into his own head deep in thought, and then suddenly, we snap to a very important part, usually in just a sentence. I listened to the audiobook mostly, and I felt that I would tune out when he was in his head, and then I would miss these important bits. I went back and listened to the whole middle part of the book because I felt like at the end I had so many unanswered questions. The ending has this huge buildup, and then just fizzles; I'm not sure if this is meant to be a cliffhanger, but I was quite disappointed and I doubt I will continue reading the series. Like I said, I listened to audio mostly, so I can't speak to grammar/spelling issues, but I didn't notice continuity issues. All I can say is that issues were brought up that were never resolved (for example: Danny's mom is attacked, and Lawrence theorizes who did it, but we never actually find out who did it.) and that made for a lot of unanswered questions at the end. I did like the story line and felt that the book has a lot of potential. Just take out some of the "in-the-head" scenes and work on answering some of the questions that carry the important plot points. There are a lot of plot lines going in a lot of directions, and it might help to simplify just a little bit, or at least work to tie time together in the end.

Audio: the narrator did a great job and it was a high quality recording, although I did notice that the volume changed quite a bit. The narrator had a nice English accent that was easy to understand and he used different tones to differentiate the characters. I enjoyed his voice.

Gritty Psychological British Work

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

Yes, it exceeded expectations. Be aware that this is Volume One of a trilogy. If you want answers to everything you may be frustrated. Rob Groves' voice work is superb!

What other book might you compare Patchwork Man to and why?

Think "The Waltons", think of the family situation in "Cinderella Man" think England, think gritty, poverty without Rose Colored Glasses and without a strong family unit and faith to persevere. That's the background that is the premise of this work. The effect that is at the core of the main character Barrister Lawrence Juste's attempt to hide from himself and others.

Which scene was your favorite?

The interaction of Juste and the youth accused of a crime as he becomes involved in the case. And there's a twist! No Spoilers!

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, I wanted to. But...

Any additional comments?

This is a fantastic listen, well written and fine narration. I want more of this series!

Thanks for the opportunity to review "Patchwork Man: Patchwork People, Volume 1"!

This review copy audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost.

Interesting Topic

The story itself is very interesting but I had a little bit of a hard time understanding the narrators accent at times. I also had difficulty keeping track of so many characters in one story!

Grabbed me from the start

Family secrets and an intricately woven conspiracy kept my attention from the start. Very well done. The character development was excellent. Settle in for the long run as this seems to be a series, and I hate not know how things end up. Definitely going to follow this one.

The narrator was perfect for this story. Great performance.

This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review.