Perfect People

By: Peter James

Narrated by: Clare Corbett

Length: 13 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

Be careful what you wish for.... John and Naomi are grieving the death of their four-year-old son from a rare genetic disorder. They desperately want another child, but they realize the odds of their next child contracting the same disease are high. Then they hear about geneticist Dr Leo Dettore. He has methods that can spare them the heartache of ever losing another child to any disease. At his clinic is where their nightmare begins. They should have realized something was wrong when they saw the list. Choices of eye colour, hair, sporting abilities. They can literally design their child. Now it's too late to turn back. Naomi is pregnant and already something is badly wrong.

©2011 Really Scary Books / Peter James (P)2011 Macmillan Digital Audio

Disappointing

Is there anything you would change about this book?

I normally love Peter James books but this was just too Science Fiction for me. I thought it would deal with the social side of this subject but instead it because way out there.

Has Perfect People turned you off from other books in this genre?

No, because it wasn't quite the genre I presumed it to be when considering other titles by this author.

Do you think Perfect People needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

No, the finish left it with nowhere to go with a follow-up

Interesting subject, surprising plot

Designer baby's, that's a hell of a subject for a socalled crime fiction book. There's so much that can go wrong! This story is no exception. Peter James is an intelligent writer and his stories have a heart. It's an exciting book with a riveting end. The excellent narrator has a beautiful voice.

Easy listening

Enjoyable and easy listening. Certainly an unexpected twist in the end but what else can one expect from Peter James.

Be careful what you wish for

Was way to long and the parts about the cults could be cut out and not missed. At first the story pulled me in but by the ending I was more than ready for the really bad ending. I really disliked how the reader tried to sound like a male. Would not recommend.

not really well developed

became increasingly predictable. characters are not well developed. there was a lot of lag on unimportant details and it seemed to skip over opportunities for depth. end was unexpected however.

Disappointed

I was really looking forward to this book, having read great reviews. I can't go any further than the second chapter, however, because of the terrible voice that the female narrator puts on when speaking the main male character's parts. I have tried to persevere, but it really is awful - which is a shame because her 'normal' reading voice is very nice. If you are put off by silly voices, beware. I will be buying a hard copy of the book instead (and hope that I don't hear the silly voice in my head while I'm reading it).

Stick with it!

I am a big Peter James fan so bought this and was interested as it looked diffrent from his Roy Grace books. Like the previous review I too found the narrator slighly irritating but because I was gripped and intruiged by the story I stuck with it! I am so glad I did as I thorougly enjoyed it and was hooked to the end. A really great story with a gentle warning about science messing with nature, there is always a price to pay!

A Perfect Listen

I thoroughly enjoyed this book - the plot twisted and turned and I found that as a parent, I could really empathise with the parents in the story. Unlike many other listeners, I found the narrator consistent and her Swedish male voice convincing and helpful, once I had got used to it. She was able to switch from person to person with ease, helping me to flesh out the characters.

My husband had been told about this particular 'excellent' PJ book. I had seen it on Audible but saw it as a huge departure from his usual storyline. I was unsure about selecting it as I had only known Peter James in Grace mode.I was not disappointed. I was particularly pleased that, as we were holidaying in Brighton during this 'read', the story did get back to the Brighton area, the city we know so well from our student years.

Discount the poor reviews, and the comments about the narrator. Listen to it for yourself and make up your own mind. Towards the end, I simply could not put it down. I thought I knew how it was going to end, but I didn't! What's the audible equivalent to a page-turner?

Can we have some more Peter James, the full versions, please?

Could be happening even as we read !

Liked the idea of the plot a lot, the twists were fine and not always predictable, BUT, for me the reader was a great let down, the Swedish accent awful, which made me irritable with the book! . At times points were belaboured. Listen to the sample first and see if you get on with it.

not just the narrator...

As others have noted, the narrator does sound ludicrous when trying to convey the main male voice. But the story is also oh so predictable and the protagonists very hard indeed to sympathise with. There are also a couple of hilarious sex scenes - I laughed out loud (I wasn't meant to) here and in a couple of other places. Not entirely unenjoyable but buy something by Michael Crichton if you are interested in the future of genetic manipulation. And buy something else entirely if you want a thriller.

Perfect People...not a perfect book.

I enjoyed this book but not as much as I though I would judging by most of the book reviews I read. The premise of the book was interesting and the story was reasonably well thought out. The narrator's natural voice was strong and clear but I wasn't too keen on her "male" voice.
My main criticisms of the book are as follows.
- I was left with too many unanswered questions by the end.
- Supporting characters appeared suddenly and disappeared just as quickly
- The conclusion of some plotlines fizzled out instead of reaching an explosive climax
- In some situations, the behaviour of John and Naomi seemed a bit out of character.

Despite this, the book kept me listening avidly until the end and I found the conclusion satisfying. This was the first book of Peter James that I listened to but unfortunately, it would not prompt me to rush into downloading some of his other work anytime soon.

Bad Narrator

Terrible narration. I wanted to smack her. she made the Swedish husband sound like a farmer from Devon and the women whiney as hell.

A bit predictable

I was hoping to really enjoy this book as a fan of Peter James. Narration didn't work with a female voice .

Diabolical

A decent concept totally ruined by being over-padded with 'cleverness' and lists. Awful narration too.

Enjoyed but

The author used the words “squeezed a hand” about every 10 minutes and the scenes where the mother asked where her children were lasted too long, too loud and named the children every minute at screaming pitch.