Realty Check

De: Piers Anthony

Narrado por: Steven Cooper

Penn and Chandelle, an older couple, rent a house in the city at a bargain price and discover that its back door opens onto an endless forest. Now they know why others were scared off. That's only the beginning of the oddities about this particular piece of realty.

They decide to call in experts: their grandchildren, Lloyd and Llynn, who pitch in with a will to try to discover what and why. But it may be more of a challenge than they can handle.

©1999 Piers Anthony, This edition published in 2014 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc. (P)2014 Audible Inc.

Good idea falls flat.

The idea behind this book is very interesting. That's about as far as it goes however. Piers couldn't seem to decide whether he wanted the extraordinary house at the center of the story to be whimsical or worryingly mysterious, so there are abrupt tone changes scattered throughout.

The biggest complaint by far however is the fact that seemingly half of this book is dedicated to sexualizing a 17 year old girl, and describing in detail the lustful thoughts she inspires in her grandfather and cousin. Truly a bizarre decision even considering Piers Anthony's spotty history with female characters.

Great story, droll when not in dialog

Loved the book and was looking forward to listening, it was performed almost roboticly. yet it is still a great story.

Interesting idea, Lukewarm narration

Would you try another book from Piers Anthony and/or Steven Cooper?

I am a big fan of Piers Anthony, but the text of this story doesn't match the quality of many of his other works. It seems to be written to maybe an early teen audience, though some of the scenes are definitely not what would be written to that audience. The ideas in it are actually pretty interesting, but it needs another pass with the pen before it'll be up to the level of writing it should be.

Would you listen to another book narrated by Steven Cooper?

Not sure that I would. Many of the characters seemed rather flat. I certainly wasn't drawn into the story as I am by other narrators. I would definitely have to listen to a sample of another book read by him before jumping in.