The Controller

Lynch and Rose Crime Thriller, Book 1

By: Matt Brolly

Narrated by: Joe James

Length: 11 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's summary

From the best-selling author of the acclaimed DCI Lambert series comes The Controller, a gripping serial killer thriller introducing Sam Lynch and Special Agent Sandra Rose.

It is six years since special agent Samuel Lynch left the FBI following the disappearance of his son, Daniel. Lynch believes an underground organisation known as The Railroad is responsible and has never stopped searching.

When Special Agent Sandra Rose investigates a house invasion gone wrong, she discovers the assailant has the legendary, and infamous, Railroad tattoo carved onto his back and he claims to know Daniel’s whereabouts.

Rose draws Lynch in to her case, and together they become embroiled in an unparalleled world of violence and evil.

It seems that to see his son again, Lynch will have to confront his greatest fear and face the ultimate test: an encounter with the Railroad’s enigmatic and deadly leader, The Controller.

©2019 Matthew Brolly (P)2023 Matthew Brolly

Needs some editing, but good listen

Repeated phrases several times like a skip in a record, thought something was wrong with my app at first. Editing issue? Several mispronunciations throughout, but overall a decent performance and interesting listen

Solid Mystery, Good Narriation

First, there are many complaints about the narration in the reviews, and I can't entirely agree with the criticism. Yes, James in his narration uses a softer, milder voicing, but for me, this balances the stress of this ongoing mystery. The story is already gruesome (without being explicit) and I found the toned-down voicing a good balance.

The story was a solid mystery/slash, thriller, which is not really my cup of tea, but I did enjoy this. Brolly did a good job on the characters, causing the listener to be suspicious of everyone's motives.

I save 5-Star reviews for a book that I just can't get enough of. If this genre was my thing, this may have hit that level. If you like the violent crime mysteries, I think you will enjoy this story.

Editing needed. Is this a draft?

There were sections that appear to be unedited. Narrator repeats/starts/stops, etc. and at one point the narrator even discusses an edit.

On top of that, the book itself needed to be revised and edited. Things like the same word being used twice in a single sentence took away from what the author was trying to do. It gave the book a choppy feel, like if the author took lengthy breaks between writing chapters.

If nothing else this gave the listener a peak behind the what goes into a finished product.

The plot was ok (far fetched to be sure) but the editing did it no favors.

it’s really unlike Audible to put out such a rough product. It almost feels like the unedited file was published on accident.

Interesting story but poor audio

The story itself was fine but the reader was very dull and there were a few spots when it was poorly spliced together.

Odd Story

Maybe I just missed it, but by the time I got to the end, I still didn’t know why The Controller did what he did. What was his motivation? At one point he says he wants to own souls so maybe this elaborate underground prison he maintained had something to do with that. I don’t know. He was over the top evil, but the reader never learned why.

The editing was pretty bad. At one point the narrator even makes a comment about having to read a line again. The narrator also mispronounced words, some of them humorously so, but still, in general, I didn’t think he was terrible, but his cadence would change at times and I started getting the impression that he wasn’t really into it, Maybe the reader and the audio editor were just getting bored, which sadly, I was too. The story just could have ended a lot sooner.

Wooden performance

Interesting story but too far from believable. I mostly spent time debating with myself when I would stop listening as the narrator is wooden to the point of distraction. Finally the book was done. I have enjoyed other books much more. I hate giving a poor review as I could not write a novel nor narrate one but some do it so much better than this pair.

Droll narration

Good grief, l wish l would have stopped before l even had an hour in! Was hopeful but Narration was pathetic, no change in cadence whatsoever. Found myself lost so many times , story could have been more compact. Doubt l will give this author another chance!

I don’t get it

Unfortunately, I listened to the whole thing. I was hoping it would be worthwhile at the end but I was disappointed. The end didn’t really explain why everything was done to Ethan or his father. It seemed like the idea was there but the author didn’t know what to do with it. The story started off slow and confusing. It kinda got better but not enough for me to recommend listening. I didn’t care for the narrator but maybe that was due to his subject matter.

Not bad story, but sounds like a trial run.

The story itself is somewhat interesting. Not edge of your seat, but enough to keep me to the end. I would definitely look for a different narrator in the future. Aside from being very robotic, his voice and pronunciation made it much more difficult for me to listen. Editing also needs work as several narrator comments and splices are evident.

Not done yet

Acrost? Are you kidding me? I have to do at least 15 words, so I’m saying more but seriously acrost?