The Cutting Room

Publisher's Summary

Detective Manny Alvarez knows the body of a murdered Florida student is only the beginning - his investigation soon reveals a terrifying trend in nightclub abductions.

Hotshot Assistant State Attorney Daria DeBianchi works the case, too, hoping it will be the one that makes her career. It will - but for all the wrong reasons.

Their only lead, notorious serial killer William Bantling, claims they are looking for more than one murderer. However, in exchange for the truth, he wants off death row.

C. J. Townsend, the prosecutor who put Bantling behind bars, lives under a false identity and struggles to forget the horrors of her past. However, her new life - along with everyone else’s - is about to be shattered.…

©2013 Jilliane Hoffman (P)2013 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

Mediocre story with a really bad narrator!

First the story: The plot has real potential which is never realized. The plot theme is an international "snuff club" where the members, all male, rape and murder young women in front of cameras with other members of the club viewing and interacting live over the Internet. The Cutting Room ends with most of the problem being unresolved. The truncated ending makes no sense. Nevertheless, there is enough suspense, action, etc. to satisfy most thriller readers.

In past reviews I have written that Angela Dawe's narration is irritating much as the sound of fingernails scratching a chalk board. Although she does male voices especially well, she should NEVER be selected to narrate an audiobook; she is horrid! I could see her playing the Wicked Witch of the West (or I could have before seeing Wicked on Broadway and found out she was really nice rather than Wicked). She has exactly the right voice to play a mute in the movies.

If you are interested in this book, get the Kindle ebook version.

7 of 9 people found this review helpful

Couldn't stand to listen - awful narrator

Would you try another book from Jilliane Hoffman and/or Angela Dawe?

I have always loved Jilliane Hoffman's books. It may be once I buy the paper book I will think the story is better but I had trouble paying attention because of how much I dislike the narration. I tried this one three times and finally made it past the first few minutes but I couldn't enjoy it because of the narrator. I gave up because the narrator's voice was so grating that I couldn't concentrate. I am going to have to buy the book again, this time in paper, because I am never listening to this narrator again, even though I bought this book, and I will check more carefully before I buy another book. I strongly recommend that you use the "sample" feature before buying this book so that you do not, as I did, waste your money on a book you end up being unable to finish. I have read other books where I didn't love the narration, sometimes because a beloved narrator from prior books by the same author was replaced by someone whose voice I had trouble associating with a character, because the narration was boring or otherwise not pleasing, but I have never stopped reading a book before for this reason and I have been listening to audio books for 30 years.

How could the performance have been better?

Different reader

Any additional comments?

I wasted my money because the narration was so awful that I couldn't even get half way through it. Don't waste yours.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

omg the narrator is horrible!!!

What disappointed you about The Cutting Room?

The narrarator. I.couldn't finish the book. That's how bad it was.

Would you ever listen to anything by Jilliane Hoffman again?

Yes I've liked her other book. This narrarator just ruined the story.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Angela Dawe?

ANYONE

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

I dunno I couldn't finish it.

Any additional comments?

Please redo this book, read by someone else

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Couldn't listen to more than two minutes...

Would you ever listen to anything by Jilliane Hoffman again?

Yes, I love her - the narrator was just unbelievably bad. It's a shame that what is probably a great story was ruined by such a bad narrator

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

A little disappointed

I felt the book left unfinished a sequel would have been great. I'd like to know how she handled the others Hint. Right the rest of the story.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Irritating Reader-Gruesome Story

It's rare that I don't mind if one of the main characters if offed, but I just couldn't put up with Daria, the DA prosecutor. Also, the author was often lazy, resorting to cliches. Lots of redundant descriptions. Though I'm not a lawyer, the courtroom interactions and procedures were far from believable, and the behavior of the judge was reprehensible. The reader was the absolute worst aspect off the book. Her sing-song narration was hard to get past and I almost returned the book because of it.
Based on the storyline of the other audible book by this author, she seems to be stuck on young female ADAs who use a case to advance their careers. At least it's not the same reader.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Love the "Bear"

If you could sum up The Cutting Room in three words, what would they be?
Intense, Focused, and Funny. This is an intense thriller story, and you can miss the wonderful humorous lines if you are doing to many things while listening. "the Bear" has them, so listen for it.

Who was your favorite character and why?
Manny, the Bear. " He was big, burley, hairy and bald" with such a great sense of humor. Tough to be a detective and still have one! Our heroine is as spunky as they get and reader really brings her spunk to life.

Have you listened to any of Angela Dawe’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
I only purchased this story as I LOVE Angela's male reading voice. Yes, you have to get use to her cadence, but she brings to life any male character in a book. I love her in the Tiffany Snow series, Kade the bad boy is just as yummy as they get, and Angela really brings him to sexy life! A much lighter romance mystery than this author.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
Oh yes, well ok every waking hour. Riveting and so fast paced. I listened to Plea of Insanity as that is read by my most fave reader Karen White. Again, her male voice is the best. If you like humor, check out Julie James series romance mysteries with Karen reading them.

Any additional comments?
The next book has comments i.e.: like Karin Slaughter, You must be hard core thriller fan, which I am not so this author may not be for me. Hence the Romance Mystery notes I have.
I do use the new 1.25x speed to match the authors intentions.
Were my comments helpful?

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

great suspense. You won't be able to put it down.

Full of twists and suspense. best I've read in a long time. couldn't put down

I just can't listen to this lady read this book.

The narrator was just too much for me to get very for in the book. she made it so hard to listen.

Did not like narrator

write the story but I did not like the narrator's voice it was irritated the story ended with a set up for the next book

1 of 2 people found this review helpful