The Guilty One

A Novel

De: Lisa Ballantyne

Narrado por: Steve West

Moving and suspenseful, Lisa Ballantyne’s The Guilty One is a psychological thriller about the darkness in each of us. It explores how we are all tied to our pasts, and what it means to be guilty.

Solicitor Daniel Hunter is called to defend 11-year-old Sebastian who has been charged with the murder of a young boy on a London playground. While examining Sebastian’s life in order to save it, Daniel can’t help but be transported to his own difficult youth spent in foster care—a time when the one he trusted the most was the one who betrayed him…

Emotionally wrought, and with an abundance of twists and turns, The Guilty One is a character-driven novel of suspense that explores the true nature of guilt.

Ok but repetitive

What made the experience of listening to The Guilty One the most enjoyable?

It is an interesting story, and you really do not know if Sebastian committed the crime. it keeps you guessing. Not really a thriller, more like a crime drama. The overlap is the stories is nice and I found the transition to be smooth. My main issue with the book is how repetitive it is on some regards. It gets annoying at times and takes away from a good story

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

I think the narrator has a great voice. Having said that, his female voices are pretty bad. I wish he had omitted the he said she said given that he was changing voices for different characters.

Excellent character mystery/courtroom drama

An excellent, compelling,well developed back story of a complex lawyer defending a wily 11 year old accused of murdering a 7 year old playmate. Human interest story with marvelous insightfulness of the human condition by the author. Terse. Deserves its place on many lists of best courtroom dramas.

TWO STORIES IN ONE!

This was an absolutely outstanding book! It pulls you into two stories, one a flashback and one a present! So well written and narrated! You will be glad you chose this book!!

an okay story

I loved the performance. and the back story but the main story is so so. at least for my taste. I would not call this book a thriller.

It goes on... & on, & on, & on, & on... & on

What didn't you like about the book?
If it was a real person telling this story in an autobiography, it'd probably be a chapter or two. Somehow it stretched into a whole novel. Mainly through overwriting. And then overwriting some more.
It's like reading a Stephen King novel. Except without any plot. Or interesting characters. Or real conflict. Because you know 99% of the result of the conflict from chapter 3, so at that point you really don't care what made it happen.
But I diligently waited for the shoe to drop. I finished the book with it still hanging around somewhere. Maybe. If the shoe ever existed.
What would've made you like the book more?
If the synopsis wasn't so misleading, maybe? A plot would've been nice. Maybe some dimensions to the characters. Less background building - any of that.
The synopsis was promising, but misleading about how massive the betrayal was. When you stack it up against a murder, you're thinking the betrayal is on that scale.
But it's not. And you're spoon fed what it is from the first small reveal all the way up to the let me s-p-e-l-l it out for you reveil. And then it's spelled out again. Oh, and two more times.
Just in case you missed it.
How was the narrator?
He was okay. He wasn't the most amazing narrator I've ever heard, but far from the worst. Although - combined with the story - his voice was insanely easy to tune out. Like fall asleep to and not even try to fight it tune out.
Would you read another book by this author?
I think this is the first book I've ever come across where I can definitively say no, I will actively avoid this author.