Joe

Good story spoiled by bad narration

Reviewed: 07-08-16

I took this book on holiday as an Ebook and also on Audible. I really enjoyed this book but this is one of those times when the audio experience falls short of its potential. I ended up reading about 70% of it and only listened when i absolutely had to. Steven Brand reads the whole thing in a dull mono tone. There is no sense of any emotion in his voice at all and his character acting is just non existent. Honestly, he uses the same voice for every single character in the book. Even the Females! Reading other reviews and people have given this "performance" 4/5 stars. That blows my mind!!!

Narration aside. I found this book OK. Its a great debut effort by the author and the pacing was solid, no lulls that you often find in this genre. The characters were a little one dimensional though, i would have liked more fleshing out. The past - present style of writing added a lot to the book and i think it worked really well.

3 stars is a little harsh but due to the narration i cant in good conscience give it higher.

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1 person found this helpful

Will make you think

Reviewed: 18-02-16

Any fans of Sam Harris will love this. A very short but concise essay on Lying and the moral questions it raises. I like how this is relevant and can be applied to everyone listening to it. I was left giving serious thought to the actions of myself and people around me.

At just over 1 hour long it doesn't exactly feel like value for money(even at the £1.99 sale price) It was, however, the most interesting dog walk I've ever had.

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2 people found this helpful

interesting, not nothing more

Reviewed: 20-12-15

I enjoyed listening to the stories of people who found themselves hunted down by an internet hate mob, especially when they had done something so seemingly harmless.

I found this book interesting but was a little disappointed with the ending. No real conclusion or overall message is drawn other than "public shaming is bad and often the punishments far out way the crime". Everyone kind of knows this anyway.

Jon's narration wasn't bad overall, listening to the sample I though it might irritate me but you get used to it after a while.

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1 person found this helpful

Good old King

Reviewed: 05-12-15

Enjoyable read. Told memoir style by the main character from a very young age into his later life and the strange dealings he has throughout with his "5th Business". Its not an exciting thriller by any means, rather a story that drags you in and builds up slowly to its climax.
A climax, by the way, that the synopsis calls "the most terrifying conclusion Stephen King has ever written" - This is very far from the truth. Don't get me wrong, its not bad but its not exactly stellar either.
The writing and the characters are what makes this book really stand out, it's King at his best. The narration is spot on too.

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2 people found this helpful

Loved it

Reviewed: 23-09-15

Ok, so i got this on the 2for1 sale because i didn't know what other book to get and settled on a Classic Grisham. I ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT!

Honestly, i was engrossed in this book, finished it in 3 days ( very quick for me). Something about the central character (Mitch) that has you rooting for him all the way through. I particularly like the ending, its not a typical "happily ever after" fob off that you might expect.

There is a reason this book has sold millions of copies. Buy it, Read it, you wont regret it.

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Mehhh

Reviewed: 23-09-15

Well written and narrated, had the same feel of the original series. For me, the plot wasn't that engaging, It didn't exactly grab me. After finishing i felt mostly underwhelmed. My main flaw is that Salander does not feature enough, she plays more of a supporting role. This was an annoyance i had throughout the trilogy though, especially when you consider she is probably one of the most unique and exciting female characters to be written in a long time.

All in all, if you liked the Millennium trilogy you will probably like this, just don't expect it to be on par.

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Brilliant

Reviewed: 04-08-15

Jurassic park is one of my all time favorite films so when i saw this in the sale i thought id give it a go.

First off don't go in expecting a fast paced thriller. Unlike the film the novel really goes in depth into the dinosaur creation process and has some very long winded parts about genetics, chaos theory, archeology etc.... personally i really enjoyed these parts of the book, and found them fascinating but i admit they did slow down the plot somewhat. That isn't to say the action was lacking, there is lots.

In all, if you liked the film definitely pick this up, you wont regret it. Great read and very well performed by Scott Brick

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Garbage

Reviewed: 04-08-15

As a HUGE fan of Ready Player One I was so excited for this one, OMG it was such a let down.

The story is appalling, not only is it a blatant rehash of Enders game/Last Star Fighter but it has the audacity to frequently reference both and constantly draw parallels. It is not new, unique or exciting in any way. All the "Easter eggs" that made RPO so cool just feel lazy and forced in Armada.

Ok, this book is fun and fast paced but It felt like the book was rushed and absolutely no thought was put into it (a borrowed story line, one dimentional characters and a run time of less than 12hours) Honestly, if it wasn't for Will Weaton i probably wouldn't have even finished this. So disappointed!

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27 people found this helpful

Fantastic

Reviewed: 09-07-15

Loved this from start to finish. Classic fantasy at its best. Demons come out at night and prey on humankind, only to be banished when dawn comes - OK not the most original idea ever but PVB has still created a wonderfully captivating world that will have you totally drawn in. The 3 main characters are very well fleshed out and all very unique and engaging. You follow them all from childhood into early adulthood and its interesting to watch them grow and change as characters. They also have the likeability factor that make you keep "turning the page".

Colin Mace's narration is good, not the best I've heard but he does a decent job of differentiating between the characters and i quite liked the smooth tone of his voice. After finishing i immediately downloaded book 2 and am currently half way through it. I'm glad to have a new fantasy series to loose myself in for 70 hours :)

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9 people found this helpful

Not great

Reviewed: 05-07-15

To me the story just felt too rushed, with too much happening in such a short time frame. I also had no strong feelings towards any characters at all which made the whole thing a bit flat.

I'm Not really sold on the audio drama. I like the individual character voices but I don't think all the sound effects add anything to the story, on the contrary, most of the time they are just distracting. Any time a conversation happened on the phone it was muffled and unclear, and don't even get me started on the damn rain!

I've actually listened to 2 books narrated by Robert Glenister and i preferred them both to this, performance wise. I suppose that says it all.

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