Mark

Thought I was reading an older LeCarre book

Reviewed: 11-19-24

Loved reliving my favorite characters and the dialogue. Author did a great job sticking to the Smiley genre

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Barely OK

Reviewed: 10-27-23

Story was OK, being from Mpls, St. Paul is was entertaining reading a fiction hapening in neighborhoods I know well. Still feels like Sandford did not write this book - not as bad as the second Letty book, but still..... Narrator is horrible - miles away from the quality of Richard Ferrone.

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Did Sandford write this?

Reviewed: 05-18-23

I enjoyed the previous Letty stories, but found this one just plain bad. Not helped by the poor naration (spoiled by RP). Felt like it was ghost written. Dialouge was kinda non Sandford like - a bit infantile. Too much focus on guns. And Letty is somehow some SAS like operative, and these Russian guys are like the Three Stooges. Really? Narrator made Russians sound like Boris Badanov from Rockey and Bullwinkle.

I will not give up on the Davenport stories, e.g. really enjoyed the last Lucas/Virgil book.....but this was at the bottom of my list of favorities. Mark

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Predictable

Reviewed: 03-04-19

If you like Hallmark and Lifetime movies, you'll enjoy this story. But I thought the story and characters were very predictable. The narrators voice when trying to sound like a man, was always the same - kind of deep, slow, goofy sounding. I hope I don't sound like that. While I applaud anyone who can write a story, book, (more than I can do).... I thought it was kind of sappy (the flashing of the police car lights, her old boyfriends from her home town years ago, reflected through her engagement ring........). Oh boy.

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Are we trying to use every word in the dictionary?

Reviewed: 09-25-18

During the narrative, the author is trying to impress us with extended flowery descriptions and nearly every word in the dictionary. I am not overly educated but some new word to describe something I never heard of came up about once a minute. I kept track. The dialogue isn't bad, but the narrative is. Author - It is a rough story about a rough country and a very very rough man, but the writing is not rough, does not match the story. I tried to get through it, but have to move on. Try again, but let the story impress us, ...not the overblown use of the English language/dictionary/thesaurus.

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1 person found this helpful

I love MCS!

Reviewed: 11-05-14

Would you consider the audio edition of Nightwing to be better than the print version?

Not sure. Haven't read the book.

What did you like best about this story?

I love MCS - great dialogue, great characters, characters are believable. MCS' fiction based on real history is excellent!

What does Richard Ferrone bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Excellent reader. Have listened to him on other books and always enjoy his readings.

If you could take any character from Nightwing out to dinner, who would it be and why?

Youngman - although he probably would never go with me - maybe a beer.

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A different kind of spy novel, ending so-so

Reviewed: 03-11-13

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Not sure I would recommend this book.... no major reason to do it.

Has A Spy by Nature turned you off from other books in this genre?

No way

Have you listened to any of Simon Vance’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Yes - he is great!

Was A Spy by Nature worth the listening time?

Barely

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What was this story about?

Reviewed: 08-09-12

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

No. I am not sure what the story was trying to tell me, other than a few months in the life of an ex-Army gal living in China, going through a divorce and supposedly involved in some high stakes political mystery. Not really though. The author copped out, leaving more questions unanswered than answered. Who really was Jon? Where was the artist? What happened to the Muslim? Who were the avatars? It was like the author wrote 2/3s of the story, then couldn't figure out an ending, so left all these questions unanswered, blaming it on "that's China".

I do like mysteries, in particular ones set in other countries/cultures. I did find the insight into modern day China interesting, and some of he characters.

What was most disappointing about Lisa Brackmann’s story?

The degree to which the "F" word was used, especially in an audiobook. I wouldn't want to spend time with the main character. It reminded me of some bad teenage jock movie, where they start swearing more and more as the movie struggles on to keep people entertained, substituting swear words for story. It is usually a sign to stop the movie (or book).

I also didn't care for the Avatar, high tech stuff. Cartoonish.

Have you listened to any of Tracy Sallows’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have never listened to another performance by her.

Did Rock Paper Tiger inspire you to do anything?

Never get a book by the author again.

Any additional comments?

Nope.

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Loved Caption Blood!

Reviewed: 10-07-10

I have read and listened to many of the "Classics" but this might be one of my favorites! I agreed it is not well-known and should be read by all - romantics and business folks!

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