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David Burke Grenfell

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Great new narrator and a good book

Overall
4 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
3 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 07-14-23

I don't like to say much about a book as I personally prefer to know very little about a book before I read or listen to it. I enjoy the mystery unraveling. This is a fine fantasy tale with some gritty action and clever story telling. While I personally found the balance between story and explanations and descriptions to be a bit heavy towards the explanations and descriptions, I was never bored nor was I tempted to skip ahead.

What I really want is to applaud the narrator. He did a great job of using different voices for the various characters. You know who is speaking by the voice used. I only had to skip back once to hear something a second time because I missed it the first time. This is often a problem when voice acting is too clever or when whispering is acted out. I don't know how much responsibility for missed dialog rests on the sound engineer and how much on the narrator but this recording was great. In this case it was one short whisper and I got it on the second try. This is the only book narrated by Marc Biagi that I see in the Audible catalog. I hope he gets as much work as he wants. I started another book after finishing this one and was immediately disappointed that Mr. Biagi wasn't narrating it. If you want an original fantasy tale or to be introduced to a great new narrator, give this book a shot.

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Very good

Overall
4 out of 5 stars
Performance
4 out of 5 stars
Story
4 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 02-03-23

The star rating thing... This book is very good for what it is. it is hard for me to give... okay I am changing it from 3 to 4 stars. Don't think it is going to blow you away. It simply has charm an depth as you might expect from a novel written by a good author. A satisfying super hero story.

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maybe the best yet

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 09-22-22

My memory is poor and so I can't reliably claim that this is the best John Wells book so far. I know that I have liked or loved them all. This one is fantastic. I don't know if Mr. Guidall deserves 5 starts instead of 4 but it is hard to tell when the total package is this good. As is typical of Mr. Berenson, the telling of the story seems to be supported by expertise in the subject matter and all issues of character, religion, politics, etcetera, are treated with respect whether evil or not.

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Over LONG?

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 09-16-22

I can imagine getting bogged down by this book if I read it. Listening to it I had no trouble with the length. the handling of the characters, especially our protagonists, is masterful in my opinion. I can see this book as triggering for folks sensitive to murder, underage sexual couplings, disabilities, internet bullying, misogyny, and who knows how much else. I mention a lot there but the misogyny and cyber bullying are fairly rampant. The other rough stuff is less so. To those not involved in the online game community, how awful it can be may be a bit of a surprise. I didn't see this book as going over the top in that regard. I think a good mystery reader could figure out the culprit(s)? before the end. As usual, there seems to be a lot of possibilities. Note taking is probably a requirement for those without a great memory. LOTS of characters. The narration was great. I do find myself wanting to know if urinal is your-eye-null in English and otherwise in Americanized English. There are a few of these fun pronunciation bits. Another fine Strike novel. Now waiting for number 7...

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Solid book and narration

Overall
4 out of 5 stars
Performance
4 out of 5 stars
Story
4 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 09-02-22

The first Red Phoenix book was also very good. the plot in that book seemed preordained to me. So it was mostlty the characters and specific scenes that maintained interest in the novel. In this book I felt that the author could choose many directions for the confrontation to go. This provided more suspense. The narrator did a great job. I am looking forward to my next Larry Bond novel. Trying to get Dangerous Ground, which seems to be one that Audible does not have the rights to make available...

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simple short and well done

Overall
4 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
4 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 08-12-22

As the title says, it is a simple story that is well performed. To be fair I confess that I Do Not Like radio play style stories. I almost shut it off 5 minutes in with the stupid music and editing choices... but... the sound engineering of the actors is very good and the actors did a great job. So kudos to the sound engineering department for handling the difficult task. Too often in books I have to turn the sound up and down because of sound engineering choices. Not here. If you enjoy radio play style story telling or "full cast productions" then you should really like this one. Assuming that the book description doesn't put you off.

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A real page turner

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
4 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 10-08-21

I don’t usually give 5 stars to anything but the best of the best. I gave Earthcore only a 3 because it left me a bit disappointed in certain aspects. Together the books are a solid 4 for me, so just short of the best of the best. They are near the top for me in the thriller category. Depending on how broadly one defines “thriller”, I have read or listened to hundreds of them. This pair is among the best.

No spoiler review. I cared more about the characters in this book than I did in Earthcore. This book hits the ground running and never slows. Maybe 1 in 50 books has me sitting in my van listening to a book while I eat my lunch or listening for a few minutes after arriving at a destination. This is one of those few. Earthcore did not have that effect on me. Solid protagonists and enemies abound. Plenty of plot twists.

I am definitely going to try some more Sigler books. Ray Porter’s performance for the women was better in this book in my opinion. I find everything else about his performances to be very good. I never have to skip back to figure out what he said. He differentiates the voices without obscuring the dialogue.

Earthcore would be 3.5 and Mount Fitz Roy would be 4.5, if I could give half stars ;)

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Hard to rate

Overall
3 out of 5 stars
Performance
3 out of 5 stars
Story
3 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 09-24-21

I can see that the vast majority of listeners gave this 5 stars. Maybe I should be giving it a 4. I know I am stingy with 5 star ratings. This is a good book. I immediately purchased and began listening to the sequel when I discovered that it existed.
This book is a thriller. Suspense. Who will live? Who will die? Will everyone live? Will everyone die? What is really going on? The book is longer than this type of book typically is. Thankfully some of that length is because some characters or relationships are developed here and there throughout. It isn’t a ‘set the stage, introduce the characters, hold on for the wild ride’ tale. Expected twists. Unexpected twists. All of that was pretty good but maybe too long. The down side is that it is tough to root for almost any character in the book. Sigler and Porter somehow made me care just a smidgen but only barely. But the slow development and reveal helped draw me in. The female characters didn’t quite reach that bar for me. Tough, serious, respectable, but actually care about them, not for me. Porter’s voice acting was really great through a lot of the book but I felt that the women didn’t make the grade. I may be blaming Porter for Sigler’s characterization. Or maybe it is just me. 4.8 stars. Everyone loves this book. I liked it. Whatever illogical stuff was in it did not bother me, which is a big plus in a book this long that meddles with science and conniving people. If the sequel gives me some better female characters I will probably get the Infected series which are loosely prequels to Earthcore. Someone needs to update Scott Sigler’s fantasticfiction page. It doesn’t show Mt. Fitz Roy and it doesn’t show the relationship between various books in the Sigler Universe.

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Focuses on the background story

Overall
4 out of 5 stars
Performance
4 out of 5 stars
Story
4 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 09-16-21

While it isn’t necessary to have read “14” or “The Fold” before reading “Terminus”, I recommend it. The story of “Terminus” is focused on the background story of “14” and “The Fold”. Also the third book, “Dead Moon”, which I have not read. “14” is a favorite of mine. Quirky, hinting at horror but not nerve rattling to read or listen to. I listened to “The Fold” without knowing that the books were related and loved it. Especially when it unexpectedly became related. “Terminus” is not barely related. It is specifically related. As a comparison it is equivalent to The Dark Tower series by Stephen King in that many King books touch on The Dark Tower but the series is focused on the background story of that universe. “Terminus” is more stressful than “14”. We also get the story from multiple points of view. The various protagonists creates a deep connection to the story. How will these characters with conflicting motives work it out? Will they all survive? I am not a super fan of the Ex-Heroes series but that may be because I am reading them instead of listening to them. My ability to apply myself to reading has greatly diminished. I have no specific complaint. I just am not highly motivated to get to the next page. They are well told ‘The Walking Dead with super heroes” books, in my opinion. The Peter Clines books that start with “14” were all ‘can’t wait until my next listening moment’ books. I hope you find them the same. Ray Porter doesn’t amaze but he has a genuine quality and skill that worked very well for me. Like Wil Wheaton. They don’t create characters with their performance and they don’t distract from the story with their performance. I am always happy with either’s performance.

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Sharpe's Tiger Audiobook By Bernard Cornwell cover art

Good book

Overall
3 out of 5 stars
Performance
3 out of 5 stars
Story
3 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 05-21-21

I, due to other’s praise, hold Cornwell on a high pedestal. This book is good. I don’t find it noteworthy. I respect the history explained in the book and really appreciate Cornwell’s afterword in which his expands on the history and explains where he changed it. I will be reading/listening to the rest of the series. Narration was okay.

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