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Performance
Overall
Excellent, Unforgettable, Best of the nest
Very good, thoroughly enjoyed,
Good, Solid, Enjoyed many aspects
STAR RATINGS GUIDE
Brilliant: A Cut Above
THE BIRDICT
💛 I LOVE this book. Exciting, gripping and with relatable, complex characters, this was my first Harlan Coben but definitely not my last.
💚 The premise was pure catnip (humanip?) and the plot did not disappoint. Honestly, it's made me rethink my rating of other books, it was so well written.
💙 This felt like a Netflix mystery thriller, which it now in fact has become. Sort of Blacklist plus Criminal Minds plus Law & Order.
SQUAWKING THE TALK
🎧 Soooo weird. Throughout the audiobook, I pictured Kyle Chandler (aka Coach from Friday Night Lights) as Paul Copeland. Then I realised the narrator is called David Chandler. I can’t find anything saying they’re related, but they share a voice.
🎧 Alongside Chandler, Carol Monda provides the voice of Lucy Gold. Some reviewers described their performances as monotone and, while I can see why, I think this was part of the interpretation of the characters. Both Paul and Lucy are reserved and closed off. I enjoyed their performances.
🎧 Pet peeve: The chapter listings on the audiobook didn’t specify the prologue so were one off the correct number the whole time.
NOTE: The version I listened to is no longer available on Audible. The current version is read by one narrator, Tim Machin. From the brief sample I heard his performance is more serious and less lighthearted than Chandler's. Also, I didn't hear his narration of any female roles. It seems strange that this was done, especially the switch from two to one on the vocal front.
BIRDS OF A FEATHER: SIMILAR AUDIOBOOKS
No spoilers for this one. Maybe next time!
Click For Spoilers
The Woods
THE BLURB
Twenty years ago, four teenagers at summer camp walked into the woods at night. Two were found murdered, and the others were never seen again. Four families had their lives changed forever. Now, two decades later, they are about to change again.
For Paul Copeland, the county prosecutor of Essex, New Jersey, mourning the loss of his sister has only recently begun to subside. Cope, as he is known, is now dealing with raising his six-year-old daughter as a single father after his wife has died of cancer. Balancing family life and a rapidly ascending career as a prosecutor distracts him from his past traumas, but only for so long. When a homicide victim is found with evidence linking him to Cope, the well-buried secrets of the prosecutor's family are threatened.
Is this homicide victim one of the campers who disappeared with his sister? Could his sister be alive? Cope has to confront so much he left behind that summer 20 years ago: his first love, Lucy; his mother, who abandoned the family; and the secrets that his Russian parents might have been hiding even from their own children. Cope must decide what is better left hidden in the dark and what truths can be brought to the light.
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