very wordy with a confusing plot

the story seems very slow and laboured. I didn't enjoy the narration and the singing should be a criminal offence!

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1 person found this helpful

Stop singing!

I'm a big fan of Mick Herron. The Slough House series is one of my favourites, and can listen to any one of them numerous times. This series feels like a complete let-down. I gave the first one 7/10,and was prepared to pay to listen to this one, just because, you know, Mick Herron. I'm sorry to say I give it 4/10 at best. If this audio book series is going to go anywhere, it needs a new narrator, one who can pick up on the odd humerous nuances that are indicative of Mick Herron. And, really, was there ANY need for that awful singing?!?!

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2 people found this helpful

starts slowly but persevere..

I listened to this out of sequence so didn't have the suspense of knowing who made it to the last page, but was thoroughly satisfied nonetheless.
Mick Herron writes wonderful female characters and given that his plots are entirely character driven makes for stories that are sharp, funny, profound and poignant. Wonderful beautifully enunciated performance by Julia Franklin - I speed her up to 1.20 but that's not a criticism.

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1 person found this helpful

I think the story was better but the narration was awful

I just listened to the 3rd book and the narration seems faster and more upbeat than this one. I have enjoyed the 1st and 3rd this one I found hard going. I might try reading it myself.

My review:

Male characters were cartoonish. No effort at trying to give these characters special voices would have been much better. Strange inflections made the story boring and I tried to ignore it and imagine what the author meant but the way he’d constructed the sentences which was hard work.

I had to listen to several chapters more than once because I fell asleep. I think the story was better than it seemed I wish I’d bought a physical book.

I tried other reviewer’s ideas of speeding it up I found that much better 1.2 or 1.5 seemed best, Even double speed worked as there were so many pauses in the narration.

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Fantastic

Really loved this. A bit like a less jolly Kate Atkinson story. I'm already hooked on the Slough House series🙂

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Another example of Herron's impeccable prose.

When you have to Google whether ostriches do really bury their heads in the sand, you know that you're reading a Mick Herron novel.
I have no hesitation in recommending The Last Voice You Hear so that you realise why it is necessary to do so.

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4 people found this helpful

Over long

I personally didn’t enjoy the voice of the narrator
Plot was over long. Needed editing

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1 person found this helpful

Clever

I thoroughly enjoyed this. Lots of musing on life but really kept up the suspense. Didn’t entirely like the reader’s intonation -maybe too matter of fact. Great story writing by Mick Herron as usual. Love his Slough House series.

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Dreadfully affected sing-song narration

As a fan of Mick Herron's books in general, I did enjoy this book's predecessor Down Cemetery Road and it was very well narrated by Anna Bentinck. The Slough House series are also very well served by Sean Barrett. However Julia Franklin is for me, unlistenable. Oddly breathy, and very affected, narration, with peculiar emphases on insignificant words; the voice in which Zoe Boehm's dialogue is rendered is slightly better but I eventually gave up in despair

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8 people found this helpful

Female characters made a interesting change

unfortunately I really disliked the narration. There isn't enough female narration but this lady introduced a slight warble into some of the words at the end of sentences. It became incredibly distracting. Also, the secondary voices for the 'bad guys' were quite cartoonish.
As for all Mick Herron books, I enjoyed the story and characters.

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