Monumental revisit

Will Patton. Maybe you’ll read this. Your performance of one of my favourite novels brings me back so authentically to the experience of reading it originally. Your voice is the voice of the novel perfectly. Thank you so much.

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Evocative wonderful professional production

You can tell that a great deal of effort has gone into this production. The writing and characterisation are excellent. Perfect Retro-American Deep-South Cop Novel with flushed out characters and plot. The whole story and tone reminds me a great deal of the original true detective series.

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Gritty and beautifully written

A Dave Robichaux novel was namechecked in an MW Craven book I was reading. The opening passage, so terrible yet beautiful, had me hooked. There are some salty bits of language that hits a few -isms hard, but come for the gritty action and stay for Burke's artistic dreamy description.

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Good characters a little confusing at times

I liked the characters. Found I was getting a little confused at times following the storyline. Not sure it would have all been swept under the carpet so easily but I may listen to book two and see where he goes.

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Enjoyed this book.

Good story line. Characters well formed. The love story on the side felt out of place. Overall enjoyed it a lot.

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Not His Best

I was slightly disappointed in this early (1987) work after thoroughly enjoying Burke's "Wandering Stranger" (2014). All the same themes are there, personal honour, Southern manners, police corruption, human frailty and deep seated evil - but it was done so much better in his later work. It's not that Neon Rain is a bad book but I have no desire to read the rest of this 24 book series.

One other positive is the brilliant narration by Will Patton.

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An unusual hybrid

I wasn’t taken with the somewhat dated 1980s grizzled machismo that sits on the surface of this novel, but I enjoyed it more as it went on. The thriller/mystery elements don’t hang together all that well, but the as the novel progresses, the always sumptuous, bordering on purple, prose begins to meander across the big questions of good and evil, love and death. I was looking for a more literary example of the detective novel and this is what The Neon Rain is. It is excellent in parts, generic in others. Apparently the Robicheaux novels become more confident and accomplished over time; I’d be interested to see if Burke manages to more smoothly integrate the literary and pulpy components.

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Grand Slam

What a ride! I binged this book over 2 days. The authors style and descriptions are impeccable. You can almost taste the Bayou.

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Narrator sounds like Donald Trump

Can’t listen to it, the voice of the main character is so over the top that it makes it sound like a parody. It’s distracting from the story and sometimes the drawl is so slurred it’s hard to hear and understand the dialogue.

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Transports you there, lock, stock and both barrels

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

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A thoroughly enjoyable story. Will Patton presents it superbly. I suspect a few people spend more time in their car than is really required due to this audio book.

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3 people found this helpful