The Rook (Audiobook)

Title: The Rook

Author: Daniel O'Malley

Read by: Susan Duerden

Publisher: Dreamscape Media (2012)

Genre(s): Fiction, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Crime Thriller, Mystery

Length: 17 hours and 51 minutes

Synopsis: When Myfanwy Thomas awakes in a park, surrounded by corpses wearing latex gloves, she has no idea who she is or how she came to be in such a situation.  Her only clues are several letters in her pocket, addressed to her by the woman who had previously inhabited her body, the personality she'd been born with and which was mysteriously erased.  This is only the beginning of Myfanwy's trip down the rabbit hole.  Soon she begins to realize that there is far, far more to her life-- or rather, the life she's inherited-- than she could ever have guessed.  Her prior self has left her a road-map in letters and documents, but when one awakens to find oneself an administrator in the government's secret supernatural department, there are bound to be some adjustments to make.

My Rating: 3 Stars

My Opinion:  This book started well, but lost momentum before long.  I've read other reviews comparing The Rook with the film The Bourne Identity, but I really think it's really much closer to Ghostbusters.  It may have been Duerden's performance, but instead of playing as an actual thriller, this audiobook came across as a parody of one.  In truth, I can't tell which was the actual intent.  Duerden has Myfanwy sounding like a little girl rather than the competent administrator she is (repeatedly) purported to be, and the voices she adopted for some of her other characters crossed the border into ridiculous.  O'Malley has an interesting concept here, and some really unique ideas, but I did not enjoy this audiobook as much as I had hoped.

Gone Girl (Audiobook)

Title: Gone Girl

Author: Gillian Flynn

Read by: Julia Whelan and Kirby Heyborne

Publisher: Orion Publishing Group Limited (2012)

Genre(s): Fiction, Crime Thriller, Mystery, Crime

Length: 19 hours and 11 minutes

Synopsis: On the morning of her fifth wedding anniversary, Amy Dunne goes missing.  The living room of her house shows signs of a struggle, and the front door stands open when her husband, Nick Dunne, returns home.  As the investigation begins, the story unfolds from Nick's perspective, and in Amy's own words through her diary entries.  But things may not be as they seem, and halfway through the book, a whole new perspective on the events surrounding Amy's mysterious vanishing begins to emerge.  In a twisting, down-the-rabbit-hole, mystery, Gone Girl explores the complexity of human emotion and motivation, and the lengths to which we'll go for love, or hate.

My Rating: 5 Stars

My Opinion:  I had no idea what to expect when I started this book, and as I listened, I began to realize that even partway through the book, I was still not sure what to expect.  Just as I began to think I had this story figured out, a new chapter would begin and the layers would peel back in unexpected (and occasionally horrifying) revelations.  The characters are intelligent, and aware of it, which makes them intriguing if not particularly likeable.  They're manipulative, of each other and the reader, spooling out the story in calculated doses designed to keep us guessing.  Whelan and Heyborne are delightful performers given the unenviable task of bringing these faintly distasteful characters to life, and they do a marvelous job.  More than once, while listening to this book, I found myself pausing in the midst of whatever I was doing, completely absorbed in the story.  As mysteries go, it's one of the most enjoyable I've read in a long time, and though I am generally wary of mysteries as audiobooks (I find it's easier to recall the details and nuances in print, this performance and story make it worth the extra attention.  To me, it's the equivalent of a summer blockbuster film: a popular, well-known story performed well, and while it might not get critical acclaim, it was a fun way to spend my time.  

Acceleration

Title: Acceleration

Author: Graham McNamee

Publisher: Wendy Lamb Books (2003)

Genre(s): Young Adult Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Crime Thriller, Suspense

Length: 210 pages

Synopsis:  Duncan’s summer day job, as gopher in the dungeon-like Toronto Transit Authority’s lost and found, is anything but glamorous.  Looking for a way to spend dull hours, however, Duncan stumbles across a little brown book filled with newspaper clippings and disturbing diary entries.  Sick and twisted descriptions of mutilated animals and arson fill the pages, and Duncan becomes convinced he’s found the diary of a serial killer.  Haunted by recurrent dreams of a drowning victim he was unable to save, Duncan feels that at last he’s been given the chance to redeem himself by catching the book’s creator, but the more he immerses himself in the terrifying diary, the more he becomes convinced that he alone can catch this killer.  As the puzzle unravels, however, the question becomes less of how Duncan will accomplish this, and more about what will happen if he does.

My Rating: 4 Stars

My Opinion: 

An excellent book for that hard to please audience: the teenage boy.  Like a summer blockbuster action flick, it’s got a little bit of everything: thrills, suspense, redemption, comic relief, and a pleasantly subtle romance.  Also like that blockbuster, however, Acceleration is just a little too cut-and-dried to reach great heights.  From Duncan’s motivation to the neatly packaged resolution, everything has an explanation.  With the exception of Duncan, all the characters feel somewhat flat and generic, though this doesn’t really detract from a plot driven largely on Duncan’s single-minded quest for redemption.  It plays to everyone’s secret (or not-so-secret) desire to be a hero, solve the crime, and save the day.  With a truly frightening villain lurking behind the scenes, the reader can’t help but hope that Duncan will succeed, and quickly!  Acceleration is a pleasant diversion and certainly worth your time, but probably not about to land on the classics shelf.