A Study in Red, The Secret Journal of Jack the ripper

[Rescuedog]

Not to be confused by the bad ones, who don't carry the books. Sorry, Brian! Had to laugh!

Seriously, this would be pretty intense on the audio book, if the actor is good.

But of course Celesta. I'd hate it to be carried by 'bad' ones...lol
Actually the audio book has met with mixed reviews. Some people like the actor who reads it and others think he has a monotonous, grating voice. Personally I think he sounds a little like Vincent Price, but I would have preferred someone with a deeper more resonant tone to his voice. I think it's a 'love it or hate it' scenario with this one.

Best regards

Brian

[TomTomKent]

I listened to the audiobook a few months back while maintaining (pretty much antique) high voltage switch gear for my job on the railway (no idea why you need to know that bit) and it was a nice way of wiling away the hours. Comparing the voice to Vincent Price is no bad thing, The Price of Fear also has pride of place on my pod. True, not the voice I would have had in my head if I read the book (Sean Pertwee or Toby Longworth, for no reason I can put my finger on), but not a bad choice at all.

My major concern was the ending was a twist too far. The dreamlike atmosphere was well handled and oozed atmosphere, but (SPOILER) once the narrator has awoken either having "them" coming or the manuscript as real would have been enough. Having both meant neither had the chance to have the impact they deserved.

My minor quibble is that the narrator mentioned that he was being driven to finish the book rather than just flick to the back once too often, which just emphasised the fact that is NOT how many people would be reacting. Now later on this makes sense given the internal logic of the peice, but at the time it grates a little. In fairness there were other ways that could be used to justify this ("I wanted to show the documents to my solicitor and perhaps a historian to establish if it were true, but my medical training had longed drilled into me the importance of order and process. I made a commitment to read through the papers, making notes and catalouging them as best I could for further reference.") and give a good reason for the journal to be read, but these work less well later in the context of the dreamscape.

No idea if those comments were useful or not, but hope they were.