Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Armchair Audies Thriller Category Wrap up~~ And The Winner is…

Armchair Audies Thriller Category Wrap up
This was a tough category because I decided to get through the new to me author & narrator first, I had never read anything by Sandra Carrington-Smith nor had I ever heard of Dave Fennoy, it didn’t really sound like a book I’d pick for myself so I was just going to get it out of the way and do you know what happened?? I was completely blown away not only by the narration but the story too. Fennoy’s narration was so great that I knew within a few minutes of listening to the other books in this category that they wouldn’t beat out Fennoy’s narration. I did listen to all the books a couple I didn’t finish completely but I did listen to at least half of the book just to make sure I got in on any accents the narrators were doing.


                               And the Winner is….

#1-The Book of Obeah (Crossroads #1) by Sandra Carrington-Smith Narrated by, Dave Fennoy
Even though our heroine is female it didn’t bother me at all that this one was narrated by a man because he was amazing and added to the spookiness of this book. Dave Fennoy has this voice it’s the voice of every scary Voodoo witch doctor that’s ever been heard or read he was perfect for this book. His voice is a cross between Barry White & Dion Graham and I really liked it and was very surprised to find out this was his only audiobook on audible so did some digging and found out he is a voice over actor and has some impressive credits to his name in commercials, animations, games and documentaries. I for one hope he narrates the second book in this series because it won’t be the same without him! I also hope he will narrate more books because I could listen to him all day! There were times the music between chapters was annoying and times it felt like it fit in so just a warning to those of you who don’t like music in your audiobooks.

#2-Sycamore Row (Jake Brigance #2) by John Grisham narrated by, Michael Beck
Michael Becks narration was really good, I thought his southern accents weren’t overdone and I found it interesting that he has different accents for different parts of the south. I think most people would have done one stock voice for all southerners but a Mississippi accent and a North Carolina accent are very different and he conveyed that well.


#3-The Fifth Assassin (Beecher White #2) by Brad Meltzer narrated by, Scott Brick
 This story grabbed me right away and as always Scott Brick’s narration was so well done he always makes me want to continue on even when I got a bit confused, this is one I think I should have read the first book first. Brick does give us many distinct characters and you always know who is talking.


#4-The Hit by David Baldacci narrated by, Ron McLarty & Orlagh Cassidy
I love Ron McLarty’s voice he reminds me of Len Cariou which is a compliment! I'm not sure about the reasoning behind adding Orlagh to the mix it's just odd, it did grow on me a little though. Plus there are sound effects gunshots, explosions, horns honking and tires squealing this is not a radio show or a full cast production, so, please just tell there were gunshots and explosions I don't need to hear them. I Hated the sound effects they drove me crazy and pulled me out the story every time.  I don’t like books where all the women’s parts are done by one female and all the male done by the male, if you are going to have a male and female narrator in this book then the character of Jessica should have been the female when it was from her point of view and when it was Robie’s point of view should have been the male, some of the conversations felt like they were reading a script it was very stilted and stiff. Just to clarify this has nothing to do with Orlagh Cassidy’s voice I am a fan, it was the way the whole book was edited together that I didn’t like.

#5-Suspect by Robert Crais narrated by, MacLeod Andrews

Macleod Andrews narration was well done but nothing extraordinary, and when he talked to the dog in his high pitched voice it got really annoying. Honestly there is nothing memorable about this book, not the narration or the story.

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