Not the best May book

I really enjoyed the Lewis Trilogy in fact May books in general so was very excited to download the new Lewis island book. However what a disappointment, it had potential but was slow in many places with long winded descriptions and an ending that was not only implausible but quite silly.

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3 people found this helpful

A long slow road.

This book lacks the pace and impact of other books by the same author; it certainly did not grip me, and was almost a chore to complete. A far fetched conclusion.

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3 people found this helpful

Another great Peter May Lewis book

Perhaps it was just my impatient nature but I felt this one was a little slow to get going. So pleased I stayed with it as I thoroughly enjoyed the book. Plenty of viable suspects but not too many to confuse. Nice twists at the end.

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1 person found this helpful

So Disappointing

I totally agree with the previous reviewer. For me it was difficult to believe that this was written by the same author. I’ve read every other book and loved them all. Usually the characters are so well written they feel like real people that you get to know. Not in this one, the characters were at once superficial and larger than life, not believable.
On top of this, the plot was fantastical and difficult to take seriously.
Definitely not like his other books.
The performance was, as usual, good. I like Peter Forbes delivery and voice. Anna Murray had a lovely voice and accent but I would have been content with Peter Forbes reading the whole book.

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1 person found this helpful

Great plot, messy ending

I loved so much of this. Great plot development, great acting. But after the final big feed the explanation was superficial and unworthy of all the build up. Was this written to deal with the complexities of island or was it to meet a publisj’serd

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A love story interwoven in a Detective Novel.

Really interesting story, I enjoyed how it was read by two different readers as this helped to bring the characters to life.

A nice little twist at the end.

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obvious plot

The plot was too obvious. I guessed ending half way through hoping I was wrong and there was a twist...but alas no.

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Not Usual Standard

Peter Forbes, great narration as always. The female narrator was ok, but didn't add anything to the story.
Quite disappointed with this and definately not one of his best. Far too much detail and information about the main characters growing up years that I thought mostly irrelevant. The actual story was basically told in the last two chapters and then failed to tie up loose ends. I found my mind wandering many times and had to go back, but stopped going back as what I may have missed just wasn't important to the story. Good descriptions of Isle of Lewis, always a bonus!

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If you like a LOT of detail...

...then you will love this. If not, you will crave an abridged version.

I am sure that May thinks that his signature attention to little superfluous bits of information is necessary, and perhaps he is right, though we really don't need to know what shape the handle of a torch was to follow the story.

However, it is the irksome extraneous words that really irritate. Twice we were told that something was in a state of desuetued! It wasn't used, OK? This is just trying to be clever and, frankly, showing contempt for your audience.

A good story, that could have been more than adequately told in a quarter of the time!

I wasn't personally convinced by the idea of having two narrators. Had Anna always played the part of Naeve then that might have added a theatrical value, but the switch sometimes seemed a bit random.

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Great Story. Dodgy Ending.

I will start by saying how much I love the Peter May books. His stories are great and I find it hard to stop listening/reading.
This one was no different as the story weaves itself in a more intricate way than the tweed featured in the story.
I was intrigued to find out what happened but was slightly disappointed with the ending which was a bit too far fetched all of a sudden.
Overall a good story though.
My main requirement for an audiobook, other than an interesting story, is the narration.
The guy narrating this was great, but the female voice for the part of the main character, was awful. I'm sure she was chosen for her grasp of gaelic and the accent, but unfortunately it really didn't fit the character at all. If the main character had been a retired school teacher from the 1940s reading a book to her great granddaughter it would be fine. However she was a 40 year old businesswoman and it just failed miserably.
I found it hard to listen to her parts and ended up listening to her at 2x speed to hurry it up.

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