Books

[AZOffaly]

Yeah I've read all the Bosch ones, or heard more accurately. You can preview in Audible, which is what I use.

[Billys Boots]

Have you tried the Myron Bolitar series by Harlan Coben - don't know who's the narrator, but it's a series about a former basketballer turned private detective (good craic and good stories).  No idea how they'd transfer from the page to 'de wireless' though. 

[AZOffaly]

I read those books on paper, but I wouldn't mind listening to them again. Actually I never thought of Coben in general. Cheers.

[Hardy]

The discussion reminds me - if I was spending long hours on the road again, I'd use the opportunity to learn a language. I commuted daily between Limerick and Cork for about six months one time. Three hours a day on the road, five days a week. That's nearly 400 hours when I could have been listening to language CDs (as the technology was then). I'd have been fluent in Spanish, French, Tyronian or whatever.

[Main Street]

Narration is almost everything with an audio book. Most audio renditions of the Graham Greene collection are marred by an awful narration.
Generally anything read by gorgeous George Guidall http://georgeguidall.comis worth consideration. He would make Snow White sound like a classic tale of intrigue and mystery. Amongst the large collection of books he has completed, he narrated the Alex Berenson series of books, about an ex cia agent doing freelance assignments and he turned a run of the mill cliche into gold.

[Main Street]

This was the first audio book, Master and Margarita, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XBhZ-KknEQ I listened  to that was narrated by George, after that we became best friends.

[Billys Boots]

Gain, don't know what the audio is like, but I'd recommend the David Downing WW2 spy-thrillers as a good series to possibly listen to - a good deal more 'accessible' and less stiff-upper-lip than the Le Carré's. 

[LeoMc]

Gain, don't know what the audio is like, but I'd recommend the David Downing WW2 spy-thrillers as a good series to possibly listen to - a good deal more 'accessible' and less stiff-upper-lip than the Le Carré's.

I have read a few of the "Station books", a nice read alright. He seems ot capture the atmosphere of the time (or at least how I imagined it).
Another easy read is the Peter James "Dead" books, set in and around Brighton.

[Main Street]

Though you only need to read/listen to one of  the Peter James brighton books, there's a striking sameness about them and plots that you have come across before.


Here's a few of my experiences with audio books,  not a book review per se.
Ian Rankin's book get a good rendition on audio.
The Fandoran series are just a superb listen
one or two of John Grisham's are made for audio
Martin Cruz Smith -  imo a  disappointment, a very mundane listen
Philip Kerr's books  about that Berlin sleuth, ex policeman, whatshis name, Bernie?   great on audio
Robert Harris -   Rome historical dramas Cicero all good on audio  plus he has others.
Scott Turow - a bore
Jo Nesbo  -   would be an acquired taste,  a  very slow paced and deliberate rendition  of the narrative.
Harry Bosch books -  all very good. Afair the series actually  gets better as the main character ages.
Haruki Murakami - a difficult listen
As mentioned before, Ken Follet's mammoths  will keep you entertained for a year.
Robert Littell -  3 books about spies were very good, I find them easier to listen to than crusty le Carre.
Alan Furst - the Spies of Warsaw etc,   a whole WW2 series all are a very good listen.
John Banville -  I just couldn't listen to,  though I loved that Quirke tv drama

Definitely some books are for reading not listening, anything by Arthur Koestler,  Solzhenitsyn.
Stephen King  on audio  is not for me,  though the one on JFK assassination was  entertainingly narrated.
The Coben books narrative, for me was too whimsical, I listened to 2 and lost interest in the third, just the same stuff but in a different sport.

[Billys Boots]

The Fandoran series are just a superb listen

By Boris Akunin - the stories will shorten any journey.  Fabulous series - good call, MS.

[ziggy90]

The Fandoran series are just a superb listen

By Boris Akunin - the stories will shorten any journey.  Fabulous series - good call, MS.

As recommended by you Boots? Just a great read.

[Main Street]

The Fandoran series are just a superb listen

By Boris Akunin - the stories will shorten any journey.  Fabulous series - good call, MS.

As recommended by you Boots? Just a great read.

When it comes to books,  Boots is the man, or woman.

[Billys Boots]

Thanks for saying nice things about me - you're in a significant minority.

Have come across a neglected series of books recently, that was probably ahead of its time - written and set in early 1980s Northern Italy (by an Englishman, Timothy Williams).  Have read the first one 'Converging Parallels' in the Commissario Trotti series - in an unnamed Italian town while the Aldo Moro kidnapping by the Red Brigades was happening.  Very reminiscent (if it can be, having happened prior to the event) of Dibdin's Inspector Zen series. 

For anyone interested, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timothy_Williams_%28author%29.  Available on amazon.com for kindle - I have a copy of the first one if anyone wants to give it a go. 

[Sandy Hill]

John Sandford anyone; Virgil Flowers or Lucas Davenport?

[AZOffaly]

On a slight tangent, does anybody else do this? When I'm reading, or listening to one of those Bosch, Bennett, Spenser, Bolitor etc, books I like to go into Google Earth and pick out the locations they are talking about. Then I go into street view and have a look around. Sad I know, but I enjoy it