Debbie Krueger

Engaging story if you can stand the narration

Reviewed: 10-04-19

I found this book very engaging. JB West tells of his relationship with the First Ladies with great tact and sensitivity. It is a recounting free from criticism and with a refreshing positivity.
The narration is not the best; stilted with long pauses. I didn’t think I was going to be able to continue listening after I had slogged through the first ten minutes, but speeding it up to 1.25x helped.

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Riveting

Reviewed: 09-17-19

This is the second true crime investigation stories Audible has produced and I have been totally engaged both times.
The audio was difficult to hear in some cases, but otherwise very well done!

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6 people found this helpful

Shallow and predictable

Reviewed: 06-12-19

The book was not well written. Words are used incorrectly (eg Germans infiltrated spies) and phrases are repeated. The plot is predictable and the characters are undeveloped and lack depth.
Worse, the reader does a terrible job with accents. The plummy upper class ones were enough to put me off, but the absolutely ridiculous one she employed for the Brit/Canadian/Brit made me shudder. It was some kind of Bostonian/British mix. Awful.
This book is not worth the time or the credit.

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1 person found this helpful

Relax and enjoy

Reviewed: 02-09-19

Listening to a No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency book is like slipping into a favourite old housecoat; warm, comfortable, and familiar. While the storyline wasn’t as strong as some of the others in the series it was still thoroughly enjoyable.

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Outstanding

Reviewed: 01-28-19

I was quickly captured by the breadth of this book and thoroughly enjoyed it right to the end.

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Inspiring!

Reviewed: 10-07-18

A story of the extraordinary faith of a young woman who faced daunting challenges in Japanese prison camp during the Second World War. Well worth listening to.

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Rambling

Reviewed: 06-01-18

I was excited to read this book after seeing the outstanding movie. Sadly the book doesn't match its cinematic counterpart in any way. The writer who adapted this for the big screen must be a paragon of patience.
I usually try to persevere if a book is hard slogging at the start in hopes that it will improve, but this one has such a meandering style that I threw in the towel fairly early when it became evident that the women whose stories I was hoping to hear about, only got a paragraph or two in several pages, while the author got sidetracked in long discourses about racial history.
To make things worse, the narrator used little inflection in her reading, and often stopped mid sentence as if there was a period, then resumed as if a new sentence had started.

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1 person found this helpful

Watch the series instead

Reviewed: 05-24-18

This book went on and on, and about 1/2 the way through I found I was wishing it would end. A better narrator would undoubtedly improved the experience at least a little. His voices were ghastly, his timing was poor, and often his emphasis or tone were wrong. I'm not sure why I kept listening, except that I wanted to find how it turned out. Unfortunately. The ending was lame, and I'm not sure whether I was so bored that I missed the reason for the last murder or if there actually was none.

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The mystery remains

Reviewed: 04-16-18

This was a well researched and gripping story, leaving the listener to arrive at their own verdict. Ian Bailey is an enigma; you would like him charged and convicted, yet there is that niggling doubt.
I enjoyed this book and have no hesitation recommending it. The narrators did a great job, and listening to the interviews of those close to the case added a lot.

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1 person found this helpful

Maybe better to read the hard copy

Reviewed: 03-28-18

I really would like to give this book a thumbs up review. Katie McKenna deserves that for the dreadful life-altering trauma that she went through. Somehow, though, the book just didn't evoke any strong emotions, and I feel bad about that. I expected to be able to empathize more.
The unnecessary swearing was a real deterrent, and made me less sympathetic to her. While Katie often claimed to be a sweet and good person, I found her less likeable as the book went on.
I did love her assessment of Alex Trebec, and thought she did a good job of narrating her story.

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