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Broken Dolls cover art

Broken Dolls

By: James Carol
Narrated by: Julia Barrie, William Hope
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Summary

Jefferson Winter is no ordinary investigator. The son of one of America's most renowned serial killers, Winter has spent his life trying to distance himself from his father's legacy.

When he accepts a particularly disturbing case in London, Winter arrives to find a psychopath on the loose who likes abducting and lobotomising young women. Winter must use all his preternatural brain power in order to work out who is behind the attacks, before another young woman becomes a victim.

©2014 James Carol (P)2014 W F Howes Ltd

Critic reviews

"[Jefferson Winter is] a compulsively readable character who has the intelligence and the charisma to engage and entertain the reader." (Katherine Armstrong)
"Broken Dolls has it all. Horrifying evil, a brilliant, conflicted profiler and cracking pace and tension. I read it in what seemed like two trembling gulps." (Stephen Fry)

What listeners say about Broken Dolls

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Thank you

Any additional comments?

Great but truly unnerving story by James Carol. I am straight off to find more as I am totally hooked by Carol's amazingly attractive anti hero. That said and by no means wishing to lessen what was a fantastic story, my biggest praise has got to go to reader William Hope. If ever I wish I could pass on my gratitude in person it would be to you. You NAILED the accents you star! I am a bit of an accent snob and nothing spoils a great audio book more for me than a bad accent. Sometimes it's only a lilt on the vowels but I find myself cringing. This time however I found myself rewinding to figure out if you were an American doing an English accent or an Englishman doing an American accent and what do I find? You're Canadian. This is me with my hat so far off that it has been deemed abandoned and is up for rehoming!

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8 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

First trial of an audiobook and not disappointed!

Gripping storyline, full of twists and turns, with a totally unexpected outcome.
Brilliantly narrated. Would recommend this audiobook to anyone!

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3 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Excellent, satisfying, well read.

This book has got it all. A great plot, which never dips, an intriguing protagonist you can root for--wise-cracking, and insightful--an antagonist that ratchets up the tension and suspense, and well read by William Hope, who injects every sentence with American Noire.

For fans of Thomas Harris, and Val McDermid, this is a must.

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3 people found this helpful

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Gripping

Really enjoyed this book although I found some of the content quite disturbing. Was desperate to keep listening to find out what happened. I liked the characters and was intrigued to find out more about Winter’s background so wished there was more detail on him. I will definitely be getting the next book which will hopefully fill in the gaps for me.

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1 person found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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Broken Dolls - female narrator spoils this book for me

Broken Dolls - female narrator spoils this book for me, her take on Adam the unsub's voice was grating, annoying & so unconvincing at being menacing .
The storyline, plot & Jefferson Winter were good, could have been 4 stars.

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Gripping storyline

Gripping story from beginning to end. Accent a bit of a shock to start but stick with it. Good all round performance, would definitely recommend

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

I'm giving up

What I listened to was reasonable, but not outstanding. However, the guy is a consultant on a case in London, in which he's meant to write a profile of the suspect. He first goes to visit the widower of one of the earlier victims at his office workspace. He starts by yelling insults and accusations at the guy, and then has the guy pinned on the floor of his office, threatening that the officer accompanying him will break his arm if he doesn't tell him what he wants to know. It's just way beyond belief, and I had to give up. If I think about going back to the book, I replay that scene in my mind and realise that it's absolutely ridiculous. I'm going to return the book.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

*SPOILERS*Good, but...

First of all, good narration. Regarding the story, I felt as though the author had not done his homework. At various points I was almost wanting to shout at the speaker in frustration as to why the main protagonists were not using obvious detection techniques that would’ve allowed them to make progress far more quickly in the investigation. If the author had given his first draft of this story to a modern day detective to proof read regarding what would be plausible, this could’ve been a much tighter story in terms of how a realistic investigation would progress.Also, you never had any sense that there was a very urgent large-scale task force working around the clock to rescue the captives. I found the two main protagonists very likeable. The male character had more than a smattering of an old gumshoe from a Chandler novel or Spillane. And he made me chuckle a few times, although you could argue that type of character seemed out of time and place.He was so laid-back, he seemed more interested in Coffee shops, waitresses and hotel bars, than solving the case. This was my first experience of James Carol and I am now wondering if I will have the same frustrations with some of his other books. This story could’ve been so much better and more credible with very little effort. Just attention to detail. My search for a first rate modern day thriller writer continues. If anybody reads this and writes their own review maybe they could suggest some other authors.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Excellent storyline, best listen in a long time.

I was so gripped from the first chapter.. Great character development, plenty of excitement and humour. I am already looking forward to the next book in the series,

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great book spoiled by second voice

Make no mistake, this is a damned good book - I own the Kindle version. And, were the narration left to William Hope, who is brilliant, I would be a very happy bunny. However, the female narration simply does not work. It makes the book sound chopped up. Not the fault of Julia Barrie who reads well, but her segments are unbelievably jarring. I have taken to jumping over her segments back to Winters’s point of view.

I don’t know who made this editorial decision, but it has made the book unlistenable in its entirety and is, in consequence, a waste of a credit. So I am annoyed it is marked as “unable to return.” I shall be taking that further. Meanwhile, I shall give up on this one. Sorry, Mr Carol, because the book is great.

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