Disappointing

I've read and enjoyed several Hannah books before and this is my first audio edition. It will probably be my last.
Nothing to do with Julie Barrie's performance, which was excellent; all of the characters were clearly differentiated and her reading was beautifully paced. It was just that hearing it read out loud exposed what I consider to be Hannah's main weaknesses as a storyteller. First, she continually interrupts the flow by having characters lengthily reflect internally on their emotional states, existential difficulties and relationship problems. Second, her police characters must be the most unlikable fictional coppers ever - I just cannot relate to any of them and I wish they would just stick to their jobs instead of whinging on about their personal problems. When reading, I can skim over all of these annoying passages to get back to the story; but this is impossible when listening to it.
Given all that, I'm glad I persevered - it was a very good, involving storyline. Lauren was the best character by far. She could easily have been just a massive chav stereotype (Ruth Rendell has a terrible tendency for this), but Hannah gave her life and personality and I was cheering her on at the end. Gabe could also have been an awful stereotype but again Hannah made her sympathetic and three-dimensional. Tim was a cartoonish wimp for most of the time though - I simply could not believe that all these people loved him!
So I'll give this 7 out of 10.

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3 people found this helpful

The best female modern writer.

Hannah's books might not be for everyone- there's a lot of minutiae and psychological observations, usually made by the characters in relation to themselves; moreover, the characters all have bizarre, if beautifully drawn idiosyncrasies which can lead to a feeling of surrealism. However, it is these qualities that make Hannah's works so enticing- the main plot seems to matter less than the characters' unfolding and on-going relationships. I absolutely loved it. The only detraction was the continual mispronunciation of the name of the protagonist.

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Guilty?

A downtrodden husband claims he killed his wife, while the carer admits to a fellow passenger at the airport that the wrong man is going to jail. Is he guilty or not?

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2 people found this helpful

Another winner from Sophie Hannah

I've become a huge fan of Sophie Hannah over the past couple of years and so look forward to news of a new novel in her Spilling CID series. The publishers seem determined to play down the ongoing nature of these novels but I feel that is their strength as while the details of the case being investigated changes there are ongoing character arcs for the police,



This was a very twisty story and demanded close attention. I found Julie Barrie's rich voice well suited to the novel.

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1 person found this helpful

Excellent

A brilliant book in the series and well read. Compelling story and complex characters as always.

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Another Great Story by Sophie Hannah

Firstly If your new to Sophie Hannah books please start at book 1 'Little Face' and move forward through the series - they are fantastic novels!

Right now onto 'The Carrier'

As a fan of Sophie Hannah I was looking forward to her latest full length novel and as usual I devoured her latest offering. I always purchase Sophie Hannah's novels on audio after I have read them as I like her work so much and enjoy experiencing her novel more than once without having to find the time to sit down and read it again and again.

After the first read & subsequent listen I have to say the novel isn't one of my favourite Sophie Hannah books, but that said it is still streets ahead of most of the other books I have read/listened to, and I still really enjoyed it.

Sophie Hannah is an amazing writer and her stories always feel fresh, unique and unnerving in clever subtle ways - and 'The Carrier' is no different. The premise is original and in my opinion the characters are superbly crafted.

The language is slightly high brow in this latest story and there are lots of references to poetry by the main character. However Waterhouse and Zailer's chapters offer balance this out and move the story on well whilst telling the b-story- their bizarre relationship that has been played out over Sophie Hannah's entire crime thriller novels.

The narration is really good although if you are listening in bed you may find the narrators characterisation of Lauren a little sharp.

I buy Sophie Hannah's novels for two reasons:
1. I want to catch up with regular characters Zailer and Waterhouse and see how their bizarre partnership is progressing (therefore I would urge readers that are new to Hannah's work to start with her first novel)
2. I know I'm going to read an intriguing psychological thriller that will keep me guessing until the final chapter

The Carrier fulfilled my expectations and I look forward to the next novel - I will never get bored of reading and listening to this gifted writers work.

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5 people found this helpful

Fantastic

People described this as being slow - not at all, it just has a cracking plot and properly developed characters. Wonderful.

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A new fan for SOPHIE HANNAH

Enjoyed this book and performance. This book not full of zailer and her sister or the oddness of simon. This keeps saying I haven't finished this review. I'm not a writer just a listener!!

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A struggle to finish

Based on this book this will probably be the first and last Sophie Hannah book for me. I found the entire plot slow, the characters unpleasant and depressing and overall very few redeeming features. Not recommended.

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1 person found this helpful

why the whispering then yelling?

another audiobook from the culver valley series where I love the book, the plot and the story but the enjoyment is dampened by the narrator insisting on switching between whispering then yelling multiple times every paragraph. sometimes multiple times in a sentence. I had to choose between not being able to hear half of it or put up with hearing it but being deafened when inexplicably the whispering would change to yelling in my ear.

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