Intriguing idea which turns literary to farce

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

This is a book which must be finished, however the "who is watching who, watching who, and watching them", has an element of literary farce. The initially intriguing plot is stretched thin, the writing style over complicated which with the dull narration makes the book tedious. Characters are shallow stereotypes, and the plot predictable.

What didn’t you like about Buffy Davis’s performance?

Dull and rather monotonous to my ear, not aided by the repetitive story line with very predictable outcomes and shallow characters.

Did The Expats inspire you to do anything?

Not an inspiring book I am afraid, a great story idea which was let down in the narrative and the narration.

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2 people found this helpful

The performer sounded bored..

I found it rambling and dreary, and the narrative seemed to wander off into flights of fancy that I couldn't follow in audio book format.

Then by Chapter 9 the performer sounded bored of it all and so I gave up too.

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The reader's performance renders it unlistenable

the story is great - I was going to listen to it even though I'd already read it, but the reader destroys it. it sounds like she's trying to have a bit of a sarcastic tone, but it falls flat and she just sounds bored. Half the time it sounds like she's half lost her voice, and the mock-kid-voice is ear splitting. She also mispronounces a TON of words. overall the audiobook is pretty amateur, which is a shame because the story itself is a great, suspenseful story with interesting and complex characters.

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It sounded like a good idea but it was boring.

If this book wasn’t for you, who do you think might enjoy it more?

I am an expat and I did like the description of what that is like. And I love spy thrillers. There should have been so much to like here, but in the end it was too long and boring.

What could Chris Pavone have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

This book realy really really needed to be edited. Other reviewers said as much and I wish I had paid attention. If you read it, you can skim, but as an audiobook it was interminable. I stuck it out to the end but it wasn't worth it.

Who might you have cast as narrator instead of Buffy Davis?

I'm not sure but it was quite nasal and she couldn't pronounce any of the foreign words which seems unlikely for a CIA agent.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from The Expats?

I would cut all the extraneous details, of which there was a ton. There are descriptions of eating, of driving through traffic, of looking for keys...

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