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  • The Wire in the Blood

  • By: Val McDermid
  • Narrated by: Saul Reichlin
  • Length: 15 hrs and 40 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (1,782 ratings)
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The Wire in the Blood cover art

The Wire in the Blood

By: Val McDermid
Narrated by: Saul Reichlin
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Summary

Young girls are disappearing around the country, and there is nothing to connect them to one another. Dr Tony Hill sets his team an exercise: they are given the details and asked to discover links between the cases. Only one officer comes up with a theory that is ridiculed...until one of their own is murdered.

For Tony Hill the murder becomes a matter for personal revenge, and, joined by colleague Carol Jordan, he embarks on a game where hunter and hunted can all too easily be reversed.

©1997 Val McDermid (P)2015 W F Howes Ltd

Critic reviews

"A deliciously gruesome serial killer thriller. Ms McDermid finds new ways to shock and revolt us." ( New York Times)
"Val McDermid is an accomplished storyteller, and this scary, fast-moving tale is engrossing." ( Daily Telegraph)

What listeners say about The Wire in the Blood

Average customer ratings
Overall
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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Cracking story, somewhat wasted by poor narrator.

I enjoyed this story but the narrator was pretty awful. His attempts at accents are pitiful and really he shouldn't bother trying, just tell it straight. Also all the female characters came across as breathless and girly, more like Mills and boon than a murder story.

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23 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Wire in the Blood

Gripping novel. Impossible to stop listening. I've been an audible member for years and this is in the top five of my audible downloads. Thankfully, with my iPhone and headphones I can still listen while working at mind-numbing chores around the house or listen while driving so little things like paid work and sleep don't slow me down too much!

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23 people found this helpful

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

Blood, sadism & cruelty - typical Val McDermid!

Many reviewers have criticised Saul Reichlin's narration, and I agree his Scottish accents did move between Wales, Ireland and somewhere else I'm not quite sure, but I love Saul Reichlin and his delivery, to me it's like having your father read the book to you - not perfect accents, but just so calm and familiar.
The sadism in Val McDermid's books is something I struggle with a bit, and the in-fighting between the police and other authorities, but the story is good. We know who the perpetrator is early on in the book and follow his activities as well as the team trying to track him down and stop him.
I plan to go on and either listen to or read the next book in the series, so Tony Hill is a strong enough character to make me want to invest the time in his story.
In summary, not for the faint-hearted, but worth a listen, and cut Saul Reichlin some slack!

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17 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Good story but poor narrator

Saul Reichlin isn't my favourite narrator, and I think I would have enjoyed this book much more if it had been narrated by another person. His poor attempts that accents make me cringe, and , for me, this detracts from my enjoyment of the novel. The story is good but I felt it was a little drawn out and it took four or five hours before I really felt it had gripped me, and that I was immersed in the plot.

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15 people found this helpful

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

Review

Narrator's character accents were awful, everyone seemed to be Scottish and all females sounded the same. Difficult to tell the different characters apart.

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14 people found this helpful

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

problems

A compelling page turner, masterful in its use of language. But there is a logical flaw in one key aspect of the plot which I can't mention here in case of spoilers.

Usually Saul Reichlin is an excellent narrator, well paced yet urgent when required. At home in the RP world of the usual thriller, he is adrift in the sea of regional accents required in this case which is a shame.

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12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Good book, not keen on the narrator.

I liked this book and the series, but the narration puts me off. All the women sound silly and breathy, I always imagined Carol as a strong intelligent woman and the narrator manages to make her sound a bit daft. He also turns Tony Hill into Obe Wan Kinobe, which just makes me laugh. I'll stick with the series as I enjoyed the books, but I wish someone else was reading it!

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12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars
  • AB
  • 07-03-18

Good murder/chase story from McDermid

Thoroughly enjoyed this one, and found it difficult to put down. Tony Hill is on the hunt for a celebrity turned murderer, who has been successfully hiding a brutal past. Hill certainly finds this one a tough one to crack, and a hunt across the length and breadth of the UK ensues.
Great narration from Saul Reichlin.

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11 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent

Although I had seen this story on TV I thoroughly enjoyed listening to it.
Brilliant narrator!

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

The narrators gets worse!

I reluctantly purchased another book. I love the show and liked the first book but wasn't planning on purchasing another because the narrator was so bad. But I had a few credits so I though why not. Oh my god he's awful. At one point I actually laughed out loud his regional accents were so bad. Laughed! During a book about gruesome murder. I loves these books but I really wish they'd be recommissioned with someone else reading them. Saul is bloody terrible.

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4 people found this helpful