The Devil You Know: A Felix Castor Novel, Book 1

I wish I had read this in print first. A great book, a clever premise, and completely ruined by the terrible narrator. is he American ? I think so, and he tries to do Cockney accents, which he can't pull of at all, he ends up sounding like Dick van Dyke a la Mary Poppins. His accents also wander all over the place. His emphasis is all wrong, and he clearly has not much understanding of the book.
Shocking

I've tried to listen to this book but have failed to get a quarter of the way through it due to the narrator. Why did they get an american with an attrocious fake english accent (who pronounces kebab as kebob) to read what is very probably a very good book, but i will never know as the guy narrating it ruins it

I liked the storyline - it was different and was spun out with a light and amusing touch. The characters were well-crafted, and I actually found myself caring about their outcomes. I had guessed the ending before we got there, but it didn't spoil the twist at all. Overall, a very enjoyable tale.

But (and it's a big but) the narrator is truly awful. Think Lloyd Grossman channeling Dick Van Dyke and you've got it! Other reviewers have pointed this out and I have to agree with them. He mangles the English language and comes close to totally ruining the story - every few minutes I was wrenched out of the illusion by a dreadful American-style pronunciation. This jars with the characterisation in the book - and I feel sorry for the author who (I hope) probably had no choice in the matter.

If you can tolerate the narrator then go with it - it's a fine piece of story-telling with a different slant on life (and death). I would have given it 4 stars but for the narrator.

I would have happily given this book 5 stars. I love Mike Carey's graphic novels and I was pleased to see that his writing style works equally well in novel format. Felix Castor is an interesting character, the plot was intricate and the world he created believable. My problem was with the narrator.
He is obviously an American trying to do a British accent. The one bit of personal information we learn about Castor is that he is from the north of England so quite why we get a fake cut glass posh accent is a mystery. The supporting cast fare even worse with accents ranging from Australian to Irish, often in the same character. Words are pronounced in the American way - Zee instead of Zed, docile becomes dosil etc. It was so jarring and kept throwing me out of the novel. He has no understanding of some of the British phrases and at one point he says A.S.D.A (as a series of initials) instead of Asda. It was awful. All we needed was a guest slot from Dick Van Dyke!
As written this is a very British novel but it ends up feeling as if Felix is a complete stranger to the UK. Contrast this to the wonderful narration of Ben Aaronovitch's 'Rivers of London' series.
I see that the narrator changes for books 4 and 5 - I hope it's for the better!

This is the first time I have listened to this particular author and narrator. If you like supernatural that has a wry humour then this will not disappoint you. The storyline is good but written in a way that you can visualise what he is portraying. The narrator is excellent, an unexpected discovery.

Great book and likeable lead character but the American narration is so weird. The accents he tries are so appalling that he makes Dick Van Dyke sound good.

Like the review title implies, I thoroughly enjoyed the story and it kept me entertained all the way. I like the characters and the rules of the 'universe' were intriguing. The book points to a wider mystery of how and why the supernatural are now a part of the world, which I hope gets answered over the course of the books. My only issue is the narration. It is read well and this narrator for an America set novel would be fine. Just that to English ears the intonation, inflections and accents attempted sound so false it immediately takes you out of the story. It is sometimes very jarring. I persevered because I liked the story so much, and it was worth it - you get accustomed to it after a while. In fact I have listened to the other books in the series with the same narrator and apart from when attempting accents I've found them to be read well. So I still say to give them a chance, and if you struggle with the narration as I did, try to persevere as the story is worth it.

I really enjoyed this book and the narrators voice really suited the main character's dry sarcastic wit. I laughed out loud again and again as I listened to this story of a exorcist who can get rid of unwanted spirits with a tin-whistle. The book is set sometime in the future when spirits, ghosts, zombies etc are roaming the streets. As the story develops the main character comes to question his attitude to the creatures that he comes into contact with. The storyline kept me guessing and laughing.

I would have given this book a 5* rating but for the narration. Felix is very clearly form 'up north' but the American narrator can only really do a quite good but very cut glass English accent. I actually cringed sooo badly at his attempt at other dialects I think possibly Scotish or maybe Southern English that I had to stop the story because I was laughing so hard. That said the stories are fantastic. Give them a go. It's worth it.

A spiritual detective? An odd idea but a good novel. All the spirits he communicates with are very useful, except in being able to supply information. Still, our hero seems to have more than a ghost of a chance to sort out villains on the mortal and spiritual plane.