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Big Sky
- Jackson Brodie, Book 5
- Narrated by: Jason Isaacs
- Series: Jackson Brodie, Book 5
- Length: 11 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Literature & Fiction
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Transcription
- By: Kate Atkinson
- Narrated by: Fenella Woolgar
- Length: 11 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
In 1940, 18-year old Juliet Armstrong is reluctantly recruited into the world of espionage. Sent to an obscure department of MI5 tasked with monitoring the comings and goings of British Fascist sympathisers, she discovers the work to be by turns both tedious and terrifying. But after the war has ended, she presumes the events of those years have been relegated to the past for ever. Ten years later, now a producer at the BBC, Juliet is unexpectedly confronted by figures from her past. A different war is being fought now, on a different battleground, but Juliet finds herself once more under threat.
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Masterful
- By colin on 12-09-18
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Life After Life
- By: Kate Atkinson
- Narrated by: Fenella Woolgar
- Length: 15 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
What if you had the chance to live your life again and again, until you finally got it right? During a snowstorm in England in 1910, a baby is born and dies before she can take her first breath. During a snowstorm in England in 1910, the same baby is born and lives to tell the tale. What if there were second chances? And third chances? In fact an infinite number of chances to live your life? Would you eventually be able to save the world from its own inevitable destiny? And would you even want to?
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Intriguing story, beautifully told.
- By susan on 02-05-13
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Behind the Scenes at the Museum
- By: Kate Atkinson
- Narrated by: Susan Jameson
- Length: 12 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Ruby Lennox was conceived grudgingly by Bunty and born while her father, George, was in the Dog and Hare in Doncaster, telling a woman in an emerald dress and a D cup that he wasn't married. Bunty had never wanted to marry George, but there she was, stuck in a flat above the pet shop in an ancient street beneath York Minster, with sensible and sardonic Patrica, aged five; greedy, cross-patch Gillian, who refused to be ignored; and Ruby...
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An absolute joy
- By Rachel on 26-12-16
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Case Histories
- Jackson Brodie 1
- By: Kate Atkinson
- Narrated by: Jason Isaacs
- Length: 5 hrs and 35 mins
- Abridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Cambridge is sweltering, during an unusually hot summer. To Jackson Brodie, former police inspector turned private investigator, the world consists of one accounting sheet – Lost on the left, Found on the right – and the two never seem to balance. Jackson has never felt at home in Cambridge, and has a failed marriage to prove it.
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Why abridged?
- By Georgina on 22-07-14
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Human Croquet
- By: Kate Atkinson
- Narrated by: Susan Jameson
- Length: 10 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Once it had been the great forest of Lythe--a vast and impenetrable thicket of green. And here, in the beginning, lived the Fairfaxes, grandly, at Fairfax Manor, visited once by the great Gloriana herself. But over the centuries, the forest had been destroyed, replaced by Streets of Trees. The Fairfaxes have dwindled, too; now they live in Arden, at the end of Hawthorne Close, and are hardly a family at all.
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Brilliant
- By DartmoorDiva on 30-07-15
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Not the End of the World
- By: Kate Atkinson
- Narrated by: Fenella Woolgar
- Length: 7 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Not the End of the World is Kate Atkinson's first collection of short stories. Playful and profound, they explore the world we think we know whilst offering a vision of another world which lurks just beneath the surface of our consciousness, a world where the myths we have banished from our lives are startlingly present and where imagination has the power to transform reality.
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Fun and thought-provoking with great narration
- By T on 02-04-15
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Transcription
- By: Kate Atkinson
- Narrated by: Fenella Woolgar
- Length: 11 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1940, 18-year old Juliet Armstrong is reluctantly recruited into the world of espionage. Sent to an obscure department of MI5 tasked with monitoring the comings and goings of British Fascist sympathisers, she discovers the work to be by turns both tedious and terrifying. But after the war has ended, she presumes the events of those years have been relegated to the past for ever. Ten years later, now a producer at the BBC, Juliet is unexpectedly confronted by figures from her past. A different war is being fought now, on a different battleground, but Juliet finds herself once more under threat.
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Masterful
- By colin on 12-09-18
-
Life After Life
- By: Kate Atkinson
- Narrated by: Fenella Woolgar
- Length: 15 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What if you had the chance to live your life again and again, until you finally got it right? During a snowstorm in England in 1910, a baby is born and dies before she can take her first breath. During a snowstorm in England in 1910, the same baby is born and lives to tell the tale. What if there were second chances? And third chances? In fact an infinite number of chances to live your life? Would you eventually be able to save the world from its own inevitable destiny? And would you even want to?
-
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Intriguing story, beautifully told.
- By susan on 02-05-13
-
Behind the Scenes at the Museum
- By: Kate Atkinson
- Narrated by: Susan Jameson
- Length: 12 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ruby Lennox was conceived grudgingly by Bunty and born while her father, George, was in the Dog and Hare in Doncaster, telling a woman in an emerald dress and a D cup that he wasn't married. Bunty had never wanted to marry George, but there she was, stuck in a flat above the pet shop in an ancient street beneath York Minster, with sensible and sardonic Patrica, aged five; greedy, cross-patch Gillian, who refused to be ignored; and Ruby...
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An absolute joy
- By Rachel on 26-12-16
-
Case Histories
- Jackson Brodie 1
- By: Kate Atkinson
- Narrated by: Jason Isaacs
- Length: 5 hrs and 35 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Cambridge is sweltering, during an unusually hot summer. To Jackson Brodie, former police inspector turned private investigator, the world consists of one accounting sheet – Lost on the left, Found on the right – and the two never seem to balance. Jackson has never felt at home in Cambridge, and has a failed marriage to prove it.
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Why abridged?
- By Georgina on 22-07-14
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Human Croquet
- By: Kate Atkinson
- Narrated by: Susan Jameson
- Length: 10 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Once it had been the great forest of Lythe--a vast and impenetrable thicket of green. And here, in the beginning, lived the Fairfaxes, grandly, at Fairfax Manor, visited once by the great Gloriana herself. But over the centuries, the forest had been destroyed, replaced by Streets of Trees. The Fairfaxes have dwindled, too; now they live in Arden, at the end of Hawthorne Close, and are hardly a family at all.
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Brilliant
- By DartmoorDiva on 30-07-15
-
Not the End of the World
- By: Kate Atkinson
- Narrated by: Fenella Woolgar
- Length: 7 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Not the End of the World is Kate Atkinson's first collection of short stories. Playful and profound, they explore the world we think we know whilst offering a vision of another world which lurks just beneath the surface of our consciousness, a world where the myths we have banished from our lives are startlingly present and where imagination has the power to transform reality.
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Fun and thought-provoking with great narration
- By T on 02-04-15
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The Man I Can't Forget
- Eve and Adam Are Meant to Be, They Just Don't Know It Yet
- By: Eva Woods
- Narrated by: Charlie Sanderson, Lucy Brownhill
- Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins
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Eve knows what her colleagues had for lunch last April. She remembers everyone who passes through the care home she works at long after they've gone. Like her museum of tiny treasures, her life is small and manageable. And what if you couldn't even remember your name? 'Adam' is found wandering down the central reservation of the M25. He has no memory of how he came to be there. As Eve works with Adam to help him discover who he once was, her world begins to open up. But when Adam remembers his past, can Eve possibly be part of his future?
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Not as good as her previous books
- By Rachel on 09-09-19
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The Good Neighbours
- By: Nina Allan
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Cath is a photographer hoping to go freelance, working in a record shop to pay the rent and eking out her time with her manager, Steve. He thinks her photography is detective work, drawing attention to things that would otherwise pass unseen, and maybe he's right. Starting work on her new project - photographing murder houses - she returns to the island where she grew up for the first time since she left for Glasgow when she was just 18.
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The Thursday Murder Club
- (The Thursday Murder Club 1)
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- Length: 12 hrs and 25 mins
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In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet up once a week to investigate unsolved killings. But when a local property developer shows up dead, 'The Thursday Murder Club' finds themselves in the middle of their first live case. The four friends, Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron, might be octogenarians, but they still have a few tricks up their sleeves. Can our unorthodox but brilliant gang catch the killer, before it's too late?
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Oh WHAT a disappointment!
- By mollyeyre on 03-09-20
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Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Book 1
- By: J.K. Rowling
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- Length: 9 hrs and 33 mins
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Harry Potter has never even heard of Hogwarts when the letters start dropping on the doormat at number four, Privet Drive. Addressed in green ink on yellowish parchment with a purple seal, they are swiftly confiscated by his grisly aunt and uncle. Then, on Harry's eleventh birthday, a great beetle-eyed giant of a man called Rubeus Hagrid bursts in with some astonishing news: Harry Potter is a wizard, and he has a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. An incredible adventure is about to begin!
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Sells its self as always
- By Amazon Customer on 23-01-19
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A Killing in November
- Oxford Crime, Book 1
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Ryan Wilkins grew up on a trailer park, a member of what many people would call the criminal classes. As a young Detective Inspector, he's lost none of his disgust with privileged elites - or his objectionable manners. But he notices things; they stick to his eyes. His professional partner, DI Ray Wilkins, of affluent Nigerian London heritage, is an impeccably groomed, smooth-talking graduate of Balliol College, Oxford. You wouldn't think they would get on. They don't. But when a young woman is found strangled at Barnabas Hall, they're forced to.
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Talented narrator, enjoyable yarn
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A Single Thread
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From the globally best-selling author of Girl with a Pearl Earring. It is 1932, and the losses of the First World War are still keenly felt. Violet Speedwell, mourning for both her fiancé and her brother and regarded by society as a ‘surplus woman’ unlikely to marry, resolves to escape her suffocating mother and strike out alone. A new life awaits her in Winchester. Yes, it is one of draughty boarding-houses and sidelong glances at her naked ring finger from younger colleagues; but it is also a life gleaming with independence and opportunity.
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A Rewarding Read by one of Our Very Best Narrators
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French Braid
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When the kids are grown and Mercy Garrett gradually moves herself out of the family home, everyone determines not to notice. Over at her studio, she wants space and silence. She won't allow any family clutter. Not even their cat, Desmond. Yet it is a clutter of untidy moments that forms the Garretts' family life over the decades, from giving a child a ride to a painstaking Easter lunch, a fateful train journey to an unexpected homecoming. And it all begins in 1959, with a family holiday to a cabin by a lake.
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Wonderful!
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Inquisitor Glokta, a crippled and bitter relic of the last war, former fencing champion turned torturer, is trapped in a twisted and broken body - not that he allows it to distract him from his daily routine of torturing smugglers.Nobleman, dashing officer and would-be fencing champion Captain Jezal dan Luthar is living a life of ease by cheating his friends at cards. Vain and shallow, the biggest blot on his horizon is having to get out of bed in the morning to train with obsessive and boring old men.
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The book that inspired the award-winning movie. Nominated for 12 Oscars including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor. Winner of 5 BAFTAS including Best Actor, Best Director and Best Film. Winner of the 2016 Golden Globes for Best Motion Picture - Drama, Best Actor - Drama, and Best Director. The novel that inspired the epic new movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hardy. Hugh Glass isn’t afraid to die. He’s done it once already.
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Good read
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Summary
Brought to you by Penguin.
Shortlisted for the Audible Sounds of Crime Award 2020.
The highly anticipated return of Jackson Brodie, ex-military, ex-Cambridge Constabulary, now private investigator.
Jackson Brodie has relocated to a quiet seaside village in North Yorkshire, in the occasional company of his recalcitrant teenage son Nathan and ageing Labrador Dido, both at the discretion of his former partner Julia. It’s a picturesque setting, but there’s something darker lurking behind the scenes.
Jackson’s current job, gathering proof of an unfaithful husband for his suspicious wife, seems straightforward, but a chance encounter with a desperate man on a crumbling cliff leads him into a sinister network—and back into the path of someone from his past. Old secrets and new lies intersect in this breathtaking new novel, both sharply funny and achingly sad, by one of the most dazzling and surprising writers at work today.
Critic reviews
"Jason Issacs - best known for playing Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter films - [is] a popular and adept narrator, who has done all five Brodie novels with great flair. This book has all Atkinson's genius hallmarks: funny, sad, heartwarming and gripping." (Daily Mail)
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What listeners say about Big Sky
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Kerry
- 27-06-19
A welcome return
A welcome and excellent long awaited return of the wonderful JB & others. Brilliantly executed story with memorable characters. Next one sooner!!
5 people found this helpful
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- Barbara
- 22-06-19
Excellent
Throughly enjoyed this book , it had the perfect combination of humour, irony, reality of the worst of life, well written to make a excellent read thank you.
10 people found this helpful
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- HazelW
- 15-07-19
Welcome back Jackson Brodie
Another brilliant life on a larger scale romp with the marvellous Mr Brodie. And the big bonus is that Jason Isaacs reads it.
3 people found this helpful
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- Beatrice
- 09-07-19
Great Easy Listen
One of the most enjoyable books I've downloaded for quite a while. The writer has a beautiful clarity and simplicity to her writing, (I often have to 'rewind' with some books as I lose track of what's going on - I didn't have to do this once with this one) and this, along with the many LOL moments in the book made it un-put-downable. There was no unnecessary gore, which often spoils books for me, and being familiar with many of the locations in the story made it extra interesting. The narration was brilliant - all in all a 10 out of 10 from me.
3 people found this helpful
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- Vee
- 08-07-19
Welcome back Jackson Brodie
It was a long wait for a new Jackson Brodie book, but it was well worth the wait. Kate Atkinson has brought us another great story and it was great to have it read by Jason Isaacs. A particular plus for me was the story being set in and around Scarborough, where I was born. As always, you are left wanting more.
Jason Isaacs narration was very good and he brought all the characters to life really well.
I think I will be going back to listen to the other Jackson Brodie books again now.
3 people found this helpful
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- san2har
- 20-06-19
Welcome back Jackson
Another episode in Jackson Brodie’s life as a PI. But that’s only half the story (or even less). He gets caught up in several happenings including murder, slave trafficking and old abuse cases. Familiar characters are there (a bit older) Julia, Nathan, their son (now 13)
his daughter Marlee and Reggie Chase now a detective constable. New characters also appear. Kate Atkinson’s writing is superb with moving moments as well as hilarious ones. The best audio book for me this year. (Superb narration by Jason Isaacs again)
7 people found this helpful
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- yorkieboy
- 17-07-19
A Real Discovery
Having never read anything by Kate Atkinson before I was really taken by this.It is a thriller but of superior quality to the usual ‘pot boiler’.
Jackson Brodie is a memorable character,but the supporting cast are also well drawn.This can definitely be regarded as ‘literature’,memorably enhanced by superb narration by Jason Isaacs.
Not only will I be looking to enjoy the other Jackson Brodie’s but will also try Atkinson’s standalone novels.
2 people found this helpful
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- Jenny D
- 14-07-19
Superb
You won’t be disappointed. This is a brilliant story, well written with a mix of sadness and humour.
2 people found this helpful
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- L. Mcfarlane
- 05-01-20
Sorry Kate, a big fat miss
Where is the story? Where is Jackson? Hours and hours of uninteresting information and no plot. Give this one a miss.
1 person found this helpful
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- VM J
- 14-07-19
Brilliant Narration
Whilst the subject of the book was difficult- abused children, sex trafficking- the subject was dealt robustly by Jackson. Jason Isaacs is the perfect Jackson. The only problem I have is that Kate Atkinson assumes that we remember all the characters she has introduced over the years -15? They are dropped into the narrative and we are supposed to remember their back story. Kate has written the Jackson Brodie books as light relief from her more worthy novels. She has probably got a crib sheet we don’t. Did, however, enjoy the book and look forward to the next Jackson Brodie book hopefully with a personae dramatis.
1 person found this helpful
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- Carol
- 02-07-19
Lots going on!
There are so many story lines coming together in this book, that I was a bit confused for the first third of it. The story goes back and forth on itself depending on which character the narrator is portraying. Once I figured out the who and what, I really enjoyed it! There is a level of sardonic humour that I loved, and the little twists and turns held my interest. I'd probably give this a 3.5 if I could, but it is more of a 4 than a 3,
2 people found this helpful
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- Margaret Rose STRINGER
- 25-08-19
Jackson Brodie: my favourite protagonist
But I can only give this (so far) final instalment 4 out of 5 stars because he's aging too fast. And as he ages he becomes more curmudgeonly and less ... less inspired, I suppose.
Or maybe inspirational.
Jason Isaacs is utterly marvellous at reading these books. I'm perfectly sure he's marvellous at reading anything at all; and to be able to actually see him as Brodie in the BBC's series would make me happy forever. But who knows if the Australian Broadcasting Corp. will buy it ?!
Kate Atkinsons follows her Brodie style in Big Sky, I'm happy to say; but Brodie himself is less the frontman and more a member of the cast. I do understand that she does all this deliberately; and that she is writing him out of her life before he becomes another Peter Wimsey - although her works are already far, far more than Sayers'.
Basically, I haven't enjoyed a character this much for as long as I can remember. Sean Duffy is probably my previous favourite, but has been usurped in the queue.
1 person found this helpful
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- Tranquil in traffic
- 11-11-19
Absorbing and entertaining
Another great read from Kate Atkinson with wonderful narration. Some lovely touches of humour throughout lightened the mood. Highly recommended.