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Crippen cover art

Crippen

By: John Boyne
Narrated by: James Daniel Wilson
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Summary

July 1910: The grisly remains of Cora Crippen, music hall singer and wife of Dr. Hawley Crippen, are discovered in the cellar of 39 Hilldrop Crescent, Camden. But the Doctor and his mistress, Ethel Le Neve, have vanished, much to the frustration of Scotland Yard and the outrage of a horrified London.

Across the Channel in Antwerp, the SS Montrose sets sail on its two week voyage to Canada. Amongst its passengers are the overbearing Antonia Drake and her daughter Victoria, who is hell-bent on romance, the enigmatic Mathieu Zela and the modest Martha Hayes. Also on board are the unassuming Mr John Robinson and his seventeen-year-old son Edmund. But all is not as it seems....

©2011 John Boyne (P)2011 Random House AudioGo LTD

What listeners say about Crippen

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

John Boyne's subtle narrative ruined by Narrator

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

The book maybe, this audio version not at all. I listened to John Boyne's most recent book and thought it was the best audio book I had heard, the writing had such subtle humour and pathos to it, the narrator just amplified it. So with great enthusiasm I bought this audio book and found that it has been utterly ruined by the narrator's lack of skill. Laboured reading, and caricature voices which are just grating. Such a shame

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

Had to give up.

What didn’t you like about James Daniel Wilson’s performance?

He just read the words of the narrative, no nuance at all. Then the voices of the characters were just caricature like, and totally failed to give Boyne's briliant subtle humour and story telling the depth it requires. So disappointed I gave up.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Gripping

I could not put this book down. The masterly way John Boyne see-sawed between historic and current date lines was expertly brought to life by narrator, and character actor, James Daniel Wilson. This book kept me guessing to the last chapter. A great example of how factual incidents can be turned into exciting fiction. This is a must!

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6 people found this helpful

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

Thrilling story and audioversion

Where does Crippen rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

In my top-3

What other book might you compare Crippen to, and why?

I can't compare Crippen to any other book, because there were so many characters and different voices. Or it must be The Lifeboat by Charlotte Rogan. Yes, that book comes pretty close.

Have you listened to any of James Daniel Wilson’s other performances? How does this one compare?

No

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Nothing is what it seems.

Any additional comments?

What a delicious book this was. Good speed, very good accents. There were times that I thought a whole army of narrators were behind the microphone. But no, mr. Wilson did it all on his own. Chapeau!
My next book will be The Absolutist. Have already read this book in Dutch, but it is such a good book too, that it will be like reading it for the first time. John Boyne's books really get me. Except for The Second Child. Too short a book and the tale was a bit flimsy.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • C
  • 20-04-12

Excellent reader and intriguing story

John boyne is the excellent story teller . I bought this audio book and finished listen within 2-3 days eventhough I was busy. James daniel wilson is an excellent reader and I now start looking for his narrative audio books.

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3 people found this helpful

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

Excellent performance

This is an intriguing story woven skilfully around the facts of the Dr Crippen case.
However the best part of it is the reading and performance by James Daniel Wilson. He is immensely skilful at creating the many characters with distinguished voices for each whether male or female.
In fact he creates incredible female voices.
It was a superb performance.
Thank you.

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2 people found this helpful

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

Very entertaining!

If you could sum up Crippen in three words, what would they be?

It took me a while to not feel like I was chopping and changing direction in this book (not necessarily a criticism) but then I got hugely into it. Another John Boyne masterpiece.

What about James Daniel Wilson’s performance did you like?

I did enjoy James' performance, although I would say if anything, he spoke rather slowly. But definitely enjoyable and a good performance.

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2 people found this helpful

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

superb

brilliant story expertly told a twist at the end great characters couldn't put down read

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1 person found this helpful

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

I’m not gonna lie....Just don’t

With 3hrs left to go I stopped. I was worried I might actually die from listening to the narrator and his dreadful character voices and the pain of the drab drab story was so overwhelming I needed it all to end more than I need to hear the ending. John Boyne is amazing - But this book disappoints

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1 person found this helpful

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

Excellent

A rather loose telling of the events surrounding the death of Cora Crippen and her husband’s arrest. There’s a wonderful cast of characters, most of whom are more wicked than the ‘doctor’ in their own ways. I was so happy to meet Matthieu and one of the Tommies again too.

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1 person found this helpful

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

excellent

narrator was fantastic gave each character a different voice. .. . . . .

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1 person found this helpful