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Dead Simple
- Roy Grace, Book 1
- Narrated by: Tim Bruce
- Series: Roy Grace, Book 1
- Length: 11 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Literature & Fiction, Genre Fiction
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Summary
Dead Simple is the stunning first novel in the number one best-selling Roy Grace series from award-winning Author, Peter James.
Detective Superintendent Roy Grace's first major case is one he'll ever forget.
It was meant to be a harmless stag-night prank. But a few hours later, the groom has disappeared and his friends are dead.
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What listeners say about Dead Simple
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Keetz
- 31-03-16
LOVED it!
Having just finished the Frieda Klein stories by Nicci French, I was looking for a worthy replacement... Scared that I couldn't find one, I bought this. WOW! Fantastic, I enjoyed it thoroughly (couldn't stop listening to it!) and am thrilled that this is a long, long series of books! I'm going to start the second in the series straight away. If in doubt, BUY IT!
42 people found this helpful
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- Phil A.
- 15-05-18
Tedious, tedious, tedious...
An unsophisticated, predictable plot full of clichés. Weak characters with few endearing traits plus a formulaic story line which lacks grit and intrigue. Regrettably poor narration too - he'd be great reading Pippi Longstocking or Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, but not this. No idea how the author has sold 17 million books.
13 people found this helpful
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- Mark O
- 29-03-16
Brilliant
I have read before but wanted to listen/read again this time in order. The plot is fantastic and I really enjoy the way it uses real locations - and often real people. Highly recommended.
10 people found this helpful
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- avidreader
- 13-04-16
first time audiobook - success
narrated really well. my first audio book and thought it might be a bit slow but stuck with it. as the story progressed, it became better and better. will be listening to more Peter James and more Tim Bruce. i also managed a pile of ironing painlessly as well as listening and relaxing, too. much less restrictive than reading myself . it won't replace reading completely but will be a great way of covering more novels.
20 people found this helpful
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- FuzzyLea
- 29-02-20
old-fashioned in the worst sense
The writing of and about women in this book felt very 1970s and made me feel very uncomfortable. Given the overall rating of 4.4. stars, I was very disappointed with the story, the narrator and the writing. Glad that audible allows returns!
9 people found this helpful
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- Lesleycurrie
- 03-05-18
Couldn’t get to 3rd chapter!
The performance was so poor I just couldn’t listen to it any longer so no idea if the book was good or not. Very immature reading! Annoying tone it’s a thriller read like a Disney book!
7 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 27-12-20
I mistakenly thought it was crime
I thought this was a crime story, and after seeing the number of high reviews, I thought it would be great. It was like a really immature slapstick comedy written by Benny Hill.
Won't be trying any more if this rubbish.
4 people found this helpful
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- Hackney Girl
- 14-06-16
Fast paced roller coaster.
Fast paced roller coaster. The ending was not enough of a surprise for me to give it 5 stars, but I am going to get some more of his books now I've finished this one.
4 people found this helpful
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- Mrs W P Smith
- 20-04-16
Great story as always by Peter James
it was brilliant. now for book number two in the Roy Grace series. Finished this book very quickly it was so exciting
9 people found this helpful
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- Richard Rayner
- 20-09-16
Calm down, dear!
What disappointed you about Dead Simple?
The narrator, for me, completely wrecks the book. The emphasis is all wrong. When characters are sad, desperate, pensive, thoughtful, tense or just mildly irritated, the narrator sends them into a kind of deranged fury that is simply inappropriate. He makes the characters seem unhinged and neurotic throughout. He overacts in the most extraordinary manner. It's bizarre and completely unlistenable. As for the accents... let's not even go there. Sorry...
What was one of the most memorable moments of Dead Simple?
Not really an applicable question.
How did the narrator detract from the book?
See above... I am baffled that plenty of reviewers seem to have enjoyed the narration. Wierd.
You didn’t love this book--but did it have any redeeming qualities?
Yeah, the book's fine - it's the peculiar and over-excited narration.
12 people found this helpful
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- Lia
- 19-05-19
Claustrophobic's Watch Out
What starts out as a revenge prank suddenly turns into a thriller. That is the basis of Peter James’ first book in the series of Roy Grace, Dead Simple.
Roy Grace is the detective who has to find Michael but what he doesn’t know is that the prank has led to more questions from Michael’s friends, leaving the listener to wonder if any of Michael’s friends are trustworthy. All this seems to make it even harder for Grace to figure out what happened to Michael.
There are several things that make this book even more dynamic. Peter James writes from different points of view in the book, that being the criminals, the victim, and the police. By doing this, James fills the book with even more suspense since the characters drive the story, making me wonder what was going to happen next.
Another great point of creating multiple points of view made the characters even more memorable because the characters
are more developed. People might argue that the point of view switches too much but in this book, it’s still easy to follow since Dead Simple is more of a thriller than along with being a mystery. I have read books in multiple viewpoints. Some were done well. Others weren’t. In Dead Simple, it was a great part of the story.
I have to say that this was one of the best books I have listened to this year based on the unique type of plot and the multiple viewpoints, which in this case gave the story a tremendous amount of suspense. I wish I can give this book more than five stars.
Tim Bruce was excellent with the delivery of the story
7 people found this helpful
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- RachelB
- 10-11-19
One of the best
Brilliant and the narrator really brought it to life, there were so many twists and turns it was enthralling. one of the best Roy Grace books and I have listened to them all
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- Simon
- 31-07-18
First of series is a classic
I listened to this after listening to most of the series but this is definitely one of the best. Loved it
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- Yvonne
- 14-07-18
Very good book
What a good book! I loved listening to this book and I could not put it down. Really enjoyed it!!!