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The Wire in the Blood
- Narrated by: Saul Reichlin
- Series: Tony Hill & Carol Jordan, Book 2
- Length: 15 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense, Mystery
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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.
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- C. Whitson
- 04-09-16
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.
23 people found this helpful
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- Rachel
- 03-11-15
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!
23 people found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 14-07-17
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!
17 people found this helpful
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- S. Christie
- 11-08-16
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.
15 people found this helpful
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- Steph in Nottingham
- 30-07-16
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!
12 people found this helpful
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- Salter
- 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.
11 people found this helpful
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- Christine M
- 29-03-16
Excellent
Although I had seen this story on TV I thoroughly enjoyed listening to it.
Brilliant narrator!
8 people found this helpful
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- Michelle
- 23-09-16
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.
14 people found this helpful
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- Anthony Jones
- 14-01-17
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.
12 people found this helpful
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- Kelloggs
- 26-11-20
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.
3 people found this helpful
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- Lia
- 14-02-19
Fantastic Series
Val Mcdermid has a serious talent for writing. She layers multiple mysteries within this novel and impeccably times their solutions into the unraveling of the grand plot... and does it better than just about anyone else today.
Tony Hill and Carol Jordan are two very complicated protagonists whose interaction and partnership and overwhelming sensitivity to each other bring a kind of reality to McDermid's stories that has you rooting for them at every turn. Their work together defines synergy better than a dictionary.
McDermid can look into the depths of human criminal depravity with a candor that brings an aching hollowness to your chest. Such a view into criminal thinking is shocking and unnervingly real, eliciting clammy sweat on your brow while you reach for the light at your bedside.
Listen to this series (there are four novels at this time...) and watch the BBC television shows (all of which carry the title of this novel, Wire in the Blood,) you will be amply rewarded.
Saul Reichlin was fantastic with the delivery of the story
9 people found this helpful
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- Robyn
- 18-11-16
What would the police force do without Tony Hill
What drew me to listening to an audio of Wire in the Blood was my love of the TV series starring Robson Green. I recently read one of Val Dermid’s books, which made me want to download more in the series. I hated the narrator and it took me some time to focus on the story, Saul Reichlin voice is too old and perhaps a little like he is doing a stage play; his female voices are meek and irritating. The story line in the beginning is a little too detailed however builds so you don't want to stop listening, however both in this book and the one I read it in somewhat fizzles out. However on saying that worth a listen and I will be listening to more in the series, unfortunately they appear to all be narrated by Saul Reichlin.
1 person found this helpful