Judith
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- 19
- helpful votes
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A Woman of No Importance
- The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II
- By: Sonia Purnell
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
- Length: 13 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1942, the Gestapo sent out an urgent transmission: "She is the most dangerous of all Allied spies. We must find and destroy her." The target in their sights was Virginia Hall, a Baltimore socialite who talked her way into Special Operations Executive, the spy organization dubbed Winston Churchill's "Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare." She became the first Allied woman deployed behind enemy lines and - despite her prosthetic leg - helped to light the flame of the French Resistance, revolutionizing secret warfare as we know it.
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Maybe it’s the narrator?
- By Andrea on 09-18-19
- A Woman of No Importance
- The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II
- By: Sonia Purnell
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
Actress overacts
Reviewed: 05-23-19
I've noticed this on a few occasion: a famous actress (or actor) narrates like she/he doing a Shakespeare play. The result is that
words and phrases are emphasized that shouldn't be. Juliet Stevenson narration was so over-the-top that I couldn't concentrate on the story, which I assume was a good one. I had to stop listening and returned the book.
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4 people found this helpful

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American Pastoral
- By: Philip Roth
- Narrated by: Ron Silver
- Length: 15 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Philip Roth presents a vivid portrait of an innocent man being swept away by a current of conflict and violence in his own backyard - a story that is as much about loving America as it is hating it. Seymour "Swede" Levov, a legendary high school athlete, a devoted family man, a hard worker, and the prosperous heir of his father's Newark glove factory comes of age in thriving, triumphant postwar America. But everything he loves is lost when the country begins to run amok in the turbulent 1960s. Not even a most private, well-intentioned citizen, it seems, gets to sidestep the sweep of history. American Pastoral is the story of a fortunate American's rise and fall ... a strong, confident man, a master of social equilibrium, overwhelmed by the forces of social disorder. For the Swede is not allowed to stay forever blissful living out life in rural Old Rimrock in his 170 year-old stone farmhouse with his pretty wife (his college sweetheart and Miss New Jersey of 1949) and his lively albeit precocious daughter, the apple of his eye ... that is until she grows up to become a revolutionary terrorist.
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A Masterpiece
- By Thomas on 06-29-03
- American Pastoral
- By: Philip Roth
- Narrated by: Ron Silver
brilliance
Reviewed: 11-12-13
What does Ron Silver bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
Ron Silver is an extraordinary narrator. His ability to stutter like Merry is amazing.Why isn't he narrating more books?
Any additional comments?
Roth is one of our greatest American writers. American Pastoral is a masterpiece.
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1 person found this helpful

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Bonhoeffer
- Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy: A Righteous Gentile vs. the Third Reich
- By: Eric Metaxas
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 22 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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A definitive, deeply moving narrative, Bonhoeffer is a story of moral courage in the face of the monstrous evil that was Nazism. After discovering the fire of true faith in a Harlem church, Bonhoeffer returned to Germany and became one of the first to speak out against Hitler. As a double agent, he joined the plot to assassinate the Führer and was hanged in Flossenbürg concentration camp at age thirty-nine. Since his death, Bonhoeffer has grown to be one of the most fascinating, complex figures of the twentieth century.
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Very Moving
- By alan on 11-22-10
- Bonhoeffer
- Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy: A Righteous Gentile vs. the Third Reich
- By: Eric Metaxas
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
Lessons in Christianity
Reviewed: 10-31-13
Is there anything you would change about this book?
There is close to nothing about Bonhoeffer helping to rescue Jews in this book, which makes sense, since according to Yad Veshem, he did not save any Jews.
The book was much too long, and too full of long sermons and correspondence by Bonhoeffer. Since he was saying essentially the same things in his sermons and most of his letters, it became very repetitive and I started to feel like I was in a Sunday School class. It would have been a much better book had it been at least 1/3 shorter.
What does Malcolm Hillgartner bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
The narrator was superb.
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7 people found this helpful
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When the Stars Fall to Earth
- A Novel of Africa
- By: Rebecca Tinsley
- Narrated by: Holly Villaire
- Length: 9 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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When the Stars Fall to Earth is the story of five young Darfuris trying to make sense of their changing world in a time of war. Their lives come together in a tale of love and loss, self-reliance and courage, fear and violence. They overcome the ultimate challenge: to become proud survivors with a future rather than defeated victims, despite the tragedy enveloping them.
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International Disgrace: Our Disinterest in Darfur
- By P. Burdge on 04-17-13
- When the Stars Fall to Earth
- A Novel of Africa
- By: Rebecca Tinsley
- Narrated by: Holly Villaire
Narrator falls to earth
Reviewed: 09-15-13
Would you be willing to try another one of Holly Villaire’s performances?
No. She was fine in overall narration but when it came to male characters, she was just awful. They all sounded exactly the same, and they all shouted their lines like fishmongers.
I could not finish listening to this book because of this.
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2 people found this helpful
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At the Center of the Storm
- My Years at the CIA
- By: George Tenet
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 18 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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In the whirlwind of accusations and recriminations that has attended the post 9/11 world, one man's vital testimony has been conspicuously absent. Candid and compelling, At the Center of the Storm is George Tenet's memoir of his life at the CIA - a revelatory look at the inner workings of America's top intelligence agency and its dealings with national leaders at home and abroad.
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Brilliant!
- By Karen on 05-05-07
- At the Center of the Storm
- My Years at the CIA
- By: George Tenet
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
How many ways can you pronounce "Al Qaeda"?
Reviewed: 04-16-13
Would you be willing to try another one of Arthur Morey’s performances?
Arthur Morey is usually a very good narrator, but in this book, he did something that made listening to him painful. He tried out 4 or 5 pronounciations of Al Qaeda, sometimes in three consecutive sentences. He finally settled on the most annoying pronounciation, AL-KAY-EEDA, which, because it was used so often, was extremely distracting.
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Alex Cross, Run
- By: James Patterson
- Narrated by: Michael Boatman, Steven Boyer
- Length: 5 hrs and 44 mins
- Abridged
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Detective Alex Cross arrests renowned plastic surgeon Elijah Creem for sleeping with teenage girls. Now, his life ruined, Creem is out of jail, and he's made sure that no one will recognize him - by giving himself a new face. A young woman is found hanging from a sixth-floor window, and Alex is called to the scene. The victim recently gave birth, but the baby is nowhere to be found. Before Alex can begin searching for the missing newborn and killer, he's called to investigate a second crime.
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Great Story
- By Cheryl Zachery on 09-14-23
- Alex Cross, Run
- By: James Patterson
- Narrated by: Michael Boatman, Steven Boyer
creepy and boring
Reviewed: 03-30-13
Would you try another book from James Patterson and/or Michael Boatman and Steven Boyer ?
This is a mystery without any mystery. The serial killers were known from the start, and they were preposterous. The killers were not enough to make a book, so the author told other stories -- a foster daughter's tribulations and an over-the-top reporter trying to get revenge on Cross for a wrong he wrongly blamed on him. None of it worked. I did not finish the book. The narrators were fine, but I would not read Patterson again.
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The Dogs of Babel
- By: Carolyn Parkhurst
- Narrated by: Erik Singer
- Length: 7 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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When his wife dies in a fall from a tree in their backyard, linguist Paul Iverson is wild with despair. He abandons his everyday life to embark on a series of experiments designed to teach his dog Lorelei to communicate. Is this the project of a madman? Or does Lorelei really have something to tell him about the last afternoon of a woman he only thought he knew?
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Like a slow motion train wreck
- By Marian on 11-29-04
- The Dogs of Babel
- By: Carolyn Parkhurst
- Narrated by: Erik Singer
IDIOTIC
Reviewed: 12-30-11
What disappointed you about The Dogs of Babel?
I can't believe I listened to the entire preposterous story about a professor who tries to teach his dog to talk in order to find out how his wife died. All he accomplishes is harming his dog. He figures out how his wife dies, but not because the dog talked to him. The episode with the Cerebus Society (the members are other dopes who operate on dogs to modify their larynxes so they can be taught to talk, but just butcher the poor creatures) was gothic, ugly, and hard to take.
What do you think your next listen will be?
I'm listening to Faulkner's
Did the narration match the pace of the story?
Yes.
You didn???t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?
It started with an interesting premise -- that his dog could give him information about his wife's death, but it soon degenerated into silliness.
Any additional comments?
Reviewers praised the book. How could they?
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1 person found this helpful