Paying the Piper

Fleetwood and Sheils, Book 1

By: Simon Wood

Narrated by: Mel Foster

A serial kidnapper known as the Piper spent years snatching children from San Francisco’s wealthiest families. When crime reporter Scott Fleetwood got himself involved in one of the cases, the Piper went from kidnapper to murderer…and vanished.

Now, after Fleetwood has languished under crippling guilt and public scorn for eight years, the Piper emerges from hiding to kidnap Fleetwood’s son. He’s demanding $2 million, but it’s not really about the money: the Piper wants blood - and he’s going to use Fleetwood to get it.

In the pulse-pounding tradition of Harlan Coben and Gregg Hurwitz, Simon Wood hangs listeners on hooks of suspense and action, leaving them white-knuckled until the bloody, bitter end.

©2012 Simon Wood (P)2012 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

narration limited the enjoyment

My biggest disappointment was the voice given to Scott. The narrator did not give Scott a range of emotions. As the father of kidnapped boys, he would be, in turn, anguished, despairing, frightened, hopeful, etc. Scott consistently sounded either unemotional, bland, or helpful in a high school tone. Two other main characters both had the same voice. The story itself was ordinary, with plenty of predictability, cringe moments when you just knew people in real life just didn't sound like that.

Good but dragged at times

This was both a really good and really exasperating story that went on about two hours longer than it needed to be (Audible).

The visible part of the story is about a child abduction by a ransom kidnapping mastermind (the Piper) who targets wealthy families in San Francisco. A reporter gets a call from a person who says he is the Piper and is believable. The reporter keeps it quiet from the FBI for a short time in order to get the story and accolades which, eventually, comes to a crashing halt when the person claiming to be the Piper turns out to be a fraud. The delay ends up costing the life of the child. Eight years later and the Piper is back and has kidnapped the reporter's kid.

Below the surface, the story is about deceit, investigative bias, misplaced pride, hurt pride, malice, vengeance and continuously making the same mistakes over and over.

The MC continues to hold back, outright lie and put others at risk, including his wife and both children throughout the entire story.

The primary investigator despises the MC and blames him for the death of the child, even though he himself eventually went along with the information from the fake Piper. He also had not uncovered the Piper through the previous 7 kidnappings.

The actual Piper is seemingly everywhere, outsmarts the FBI at every turn and knows what is going on as if he is in the room with the authorities.

The wealthy father of the one murdered child is still upset with what happened but wants to pay the ransom to save the reporter's child.

The fake Piper kept much hidden from the FBI and Police after he was investigated and put into prison.

The only people to uncover what is going on are civilians as the FBI cannot stop following the rigid playbook.

The parents of the previously kidnapped children don't want their now grown kids helping the FBI to catch the bad guy by providing additional information about the Piper.

The ending was really dragged out into multiple sections over the last 4 hours of the story. If I remember correctly, the story follows 8 different paths during the last 5 hours.

The author was able to show how deceit, bias and mistrust can ruin lives, hamper investigations and lead others down the wrong path. He also showed what happens when selfish behavior and parental fear can turn a good, well-meaning person into a monster. The MC makes a few horrible decisions that put innocent lives in serious danger and was willing to live with it to save their child.

For me, had this story been a couple of hours shorter and less twists and turns, this would have been a solid 4 - 4.5 Stars. If it was the same length and the characters has a bit more depth, it would also have been better for me. I know that dragging stories out helps build suspense but too much wears a reader out.

Pretty good

I though at Alex and Brian were the same people. it was a little confusing in the middle which made the ending ehh.

Extremely good

Very well written book. Lots of expense.
Hope you all e not this book. I did

Feckless Heroes?

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

yes, but I truly kept wanting to slap the "heroes" of the book silly.

Any additional comments?

With all the truly feckless blunders and stupid moves by ALL of the "good guys" in this book, it is a miracle all came out OK in the end.....I kept wanting to reach through the speaker and slap SOMEBODY.....

Good book

A page turner with a lot of turns,
but a little long. Give it a try.

Decent story somewhat predictable

Enjoyed the storyline struggled w the execution. All the plot twists were far too obvious in my opinion. I called it really early.

kept my attention

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

This was a fair book. Some twists and turns. Good tension buildup, felt for the characters.

Would you be willing to try another book from Simon Wood? Why or why not?

No

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

Just ok. Character voices were not that distinctive.

Do you think Paying the Piper needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

No

WOW!

Would you consider the audio edition of Paying the Piper to be better than the print version?

Either, or.

What other book might you compare Paying the Piper to and why?

I've read a lot of very good books, but I don't believe I have read one that quite meets this standard. James Patterson, Michael Connolly and the like write with similar style.

Which character – as performed by Mel Foster – was your favorite?

I don't know that I have a favorite.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Heart-stopping.

Any additional comments?

In "Paying the Piper" by Simon Wood, we have a serial kidnapper who becomes active again after a 9-year hiatus - or at least that's how it seems. In reality, nothing is like it seems. There are enough twists, enough heart-stopping moments, and enough intrigue to keep your heart pounding, your breathing labored, and your mind racing from start to finish. I could not put it down. Amazing tale from an amazing author!

Time to pay the piper

This book was so good. I had full intentions of giving it five stars up until the last two hours. Don't get me wrong, the author really knows how to put twists and turns in a story. It was a very clever story. But it seemed to take too long to execute each movement. It could've been shorter. All in all it was still worth reading/ listening to. I love this author's work. I plan on reading/ listening to all his books. Scott's wife was so annoying, and at times, so was Scott. I think this was mainly due to the narrator. He was pretty good with the story and most characters but a few of them sounded the same and the voice for the women sounded too whiny. I know that sounds too negative but there was so much more positive to the story that it is worth the read/listen.