Perception of Death

By: Louise Anderson

Narrated by: Cathleen McCarron

There are some things in life better not known, some things that should be left where they rest.

Erin Paterson runs her grandfather's law firm in Glasgow, and is an uncompromisingly aggressive negotiator. But the success of her practice is not echoed in her personal life. Erin's father has had a stroke. She can't stand her mother. Her sister's a flake and their brother, Leland, committed suicide. She's not doing too well with her boyfriend either, whom she discovers in flagrante the day that an old school friend, Lucy Grant, is murdered. From this moment, events unravel to test Erin's resolve to the maximum. Can she hold onto her job, even onto her life, when the past slithers out of the darkness to expose a secret in the family that no one dares confront?

©2004 Louise Anderson (P)2005 W.F. Howes Ltd.

Great Book, Where's the Ending?

Once I got used to the accent, I was very enthralled with the book, even as the previous reviewer said, there's a crisis a minute. I felt like I knew the lead character and that there would be a great twist at the end that would make the book. But the twist at the end was confusing and I'm still not sure I knew exactly what was going on at the end. I know I felt really frustrated at the end and wanted more. I'm hoping there's a sequel that wraps up the many loose ends.

Dangling ending

The book held my attention and I enjoyed the narrator but the ending left way too many loose threads including a new one which left me thinking "What a stupid book!". I assume there will be a sequel which I will skip because I don't want to listen for hours and be left hanging again.

I Lost Sleep Over This One

Two nights running I found myself after midnight not wanting to turn off this book. Regardless of what I had to do the next day, I wanted to know what was going to happen next.

Yes, some of it is over the top but I found myself rooting for the heroine who is faced, it seems with a crisis a minute.

Most of the action is set in Glasglow and the reader uses a Scots accent, but it is laid on lightly enough that this American reader had no trouble following. She was also very good with the creepy phone call parts.

Delightfully unlikeable main character

We cringe at the thoughts and actions of the main character, Erin, as she narrates this thriller. Her prim behavior and her priggishness misunderstanding of others is excruciating, though we do come to appreciate her rude brusqueness and even, eventually to endorse her point of view.
The story is complex and often graphic and it leads us all down a twisted and layered unfolding of events. When we, as listeners, have finally untangled all of the horrifying murders, undercurrents and hidden relationships and are genuinely pleased with ourselves and with Erin for being so clever, we discover that we and worst of all the protagonist who we have come to admire protectively, have all been utterly duped.

Good Enough

I will buy this author's next audiobook.

If I noticed that an audiobook I was thinking about buying was read by the woman who read this book, I would be more likely to to buy it because I would know that it had a good reader.

A book that can engage and hold my attention while I'm involved in some other activity - such as driving or pulling weeds- gets a 4 from me. (The equivalent to a "B".) A reader who doesn't get in the way of the story and can smooth over rough spots in the text also gets a B.

This book was engaging, the character development, typical of this genre, was particularly good. In other words the characters weren't trite, flat, and utterly predictable. However, it is not so good that I could just sit and listen to it without having something else to do.

So for me it's a 4. Good enough to engage.

What Ending?

Who would have thought that after being totally riveted and loving just about every character that came along I would end up hating the book?

There were times when I was annoyed by some overly long scene or another, and the main character did strain my patience with her self defeating behavior. But the narrator was marvelous and I was transported to Glasgow. Wonderful writer.

Then came the ending. I guess it was an ending, but I felt completely cheated about investing 12 hours of my life for a non ending.

Disappointed

We enjoyed this book for the first 10 hours and then it got too weird. The accent by the reader was delightful and we thought it added to the book.

A book with no ending

1. Candace McCarron is a marvelous narrator.

2. Pretty violent.
3. Lots of possibilities in this storyline.
4. Fairly decent character development.

5. The story falls to pieces at the end after keeping me listening until the end.

i would not recommend this to others.