Spirit

By: John Inman

Narrated by: John Anthony Davis

Jason Day, brilliant designer of video games, is not only a confirmed bachelor, but he's as gay as a maypole. One wouldn't think being saddled with his precocious four-year-old nephew for four weeks would be enough to throw him off-kilter.

Wrong. Timmy, Jason's nephew, is a true handful.

But just when Timmy and Uncle Jason begin to bond, and Jason feels he's getting a grip on this babysitting business once and for all, he's thrown for a loop by a couple of visitors - one from Tucson, the other from beyond the grave.

I'm sorry. Say what?

Toss a murder, a hot young stud, an unexpected love affair, and a spooky-ass ghost with a weird sense of humor into Jason's summer plans, and you've got the makings of one hell of a ride.

©2014 John Inman (P)2016 Dreamspinner Press

Good story, bad narration

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

Yes and no. I had the sense that this could have been a great audiobook, but the poor narration was very distracting.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Spirit?

Hard to say without giving it away. It should have been more suspenseful, and I am not sure it if the writing was too obvious, or that the narration took me out of the story so much that I thought about the likely directions of the plot than I might have otherwise.

How could the performance have been better?

A more literate narrator would have been a start. Why someone with such poor reading skills goes into this job is a mystery. I lost count of the common words that were mispronounced. Three syllables was above his level.

The narrator also hesitated a lot mid-sentence as he seemed to be sounding out the next word to himself. He stopped and started sentences with no regard to what the punctuation must have indicated, placed the emphasis on random words, and generally struggled to read out loud.

There was no attempt to really differentiate between the two main characters. There was a child's voice that was quite good, but nothing can make up for the fact that the reader doesn't understand the text.

Was Spirit worth the listening time?

Not really. It seems such a shame that a good book is burned by poor narration and the apparent lack of quality control.

Any additional comments?

I am becoming fed up with the lack of quality control over the standard of narration that is the hallmark of Dreamspinner Press productions.

Wonderful story ruined by crappy narration

As always, John Inman wrote a great story. I really liked Jason and Sam and Timmy was adorably precocious. Though it was a bit predictable as far as the outcome, the way it all came down did allow for some nail biting suspense.
As for the narration, John Anthony Davis will go on my "do not buy" list. He mispronounced several words and changed one altogether which had me scratching my head in bewilderment until I figured out what he was actually supposed to say. I also didn't pick up any humor from his voice at any time.
I would suggest reading this one yourself and skipping the audio book.

That's the Spirit

I loved this book when I read it and love listening to it even more. The love and humor that went into this is evident on every page. Jason, Sam, and Timmy are made for each other. The chilling psychopath sister and her deadbeat lover added depth and I rooted for the uncles all the way. John Inman is a genius who mixes up all the emotions and serves up plenty of feels. I look forward to each of his wonderful stories. This was the first time that I experienced the narrator, but he was perfect and his voice for Timmy is so cute. Didn't want it to end. Now I have to wait patiently for the next one.

narrator blew it

Any additional comments?

This is probably one of the hardest review’s I’ve written.

I simply love all of John Inman books, and in printed form, I loved this book. I’m not a kid person in stories, but Timmy, classic. The snot thing in the beginning, still to this day!

The way that all three of thee people band together and not only save the home from being destroyed by a very upset ghost/spirit. They, in turn save each other. And I have to say that wench needed to go in the end.

The way Sam and Timmy interact, the way Timmy and the dog become best friends. And of course Jason and Sam. Was it fate or Paul?

My problem was the narrator, he’s pronunciation of certain words and emphases other words was all wrong. I couldn’t concentrate on what I know is a wonderful story.

Fun Listen

Any additional comments?

When Jason Day's sister, Sally, drops off her four year old son, Timmy, for a month while Sally goes on vacation with her boyfriend, Jack, Jason never expects his life to change so dramatically.

While Sally and Jack are away Sally's former brother-in-law, Sam, shows up unexpectedly and quickly ends up settling in to spend some time with his nephew. Jason is immediately attracted to Sam and the two get into a relationship pretty quickly.

Oh, yeah, there's a mystery as well surrounding Sam's brother, Paul, who disappeared three years before with no word or explanation. There's also a spirit in the house communicating with the men, but especially Timmy.

Jason and Sam are really, really slow at getting a clue.

New to me narrator John Anthony Davis was entertaining, particularly with his timing on the humor and all the conversations in the story. Though he had some hiccups, they weren't so many that it detracted from the enjoyment of the listen.

The story was entertaining, particularly the humor, but the dense nature of Jason was taxing after a while. I just couldn't believe anyone could be that clueless and blind. Even after all the clues and glaringly obvious things begin piling up and happening around him.

But...the humor kept me interested and the narration kept me happy. Also, though I'm not usually a huge fan of when a kid is heavily involved in a story, Timmy (the little terror) was delightful. All in all it was a fun listen/read.

Funny and sweet story, not my favorite narrator

Jason agrees to babysit for his precocious 4-year old nephew – Timmy – for his sister Sally. He’s in a bit over his head because Timmy is 4 going on 14!

Timmy’s dad is missing and Paul – Timmy’s uncle, Sam – comes into town, Jason lets him crash at his place rather than spend money on a hotel.

Timmy reports that there is a ghost in the basement and Jason and Sam hear unexplained things and see some strange things, as well.

The relationship building between Sam and Jason is pretty smooth and quick, the bulk of the story is spent figuring out the mystery in the basement.

**

John Inman does humor so well! It’s hard to be funny and spooky but he manages just that. The characters are all very well developed and three dimensional – even the ghost!

The one-liners really zing in this book!

This was a light, enjoyable, funny book with a sweet romance and a quirky/spooky mystery thrown in and… oh yeah! A ghost!


4 of 5 stars

Audio

Anthony Davis is a new narrator to me. While he did a nice job with the timing and the emotions, and a passable job on Timmy’s voice, there were times it felt like he was stumbling along in his narration over words and it got distracting.

I think that – overall – it’s not a bad way to experience this book, but it wasn’t my favorite narrator.

3 of 5 stars

overall 3.5 of 5 stars

mispronunciation ruined a good story

I really liked the story, but the frequent misreadings and mispronunciation kept jarring me out of my enjoyment.

This did not work for me

I’m a big Inman fan, Sunset Lake made me a fan of his for life. I mean it’s been more than a year since my first read of that book and I still haven’t gotten that ending out of my mind. Few books stay with me for long, but that one did. Spirit on the other hand won’t be up on that shelf.

Jason Day is taking care of his nephew, Timmy, for a few weeks while his sister is off doing something or other. Timmy’s dad ran out of the family a few years back and haven’t been heard or seen from since. He soon finds out that taking care of a four year old is not to be taken lightly, and just as he’s getting the hang of it Timmy’s uncle, Sam, shows up on their doorstep and Timmy announces that the man in the basement is nice. Only there is no man in the basement… And maybe, just maybe, Timmy’s dad didn’t leave of his own free will…

I should have loved it, I love ghost stories – I don’t mean the creepy kind that scare the crap out of you, I’m not going near those. But Casper-like stories? Where a recently (or not so recently) departed tries to communicate with the living for some reason or another -those I like. And in part that’s what we did get with this story, but it just couldn’t quite gain any momentum.

You know, there is something about children in books. Very rarely they are portrayed accurately or credibly. I mean either it is baby talk until they are teenagers or the child is a genius and behaves and talks like a grownup. Timmy belongs to the latter category. He banters, barters and reasons like no one else. I have a huge problem when kids are portrayed as more grown up than the actual grownups. And what’s more; what four year old makes sexual innuendos? That raises some major red flags for me, and I know that's not what Inman intended, I do think it was intended to be cute or fun, but it seriously gave me the creeps. There was also a whole bunch of other things, logical thinking, cause and effect that four year olds just don't have, even I imagine, the genius kind. (Sorry for the rant guys)

Then we have the narration. John Anthony Davis didn't quite work for me. There was no natural flow of the words as he added long pauses after every sentence. It felt choppy and made me disconnect from the story and made it all feel a bit off. For some reason he also sounded bored while reading, and that’s not really the way to inspire further listening. He had a pleasant enough voice, but it wasn’t enough to off-set the rest.

The story itself and as a whole is my kind of story. It's one I should have loved, but sadly Timmy and the narration kept me from doing just that.

A copy of this book was generously provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review for Love Bytes.

Poor narration

Struggled to finish mostly due to poor narration. Storey was very bland and not particulary scary but ok