Good story compromised by uneven narration

A good story which mergers the past and present. It was difficult to keep pace with the plot at first because of the introduction of characters, many of whom were voiced by the narrator in high pitched caricature tones for women and older men. The story itself kept me hooked but this aspect of the narration compromised the enjoyment somewhat.

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Wonderful!

My first outing with Aurelio Zen - it felt like having an exciting and alluring holiday in Venice! I’ll be back for more.

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Ditto

Zen novels are good but the narrator isn’t. Sorry! He tells the story fairly well with the odd mispronunciation BUT the voices given to characters is most distracting, not to say absurd. Nevertheless if you like Michael Dibdin and a gripping story then this is still worth a listen. Again sorry Mr Stewart. Just tone down the characterisations to the way people really speak.

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Reader

not a patch on michael kitchen. but story was fun. Aurelio is fabulously dislikeable.

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My first Zen novel.

Firstly, l cannot agree with the negative comments on the narrator: l believe Cameron Stewart narrates the story quite excellently with vocal changes which clearly characterise the various protagonists. The novel blends procedural police work with politics, personal politics and associations, and the vagaries of local, cultural life. The ending of the story, while jarring, was quite perfect with an excellent little line by Zen which displays how "lost" he seems. I've already bought other novels and l really look forward to listening to them, and that is the highest praise one can offer, l believe.

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1 person found this helpful

Not as good as others in the series

The plot is good and there is enough to keep you guessing but I didn't like the ending as much as others in the series. The guy who reads it is terrible at doing different voices and they all just sound really nasal.

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Almost the best one yet

A brilliant story which was cleverly written. The final bit when Zen was walking through Venice was too drawn out, but then it picked up again in the last 10 minutes. Intriguing ending - will it continue in following books?

Looking forward to the next one, they are really picking up. Great narration too

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Poor performance by the narrator

This was the fourth Aurelio Zen book that I have purchased and I did not notice the narrator was different, it’s usually Michael Kitchen. It spoilt it for me. This narrator is one of those who can only do female voices as high-pitched shrieks as well as not reading ahead to ensure he has the correct intonation. It was pretty tedious.

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Excellent writing

Well narrated aside from when attempting women's voices! Otherwise great to listen to the late great Dibdin

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Not the typical view of Venice!!

Beneath the confusing twists and turns of the mystery are some unattractive views of this famous city. And even more unattractive revelations about the internal politics which always seem to menace Zen.
The prevalent question is, as ever, how is he going to extricate himself and survive with his career intact??!!

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