Rosemary F. (canadianeh) reviewed With No One as Witness (Inspector Lynley, Bk 13) (Audio CD) (Abridged) on + 242 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Wow. What a great listen: couldn't make enough car trips to find out what was going to happen next. Lots of red herrings keep you guessing right to the end. The search for a serial killer is devastated by media coverage and the results are unpredictable. I really enjoyed this, as you can do doubt tell. A bit grisly in parts, but most murder mysteries are. Murder is a grisly business and Elizabeth George doesn't miss the details.
9 cds: 10 hours Abridgement approved by the author.
9 cds: 10 hours Abridgement approved by the author.
Becky W. (kysmom02) reviewed With No One as Witness (Inspector Lynley, Bk 13) (Audio CD) (Abridged) on + 15 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
I did not like this book. I WILL NOT recommend it to anyone. That being said, I did listen to the whole story instead of quitting half way through.
I want to be truthful that there were things that I did like about the story. One, it kept my attention. Mainly because I'm one of those readers who is always trying to solve the crime before the characters do. There were enough potential suspects and persons of interest to make my guessing game difficult, but not so many that the story was cluttered. Two, there were surprises. There were crimes committed throughout that didn't seem to make any sense, until the entire picture came together at the end. One of those surprises being a death of someone that was not a high profile character, but the circumstances around that death were not at all what was assumed.
On to the things that I didn't like about this book. I am aware that this is a fiction book, not based on any actual event, and I'm not naive enough to think that a crime spree like this couldn't happen. I just don't happen to enjoy reading material in this genre to include children.
The primary story line is the quest for a serial killer who is murdering teenage boys. The crime scenes are gruesome detailing acts committed against these boys' bodies after they had been killed. Many of them had their navels removed. A couple had large incisions in their chest. One of the boys was sodomized. This information leads the detectives to question a man who later admits that he is a part of a group known as MABIL. An acronym for Men And Boys In Love. It is an organized group of adolescent boys who are brought together with other boys and made to feel like they are part of a group. Once the boys learn to trust the leaders, they are paired up with a man for their "first time." As if all of that isn't bad enough, there is a 12 year old boy who murders a pregnant woman for no apparent reason!
I also did not think that this book flowed well. I listened to this start to finish and didn't skip even one second of the book. Yet, there were things that would happen or pop up in the investigation that seemed like they came out of thin air. I remember thinking a couple of times that there really needed to be some sort of lead-in to an event, but it just wasn't there. Then, at the end of the story, the author threw in this "need for human contact" for one of the characters, and tried to end the story with a little romance. It just didn't fit or work for me. I'm sure that with such a horrific plot to begin with, she wanted to end on a more positive note, but with a plot this sinister, it would take much more than what was there.
I want to be truthful that there were things that I did like about the story. One, it kept my attention. Mainly because I'm one of those readers who is always trying to solve the crime before the characters do. There were enough potential suspects and persons of interest to make my guessing game difficult, but not so many that the story was cluttered. Two, there were surprises. There were crimes committed throughout that didn't seem to make any sense, until the entire picture came together at the end. One of those surprises being a death of someone that was not a high profile character, but the circumstances around that death were not at all what was assumed.
On to the things that I didn't like about this book. I am aware that this is a fiction book, not based on any actual event, and I'm not naive enough to think that a crime spree like this couldn't happen. I just don't happen to enjoy reading material in this genre to include children.
The primary story line is the quest for a serial killer who is murdering teenage boys. The crime scenes are gruesome detailing acts committed against these boys' bodies after they had been killed. Many of them had their navels removed. A couple had large incisions in their chest. One of the boys was sodomized. This information leads the detectives to question a man who later admits that he is a part of a group known as MABIL. An acronym for Men And Boys In Love. It is an organized group of adolescent boys who are brought together with other boys and made to feel like they are part of a group. Once the boys learn to trust the leaders, they are paired up with a man for their "first time." As if all of that isn't bad enough, there is a 12 year old boy who murders a pregnant woman for no apparent reason!
I also did not think that this book flowed well. I listened to this start to finish and didn't skip even one second of the book. Yet, there were things that would happen or pop up in the investigation that seemed like they came out of thin air. I remember thinking a couple of times that there really needed to be some sort of lead-in to an event, but it just wasn't there. Then, at the end of the story, the author threw in this "need for human contact" for one of the characters, and tried to end the story with a little romance. It just didn't fit or work for me. I'm sure that with such a horrific plot to begin with, she wanted to end on a more positive note, but with a plot this sinister, it would take much more than what was there.
Joyce C. (Cageme) reviewed With No One as Witness (Inspector Lynley, Bk 13) (Audio CD) (Abridged) on + 258 more book reviews
This story builds with each CD. I cared about the characters and between listens, I puzzeled on the outcome of each intricate mystery. Many emotions from the characters and from the listener. I was anxious to return to the story and still linger on the outcome.
