It's John Grisham, right?

I've never missed a Grisham book so when I bought it, tried it, and did not like it at all, I returned it. Having misgivings, I repurchased the audiobook, kept it, and -- I can't believe I'm saying this -- will not finish a John Grisham book.
The main character, who could be a very smart, brave woman, is voiced to be some lame character escaped from a Joan Collins book. It's not just the narration, which is dull and middle-schoolish, it's the dumbed down dialogue and what appears to be an indecision on the author's part as to which characters should be endearing and which ones the reader will root against. For me, not one character stirred any interest at all, so I guess the ending, whatever it is, doesn't mean anything to me either.
Now I'll decide whether to risk being thought deranged and return the book a second time or just kiss the credit goodbye. Maybe I'll check my Audible Library for The Racketeer and relisten to a really good Grisham book

192 persone l'hanno trovata utile

Worst Grisham book ever!

I have waited months for the next John Grisham book. I've never been disappointed...until now. This book has no depth, no substance and the narrator has zero personality! It drags on and on. Agonizing is the best description. Tune to put the quill away John. Should have stopped while you were on top.

148 persone l'hanno trovata utile

God awful narrative performance.

So sad that Grisham would present this to his loyal readers. Mediocrity at it's best. Spare us from this narrator ever again.

125 persone l'hanno trovata utile

Can't get past the narrator's voice

What did you like best about The Whistler? What did you like least?

great story, narrator cannot do male voices

What other book might you compare The Whistler to and why?

n/a

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Cassandra Campbell?

Dick Hill, Ron McLarty,

Any additional comments?

This is the first Grisham book I've ever stopped reading, or in this case listening to. Cassandra Campbell cannot do male voices. Unless a line in the book is followed by "he said" or "she said" I can't tell which gender just spoke. She might be great with some other formats, but I'll not buy another audible book - my favorite way to enjoy a book - with her as narrator. I've been spoiled by the great narrators, like Dick Hill with the Jack Reacher series, Ron McLarty and others.

103 persone l'hanno trovata utile

The strong epilogue improved the rating

I'm a fan of narrator Cassandra Campbell. She was great in co-narrating Small Great Things. When Breath Becomes Air, The Help, etc., but The Whistler is not good material for her to solo narrate. I found much of The Whistler audiobook to be boring; I'm uncertain how much of that was the material vs. the almost emotionless voice of the narrator.

I've been very critical of some recent Grisham novels in my reviews, especially Gray Mountain and The Rogue Lawyer. The Whistler is, unlike those two novels, a very good story, a story worth listening to. But Grisham saves most of his tight prose for the epilogue. The body of the novel is not interestingly written. I suspect my 4 star rating is being a bit kind.

95 persone l'hanno trovata utile

Disappointing

If this were a Stephen King book, it would definitely be a trunk novel.
King talks about his trunk novels as something he wrote and didn't like enough to publish but was too good to throw out. So he puts them in a trunk where they remain for a few years, and may eventually get recycled.

That's what this feels like. That Grisham has recycled something that didn't quite make the cut in his earlier years.

First, the technology is dated. Everyone knows what a burner phone is. Evidently Grisham doesn't quite grasp the concept. Or the concept of how recording devices work these days. Or what a home burglar system does. It gets quite tedious.

Second, there's nothing in the story to place it in time. It doesn't tell you if it's supposed to be set in the 80s, 90s, or present day. It's like someone went through with a word processor and removed anything that would pinpoint a decade.

Third, the characters are wholly unlike Grisham's other works. They are bland, undeveloped, and boring. There's nothing to make you connect with them or like them.

The only little bit of grace this book has--if you're interested--is perhaps seeing what an author looks like before he became a good author. There are faint flashes of brilliance, but not enough to save the story.


If it's not a trunk book, then Grisham is losing his touch and needs to think about resting on his laurels.

79 persone l'hanno trovata utile

Returning this

The narrator was awful and the book was boring and hard to follow. A disappointment.

79 persone l'hanno trovata utile

cracking good yarn

What did you like best about The Whistler? What did you like least?

The story was craftily constructed like a spider weaves a web, first with a broad framework and then filling in the details. As for the dirty rotten scoundrels, I won't give away the ending. Some of the writing did not sound like Grisham, though, a trait I've noticed in some of his recent books. The narrator was, without a doubt, the worst I've ever heard. Thank goodness the story was so good, otherwise I would not have been able to get beyond the first chapter.

78 persone l'hanno trovata utile

The audial book

The woman reading was horrible. She made me want to fall asleep. I read all John Grisham books so I will buy this book and read it myself.
I'm sorry I wasted the money to get this audial !

69 persone l'hanno trovata utile

Stilted

The dialog or the reader or both seem stilted, hesitating or inauthentic. For so much buildup the story is somewhat disappointing. Usually I am a fan and find his stories to be very good, but I think this one comes up short. Others may not agree.

62 persone l'hanno trovata utile