European P. Douglas

I’m a bit of a fan of European P. Douglas reads and I’ve previously read (and enjoyed) book 1 of this series. I try to make my bias’ known at the start of my reviews.

Rise of the Dolocher wastes no time setting the story. It’s short and to the point. If you’ve not previously read the first book in the series, I think it will make a fine introduction to get you excited for more. As somebody who has already read book 1, it’s nice to be able to get some backstory for the Dolocher and show more tide me over for the next book in the series.

The narration was excellent. I didn’t take any notes, which is always a good thing. If I’m stopping to take notes about the narrator, it’s rarely almost always bad. I listened to the entire story in one go, without pausing. I was invested from start to finish.

NOTE: This copy was provided to me free of charge as a digital review copy. The opinions stated in this review are mine and mine alone, I was not paid or requested to give this book a certain rating, suggestion, or approval. show less

This story unfolded inexorably. It gave credible insight into the psyche of the main character. The pace was good. The writing was good but my copy had a few typos and there were some slightly anachronistic ideas.

Much of this story’s plot is nothing new. The driven female (FBI, CIA, whatever) agent, usually hellbent on avenging a murdered loved one. The struggling romantic life, the possible new love interest. I keep encountering these things everywhere.

Where this book shines is the mystery. I have about 2 hours left at the time of writing this (around 45 minutes at the speed I listen to audiobooks). I feel no closer to knowing the killer than I did when I started listening.

Solving the mystery show more isn’t something I try to do in mystery novels usually. It’s somebody else’s story so I go along for the ride. But I do find myself occasionally wondering who it might be. But every time I think I may have guessed right, there’s a new twist that turns everything on its head.

The narrator is excellent overall. Her male voice can be a bit lacking at first. But that’s often the case with female narrators it seems. Most lack the ability to make their voices deep enough to be convincing. I got over it pretty quickly and she does a great job of making each character feel like a different person. There’s at least one instance of audio repeating in the story. Being an Audible audiobook, I’d be surprised if there wasn’t at this point.

I’ve enjoyed this story; I’m writing my review early because I don’t think that’s going to change. If the two sequels were on Audible at the moment, I’d listen to them as well.

NOTE: This copy was provided to me free of charge as a digital review copy. The opinions stated in this review are mine and mine alone, I was not paid or requested to give this book a certain rating, suggestion, or approval. show less

I haven’t had to do this for a while. I always make my bias’ known at the start of my reviews. I requested this as a review copy based entirely on the author and not the series. I’ve read and reviewed 4 of his stories before and they’re all great. I’m also a fan of mystery novels and it’s been too long since I read a good mystery.

I’m not really sure why this story has the Supernatural genre tag on Audible. It is a European P. Douglas story, so I was expecting it. Aside from a show more small moment that’s never explained, (as far as I can recall anyway), everything is grounded in reality. It’s a straightforward mystery novel that’s likely going to leave you guessing. If you like to try to figure out the mystery as you read, this one likely isn’t for you. I’m not one to try, but the ending took me by surprise either way.

I feel like this is the one time I didn’t read a book’s summary that actually came back to bite me. I kept expecting supernatural elements and for a good chunk of the novel, I wondered if it was a Jack the Ripper retelling. I just hit play on the audiobook and was quickly engrossed in the world and the lives of the characters. This is one of those rare stories where I actually found myself caring about the characters. They all have wants and desires and feelings that extend past the current plot point.

The audible narration overall was excellent. There wasn’t a single hiccup and I never had an issue telling characters apart. It’s one of those narrations I find hard to remember because it was just great and I didn’t have to stop to take notes constantly. He did say “onvelope”, which isn’t a word. Other than that though, the audio was perfect.

NOTE: This copy was provided to me free of charge as a digital review copy. The opinions stated in this review are mine and mine alone, I was not paid or requested to give this book a certain rating, suggestion, or approval. show less