Don't miss Michael Robotham's new thriller When She Was Good, out now. Just such a let down.Winner of the CWA Gold Dagger Award, this breathtaking standalone novel is The Shawshank Redemption meets No Country for Old Men. The 'hero' is this angel guy, kind, polite and even in prison he is still the same. He's a Brit writing US.I get his wanting to try something new - but, it's not believable. What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?ĭisappointment. Narrator not bad.well, yes, he didn't help it at all. Maybe that's why I gave it 5 hours of my time - it just had to get better. It doesn't move - it's sludgy and unbelievable. Fingers crossed.ĭid the narration match the pace of the story? I'm going to try the next one in a little bit. I've 1 more book by him, I've listened to every other book - and loved them. Would you ever listen to anything by Michael Robotham again? I've stopped listening maybe 12 or more times, praying the next time I start again there will be a hook, or something would happen that I would finally engage.5+ hours and it's still bad. I have loved everything that Michael Robotham has written.until now. What disappointed you about Life or Death? I will buy the next book, especially if it's set in England. That said, I did listen to the whole book. Also, the reader was good with the narrative but most of the character voices were whiny and cliched. The glaring impossibilities in the plot were very distracting for me.

Prisoners carry cash? Cash slated to be destroyed doesn't have its serial numbers recorded? A man with head trauma that put him into a coma and who could not speak 10 months later, is soon thereafter boxing and weaving and glibly conversing while ducking shivs and various attempts to kill him? (Many more examples that would constitute spoilers.) And every character is either saint or stone cold psychopath. Most of the key back story is completely and obviously nonsense.

The prison scenes in particular seem to be a mix of COOL HAND LUKE and bad westerns. It sort of feels like a historical novel written 200 years in the future, where the author could easily be forgiven for getting some of his period detail mixed up.

It feels like his research comprised of watching American 'B' movies and looking at maps. without apparently bothering to visit the state. While the premise is actually quite good, for some reason the author switched from familiar territory (London et al) to Texas. In past books the author's research has felt comprehensive, his medical details plausible, and the lives of the characters rich. It's really hard to believe that this canned, corny story emerged from the same brain that gave us nuanced characters like Joe O'Laughlin and Vincent Ruiz, and riveting, believable stories like LOST and SUSPECT. I typically await new books from Robotham eagerly, and have been listening since the days of audio CD's.

Life or death robotham