Narration is awful

I had this book on my wish list for ages and preordered it as I love Mark Edward's books, I was so looking forward to it, but this one is totally ruined by the narrator. I'm not even sure I can finish it. I feel like I am being lectured not read a story, it's so difficult to connect with and like the characters when the narrator gives them such ridiculous and whiney voices!! I would love to know if the author has any input in the choice of narrator. if not you have done him a serious injustice. if this was my first experience of a Mark Edward's book, I would never listen to another. Fortunately I discovered him long before this horrid version

12 people found this helpful

Reminiscent of those 1980s Campsite horror movies

I pre-order everything that Mark Edwards writes because I know I will love it. The Hollows certainly didn't disappoint! Mark has given us another creepy thriller, set once again, in the USA.

The Hollows campsite has a backstory which will thrill any true-crime fans - it's the site of a n unsolved ritualistic murder which took place 10 years ago. Perhaps the protagonist, Tom, should have done more research before taking his teenage daughter on holiday there! The place is teeming with 'dark tourists' and soon some pretty spooky things start to happen. The whole thing reminded me a bit of those 1980s horror movies like Friday 13th.

The book sucked me in right from the start. I'm a horror fan so loved the creepy vibe of the campsite and dark, eerie woods which sent chills down my spine. It is well written and perfectly paced and it was very hard to stop listening. The characters are all really well drawn. I loved Tom, the divorced father trying to do his best despite living in a different continent to his daughter. And daughter Frankie came across as a very realistic teenager. I also loved Tom and Franki's neighbours at the campsite, Connie and David. This book is definitely one of my favourites by Mark Edwards.

I enjoyed the narration by Guy Mott.

2 people found this helpful

laboriously slow

I have read Mark Edwards books before. I thought this book was quite unlike any he written before. The narrator was appalling, the American accent was poor. I carried on through the 10 hours of listening because I very rarely give up. Overall I would say that I shall give up on mark Edwards books going forward

2 people found this helpful

Narration is appalling!

I simply couldn't continue to listen to this and had to return. The narrator's style is a mixture of patronising teacher and game show voice over! Truly awful. I've always liked Mark's books but the narration was so intolerable that I couldn't have cared less about the story or the characters. The whining voices he gave to the characters was the straw that broke the camel's back.

1 person found this helpful

Dreadful narration

I don’t like to be unkind but that was so deadpan it took all the joy out of the book. Sorry.

1 person found this helpful

disappointed

the narrator drove me nuts from the very start - a pedestrian, flat intonation with no hint of passion in his voice (even at the climax). however the storyline was good enough to help me past this. as usual Mark Edwards draws one into his maze of twists and turns with dexterity. how much better it would have been with a decent narrator.

1 person found this helpful

Narrator sounds like automated voice off Tik Tok

Only listened for 15 mins and had to stop. The narrator sounds like an automated voice from tik tok or a sat nav.

1 person found this helpful

Not one of his best

If you're a fan of ridiculous 80s horror films where teenagers keep insisting on being left on their own to get murdered then you may enjoy this. Except we are supposed to believe that a father keeps insisting that his teenage daughter is left alone despite all the other stuff that keeps happening around them. And then insisting he'd 'do anything for his daughter '. Rambling, repetitive storyline made worse by terrible narration (English guy who cannot pull off a convincing American accent). One of the first books I've read where I was hoping that some or all of the main characters got killed off because of their gross stupidity which was the only reason I stuck with it. I enjoy most of Mark Edwards books but this was pretty dreadful.

1 person found this helpful

Awful Narration

I can tell there is a good story in here, but how good or if it’s worth continuing with I’ll never know after the 4 hrs I’ve just spent with it.. simply put, the narrator does an absolutely terrible job of this, he has absolutely no idea how to tell a story, truly awful.

1 person found this helpful

Awful narration

I normally love Mark Edwards book but this one is awful I just found this book hard going and not really that interesting, yes I tried several times. To make it worse the narration of this book totally spoiled it.