Excellent story, brilliantly written

If you could sum up The Suspect in three words, what would they be?

A great listen

What three words best describe Crispin Redman’s performance?

Do More research

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

human frailties overcome

Any additional comments?

Such a pity that Crispin Redman was not told by the publishers that Vincent Ruiz is not a Londoner, he was brought up in Cumberland so the accent is completely wrong for Ruiz. That said, he does a great job with the narration otherwise. This is a story of human frailties, overcoming the obstacles of errors made by Joe who is such believable character. Michael Robotham is fast becoming one of my favourite authors.

15 people found this helpful

I only wish I'd read these in order!

A confirmed fan of this genre (Harlan Coben, Michael Connolly, Lee Child et al) I stumbled across these books on Audible. Starting with the latest. I've now purchased and downloaded them all. This appears to be the first involving Joe and Ruiz, it documents their first meeting, under extraordinary circumstances. It also gives Joe's history (which I'd gathered bits and pieces of from the other books). Would be great if the books were numbered in order, or if the descriptions could suggest order of reading. Although, having said that, they are great standalone novels.
These books are beautifully written, with style, pace, great story lines and engaging characters. Although at times you will feel like giving Joe a swift slap when he (yet again) refuses to disclose something that would make his life so much easier. But I guess that is story telling for you.
Start with this one and work your way through. You won't be disappointed.
Gruesome murders, complex mysteries and a great team in Joe and Ruiz. Unlike most fictional detectives, Ruiz doesn't have a penchant for a particular type of music, a drink problem or problems with women. But is fascinating nevertheless.

57 people found this helpful

A gripping yarn

This is a pretty graphic tale, fairly violent in places, but un-put-downable, with an immensely likeable central character, wrestling with personal demons, very human, with a good heart, just wanting to do his best, against all the odds!

Through many twists and turns, you wonder whether our hero will ever get his life back together again. No-one should have to suffer as he does, but through it all, he matures and gains a deeper knowledge of himself, of his past, and of human nature.

Initially, I found the present-tense style of narration somewhat irritating, but this was just because it is not the usual convention for storytelling (not sure why not, as it actually given an immediacy not found in the usual style), and after a while I became accustomed to it. The book was beautifully read, and gripping to listen to. Recommended.

51 people found this helpful

Fast paced action and great characters

This was my third Robotham book, but reading them out of order meant it was great to see Joe and Ruiz meet for the first time in this book and to see Joe cope with the news of his Parkinson's diagnosis. The first half of the book cleverly introduces all the key characters giving insight into their lives and backgrounds and then in the second half it is non-stop action as Joe lurches from one crisis to the next. You don't want to stop - you just want to find out what happens next! The narrator does a brilliant job with many voices and accents making it easy to relate to the different characters. A great read - highly recommended!!

19 people found this helpful

Not a winner, I'm afraid

I suspect this book might be better read than listened to, as the writing is good. However the narration is consistently serious and heavy, with no change to the tone no matter the scene. The story meanders so that what could be an interesting tale is watered down and further watered down with every description. Probably needed a couple more edits to eliminate the superfluous.

The reviews are surprisingly good so if you are game I recommend playing it on faster speed. Unbearably dull otherwise.

I'm a couple of hours in but I have had to give up. I'm sorry to say it's pretty boring. I usually listen to Jo Nesbo and Michael Connelly which I recommend instead. A pity, but you can't win 'em all

4 people found this helpful

Good story, not sure about the narrator

I enjoyed Redman's normal speaking voice, however, he overdoes it with the accents. Police officer Ruiz is read as an overly-exaggerated version of actor Ray Winstone, Owen as a rumbustious Robbie Coltrane and almost every Liverpudlian is comedian John Bishop. There's often a menace in O'Loughin's voice as if we are supposed to be wondering if he really is the killer although we know he can't be because there are many more books in the series. Then I listened to the sample of book two narrated by Ray Lonnen where the voices are completely different and read (in an other review) that Ruiz hails from Cumbria.

Some plotting weaknesses. O'Loughlin comes by information about suspect Bobby Moran rather too easily (data protection is rarely an issue), and taunts him in therapy sessions and elsewhere in a manner which is unprofessional. These niggles aside it's a decent thriller (albeit with a theme that has been covered many times before) which lays down the family and health background to O'Loughlin's character and career.

I see from other reviews that Robotham's stories improve as the series progresses so I shall probably listen to more.

2 people found this helpful

Another great read from Michael Robotham

I have now read several of Robotham's books and I have to say, he doesn't disappoint. From initially finding

Joe slightly irritating, as the first book progressed, I found that he was an intensely human character with all the flaws and good points that entails. I read the books in the wrong order timeline wise but thoroughly enjoyed this earlier (I think it may be the first) book where he finds himself in the unusual situation of being prime suspect.

8 people found this helpful

The Suspect (Unabridged)

A thoroughly enjoyable book - excellently written and narrated. The storyline will keep you entertained to the end. Highly recommended.

17 people found this helpful

Really good

I nearly sent it back because of the slow start but I'm so pleased I stayed with it.
The storyline is clever with lots of twists.
The narrator is perfectly suited to the characters.
A really good listen.

1 person found this helpful

A good, but not great, read.

Enjoyed this book but felt it was a bit slow. Took ages for it to get going and I fast forwarded through chunks of the first half. The second half was better but the story was predictable and, although well written, didn’t feel me feeling blown away. It was adequate but that’s about all. The narration was good , although it had one of the worst Scottish accents I have ever had to endure. I also felt that at times narration for Joe became garbled as it was spoken much too quickly, but all in all, an ok read.

1 person found this helpful