Brilliant narration of an original and dramatic romantic suspense novel
A novel within a novel - and glimpses of a novel within a novel within a novel! My first Sandra Brown, chosen at random with no preconceptions, and I found it brilliantly atmospheric, and scary and touching by turns. The narration was exceptionally good - flowing, with clearly distinguished voices for the characters, and no awkward jolting errors of emphasis - I hate it when it sounds like the narrator hasn't read to the end of the sentence before starting to speak it, let alone the end of the book. I read at least 2 audiobooks a week and this is the first time that the narrator's skills have made me look for other examples of his work. The book's protagonists were credible, mature adults, living with emotional scars and reacting realistically to dramatic events although I felt the book was plot-driven as any suspense story should be. As I have limited patience for character analysis I was glad that the hero and heroine's internal debates and reflections were kept to a minimum - the author explains enough to make their reactions believable, without boring the listener and slowing down the plot. I am now listening to Sandra Brown's other suspense novels and so far I think "Envy" is one of the best. Victor Slezak has narrated most of her recent work.