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Taken for Dead cover art

Taken for Dead

By: Graham Masterton
Narrated by: Louise Fitzpatrick
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Summary

The severed head of Micky Crounan, local baker, is grinning gruesomely up from the bottom tier of his own cake. Katie Maguire of the Irish Garda is baffled--until another local businessman goes missing in horrific circumstances. Soon Katie is on the trail of a debt-collecting gang calling themselves the Kings of Erin. But these are very dangerous men. And they will stop at nothing to throw Katie off the trail....

©2015 Graham Masterton (P)2015 W F Howes Ltd

Critic reviews

"One of the most original and frightening storytellers of our time." (Peter James)
"A natural storyteller with a unique gift for turning the mundane into the terrifyingly real." ( New York Journal of Books)

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What listeners say about Taken for Dead

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Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    144
  • 4 Stars
    81
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    51
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  • 1 Stars
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  • 3.5 out of 5 stars
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    103
  • 4 Stars
    39
  • 3 Stars
    49
  • 2 Stars
    29
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Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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    153
  • 4 Stars
    75
  • 3 Stars
    34
  • 2 Stars
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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

The narrator ruined this for me

I've really enjoyed this series of books and was looking forward to this one but they have changed the narrator from the previous books. The new narrator made the whole story a bit dull. She didn't have a good range of voices and I struggled to keep up with conversations between different characters as all the voices sounded the same. Shame really. I may just read the next book and not bother with the audiobook.

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14 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

monotone narration

How could the performance have been better?

better narrator, it was if a child was standing up in class and reading. Monotone and boring, Im afraid I couldnt listen to the full book

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10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Horrible narration

Would you try another book written by Graham Masterton or narrated by Louise Fitzpatrick?

NO NO NO NO, not by Louise Fitzpatrick. I have been looking forward to listen to Kate Maguire solving yet another crime, and listen to the wonderful narrating of Caroline Lennon. I love listening to the irish accent and how well she seperates the different characters by the use of her voice. To my surprise (didn't notice it when I bought the book via Audible), there is a new narrator, Louise Fitzpatrick, and she absolutely ruin the listening experience for me. I've been listening to the first six chapters and can hardly stay with the story because of the monotonus, bland and bored reading. There is also something about where she puts the pressure and pause in the scentences that makes it sound like she is reading off a shoppinglist, in a faiedl american accent. I really hope I can get used to the voice, but I seriously doubt it. Since I listen to the books when running etc. I can 't just go out and buy the book. I'm good, but I can't run and read at the same time.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

A new narrator

How could the performance have been better?

To read with a a whole lot more enthusiasm for starters.

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

How to turn a great book into a lousy audiobook...

I was so looking forward to the new Katie Maguire novel, as I have thoroughly enjoyed the first three books in the series (all on Audible), but it has turned out to be such a disappointment. Not by any means because of the story! I am 17 chapters in, and the story so far is intrigueing and I really want to know more. I simply cannot bear to listen any more to this new narrator - she is reading the book as if she is standing up in class in primary school. Very monotonous, hardly any emotions, and even a redfaced, clearly angry Brian Molloy sounds like a schoolgirl. Even the woman finding her husbands teeth in a jug on her doorstep sounds like it is an everyday occurrence like picking up her milk, when clearly - listening to the actual words used - she should sound very upset. No work has been done at all to differentiate in voices of characters, no use of silence for suspense, one sentence rattled off after another.

I really have to stop listening because the story gets spoiled for me, and I will buy the actual book instead and wait to finish it in the holiday when I have time for a real book. If this woman is contracted for the next Katie Maguire book, please have her retrained - she doesn't have to do it exactly like Caroline Lennon of course, but have her listen to other great readers at least.

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Not as good the others, terrible narration

Book 4 in the Katie Maguire series and the first one that isn't up to the 4 stars I've given for the others. This one deals with cases of kidnapping. Local businessmen are being kidnapped by a group called The Kings of Erin. I still enjoy the mix of history and mythology that Masterton inserts into these books and the sense of the Irish setting was excellent again. But Katie's 'development' in this one was terrible. I am referring to her decision making regarding her new next door neighbor. I don't mind a protagonist with some flaws but that took stupidity to a new level. Then there's the now standard cringe worthy sex scene. Masterton is fantastic when it comes to gory horror scenes, but the relationship and love aspects of this series are starting to be a tad formulaic.

I started off listening to the audio version, but had to abandon it because, 4 books into the series, there was suddenly a new narrator. I don't give up easily, but a potential 13 hours of monotonous, school-like reading out loud was more than I could bear.

The book ends in a bit of a cliffhanger, and I look forward to reading the next part, hoping that Katie will return to be the strong female protagonist we saw in the previous installments.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Emotionless narration

What did you like best about Taken for Dead? What did you like least?

Unfortunately, I could only bare to listen to this narrator for two hours and had to give up in frustration.

Would you be willing to try another book from Graham Masterton? Why or why not?

Yes and I am sorry, but only with another narrator.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Emotionless and flat with no identifiable characters. This sounded like someone reading at a school lesson.

Do you think Taken for Dead needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

Sadly, I dont know. Having listened to the previous books read by Caroline Lennon I was really looking forward to this follow up but had to give up in frustration at this new narrator.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

It is easier to forgive an enemy

than to forgive a friend.”
― William Blake

The Irish Garda and Katie Maguire are finding it very hard to work together, the more she uncovers the harder it gets to do her work and her personal life is even more complicated than before.

This is Katie Maguire confronted with the past and the uncertainties of the future ,a lot of interesting doors are opened and the plot thickens in a very good ways, the violence again is too over the top taking some of the realism away from the story, I have no moral problem with the depiction of a crime but when it is just not well thought out I feel it takes away from the rest of a book that should have been much better without it.

A good book with the DS at her best and worst, she can create more problems for herself than twenty criminals


The change of the reader was notable at first, but she got better and made the story shine by the end.




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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Bring back Caroline Lennon!!

Still a good story, however I skipped as much as possible because of the droning narration!! I will have to buy the next book because I can't listen to the narrator again.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Poor narration

This would have been a really good listen - it had all the ingredients - if it were not for the poor narration.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Bring back ms Lennon

too many mistakes by the storyteller
monotonous tone, no characterisation
should have listened to what other reviewers have said

I will be getting my credit back

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4 people found this helpful