Don't worrry, the bodies are buried very slowly !

The author, first, pedestrian, predictable, cliché-ridden.......sounds a bit harsh, how about fails to hold the reader/listener's attention?
Sarah Baron, well, some narrators have the uncanny knack of a different voice for each main character, I can be 5 minutes into a new chapter before I realise Jasmine is back and the female DCI has debated the existential possibilities of the villains possible reactions or non-reactions.
The book drags, some well written insights mired in verbal diahorrea.
Niver agin.

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11 people found this helpful

not a Glaswegian Rebus by a long shot!

this was entertaining enough but something in me gets despondent when I have to deal with yet another vaguely incompetent and ditsy female character who saves the day despite her shortcomings.
could we have a vaguely stupid and bumbling man for a change?

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3 people found this helpful

Should have been edited.

Whole story only works when the book is good. I think a strong edit would have done the world of good for this book.
I just found when they rattled on for entire chapters about their feelings etc completely unrealistic. I find this happens when men write female Characters. P.S. Not many clothes cause women to have erect nipples, try the weather next time.

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Gripping Story

I got through this in only a couple of days, the narrator is excellent but I was confused by the sheer number of characters both good and bad. It is definitely one that needs concentration.

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Couldn’t get into it

Had to give up on this after a few hours as it didn’t hold my attention and I found it it difficult to keep track of all the different characters so found my mind wandering

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6 people found this helpful

Excellent!

I have a new favourite author AND narrator. Riveting plot, credible and relatable main characters, great sens of humour (think: Val McDermick). The narrator's Scottish accents are a treat too. Looking forward to more of the same.

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Loved it

Cracking crine drama involving Glasgow gangs and police corruption. Highly recommend.
Only my second book by Chris Brookmyre
and I 'll definitely be back. Manages to portray gritty writing without gorey details.

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"The biggest gang in Glasgow."

The first of a three part series set in Glasgow and following two separate women, Jasmine, actresses, but just started working as a private investigator for her Uncle, and Catherine, wife and mother of two, a driven and ambitious police detective. Both following totally different crimes find their lives converge in the dangerous Glasgow gangland. This is a superbly written Tartan noir, including the city of Glasgow in a similar way used by Ian Rankin. It is dark, violent and felt very realistic, the characters well developed, the plot twist and intriguing.
However, with a large introduction to numerous protagonists, I was glad that I had already read book 3 in this series so was already acquainted with some of them.

Narration was by Sarah Raven, her reading full of expression, her Scottish accent not so overpowering to be inaccessible, and her voicing of the individual characters good. She made the story line more accessib!e to thereader,especially in the first quarter of thebook.
Belonged books are always so!idly satisfying g to read, and this mystery thriller was no exceltion.

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Great enjoyable unputdownable book

I really enjoyed this listen. It introduces us to 2 very different female characters who are struggling to do everything while living in Glasgow. Their stories could be standalone but the mingle well. Excellently read by Sarah Barron.

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Too many characters confuses the stories

I’ve enjoyed two of the author's Jack Parlabane novels (notably Black Widow) and so thought I’d try the first of his Jasmine Sharp series. This book follows two separate stories that run in parallel until the 23rd of 45 chapters. One thread involves Jasmine in the early days helping her uncle in his private investigation business. He disappears and she endeavours to find him. The other follows Detective Catherine McLeod pitting her wits against drug dealers and murderers in the Glasgow criminal fraternity.

Jasmine's story is easier to follow than DI McLeod’s as the latter flits back and forth among the names of the numerous criminals and good and bad policemen: by the end I wasn’t sure who was which. There are two interesting story-lines, but they are blurred by not only having too many characters, but also diversions into side issues of the personal relationships among the characters and their spouses and too much psychological navel-gazing.

I see that some reviewers are critical of the narrator. I thought she was very good and captured the Glasgow accents well, but then, I’m from Edinburgh and may not know any better!

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21 people found this helpful