Edoardo Ballerini - The Irresponsible Reader

by James Patterson, Marshall Karp , Edoardo Ballerini (Narrator), Jay Snyder (Narrator)
Series: NYPD Red, #2

Unabridged Audiobook, 8 hrs, 8 min.
Hachette Audio, 2014

Read: October 6 – 7, 2016

Yeah, I was underwhelmed by NYPD Red, but thought that maybe this series would pick up a little, with everything established in the first. Wow, was I wrong.

This is basically a Dexter retelling — murderers who got off thanks to good lawyers, bad prosecutors, etc being kidnapped, tortured and killed. Before they’re killed, they record a video confession to their crimes, which is uploaded to YouTube shortly after their body is discovered.

Of course, one of the victims is the campaign manager for a mayoral candidate, and the body is discovered 8 days before the election — making the whole investigation a political issue in addition to a pressing crime. Given the prestige and notoriety of the latest victim, the case is bumped up to the NYPD Red team.

From there, it’s pretty much a paint-by-numbers affair — I called the whole thing, even the twists, early on. There’s so little to commend in this book that I can’t think of a positive way to finish this sentence.

I guess I understand why you’d have two narrators for the audiobook — one for the first person detective narration, one for the other perspectives. But I think we’re all smart enough to follow things with just one voice. Both narrators did a decent job, but nothing remarkable. They probably did the best they could with the flat prose and dull dialogue.

Dull, predictable plot with personal side-stories that made me like everyone less. Both authors are capable of such more — I don’t know why they aren’t delivering with this series.

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NYPD Red

by James Patterson, Marshall Karp, Edoardo Ballerini (Narrator), Jay Snyder (Narrator)
Series: NYPD Red, #1

Unabridged Audiobook, 7 hrs 7 min.
Hachette Audio, 2012

Read: May 24 -25, 2016

I am a huge, unabashed Marshall Karp fan. His Lomax and Briggs books are long-time favorites of mine (the best part of writing this post is that I learned that a month and a half ago, he self-published a new one! The fact that I haven’t dropped everything — including this post — to go read it is somewhat of a shock to me). They have humor, heart, clever stories, great characters, and a crackling good voice.

I have read several James Patterson novels. They are complex, tightly written, and move at a good pace (until they get to the point where they’re a little long). Yeah, I think he plays the super-smart psycho villain a bit too frequently, and that he enjoys the torture/violent aspects a bit too much. On the other hand, he sells books like almost no one else alive. So what do I know?

So when you put the two of these together, what do you get? Well, you get something that sells pretty well.

The NYPD has special task force to deal with high-profile cases, cases involving the rich, powerful and famous — particularly with the entertainment industry (and the money it brings in). This task force is nicknamed NYPD Red (as in red carpet, get it?). It’s a cushy, elite post for the crème de la crème. The crème-iest is Det. Zach Jordan, who’s getting a new partner (probably temporarily), Det. Kylie MacDonald. Kylie MacDonald is smart, ambitious and gorgeous (a word that describes pretty much every woman in this book) — and she dated Zach for a bit before she got married. Getting over Kylie has been on his To-Do List ever since.

NYC is in the middle of a big week hosting Hollywood’s best and brightest, trying to get more movies and TV made there. But some whack-job has started killing bigwigs in a very public, very noteworthy way. So it’s up to Jordan and MacDonald to stop them.

I have got to admit, most of the murders are pretty clever, if unnecessarily elaborate.

It was okay, well constructed, moved things well — there’s a little personal stuff mixed in, too. The killer’s a very Patterson-esque killer. The cops are a watered down Karp type. I’m not chomping at the bit to get to the next one, but I’m not opposed to it, either. So, yeah, I didn’t dislike it. Let’s go with that.

The narration was capable, it didn’t add anything to the experience — and maybe detracted a bit once or twice. Like the book as a whole, the narrators got the job done.

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2 1/2 Stars

Tag: Edoardo Ballerini

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