Great story, great reader.

The excellent Michael Kitchen in his singular way brings this intelligent and exciting book to life. We absolutely loved it, it sustained us on long motorway journeys through France, and made us look forward to them! I hope there will be more of him reading these books (and others) he is terrific.

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Cold, tense and gripping

I absolutely loved this recording. Michael Kitchen's reading is perfectly matched to the detached style of the book and the ending had me completely gripped. We need more readings please, three of the books is not enough.

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5 people found this helpful

A reasonably good tale spoiled by uneven reading.

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

I had to miss out whole chunks of the recording as they were intolerably badly read. Kitchen's voice may be good for television acting, but is annoying as a narrator since its tendentious pauses are so ridiculously placed as to make one feel as though he has no understanding what he is reading.

Would you be willing to try another book from Michael Dibdin? Why or why not?

Dibdin's writing is trying to give more than a thriller, but its grasp of Italian history is cursory and punctuates the story rather than illuminates it. The irrelevant passages of plot filler do not add to the depth of the story, only to the length of the book.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Kitchen ought not to narrate books. He is a reasonable television actor but listening to his idiosyncratic pacing for more than ten minutes make my toes curl.

Was Aurelio Zen: Blood Rain worth the listening time?

Not really. And I would not read anything else narrated by Kitchen. He's nearly as bad as Scott Brick.

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Excellent series

I have enjoyed all the Aurelio Zen books, although I'm not sure about Michael Kitchen as a reader - may be because of the tv series.
Interesting to hear something about the way the Mafia has been changing in Sicily

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Humour & pathos. And Micheal Kitchen's narration is the best!

Micheal Dibdin is a great writer. Beautifully descriptive, often laugh out loud humour & satire but equally, depth & pathos. Zen is such an interesting, complex character & Micheal Kitchen conveys him perfectly - as he does the other characters. No hamming up & pantomime dame voices. Such a joy to listen to. I just wish all of the Zen books were read by him. I shall have to read the last 4 as I can’t bear the other narrator.
A deeply satisfying series on so many levels - a really great writer!

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Comedy, tragedy and acute observation

This Michael Dibdin masterpiece is beautifully rendered by Michael Kitchen's precise and understated performance. The vicious thuggery of the of the Mafia clans and the interested parties of the Italian state, are interwoven with the Wodehouse world of Zen's inner life and Michael Dibdin's painfully believable picture of; ineptitude, misogyny and corruption that sap the best efforts of the very few good people. Please let the, now sadly terminated, Aurelio Zen canon be completed in spoken word as a matter of urgency. In the meantime many thanks for this most diverting of recordings.

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6 people found this helpful

Zen never fails to throw light on the mysteries of Italy

The Zen story continues with reappearances from some familiar characters. Michael Kitchen’s pronunciation of Italian is improving with the series but it still grates when he gets it horribly wrong.

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