Great book

Really enjoyed this book great characters tense and humorous Scarlett Mack brought the story to life

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5 people found this helpful

Like a children's story for adults

Would you try another book written by Clare Carson or narrated by Scarlett Mack?

Probably not

What was most disappointing about Clare Carson’s story?

The characters are just too unbelievable. Too much of ' the heroine enters the deserted house when we all know it's stupid and dangerous'. It takes far too long to get to the point of the story. I gave up on first listen - went back later and listen to the end but it didn't get any better. Ponderous and boring in the first half, third rate thriller stuff in the second.

What three words best describe Scarlett Mack’s performance?

Ponderous, lacking animation

If this book were a film would you go see it?

NO!

Any additional comments?

This is supposed to be based on the writer's life but like most people's lives it's just ordinary and not very interesting.

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3 people found this helpful

Thoroughly enjoyed this story

was a most enjoyable walking companion as I walked circuits of my garden during lockdown. loved the many geographical references which I was able to trace in my mind. Great story.

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More please! Carson is excellent

Recent history is largely ignored by writers, but Carson takes on Greenham, the miners’ strike and the Cold War paranoia in an interesting way, seen through the eyes of an intelligent but remarkably stupid heroine - Sam Coyle. What makes the book work is the beautiful writing, which never turns to hackneyed phrases unless they say something about a character. Perseverance is necessary as you’ll think Sam is delusional until it’s no longer a possibility. Just enjoy the writing, and the reader is very good indeed so it’s not that hard to keep going. I’ve read the book six times now and always gotten more out of it.

I hope the other two Sam Coyle novels will soon appear on audible. I’ll buy them straight away

I give the story 4 stars as there’s a scene of physical bullying that shows how stupid Sam is, but which is unnecessary to the story and the atmosphere.

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Boring bystander spouts platitudes

Despite longwindedness, this got off to a good start. I liked the fact that I didn't know if it was an undercover police story, or a spy story, or something else entirely, told from the point of view of an initially likable 18 year old young woman.

But as the narrative went on, it didn't develop as a story. Stuff happened around Sam the "protagonist". Characters turned up again later. Sam knew from her dad not to trust anyone, and as luck would have it she mistrusted and trusted the right people.

One of the reasons I gave this a chance is that my grandfather was stationed on Orkney during the Second World War. But I never got a sense of place from the book, and I think my grandfather would have got bored and irritated.

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