This is the second in The Passage trilogy.

In The Passage, told mostly through emails and journal entries, the world was destroyed by a virus created in a government lab, injected into twelve death row inmates. Breaking free from confinement, these "virals" possess increased strength, power, and infinity, living off human blood. Within months, the world once known is no more. One hundred years later, the Colony survives in a self-imposed compound, protected by the lights that shine throughout night, shielding them from virals. When the batteries keeping the lights on die, the Colony must find another way to survive.

The Twelve picks up where The Passage left off from the first section, immediately following the aftermath in Year Zero. Moving from that year and progressing with certain sections throughout the next 100 years, the original Colony residents (Peter, Michael, Alicia, and Amy) return and the remaining humans in America have created small factions of government and military. Members of the Colony have immersed into the world, several lost. Finding the original group, led by Amy, a young girl who, while her blood is merged with the virus injected into her by the government lab 100 years prior, doesn't live off blood at all. The only indication that she is different is that it has taken her a century to grow from an adolescent to a young woman, but she also possesses a powerful internal way to communicate with the original Twelve virals, and their "Many." Through a violent journey that encompasses a wide range of villains from the original twelve virals, their Many, and from corrupted humans enslaving their own, The Twelve is another fierce installment in the trilogy.

My Thoughts.

First, let me say I read The Passage and I loved it. I couldn't put it down and read it in a few days. The initial jump from events following the aftermath to 100 years later with the Colony was a little jarring at first, but then I settled into it. One note I had from that reading was that I didn't like how Cronin would lead you into a spectacular event and then the section would end. The next page would be the results of that spectacular event, but he never allowed you to dig your heels into what was actually happening as it occurred. That was frustrating, and it happened often enough that I made a note of it, but all in all, it was an incredible story and world, and I loved every page of it.

I picked up The Twelve the day it was released. It was ON. I was ready to pick the amazing story back up and for the first one hundred or so pages, I was enjoying it. I thought.

You know that feeling you have when you pick up a random book because it sounds amazing and right away, you feel unsure, brushing off the disjointed storytelling because you're confident it will clear up soon? There's this nagging suspicion that maybe, the book is part of a series and you might be right in the middle of it? Yeah, you know what I'm talking about.

The problem is that I obviously knew this was the 2nd in a trilogy. I read the first one and I loved it. I knew the characters, I knew the story.

While I didn't mind that Cronin jumped right into Year Zero and introduced new characters following the aftermath of the virals' exposure to humans, I was disappointed. The Passage concluded with such intensity that I was ready to pick up from there, keeping consistent pace with tension-building and fear. Once I realized that just wasn't going to happen, I settled in with the characters and spent 150 pages with them and it was...interesting. It was decidedly slow, and there was just not a lot of suspense, at least not the way Cronin was so magnificent with building in The Passage, and so I spent the majority of my time fighting this horrible guilt, aware that I wasn't enjoying it. I was confused with the jump in timelines and I had this eerie and remote sense of detachment. It is a clear-cut lesson for me that if the time between installments in a series is more than two years, I simply need to re-read the one that came right before it. Or, at the very least, I need to hop onto Wikipedia and read the Cliff Notes version of the book to remind myself of events and characters. (Which I didn't think of until later.)

Yet even re-reading The Passage, I still would have waffled in confusion. There were too many new characters, and events which jumped all over the place. I spent the majority of my time drifting aimlessly and I even rushed through events in the end. I can't believe I did that.

There were just too many confusing elements, events, new characters that came and went, and timeline switches to be engaging. I missed the mostly epistolary format Cronin used in The Passage. With increased melodrama and shocking soap-opera like moments (Wait, that's really her father? And then someone else found their daughter?!), it just missed the mark for me. Don't get me wrong, I'll still pick up the final installment, but this post serves as a reminder for me to be more on guard. I missed the original universe, the feeling of being swept away into a story, the scary setup of the story, and most especially the refined method of storytelling Cronin previously implemented. This was just a little too scattered for me to really get into. I'm so disappointed to share that.

But, I have no idea what I'm talking about.
As I always say (er, write) in my posts, please remember that there is a reader for every book, and my opinion is simply my own. There are more than enough readers who loved this book. A simple check on Goodreads should give you more insight. After all, it currently has a 4.18 starred review rating, coming from 1,786 readers.

Favorite Characters.

• Alicia. She rocked. Didn't understand the scenes where she was confined, or with Sod, though.
• Ah, the disgusting Guilder. There was a lot of depth to the early introductions of his character and the reasons that clouded his judgement. While the concluding pages of his deterioration were a bit insane, I will recall fondly how villainous and interesting he was in the first half of the book.
• Lila has gone cray-cray. Oh, Lila, you are nuts. But sheesh, you're funny even when it's horrifyingly sad and I think you're awesome.
• Danny. I just love this guy. The determined bus driver who tries to drive everyone to safety. I want to be your friend. If they do end up making the movies for this trilogy, you doggone better be in it.
• Peter and Michael. Equal parts goodness. Loved ya both.

Characters I didn't care about.

• Amy. Sorry, I just wasn't as interested in her tale. Although I did feel the sad points in her interactions with Wolgast. Broke my heart.
• Lore. I just thought she was a little over-sexed and it didn't seem genuine.

Comparisons to The Stand?

I felt bad for Cronin a couple years ago when readers began comparing The Passage trilogy to Stephen King's The Stand. When I first read The Passage in January 2011, I hadn't read King's epic tale, so I couldn't see it. This year, however, I did read The Stand, and yes, I can completely see why there were multiple comparisons. There really are a lot of similarities, and for a few excellent side-by-side references, head on over to Fizzy Thoughts' page. I would also add to her list that Lacey was essentially Mother Abagail from The Stand and that Farmstead in The Passage trilogy is Hemingford Home. If I were to continue to make comparisons, though, I would say that while Cronin has a gift for writing, I much prefer King's "plainspeak." There's just no fluffed up pretty way to spell out that it's a cold day, for example, so in King's world, it just is so damn cold it'll freeze your n1pples off. Know what I'm sayin'?

But, either way, The Twelve, while it didn't work for me, picked the story ball up and carried it for yet another game. I'm still committed to Justin Cronin's trilogy and I will eagerly await the final installment.

Publisher: Ballantine Books, an imprint of the Random House Publishing Group
Release Date: 10/16/12
Pages: 568

Others said:
A Bookish Way of Life
The Boston Bibliophile
Chrisbookarama
Fizzy Thoughts
The Guilded Earlobe (audio review)

FTC Disclosure: I purchased this book from my local bookstore in Virginia Beach.

About the Author
Born in New England, Justin Cronin is the author of Mary and O'Neil, which won the Pen/Hemingway Award and the Stephen Crane Prize, and The Summer Guest.  Having earned his MFA from the Iowa Writers Workshop, Cronin is now a professor of English at Rice University and lives with his family in Houston, Texas.

Visit the author:

• On the official Passage site
• On Twitter
• On Facebook

This is my final selection for Carl's RIP celebration. For other participants' reviews, please click here.

Oh, this held so much promise. I wanted to swoon, wanted to love this Gothic fantasy, a dark, and supernatural tale set in the 1800s. After all, this is the type of book I like to read during the cooler months, especially for Carl's RIP celebration. Unfortunately, this just didn't work for me, but McOmber's writing is so beautiful, I do plan to pick up his next book.

Set in the 1800s in England, Jane Silverlake's friend, Nathan, has disappeared under questionable circumstances, last seen with a cult led by a local mystic named Ariston Day. Jane's never had friends, and when she was young, she was fairly sequestered with an absent father and cold servants, destined to walk the heath and the grounds, until she met a spirited and independent young woman named Madeleine. Maddy and Jane became fast friends with Nathan, and their bond strengthened as they grew older, and soon Jane is comfortable to share her gift, one she always felt was a curse. Jane has the ability to feel, see, and hear the souls of objects that are man-made, which can be overwhelming in certain urban situations, but is hushed by nature. This gift simultaneously intrigues Nathan and horrifies Maddy, and Nathan's urge to learn more sets him on a path to potential destruction when he gets involved with Ariston Day's cult, resulting in his startling disappearance. Jane and Maddy begin their own investigation for Nathan, desperate to find him before he is hurt or worse, but the time to locate Nathan and save Jane from Ariston Day's threats becomes a rush of secret meetings, hidden journals, broken hearts, and supernatural elements.

The time period is represented incredibly well and, at times, it read as though it was written during the 1800s, which was refreshing. The White Forest contains such a delightfully eerie atmosphere and unique premise and setting, evocative descriptions and moments, that I was immediately pulled in. Sadly, several elements felt out of place for me, more so towards the latter half of the book, and I ended up quickly rushing through the last sixty pages. McOmber also inserts multiple flashbacks into the "current" narrative and within the same paragraph, which, without some break, became confusing. I wish a line break had been included to delineate easily for the eyes that the event occurred in the past. I wound up spending a good bit of time during all of the flashbacks reminding myself that it happened before Nathan's disappearance.

I also don't need to like a main character, or any character (i.e. Gone Girl) for me to love a book. Jane especially disappointed me and her excuse for why she treated her servants horribly seemed more of a hasty afterthought. Let me clarify: Her servants were so afraid of her, that as a child, Jane was kept locked in a room for hours at a time. It wouldn't bother me one bit if Jane treated them badly, but the explanation of the locked room seemed a last-minute insertion. The one remaining servant was absolutely terrified of Jane, so the biting comments came across as Jane being privileged and snooty, which was how she seemed most of the time. I can't share detailed thoughts on Nathan or Maddy since it might give events away, so suffice it to say it was frustrating Jane liked them at all. This book started off so wonderfully, but tapered off into a disjointed and distant story. The annoyance for the characters, jarring flashbacks and a bizarre ending, left me off kilter. My usual willing suspension of disbelief just didn't take over this time.

Just remember this...

I am only one reader in the vast sea of reading enthusiasts. If this book sounds interesting to you, I would encourage you to pick it up. No two readers are alike. The premise is unique, the writing beautiful, and if you want to see positive reviews, check out Barnes and Noble, Goodreads, and LibraryThing; there are more than enough examples of reviews by other readers who love this eloquent tale.

As I mentioned at the top of this post, because McOmber's writing is so especially beautiful, I will definitely pick up his next book. Check out the passage below.

Passage of Note

I can see the two of us on the day we journeyed toward Mother Damnable's cottage. We were like figures in an oil painting, nearly devoured by the blackish greens and golds of the Heath. The rolling landscape fell away toward the south where a smoky brown fog hung over London. I held my wrap against the chill breeze, following Nathan's sharp and sturdy figure along the sandy path through the fallow. The Heath was rife with brake ferns, furze, and ugly dwarf trees. Neither Hampstead Town nor St. Pancras was visible, and I felt adrift in the silence of nature. There were no objects - no clamor. Such absence should have provided solace, but instead I found it disturbing. (p.150)

Others said:

If I've missed your review, let me know and I will link to it here.

Publisher: Touchstone, a division of Simon & Schuster

Release Date: 9/11/12

Pages: 303

FTC Disclosure: I checked this book out of my local Virginia Beach public library.

About the Author

Adam McOmber teaches creative writing at Columbia College Chicago and is the associate editor of the literary magazine Hotel Amerika. Stories from his collection This New & Poisonous Air have been nominated for two 2012 Pushcart Prizes.

Visit the author:

• On his website

This is another selection for Carl's RIP VII celebration. For other participants' reviews, please click here.

For my intro post, click here, and for my midway post, click here. To read all participants' thoughts of the Italong, click here.

It's all finished. Done. Over. And I'm bummed out.

I'm sad, for many reasons, but mostly because I had the most fun tweeting away, commiserating, complaining, laughing, and more with the other participants. Thank you to our fabulous hosts, Jill and Christina, for leading the charge, giving out prizes and holding clown-nose picture-fests...you both were fantastic and I can't wait to join another weird read- or listen-along with you again!

I felt like I gave birth during this process. I listened to the audiobook and lemme tell ya, it's forty-four hours LONG. That's right, 44. I am extremely proud of myself, though. If you recall, I mentioned a while ago that I wanted to listen to a long audio at some point, but tended to shy away from it because of fearful time commitments. But when Audible held a sale for $4.95 for It, holy goodness, how could I pass that up? I couldn't. And folks, Steven Weber as the narrator was UNBELIEVABLE. He made this book, in my eyes, even better. His performance was standing-ovation-worthy, and yes, I would be there throwing roses onto the stage cheering his name hoarsely. He was THE BEST audiobook narrator I have ever listened to, and I am so thankful I chose to experience the entire story in this way. It's due to the super-duo team of King and Weber that I ran 6.2 miles for the first time ever a couple of weeks ago because I couldn't, or I didn't want to, stop the audio.

My Happy Thoughts (Spoiler free, read away, my friends)

• It's not about the clown. I mean, it is. But it's really not. It's more about the fear that we have when we were children. When the bump in the night really could be much more than what the parents explain it away to be.
• Did I forget to mention you should LISTEN and not read this one? I am not kidding when I tell you that Steven Weber was a master of this tale, equal in delivery to the creation of it from King's mind. Weber acted the moments out, the dialogue becoming much more intense, hilarious, or downright heart-wrenching. That scene with the refrigerator and Bill screaming "Help me!" to everyone, and then everyone hugging him? I bawled. Thank you, Mr. Weber, you delivered that magnificently. (Not to mention that Richie and Bill were much more delightful in audio. I can't imagine reading their dialogue. It just became so much more vivid, more genuine, in Mr. Weber's control.)
• The Losers' Club from It or the Free Zone from The Stand? All day long, I'd choose to be a part of this group of seven children in The Losers' Club as they lead the charge to rid Derry, Maine of that...thing. I'd rather hang out with them than with anyone from the Free Zone. While I loved the story of The Stand, I hated most of the characters, with the exception of a few (Nick, Stu, and Tom Cullen, laws yes).
• My Favorite Character from It. Richie. Wait, wait. Trust me on this. In audio, Steven Weber makes him absolutely hilarious and those much-needed moments of humor breaking the tension? Richie was wonderfully welcome in those moments. I loved him. He (Richie and Weber) made me laugh out loud on several occasions.
• Don't be a hoity-toity snob. Stephen King once again proves he is a master at spinning a tale to keep you up at night. And I don't mean because it's scary, I mean because his writing is masterful, epic, literary... That's right, folks. This man can tell a story like no one else. Sure, it may not be "high-brow" literature, but I can assure you that any lover of a classic should experience one of King's novels at some point in their reading lives. I believe there is a likelier chance that they will close the book and feel stunned that they just read King, and that they...loved it.
• The Black Spot and The Shining. For those who are planning to participate in the readalong/listenalong to The Shining in preparation for next year's release of the sequel, Dr. Sleep, don't forget about a small character from It, a Mr. Dick Halloran, who has a pivotal part of The Black Spot segments. Dick Halloran is the cook from the Overlook Hotel in The Shining, and he is awesome. It's another example of King weaving characters from old novels into new ones and making you feel like you're part of some inside story, or joke, or moment.
• Speaking of The Shining. I'm sure the printed version is incredible, but I can absolutely attest to the mastery delivered by Campbell Scott in the audiobook version. It will not disappoint. Also, it's much shorter than The Stand or It.
• I liked this better than The Stand. I think a lot of that is because I hated Frannie from The Stand. I mean, HATED her. She was so annoying. It really didn't have any annoying characters, and if there were, I didn't notice it because Steven Weber made them interesting in some way through his audio narration.

My Unhappy Thoughts (with spoilers)

• Derry, Maine History...yawn. Yeah, I am of the same feeling with most of the #Italong participants that this part was just slightly one step above boring. I love when King meanders in his storytelling, but this part was just...not engaging. I also couldn't figure out what Mike's role in everything was when he was first introduced as an adult.
• The angriest moment I've ever had with King. The thing at the end in the sewers that Bev does to "bring everyone together?" That was terrible. I hated it. It is the only event in any of King's writing that made me upset, made me angry. I was extremely disappointed and thought it was a miserable attempt at showing the bond between the group, and it was ridiculously upsetting. I am already working on trying to forget that part of the story. I never want to remember that ever again. EVER.
• Who cares about the Turtle? Seriously, that was a let-down. I so wanted it to be representative of wisdom, and to some extent it was, but I felt a little of the air let out of the sails on that one.

Final Thoughts

It becomes yet another example of Stephen King's ability to master the epic tale, to deliver suspense, and edge-of-your-seat thrilling scenes, combined with the softer and emotional side of childhood. It becomes so much more than a story about a scary clown in a sewer and instead becomes a journey of seven children from the late 1950s to the mid 1980s as they grow into adults who have a job left unfinished. And please, please, take a chance and download the audiobook. You will not be disappointed.

This is another selection for Carl's RIP event. To read other RIP participants' reviews, click here. Additionally, it satisfies the project I co-host at The Stephen King Project.

Although The Secret History isn't set in a boarding school, the college setting in a small town in Vermont does just the trick to get the autumn reading season off with a murderous start. This is my first selection for Carl's RIP event and I'm thrilled I started with this one.

Richard tells his story from many years before, of one year in the exclusive and small Hampden College in Vermont. Although it immediately opens up with a murder of one of their own and who does it, it is the subsequent deterioration of each of the characters dealing with this horrible event, their social isolation, and the subsequent end to their actions that is thrilling, haunting, and Gothic. It's a book that makes me stamp my foot and wonder where the heck I was when this was first published in 1992.

Recently accepted as a college transfer to Hampden College, Richard has left his life in California without regrets. While a dramatic change in environment and surroundings, compared to his home life led by an overbearing and verbally abusive father, it is the right choice to leave. With a background in Greek, Richard becomes intrigued by the local Classics teacher, Julian, and the five students who exclusively study with him. Obsessed, yet initially denied acceptance,  Richard is then invited to join after helping them with a challenging Greek translation. Soon, he is caught up in the lives of the group, and is stunned by their combined family wealth, which causes Richard to feel more secure in lying about his family and his past, glossing over his public school attendance and opting for wealthy boarding schools as his source of education. He never expects that he would soon find himself embroiled within the murder of Edmund "Bunny" Corcoran, a fellow classmate. No mystery here; we are told immediately who is killed and by whom. It's the subsequent breakdown, the psychological decay each of the characters experience following the murder that is the source of suspense.

In the group are twins Charles and Camilla (this was written in 1992, well before current British royalty) who are orphaned at a young age; Francis, whose aunt's country home is the scene of many of their parties; Henry, the linguistics genius who seems to have a tender hold as leader of the small group; and Bunny, while outgoing, is also extremely bigoted and ignorant. It is surprising that Bunny would ever be accepted into this elite grouping, especially since he really isn't one who excels in academics, and his spelling is horrendous. Could it be because Bunny's father is the President of a bank that helped garner acceptance to this select group? Is it Julian's interest in posh and fortune that overlooks Bunny's constant lack of money (his father never gives him a dime) simply because his father carries rank? With the other classmates also coming from a high pedigree, Richard decides to keep his chain-link, fenced-in, working class house in California a secret. When a hideous secret threatens the group, there is fear that Bunny might reveal it, and his lack of tact and control becomes a ticking time bomb that the group fearfully monitors. While the first half of the book is waiting for Bunny to reveal their secret, the latter half dives into the aftermath of his murder. The group fiercely does everything they can to maintain the perfect surface of their Classics group. Ultimately, it could be this quest of perfection that degrades friendships and shreds morality.  It certainly is fitting that the small class studies Greek culture and language since all I could think as I read this was: Greek tragedy, anyone?

I've read several books this year that will make it on my Best Books Read in 2012 list, but I am fairly confident that, barring any other sleeper hits between now and the end of the year, this will make the top spot. The Secret History was first published in 1992 - again I ask, where was I when this came out? How did I miss it? I would have read this in college, the perfect time! It has all of the elements I love in a book: the compellingly haunting feel to its story, the quiet mystery and ultimate thriller that has been melded into the elusive and obscure literary class. How did I never come across this book that has been reprinted twelve times in the past twenty years?

In several scenes, I was reminded of Lilly Bart in The House of Mirth and her friends, cavorting around in plush, sprawling mansions getting drunk. Only in The Secret History, the characters are in college but similarly thrive off of others' wealth and trust funds, namely their parents. The Secret History feels extremely removed from time and place, yet hinting more towards the turn of the century, and then would shock with contemporary (1980s) references. I admit that while the book meandered much more than necessary, and while at one point, I was so annoyed by the fact that every other page one of the characters is either drunk, on pills, or has just done a line, I was still pulled into this dark psychological thriller in which the after-effects of a murder are even more threatening than the initial act itself. There is no question I initially was shocked by the book's opening pages revealing Bunny's murder so quickly, but by the time it actually does happen, I almost became tense for the other characters, hoping that they would be undiscovered. Bizarre, really, that it made me feel that way. I was crossing my fingers in hopes that killers wouldn't be caught? What is that? But the story's twisted anti-heroes certainly do make it a bit blurry on who the actual victims are, to a certain extent. At one point, I was so annoyed with Bunny and fearful for Richard, Henry, Francis, Charles and Camilla, that I was not unhappy in the least that he was offed.

The book certainly dives into extremely sensitive issues. There is rampant drug use and alcoholism, incest, and complete debauchery. It is forgiving of these several times over, but there is a quieter discussion of ego, power, and control. And we are really not reading about the most ethical of characters. I wouldn't even say that any of them are likable, save for maybe Francis? I'm not sure. But it is beautifully written, and so haunting that I couldn't put it down. I cannot wait to read her other book, The Little Friend.

Passages of Note (there were so many to choose from):

Henry, of course, had done marvelously. He didn't say so, but then he didn't have to. He, in some senses, was the author of this drama and he had waited in the wings a long while for this moment, when he could step onto the stage and assume the role he'd written for himself: cool, but friendly; hesitant; reticent with details; bright, but not as bright as he really was. (p.331)

No one had known him all that well but it was a strange feature of his personality that the less one actually knew about him, the more one felt one did. Viewed from a distance, his character projected an impression of solidity and wholeness which was in fact as insubstantial as a hologram; up close he was all motes and light, you could pass your hand right through him. If you stepped back far enough, however, the illusion would click in again and there he would be, bigger than life, squinting at you from behind his little glasses and raking back a dank lock of hair with one hand. (p.357)

Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf Inc.
Release Date: 10/16/1992
Pages: 524

Others said:
The Awl
Book Snob
Jenny's Books
The Literary Amnesiac
The Literary Bunny
Maggie Stiefvater
Sophisticated Dorkiness
Things Mean A Lot

FTC Disclosure: I first checked this book out of my local Virginia Beach Public Library and then purchased the book to keep on my personal bookshelf.

About the Author

Donna Tartt is the author of two novels, The Secret History and The Little Friend, both of which have received high praise and multiple reprints. Born in Mississippi, Tartt attended Bennington College and became a part of the "Literary Brat Pack" in the late 1980s that comprised of young East Coast writers including Breat Easton Ellis, author of American Psycho. Tartt is the winner of the 2003 WH Smith Literary Award for her second book The Little Friend.

The author does not have a website or Twitter account that I could find. If you know of it, please shoot me a note so I can link to it here.

This is my first selection for Carl's RIP event. Read other participants' reviews here.

New York in 1845 was a powder-keg of unrest. With an influx of Irish immigrants escaping the tragic Great Potato Famine into an already packed city, the New York summer of 1845 was filled with riots, religious unrest, murder, and the eventual birth of the New York Police Department, known by New Yorkers as a "standing army." Timothy Wilde, once a bartender with an unfulfilled love for a charitable woman named Mercy Underhill, has accepted a position as a policeman after a horrible fire leaves him with no bar to tend and his face disfigured. Amidst racism, brothels, drugs and murder, Timothy learns there is much more darkness in the city than he ever imagined. When a young girl, Bird, runs into him one night during his rounds, her nightdress covered in blood, with unbelievable stories of a murdered child, his new career becomes even darker.

A strong dislike for his older and more politically-minded brother, Val, Timothy's got an ethical side that can't be undone. Even with Bird, he doesn't have the heart to deliver her to the House of Refuge for orphaned children and instead takes her back to his apartment building where the female proprietor cares for her. As he takes the case to uncover the child murders, which seem to point heavily to a blatant hatred for Irish Catholicism, Timothy's unsure of who to rely on. His brother is of questionable character and the locals don't take any issue with brothels, even if children are an option. It's a gritty underworld that he didn't expect to be immersed in.

The Gods of Gotham is superb with early 1800s elements of New York life and American history, from the combination of race and religious unrest to the Irish "assimilation" into New York and even to the seedy brothels. While Mercy Underhill maintains her own sense of willful independence that at times was shocking, she provides the clear contrast to the city's evil with her ministering of care to the orphans and uncared for children, all the while dreaming of her one-day voyage across the Atlantic to England to escape New York. Each piece of the story was brilliant.

However, I did take issue with the audiobook so let me first encourage you to visit the Audible.com reviews site because I definitely do not represent the majority of the listeners. While I loved the story, I struggled with the audio considerably. In 1845 New York, I anticipated a little more accented English and instead felt the narrator's voice was flat and non-regional, and a good portion of the audio was monotonous, even to the point that there wasn't any variation between the male voices. There was also a distinct lack of emotion for several of Timothy's truly painful moments and with such a vivid story, it's unfair to the characters to be so colorlessly represented. Usually, a narrator keeps a bad story going, but in this case, The Gods of Gotham was thankfully a captivating tale which was the sole reason I was motivated to continue. I do want to mention that there was one bright spot that I loved in audio, which occurred between the newsboys and Timothy when they spoke "flash," a slang dialect of the lower classes in New York. It was extremely unique and interestingly enough, "flash" is also the foundation of several slang words we use today. Other reviews point out that these conversations were a difficult part when reading in print, however I can say the audiobook makes it much, much easier to understand and visualize and I do feel the narrator did a good job here. (For a really cool interview with the author discussing "flash," click here.)

The story and historical elements are fascinating and while it was a bit wordy at the start of the book, it evened out and became an engaging tale which makes me now eagerly await the sequel. At that time, though, I will be reading the printed version versus listening to the audio.

Publisher: Penguin Audio

Audio Time: 12 hours, 9 minutes

Release Date: 3/5/12

Narrator: Steven Boyer

Others said:

Beachreader

Bermuda Onion

Book Addiction

Caribou's Mom

Devourer of Books

The Guilded Earlobe (Audio Review)

Linus's Blanket

The Literate Housewife

Must Read Faster

Raging Bibliomania

Random Jottings

FTC Disclaimer: I purchased this audio book at Audible.com

About the Author (from her website)

Lyndsay Faye is the author of Dust and Shadows: An Account of the Ripper Killings by Dr. John H. Watson and the most recent bestseller The Gods of Gotham. Originally from the Pacific Northwest, she has adopted New York City as her second home, where she resides with her husband and too many cats and is at work on her next novel, a sequel to The Gods of Gotham.

Visit the author:

• On her website
• On Facebook
• On Twitter

Audio Notes: Steven Boyer is an established narrator and has an extensive portfolio available on Audible.com. For a sample of his work on The Gods of Gotham, click here.

This is my first selection for Carl's RIP VII event at Stainless Steel Droppings. Participants' reviews can be found here.

I don't know about you, but when Carl posts the RIP announcement, I get giddy with glee. You know I like dark and scary books, and the fall season is the. perfect. time.

I implemented changes in July, and basically, I now decline 99% of pitched review requests. I've been happier with my own selections and having no external deadlines. As I don't get paid for my reviews and my regular day-job is much more involved this year since being in my new role, I wanted to ensure that this little corner of my blogosphere continues to just be my happy place with no stress. With that being said, I don't really have any specific reading choices for the upcoming RIP season. I plan to read whatever jumps out at me. Not literally, I hope.

I am committing to Peril the First (read at least four books) and Peril on the Screen (watch scary films). Peril on the Screen will be my reminder to finally watch Rebecca after reading it last year! Not to mention the #ITalong hosted by Fizzy Thoughts and Reading Thru the Night (Annotated Reading) and my own project with Kathleen at The Stephen King Project will clearly be mixed in with this RIP season as well.

Items of Note:

• RIP VII runs September 1 through October 31
• Most Important Rules: Have fun reading and share that fun with others!
• As always, Carl's hired a fabulous artist for this season's artwork. Take a look at Gothicrow's beautiful work here.
• To read all of the RIP particulars and to add the link for your sign-up post, click here.
• Once you've written a review of a book, short story, or film, click here to post your review.

So... why don't you join? It's the most, wonderful time of the yeaaaaarrrrrr!! *singsongyvoice*