It's actually been a while since I listened to "The Bad Place" by Dean Koontz, read by Carol Cowan and Michael Hanson...
I downloaded the book from JiggerBug. JiggerBug has an interesting concept. They offer audio books for rent - both on CD like the NetFlix model, and as time-limited downloads using Microsoft DRM.
The book was okay. It was a blend of mystery and supernatural thriller. Surprising as it is, considering I devoured Science Fiction as a kid, I never could quite fully engage the "willful suspension of disbelief" for the supernatural part. The mystery part was okay, and I liked the characters, but as a complete package, it just didn't quite measure up to most of the other books I've listened to.
The performance was okay too. Not bad by any means, just not great. Both of the readers sometimes had an awkward meter or phrasing which I found distracting. Overall, the differentiation of the characters was okay, and Ms. Cowan did do a fantastic job voicing the character of the brother with Down's Syndrome.
This is the first Dean Koontz book I've listened to, and I get the impression that Koontz writes in the same genre as Steven King, whom I've never really gotten into either. I also think that this book may been one of those that would actually be better as a movie than as a book.
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Posted by David at January 31, 2006 03:26 AM