I might have found James Lee Burke's writing interesting, his descriptions detailed, his characters well-rounded, etc. as I have read in all of the wonderful reviews about his books. However, I did not have the opportunity to do so, because Mark Hammer's completely uninspired monotone put me off the book and I was unable to force myself to listen to the novel after the first two tapes. His voice has no inflection whatsoever, and the grainy quality quickly gets on one's nerves. It sounds rather like nails scraping across a blackboard. I would recommend (and shall be trying to obtain) a version of this novel read by a different narrator, or perhaps the print version.
