The Fallen Man by Tony Hillerman

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Listened to audio book
Mom and I picked this Book on CD from a bunch that Cheya was returning to Susan. I have never read a book by Hillerman so I was curious. Here's the basic story. A man turns up missing just after his 30th birthday when he inherits the family ranch. His wife has an ironclad alibi, and the case is never solved. Eleven years later, a skelton is found on a ledge on the face of a sheer cliff. Yes, it is the missing man and Lieutenant Jim Chee (?) is on the trail to find the real story. There were a few problems I found with this book. First, the narrator would whisper or raise his voice at the appropriate times, but then it was either too soft to hear or too loud. I think better sound editing could have solved this problem. Second, it was never a very gripping story and totally failed in keeping me awake while driving. Maybe if I had read it instead. I did like how the narrator captured the Navajo accent for the native characters, but he didn't do as well with women's voices. I'm not sure if I will read more Hillerman books or not. Any recommendations from the blog world??
Rating: 2.5
Posted by Framed at 4:42 PM

2 comments:
raidergirl3 said...
I've read one or two of Hillerman's books, and liked them. My parent's LOVE them, so much so that they made a point on their retirement trip (like booklogged's, but reverse direction) to go to New Mexico.I think it's a series that people enjoy, and it sounds like a lot of your issues were with the audio details.
4/13/2008 5:26 PM
qugrainne said...
Like many authors who have written a million books, I like the earlier Hillerman books better. The reader surely does have a lot to do with the success of an audio book, I believe. Robert Parker, for instance, has a lot of good mysteries on tape. I really like one of his readers, and don't care for the other, which really (literally) sets the tone of the book for me. It is funny: I need books on tape if I am driving any distance on the highway, or I fall asleep too!