Aphrodesia

By: John Oehler

Narrated by: Joseph Morton

Unexplained deaths suddenly crop up all over the world. Their only link is to a perfume.

Eric Foster had a dream - to become a master perfumer. While a student at the world's top perfume school, he creates an aphrodisiac fragrance of astonishing potency, the holy grail of the perfumer's art. His future seems assured. But when his creation is tied to an outbreak of passion-driven homicides, he becomes the NYPD's prime suspect, facing a charge of serial murder. Desperate to prove his innocence, Eric reluctantly teams up with Tanya Cole, a forensic chemist who seems born to exasperate him. Their quest takes them to Yemen and France and plunges them into the dark realms of organized crime, child labor, and Third World interrogation. Against increasingly violent adversaries, Eric's only advantage is his extraordinary sense of smell - and that of his rescued bloodhound, Daisy.

©2012 John Oehler (P)2024 John Oehler

Terrible narration

I really wanted to like this book but the narration made it impossible. The narrator is merely a reader, with even less life in his voice than a bored reader. He pauses minutely before any French word, as well as at awkward points in sentences. Love scenes may as well be read by an automaton. This book really needs a female narrator. I had a hard time slogging through it, despite the wonderful premise.

Turns on totally unrealistic plot point

I loved "Tepui" and was expecting similar five-star work on a topic close to my heart. Unfortunately the hero being accused of theft without witnesses or evidence and expelled from his elite institution, the pivotal heart of the plot, was so unrealistic that I lost interest in subsequent events. Terribly disappointing.