Birds of Prey

By: J. A. Jance

Narrated by: Cotter Smith

A survivor of childhood trauma, two marriages, twenty hard years with the Seattle P.D. and the bottle, Jonas Piedmont Beaumont has spent far too much time trolling the darker waters of human nature. In the wake of a devastating professional tragedy, he has decided, at long last, to pull the pin. But there is no safety in semi-retirement for a man who, long ago, chose to make a violent world his home.

Temporarily at leisure, Beau has agreed to chaperon his newlywed grandmother on her honeymoon cruise to the Gulf of Alaska. But Beau's brief idyll is abruptly shaken when a security videotape shows a passenger taking a fatal fall overboard. Like it or not, the burden of investigating a heinous crime is once again on his shoulders. Adrift a thousand miles from home, J.P. Beaumont has suddenly found himself submerged in a terrifying conspiracy that, if allowed to proceed unchecked, could have disastrous consequences, not only for Beau and his shipmates, but for the future of the world they all hope to return to.

Good, but needed more

Too short, did not have enough intrigue, ebb and flow. As always Gene Engene did a great job telling the story.

Great book!

Another great JP Beaumont book. I do wish it had been available in the unabridged version though. I love the new narrator. Gene Engene had always gotten on my nerves although after listening to so many books with him narrating, it was difficult, at first, to distinguish between the characters voices. I guess I had gotten used to him after all!

Different Narrator

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Yes

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

Yes.

What three words best describe Cotter Smith’s performance?

It was seriously lacking in performance. I couldn't tell the different characters apart. I don't know why they changed narrators but this one did a terrible job!

Was Birds of Prey worth the listening time?

I'm not sure. I was listening and following along with the Kindle book. But when I bought the audio I didn't realize it was abridged. So, I had to keep stopping the audio to read the parts that were missing. The audio was missing a very large part of the book. A lot it were the types of things I have come to enjoy about the J.P. Beaumont books.

Any additional comments?

If you're going to butcher the book then why bother doing the audio! It left me wanting my money back! I'll continue reading the books but I don't know about the audio part, even if it is available as immersion reading.

Narrator change

I have really enjoyed Beaumont books until this one, when the narrator was changed. He is not as good as gene engene. Story was inf, but it really annoys me when the narrator changes and then future books do the same. I can't understand why it is not understood that the narrator is critical to the enjoyment of a book.

New narrator

This is another great book by J A Jance; however, we did prefer the previous books narrator-Gene Engene.