Secrets of the Dead by Tom Harper

Format: Audiobook

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Blurb

In a villa on the coast of Montenegro, Abby Cormac witnesses the brutal murder of her lover, diplomat Michael Lascaris. The last thing she remembers is a gun pointed directly at her.

She wakes to find herself at the centre of a diplomatic nightmare.

Everyone wants an answer but no one wants to listen. Even her employers at the Foreign Office believe she’s hiding something.

As Abby tries to piece together the last few months of Michael’s life, she soon realises that he wasn’t quite what he seemed.

When Abby investigates further, it becomes clear that someone wants to suppress a secret, one that has been kept hidden for centuries. And they will stop at nothing to do so.

My review

During a visit to the local library, I was waiting for someone else to make their selection and wandered over to the audiobook section.

Secrets of the Dead sort of jumped out and screamed, “Pick me, pick me.”

So I did.

I’ve listened to a couple of podcast books in the past, but I don’t think I’d ever listened to a full audiobook. To be honest, it was a pleasant experience.

I discovered that I could do more than one thing at once, such as play Candy Crush or scan old family photos while listening. It was a win-win situation.

Secrets of the Dead is not the type of book that I would normally read in paperback or ebook form. It’s too big-worded for me and there are too many foreign words. I’d stumble over the pages and quickly lose interest.

However, listening to someone read the book was totally different.

The narrator, Francis Greenslade, was excellent. He was easy to listen to and made those difficult words blend into the story. He brought a complicated plot to life. I was impressed and learned the pronunciation of numerous words from him.

The book itself is actually two stories running parallel to each other, one historical and one present day.

I felt the historical content was well researched and totally convincing. I believed in the characters and the events.

The only drawback was the flashbacks. After a while I found them a little annoying, even if they did move the story forward.

The present-day storyline was also convincing, although it took me longer to settle into this side of the book. It wasn’t the characters that troubled me. Those I accepted straight away. It was the events taking place. Some things seemed too convenient.

Anyway, I remember thinking I’d hate to get caught up in anything similar to what was happening to Abby Cormac. I’d be terrified.

Overall, I’d be more than willing to listen to another audiobook. It’s the perfect way of discovering new authors and new genres.

I’m glad I gave Secrets of the Dead a chance and, while I know I would never read an actual printed book by the author, I certainly would listen to another audiobook written by him.