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BROKEN SKIN
by Stuart MacBride
HarperCollins, January 2007
Abridged audio pages
15.99 GBP
ISBN: 0007216831


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

Stuart MacBride’s BROKEN SKIN is the third book in a series featuring Detective Sergeant Logan McRae – but it doesn’t really sound much like it. This book is more like an ensemble piece featuring the overworked Aberdeen police force.

There are several things going on within the story but the main one involves the search for a serial rapist. Jackie Watson, an overly aggressive WPC (and girlfriend to McRae), is instrumental in the suspect’s arrest and that person just happens to be a celebrated sports hero. Suffice it to say, the case quickly turns sour and Rob MacIntyre becomes a free man.

The story is character-driven more than anything else, where the author puts the characters in unusual and sometimes uncomfortable situations. McRae is involved in a case involving the Aberdeen bondage/sadomasochism culture and he is learning things he wished he did not have to learn, squirming throughout the case. He also has to worry about his girlfriend who is gung ho regarding MacIntyre’s guilt over the serial rapes.

I must confess to a couple of things after having reviewed this abridged audio book, as read by John Sessions. I’ve lived in the United States for all of my life. I have never crossed the Atlantic (or the Pacific for that matter). And when I watch most shows or movies on BBC America I have to put up the subtitles so that I (no offense!) can understand what was being said. Most times I don’t need to, I can understand it maybe 85 percent of the time. It is that 15 percent that is a bit elusive and that is what I felt here.

I think I would have preferred to have read BROKEN SKIN rather than listened to it. John Sessions is a great actor and I enjoy seeing him on the screen. However he does a plethora of accents here and you have to listen carefully, as women sound like men most of the time. There are a number of characters that give the story a couple of touches of humor, some which I fear was lost on me. If I were a European I think I might have a greater appreciation of Sessions' imitations here. I would not recommend this audio book to an American audience without giving them a word of warning regarding the reader. That’s just me and for that I apologize in advance.

Reviewed by Angel L. Soto, July 2007

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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