February 10, 2009

Review: Deadly Housewives Anthology



Authors: Nevada Barr, Barbara Collins, Carole Nelson Douglas, Eileen Dreyer, Vicki Hendricks, Suzann Ledbetter, Elizabeth Massie, Christine Matthews, Denise Mina, Marcia Muller, Sara Paretsky, Nancy Pickard, S. J. Rozan and Julie Smith.


Product Description: In the expert hands of fourteen unsurpassed storytellers, being a housewife takes on a whole new meaning. Get ready for a lethal mix of meddling mothers-in-law, creepy neighbors, cheating husbands, fickle female friends, careers left behind, out-of-control kids, steamy sex, and much, much more in this thrilling collection of never-before-published stories! Go behind the lace curtains and PTA smiles to explore the often mind-numbing reality of being a housewife. You'll laugh, you'll scream, you'll recognize yourself or your best friend in each of these deadly situations.

Review: This review and my rating is based on the audio version read by Henrietta Tiefenthaler and Shannon Engemann. I found the narration of this book so distracting. Right from the introduction read by Christine Matthews I knew it would be bad. Her voice was so monotone I mistook it for one of those automatic computers that read and pronounce things funny. Then the stories began with the first two being read by Henrietta Tiefenthaler. Henrietta sounded either tired or drunk. Maybe both. I seriously thought I was going to give up on this one but I stuck it out.

Still, I honestly don’t think that if I’d read the book as opposed to listening to it I would have rated it any higher than 3 stars. Some of the stories fell short of my expectation especially Purrz, Baby by Vicki Hendricks which had an awful ending.

The stories read by Shannon Engemann were at least easier on the ears but she read a couple of duds too. My favorite story in the whole book was Joy Ride by Nancy Pickard. It was diabolical and I loved it. Others that get a thumbs up are Lawn and Order by Carole Nelson Douglas, The Next-Door Collector by Elizabeth Massie and He Said… She Said by Marcia Muller.

2 comments :

BevE said...

That's too bad the audio book turned out to be so bad, the idea sounded great but after your review I don't think I would check this one out.

Ladytink_534 said...

I know a few people that would enjoy this one. I don't think I would want to listen to an anthology on audiobook...