Archive for Jess Kidd

The Hoarder cover

Review: The Hoarder

By Jan
 on January 4, 2020

The Hoarder

The Hoarder coverAuthor: Jess Kidd;
Genre: Mystery;
Format: Audiobook;
Narrator: Aoife McMahon;
Publisher: Whole Story Audiobooks (2018);
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars (4 / 5).

Another fun listen from Jess Kidd, this one narrated by Aoife McMahon. The story is contemporary, but uses flashbacks, and includes dysfunctional people, much like the author’s 2017 novel, Himself. The writing is lyrical, with absolutely wonderful descriptions and sharp, clever dialog.

I turn to him, breathing like Darth Vader through my mask, and shrug. I hope my shrug communicates a profound respect for his discarded possessions (twenty refuse sacks of empty sardine tins) combined with the regretful need for practical living.

He narrows his gimlet eyes. ‘You’re a little shit, aren’t you?’

The protagonist, Maud, has some mysteries in her past and now she finds herself immersed in a current one. Chapters alternate between time periods, and I was a little confused by character names, but it wasn’t a story that I had to concentrate on to enjoy.

Most Americans love Irish accents, and McMahon’s narration is wonderful; she differentiates between characters very well. I did listen to most of the book at 1.25 speed because it was a little slow for me.

Themes include hoarding (obviously), family secrets, caretakers, friendship, greed, and morality.

In categories Audiobooks, Book Review, Modern Mystery Tagged with ,
Himself cover

Review: Himself

By Jan
 on August 31, 2019

Himself

Himself coverAuthor: Jess Kidd;
Genre: Literary fiction/mystery;
Format: Audiobook;
Narrator: Aiden Kelly;
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio (2017);
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars (5 / 5).

This is a terrific audiobook, made even better by the wonderful narration of Aiden Kelly. His accents and pacing were so good; I had no trouble telling who was speaking.

Mahony returns to his tiny village in Ireland in 1976 in order to find the truth of his mother’s death in 1950. The villagers, a motley group of characters, indeed, were described and detailed very well. There was also a subtle love story, but that wasn’t the focus of the story.

I couldn’t stop listening and spent almost 10 hours straight, soaking up the story, the characters, and the beautiful prose of Jess Kidd. It evoked so many feelings that I feel a little exhausted now that it’s over. (Also, my laughing almost woke up my husband.) Now I’ll get some rest, satisfied that I just treated myself to one of my favorite reads of 2019.

In categories Audiobooks, Book Review, Modern Mystery Tagged with , ,