[LISTENED TO: June 2023] The Kind Worth Killing
I had enjoyed Peter Swanson’s Eight Perfect Murders so much that I wanted to get more audio books by him. I had heard that he was creating a sequel to one of his popular books, but I didn’t know which one. It turns out it was this one.
So this seemed like a good one to start with.
As it opened, I absolutely hated it. It may have been Johnny Heller’s voice, which I did not like. Although it also sounded familiar and I wondered if I knew him from reading a children’s book and I didn’t like him in an adult role.
Why did I hate it? Because within the first few minutes, his character, Ted Severson says something to the effect of, “My wife cheated on me. So I have to kill her.” I mean, who the hell thinks like that? And who bases an entire book on that? That is psychopathic.
Interestingly, I have read many complaints about Swanson’s bland characters, and while I’m not sure they are bland, exactly, they are certainly deadpan or flat or disinterested. At least that’s how the narrators read them.
So when Karen White took over as narrator for Lily Kintner’s parts, I enjoyed the book more. Lily was a flat character, but I found her dispassionate voice to be kind of interesting. (more…)
I Just Read About That... 