Don’t Go Down The Blind Alley

I just couldn’t finish Blind Alley. The plot defies logic. No one is likeable. Everyone is angry and the conflicts are contrived. The story telling and stilted dialog are right out of a bad romance novel.

The producers of this audio book clearly missed the exit. Author Iris Johansen tries to bring some intensity to her dialog by having speakers cut each other off in mid-sentence. The audio editors don’t seem to get the concept. Characters simply stop speaking; several beats pass, then comes the “interruption.” It’s like listening to people on Thorazine, talk.

Better production may have helped this story. A better story may have overcome the amateur production. But the combination is deadly.