Christine Falls: A Novel (Quirke)

I bought the audio books solely because Timothy Dalton did the narration. I suspect more than a few people will do the same, not having any interest in the work beyond Dalton's ability. Commenting on that, first, Dalton does wonderful work and his reading is everything you would hope for. We have been waiting decades, it seems, for him to get into the audio line and the wait was worth it. He skillfully assumes enough difference in the character voices to separate them for a listener and his unfailing enthusiusm keeps the plodding book on an even keel - more, perhaps, than it deserves. While Dalton seems like an odd choice for reader and his own native dialect sways in many directions (as those who closely follow his career are accustomed), it is a pleasure to hear him develop the verbal nuances of these characters.

That said, the novel, on its own merits, is weak, plodding and utterly without a satisfactory conclusion. After nine hours of confusing drama with characters it is impossible to develop even a slight affection for, the "solution" revealed is downright frustrating, even irritating. The murder seems far-fetched and unexplainable and the ultimate "culprit" (the father of the child) any asture reader guessed early on in the book.

On a technical note, it would greatly improve the listening of these discs by having the narrator announce at the start and end of each disc, "Disc Ten" and "Conclusion of Disc Ten." If you're not really concentrating, the end runs into the beginning without any break and you end up trying to patch the beginning and the end of the story together rather than just switching to the next disc.

You will be tempted to play the discs over and over just to hear Dalton's voice, but ultimately won't because the book is just too unsatisfying. Next time, I think Dalton would be better off reading a period piece. He has done his best acting in costume dramas ("Jane Eyre, "Wuthering Heights") and for pure joy, I'd like to see him go back to his roots.

I suppose now I may also call myself "Another Dalton Fan" -- this audio book was excellent. Timothy Dalton does a splendid job reading a fascinating book. He brings the book to life in a remarkable way. Listen to the audio clip, and then BUY this set of CDs. They're great company in the car -- you'll be tempted to listen to the entire series in one sitting -- it keeps you involved until the very end. I hope to hear this man doing more audio books in the near future! (Seriously, I'd probably pay to hear this voice read the telephone directory!)

The unwritten contract in crime fiction is that when the author asks the reader to make leaps of faith, there is a payoff in terms of an a-ha moment down the road. The trouble is that Black / Banville vitiates this contract time and time again, until the reader is left contending with far too much drama and not enough plot to really justify it. In his defense, Black has created some excellent characters. But its a good thing he wrote Christine Falls under a pen name, the book is totally self-indulgent in terms of allowing the author to do wild things with very credible characters! As many reviewers before me have said before, this is just too cliched.

It is impossible to adequately evaluate Black's writing due to Timothy Dalton's narration, which varies from "over the top" silly to soporific.