The Pied Piper (abridged audiobook) by Ridley Pearson


Great twists. Good book. Abridged version leaves some things out.

Published by Brilliance Audio
Read by Dale Hull
Duration: About 3 hours
Abridged

 Just to let you know, I heard The Pied Piper as an abridged audiobook. I will discuss specific issues about the audiobook aspect of it later.

 This was a scary, sad thriller. Children are being abducted from their bedrooms across Seattle and, in reality, all across the country and Seattle's finest are out to stop the kidnappings. Obstacles in their path include very poor teamwork with the FBI and there's another kidnapping very close to home...but I won't spoil it for you by telling you who.

 Good police work ensues and it is satisfying to go along with the police as they slowly amass their clues and get closer and closer. Once the reader finds out the truth, there's still quite a bit of work to do to wrap it all up - including a cross-country chase.

 Its a good, good thriller and I would have given it 5 stars but I am reviewing the abridged book on tape and I have some complaints:

 1. The reader does great dialogue but is poor at reading non-dialogue - everything sounds breathless and over-hyped. Very William Shatner-esque, if you catch my meaning.

 2. The abridgment apparently left out a part of the story concerning Idaho - it is barely referenced early on and then the suspect has an injury on the face due to an accident suffered in Idaho that everyone seems to know about. That is not an example of a skillful abridgment.

 I rate this audiobook 4 stars out of 5.

 This audiobook can be found on Amazon.com here: The Pied Piper (abridged).

 Reviewed on September 20, 2004.

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