superbly crafted crime novel

The dead body of a young woman found suspended in the museum of the medical school sets off a classic murder investigation. John Eisenmenger the main character has a past of forensic science but at the start of the book it is the Police who are dealing with the crime. It is only when Elena, a lawyer, is called upon to defend the honour of one of the suspects who died in custody that John is persuaded to practice an autopsy. The academic staff are brilliantly drawn and quite frankly they are mostly horrendous people self-absorbed with massive egos. The narrator does an excellent job of bringing them to life. Even a minor character such as an assistant to the awful professor brings comic relief and amusing moments. The female police inspector is wonderful - she is so unscrupulous and will stop at nothing to get a conviction and hopefully climb up the promotion ladder one more rung. I'm not sure she is one hundred percent convincing but were she less evil she would not be as much fun! Through manipulation she manages to force the resignation of a good cop who also teams up with Elena and John to get to the bottom of the story.
All the investigative work is being carried out while John is in a dead end relationship - brilliantly done and anyone who has been in this type of situation could not fail to recognise its authenticity.
The male psyche is really strong in this book and very well portrayed - the females apart from Elena and the cop's wife are pretty nasty people bereft of redeeming features but highly enjoyable for all that.
The only quibble I have is with the accumulation of mental problems in the book - the policeman's wife has obsessive-compulsive disorder, John's partner tips over the edge into something manic (this I found the least convincing) and the man who works at the museum has a rather nasty syndrome too.
I read this book after discovering a later book in the series and I wanted to find out more about John's starting point.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

A bit gruesome but good forensic crime novel

If you could sum up A Feast of Carrion in three words, what would they be?

Interesting Gruesome Entertaining

Who was your favorite character and why?

John Eisenmenger

What does Sean Barrett bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

He is so good with voices and general story telling. Brings characters to life. Brilliant with women's voices ... somehow just making them a bit lighter in tone so there is absolutely no doubt that they are women but never caricatures. Can we create an award for the best narrator? No doubt in my mind that it should go to Sean Barrett! So many reviewers make similar comments about his narration I'm sure that authors must be queuing up to get him to read their books.

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Neither

Any additional comments?

I gave four stars for the story not five partly because it was a trifle unlikely (but after all it is crime fiction and that's probably what crime fiction has to be) and partly because I disagree with one of the other reviewers who thought there were no clichés or unnecessary words. I thought at times it was actually rather clichéd and some of the writing of the sexual scenes was rather obviously written to sound a bit titillating rather than because it added anything to the story. Almost as though the writer thought to himself 'what are the aspects you need to put into a crime story to be modern and have maximum best seller appeal?' Personally I thought it just sounded a little bit 'cheap' at times. Having said that I enjoyed the story (and of course the narration) and I will download another by this author. I really enjoy crime fiction and this one was a little bit different.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

A Feast of Carrion

I have never felt the urge to write a review before even though I have listened to many, many good books. This book, however, is totally brilliant. The writing is extremely good; the reading superb and the story line faultless with unexpected twists and turns. I cannot recommend this book highly enough to anyone who enjoys well crafted, gripping crime novels. I can't wait for my drive home tonight to listen to another book written by Keith McCarthy and read by Sean Barrett.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

7 people found this helpful

Brilliant writer.

The best feature of this book, in my opinion, is the quality of the writing.... not a cliche, not a wasted word, not a trace of irrelevance. The narration is equally brilliant. The withheld star is due to the gruesome but necessary detail ... not to my taste. If you can handle this you will like this book!!!

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

5 people found this helpful

brilliant!

enjoyable storyline with an expressive and versatile narrator. now to start the next one.in the series.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Very entertaining

This was a bit of a slow burn but blossomed into an interesting and engaging story.

I have immediately started the second in the series.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Superb Forensic Thriller

I came accross this book whilst searching for novels read by Sean Barret, my favourite narrator. This superb story is set within the confines of a prestigious medical school.
The story begins with the discovery of the body of a beautiful female medical student, who has been murdered in a brutal and bizzarre fashion.
The author Keith Mcarthy is a trained forensic pathologist, and it really shows. ;the procedural methods in the book are described in graphic detail and with so much accuracy that it puts the attempts of many crime novelists to describe a crime scene or a post mortem, to shame. This is not to say that the book is clinical or cold, far from it, Mcarthy is a truly gifted writer, hes descriptive powers are vivid and his vocabulary is vast.
The authors ability to project the emotions and frailties of his characters truly allows the reader to even empathize with some of the more grotesque members of Mcarthy's cast.
I can only assume that it's some of the graphic descriptions of violence and sex that has stopped Mcarthy becoming top of the best seller list on a regular basis.
Sean Barret is as usual brilliant, his narration brings every character to life, his ability
to differentiate each individual characters voice is remarkable.
I am a massive fan of the modern crime novel and enjoy reading and listenning to most of today's top writers, I would have to put Keith Mcarthy into my top 10 favourites, I truly believe this book, the first in the series, is an absolute must read for any crime novel fan.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

16 people found this helpful

A Wonderful Series

If you haven't yet heard Keith McCarthy's great series start with this one, then make certain you listen to all the others.

This is perhaps the best forensic murder series ever and I throughly recommend them.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

13 people found this helpful

Excellent!

Second Keith Mccarthy book I've listened to. Absolutely brilliant - can't wait to hear the next book. Sean Barrett's performance is superb.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

A great listen

I have only just discovered this author, and am hooked. Detailed descriptions of grisly crimes, combined with well rounded and interesting characters make for an intersting and absorbing book. I loved it. Well read also by Sean Barret. Recommended.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

11 people found this helpful