Such a let down!

What would have made The Hunt for Red October better?

A decent narrator! This is the worst narration I have ever encountered in an Audible audiobook and was all the more disappointing because I was so delighted to find that this book had at last been released in audio version, as I am visually impaired.

What other book might you compare The Hunt for Red October to, and why?

As just one example, I have just been listening to "The Destroyers", by Douglas Reeman where the narrator is empathetic, smooth, coherent, good at accents, appears to have prepared well to bring the story to life, and is generally a pleasure to listen to, enhancing the listening experience.

What didn’t you like about Lance C Fuller’s performance?

Just about everything. His voice is dull. His delivery is flat, and lacking any emotion or even much expression. His intonation does not follow punctuation and is frequently irritatingly broken, unnatural and artificial. His pronunciation of names is awkward and often hesitant, as if he has not familiarised himself with them, and this breaks up the story and makes one all too conscious of the poor narration. This narrator turns listening to this book into a task, rather than a pleasure.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

All three. Anger that such a poor performance had been released on the public, sadness at a really really good book being ruined for audio listeners and extreme disappointment because the discovery that "The Hunt for Red October" had, at last, been released in audio had been something I was so looking forward to. I then felt additionally angry that I had actually purchased this audiobook.

Any additional comments?

I am astonished that Audible ever permitted such a poor narration as this ever to be released. Surely they check out narrations to make sure they are competent and pleasant to listen to. I do not believe that anyone who started listening to this performance would ever have thought it of an acceptable standard. If I could ask for my money back, I would.

43 people found this helpful

Terrible Reader

I have been waiting for a new complete and unabridged reading of the best Tom Clancy novel... I will have to go on waiting. The narrator has the same tone the entire way through and it is impossible to listen to. No sense of the drama or excitement enters his voice at all.

62 people found this helpful

A great book let down by a poor narrator

Any additional comments?

I have been waiting for many years for this book to appear as an audiobook and when it finally happens the narrator seems bored and emotionless. Its a real shame as the story is strong. The constant mis pronunciation Ramius is very annoying !

23 people found this helpful

Artrocious

What did you like best about The Hunt for Red October? What did you like least?

The story is solid, as always a good mix of factoids and human interest.

Who might you have cast as narrator instead of Lance C Fuller?

Scott Brick! A reader with great talent and finesse. He performs flawlessly in all accents.

Any additional comments?

I own hundreds of audio books between various libraries. The vast majority of them well performed. Some excellent, some less than optimum. This reading/performance however, is so bad it needs a review.This man has NO sense of timing; he randomly ignores punctuation, puts in stops where there are none and uses upspeak where no question mark exists. He lacks any form of expression, is unbearably boring to listen to and manages to kill even a Clancy book. I had waited for this one, now I wish I had never wasted my money on it. Terrible, terrible, terrible!Did nobody listen to this before putting it out for the paying customers?Shame on you Audible UK!

66 people found this helpful

Horrible narrator

I don't like the narrator. He has the same tone all the time. I don't know the difference between characters. Too monotonous. I just listened to 11% of this audiobook. I couldn't bear his voice anymore. I prefer continue reading this book on my kindle.

Please, don't record any other book with Lance C Fuller again!

17 people found this helpful

Surprisingly good

After reading the comments about the narrator, I was unsure about this audiobook, however the story was good from the outset and although flagged a couple of times (as to be expected in a 17 hour book), it was paced well with enough action and story to keep me engaged with it.

The narrator may not be the best, and he may say the same word differently in the same sentence (Dallas or dalis!) but he made a decent stab at it, with the odd Russian and english accents as required and didn't detract from the story for me.

Cracking book and decent enough narration, I'd recommend this story.

8 people found this helpful

Red October

Very good story but O the reader was so very poor. I almost gave up listening ,

7 people found this helpful

Confusing

It felt like there was a cast of thousands, I kept muddling up who was who. It would've helped if the narrator had differentiated them, but I felt he had rather a limited range of voices, judging by the comedy 1950s upper class british accent, which were all 'jolly well' the same.

5 people found this helpful

great story love the tension well read very well d

great story I loved the tension very well read I live the jack Ryan character

3 people found this helpful

The narrator is rubbish

The narrator is rubbish. The story being read sounds rushed.

There is no feeling in what is being read.
I still have 15 hrs to listen of which is not going to happen.

Recommendation = do not purchase.

The film is brilliant but this audiobook is rubbish.

I only give 1 star for each but hope this does not affect the authors rating.

2 people found this helpful