Note to Audio Book Manufacturers

My last audio book experience was less than pleasant. I had selected Dirty Money by Richard Stark. Like most of my audio book selections, I was trying a new author, and looking forward to the story. I read the cover blurbs thoroughly but nowhere was there any indication that this book was part of a series. In fact, it was part of a large series but also the direct sequel to the previous book. I was lost from the beginning, feeling like I had delved into the middle chapters, as indeed, I had. I just could not get into the novel at all. I did some research on Amazon about the book and it is apparent this author has legions of adoring fans. The book itself has an average 4 1/2 stars, higher than most books and yet here I was, lost in the middle.

In addition, the mechanics of this audio book were atrocious. There was no "this is the end of disk 1" announcement so my CD player just started up at the beginning automatically and because I wasn't as "in" to the book as I normally am, I did not even notice! Now that's bad. The audio quality itself was also poor as I found myself having to constantly change the volume to try to keep it at a reasonable level.

I almost always have good audio book experiences, even if the story is less than ideal. This one was bad and I had to give up on the book all together...a truly rare occurance for me. The unfortunate consequence is that I will likely overlook other books by Richard Stark as there will always be this negative stigma attached to his name. With so many other reading opportunities out there, my attention will be elsewhere than with Mr Stark.