Smashbomb

Search

Search results

All (4658)

Content

Hazel (2934 KP) rated The Couple on Maple Drive in Books

Dec 11, 2021

Only my second foray into the world of audiobooks and, once again, I have not been disappointed.

From the off, you are drawn into a situation being told via a live Podcast from Christie's Crime Addicts; something awful has happened on Maple Drive but the "what" isn't clear. The story then presents the "whens" and "whys" leading up to the "situation" interspersed with more Podcasts. This does sound like it's going to be a tad confusing but let me reassure you, it most certainly isn't; it flows really well and makes perfect sense.

The characters are an interesting bunch but not so many that you become confused. Isla is, I admit, a little annoying and naïve; you want to shout and shake her and soothe and swaddle her in equal measure but considering what she has been through and what transpires, she can be forgiven and with friends like Nikki, you don't need enemies!

The story moves on at a good pace gradually ramping up the tension as it goes until the slightly unexpected ending; I say slightly as I had already guessed one of the twists but this was then turned on it's head when another came along ... I love it when that happens!

As this was an audiobook, I must mention the narrators which, I think, were excellent with the main narrator really drawing you in with her voice. I also enjoyed the Podcasts being narrated by different voices of the Christie's Crime Addicts team, I don't think they would have had such an impact on the story if they had been by the same narrator so a stroke of genius there I feel.

Overall, The Couple on Maple Drive is an intriguing story that I thoroughly enjoyed and certainly made my car journeys much more enjoyable so much so that I didn't want to stop the book when I come to the end of my travels and there were a few times when I sat there, parked up with the engine off for just one more chapter!

Thank you to HarperCollins UK Audio and NetGalley for my copy in return for an honest, unbiased and unedited review.

Kudos

Mekkin B. (122 KP) rated Writing Excuses in Podcasts

Feb 22, 2018

15 Minutes Long, Because You're in a Hurry and They're Not That Smart

I've been an avid follower of this podcast for years. Every episode is a concise 15 to 20 minutes surrounding a discrete topic on the subject of writing and storytelling. All four authors are fairly well known sci-fi, fantasy and horror genre authors, so the advice does tend to be more geared towards those interested in writing genre fiction, but perfectly applicable to anyone who wants to learn how to write a compelling story.

I love the format. I'm not a huge fan of the rambly format of some other hour + long podcasts. I feel like I zone in and out listening to podcasters attempt to make a point. That's never the case with Writing Excuses. Ironically, the short format that probably accounts for this also makes me wish there was more!

Plus they include a book recommendation and a writing exercise as "homework" every week, which I have found to be particularly useful.

If you're interested in writing, I would definitely give Writing Excuses a listen.

Kudos

Caffeinated Fae (464 KP) rated Read Me Romance in Podcasts

Jul 24, 2019

Free Books (0 more)

Alexa Riley (0 more)

I can no longer support this podcast

I really loved this podcast up until I found out some of the sketchy things that Alexa Riley (Lea & Mel) have done. They're known scammers who have book stuffed on Amazon, stolen plots from various authors and have been subsequently banned from Amazon.

I still love that you can get free professionally narrated audiobooks but I cannot listen to this podcast anymore due to the above issues.

Original Review:

I love this podcast because I get to try new authors and listen to professionally narrated audiobooks in bite-size chunks. I'm not one to listen to podcasts, so when I heard about this podcast through a Skye Warren post, I knew I needed to give it a try.

This podcast is a great way to read new authors and find some new favorites. I haven't had a chance to listen to all of them, but it has been fun catching up to the live airing and listening to all of the different novellas.

Kudos

Eleanor (1463 KP) Jul 24, 2019

Always sucks to find out somthing you like is tainted by dishonest behaviour. Thanks for the update / heads up

Kudos

Caffeinated Fae (464 KP) Jul 24, 2019

It it really does stink. I enjoyed the free audiobooks but I haven’t been able to stomach listening to the podcast since reading some of the threads on Alexa Riley.

Kudos

Glenn Donnelly (12 KP) rated Last Podcast On The Left in Podcasts

Dec 3, 2019

Reliable (4 more)

Humourous

Interesting

Fun group of guys making the podcast feel more inviting

Live shows that you can go to

Some may not enjoy the type of humour (2 more)

Can go off track slightly

Multiple voices speak at once

Any true crime enthusiast will love this podcast!

Three guys Marcus Parks, Henry Zebrowski and Ben Kissle all sit and talk about the grizzly stories of some of the scariest true crime and serial killer s of the past, they also discuss real life ghost stories and alleged alien abductions/sightings trying to stay netureal and using only sources for their episodes. All episodes are told alongside great humour and whilst going off track slightly sometimes it is always kept interesting. I want to state the bad points are not my view in particular and just feedback I have heard from other fans that I think are relevant.

Personally this is one of my favourite podcasts and I enjoy their whole network of shows which include wizard and the bruiser, abe lincolns top hat, kinda fun, page 7 and more