Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
mysterious
fast-paced
A lazy winter afternoon read and nothing more.
I am an ardent Christie fan when it comes to detective stories. "The Unexpected Guest" immediately arrested my attention for two reasons:
1. Its premise- a stranger comes out of fog only to find himself in the midst of a dead body and a woman with a gun confessing to the murder
2. Its length - the audiobook is close to 3 hours 31 minutes long.
Hugh Grant's captivating narration roped me in. The book's atmosphere even managed to pin my attention for the first half an hour- a murder in the midst of a foggy atmosphere in a strange house. It almost had me.
Then it lost me.
I tried to hard to hold my attention as Sergeant Cadwallader and Inspector Thomas entered the scene to investigate the murder. A bout of other characters poured in too. Everything between the first and the last half-an-hour reads like unnecessary fillers.
The last 10 minutes, however, do justice to the Queen of Crime's charm. But is the strenuous walkthrough worth it? I believe the book would have left the same impact with fewer characters and less beating-around-the-bush in the story. But again, this is supposed to be a play. A lot of those elements might have been added for the impact on the stage, as opposed to satisfying a starving reader looking for a quick, adrenaline-pumping read on a weekend afternoon.
While Christie is nearly flawless with all her stories, you might want to leave the preconceived notions back in the closet and take "The Unexpected Guest" with a pinch of salt. Both literally and figuratively.
P.S: I'm never listening to the audiobooks of Christie's works ever again. Not my cup of tea. I prefer them served cold between pages.
I am an ardent Christie fan when it comes to detective stories. "The Unexpected Guest" immediately arrested my attention for two reasons:
1. Its premise- a stranger comes out of fog only to find himself in the midst of a dead body and a woman with a gun confessing to the murder
2. Its length - the audiobook is close to 3 hours 31 minutes long.
Hugh Grant's captivating narration roped me in. The book's atmosphere even managed to pin my attention for the first half an hour- a murder in the midst of a foggy atmosphere in a strange house. It almost had me.
Then it lost me.
I tried to hard to hold my attention as Sergeant Cadwallader and Inspector Thomas entered the scene to investigate the murder. A bout of other characters poured in too.
Spoiler
Much to my irritation, turns out they had nothing to do with the actual murder.The last 10 minutes, however, do justice to the Queen of Crime's charm. But is the strenuous walkthrough worth it? I believe the book would have left the same impact with fewer characters and less beating-around-the-bush in the story. But again, this is supposed to be a play. A lot of those elements might have been added for the impact on the stage, as opposed to satisfying a starving reader looking for a quick, adrenaline-pumping read on a weekend afternoon.
While Christie is nearly flawless with all her stories, you might want to leave the preconceived notions back in the closet and take "The Unexpected Guest" with a pinch of salt. Both literally and figuratively.
P.S: I'm never listening to the audiobooks of Christie's works ever again. Not my cup of tea. I prefer them served cold between pages.
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Child death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexism, Car accident, Murder
The mystery is obvious - if you've ever read (or seen) an Agatha Christie before, the killer and motive are clear from pretty much the first page. The rest of the plot has some fairly dull red herrings and the usual predictably sexist love-at-first-sight rubbish. It may be more tolerable in play form, but the novelization is flat, simply describing basic blocking from some vague, confused non-POV. Either truly turn it into a real novel, or just let me read the script.
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
