Black Swan

A Sam Acquillo Hamptons Mystery

By: Chris Knopf

Narrated by: Keith Szarabajka

Sailing back from Maine, Sam Acquillo, his girlfriend, Amanda Anselma, and screwball mutt Eddie Van Halen get blown off course by a dangerous gale. With damaged boat and frayed nerves, they limp into the closest harbor, which happens to be on Fishers Island, New York, a distant and altogether disassociated scrap of Long Island.

A summer preserve for the oldest old money in America, it is defended by year-round denizens who safeguard their island’s insularity with xenophobic fervor. Sam and Amanda are hardly welcomed with open arms, unless they’re the arms of the young and beautiful Anika Fey, daughter of the owner of the Black Swan, the island’s only hotel, who’s only too eager to fold Sam into her embrace.

But feminine wiles aren’t the only hazard faced by Sam and Amanda. They’re soon swept up in big-money intrigue, dark conspiracy, brutality, murder, and the machinations of high-tech millionaires, to say nothing of the autumn storms that lash the island with wind and wave.

In the years since losing everything, Sam has fought his way back to an existence that even he believes is worth preserving. And now, bad timing and a broken rudder could result in the greatest loss of all - his life.

Chris Knopf's four Sam Acquillo mysteries have received exceptional accolades, with critics likening Sam to Dashiell Hammett’s Sam Spade, Raymond Chandler’s Philip Marlowe, and Robert Parker’s Spenser, while repeatedly comparing Knopf to Elmore Leonard, John D. MacDonald, and Ross Macdonald. A sailor, cabinet maker, and advertising executive in Connecticut, he and his wife also spend a lot of time at their Southampton home.

©2011 Chris Knopf (P)2011 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“The vivid descriptions of an angry sea and the monster storm that strikes the island fairly dwarf the human threats facing Sam and Amanda.” ( Publishers Weekly)

New vs old

I enjoyed the story but admit to overwhelmingly preferring Richard Ferrone as narrator/Sam than this new narrator.

Amazing.

This was one of the best. Can’t sit until I can afford another. Great read.

Siperfluous

The story is good. The narrator, while ok for the male characters falls short regarding the female characters. To be fair, this is true of every book I've listened to. All narrator's thus far haven't been a true pleasure to listen to.

Now to address my comment in the title of this review. While I enjoy the book overall, the author gets carried away with the use of his extensive vocabulary. Sorry Mr. Knoff, but there is a negative take away when I spend a ridiculous amount of time consulting my dictionary. I applaud your knowledge, but not your use of said vocabulary in your books. I've kept this opinion to myself in my critique of the books I've listened to prior to this one. I assigned the "stars" and left it at that without writing a review. While not being satisfied with narration or the generous use of "big words", I took it in stride and moved on. I may be in the minority, but I believe the :average Joe" may not know the meaning of many of your words. By the end of the book I've moved from being impressed by your vocabulary, to annoyance. Is your intention to "wow" your audience? I consider myself to be a fairly intelligent individual with a fairly good command of the Engish language, but I become overwhelmed, especially in this book. Try to think of your readers. Admittedly, many don't have an issue with you spewing out a lot of words that are lost on many readers, but I'm one of those who become befuddled as my list of words to look up in the dictionary grows. While I enjoy learning new words. it takes away from my overall enjoyment of the story. My effort to kick back and relax is overshadowed by need to get the gist by the use of the word, thus anxiety mounts while enjoyment decrease. perhaps I'd like you to "dumb it down" for the likes of me and those like me; thereby, I find your use of college level vocabulary superfluous.

Disappointing

I found this book boring. The narration was poor as the accents terrible. Hopefully the next book is this series will be more entertaining.

A very engaging story

If you have a computer background, you will be even more interested. However, that is not necessary to the enjoyment of the book.