Burning Man

A Gideon and Sirius Novel, Book 1

By: Alan Russell

Narrated by: Jeff Cummings

When LAPD detective Michael Gideon and his police-dog partner, Sirius, are assigned to the Special Cases Unit (SCU), Gideon knows their work lives will be anything but ordinary. SCU gets the cases no one else wants, the unusual and bizarre crimes that need special handling and special investigators. When a high-school student is found crucified in a local park, Gideon and Sirius must face up to the gruesome tableau and the motivation behind the murder. Complicating matters is a nightmare from their past, the scars of a terrible fire that nearly cost them their lives. The blaze left Gideon ravaged by PTSD - and yet somehow imbued him with an eerie prescience that gives him unusual insights into the crimes he investigates.

©2012 Alan Russell (P)2012 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

The narrator ruined this book for me

I managed to finish this book, but I was complaining all the way. Cummings does a find job reading the narration, but when it comes to dialogue this is without question the most irritating performance I have ever heard. When the hero talks, his humor is dated and lame, but it's made much worse by Cummings' sing-song delivery with every line being spoken brightly and enthusiastically and ending with an upward lilt, so that every bit of dialogue sounds like it's a question.

Worse, there is no emotion in any of the dialogue--a serious comment is treated with the same phoney enthusiasm as the hero's bad-joke quips.

As for characters other than the hero, they're even worse. Cummings seems to believe that all women speak in high, breathy voices. And every line they speak also sounds like it ends in a question.

I have heard Cummings before but don't remember his dialogue being this outrageously bad. Granted, the author's bad puns and lame humor don't help, but I'm pretty sure that if I'd been reading the written word, I wouldn't have found the cliches quite as irritating.

I bought the first and second books in the series at the same time, and will be reading book two on Kindle, but staying away from Cummings performance an audio.

Now, if only Audible had an alert that would allow readers to tag authors they dislike to avoid the possibility of buying one of their books again.

Review of Buning Man

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The narrator's voice bothered me enough that sometime it pulled me out of the story. He has a tendency to become nasal and made the protagonist sound snide. The protagonist has a wry, sarcastic sense of humor, but the narrator made it unbearable. And he made everything the love interest said sound like a come-on.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Burning Man?

The opening scenes about the fire

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Jeff Cummings?

I don't know enough about other narrators to make a knowledgeable suggestion

Was Burning Man worth the listening time?

yes

Good story

The story was interesting and well-paced. However, the narrator mispronounced several names of places and things making it hard to listen to at times.

Relationship between man and dog

What did you like best about Burning Man? What did you like least?

I liked the relationship between Michael and his partner Sirius.

Any additional comments?

The Burning Man gets its title from when Michael and his dog Sirius go through a burning canyon to find a serial killer. They catch up with the serial killer but not until after he has shot Sirius several times. The canyon is now on fire and Michael forces the serial killer to help him carry Sirius out. Everyone suffers from severe burns and both Michael and Sirius have to go through rehabilitation. Michael wants to continue working since that's all he has so he hides his PTSD and how he's still hurting. Sirius is now retired but Michael still takes him with him everywhere.

Burning man & Serrius

My husband and I have enjoyed this book because of the humor that is interspersed throughout the book, his knowledge of the traits of a police dog and his special relationship with serrius. The knowledge he has regarding how a man feels when he has been badly burned is uncanny. I feel he is speaking from experience possibly.
We have gone on to down load more of Alan Russell's books and so far have totally enjoyed the lost dog. We are now looking forward to going on and reading more. Thank you Alan Russell for your characters compassion..

Interesting storyline and great dog

Author provided lot of background about firefighting and effects of fire on victims caught in one. The plot kept my interest while the author's use of contemporary song allusions was a nice touch. And who doesn't love a dedicated dog to make this tale enjoyable? Look forward to reading more in this series.

lost opportunities

This was a bit slow in the beginning but started to ramp up by chapter 3. Overall the story was fairly interesting.

The voice actor had a bit of Hyde Park accent reminiscent of FDR slip in upon occasion which was a slight distraction but overall did a good job.

The dialogue between MC and girlfriend was a tad sophomoric which was a disappointment since the rest of the character interactions were good. I liked the two-pronged mystery investigations. I didn't think it realistic that the MC habitually disregarded police protocols and didn't call for backup nor inform his colleagues.

The reader ruined this for me

The storyline was OK, and it moved forward in a decent fashion. But the narrator‘s portrayal of the protagonist was so negative, so nasal and whiny, so grating and so forced that I couldn’t wait for this book to get over. I will consider the next book in the series only if it’s read by someone else.

most excellent Book

Alan Russell writes an excellent book. And I hope he keeps it up. I loved every word. The story was very believable and exciting. I shall continue to follow along with Det. Gideon and Sirius. This story has depth and good, engaging characters. I look forward to more.

Irritating reader

I really enjoyed this story but the reader’s different voices were very annoying to me. I have never had a performer irritate me like this one. I would listen to the next book in this series if the reader changes.