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Swing

A Novel

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Swing

Written by: Rupert Holmes
Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
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About this listen

Two-time Edgar Award-winner Rupert Holmes, author of the critically acclaimed Where the Truth Lies and creator of the Tony Award-winning musical whodunit The Mystery of Edwin Drood, now fuses gripping suspense and evocative music in an innovative novel of intrigue set in 1940, during the very heart of the Big Band era.

Jazz saxophonist and arranger Ray Sherwood, touring with the Jack Donovan Orchestra, is haunted by personal tragedy. But when a beautiful and talented Berkeley student named Gail Prentice seeks his help in orchestrating a highly original composition called "Swing Around the Sun", which is slated to premiere at the Golden Gate Exposition on the newly created Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay, Ray finds himself powerfully drawn to the beguiling coed. Within moments of first setting eyes on her, Ray also witnesses a horrifying sight: a young woman plunging to her death from the island's emblematic Tower of the Sun.

As the captivated Ray learns more about Gail and her unusual family, he finds himself trapped in a tightening coil of spiraling secrets, some personally devastating, all dangerous and deadly, in which from moment to moment nothing is certain, including Gail's intentions toward him and her connection to the dead woman who made such a grisly impact upon the stunning island. As events speed toward a shocking climax, Ray must use all his physical daring and improvisational skills to unlock an ominous puzzle whose sinister implications stretch far beyond anything he could imagine.

Swing is a brilliant historical thriller.

©2005 Rupert Holmes (P)2005 Tantor Media, Inc.
Amateur Sleuth Historical Romantic Suspense
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What the critics say

"A clever, original mystery that's pure fun....A tour de force of style and erudition, Holmes's second novel will delight mystery readers of any sort." (Publishers Weekly)

What listeners say about Swing

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Dull characters and unbelievable story

First off the narrative was delivered in the same boystrous tone through the entirety of the reading, there was no inflection or change of pace to show emotional range for the main character.
Secondly, random jazz segments were introduced throughout the reading much louder than the voice of the speaker to the point it was drowned out completely. The music then went on indefinitely, long even for someone who might actually like jazz music.
Not sure why the main character was even the main character, mostly just bumbled around and happened on information from other people rather than by his own detection skills. Not the type of main character you expect to get the girl at the end of the book and yet the beautiful woman a decade younger than him ends up with him.
The main characters are just as dim witted as the story is contrived.

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Loved it

Clever story combining swing era music with a murder mystery. A really great listen, good narration.

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