Customer Reviews

The Listening Ones

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Ms. Stokes first book, The Tree People, showed real promise ... and several problems common to a first novel. I looked forward to her evocative description of the Pacific Northwest and the Quinault culture along with an improved novel structure.

To say I was disappointed is a gross understatement! Absurd plot elements (spontaneous human combustion, serial sex abuse, murder and patricide, Siberian tiger catnapping, even a bizarre battle between Orcas and the tiger) overwhelm what could have been an engaging story of Jordan Tidewater's shamanistic "coming of age" and her growing relationship with the mysterious and disturbing Lima Clemente.

Ms. Stokes -- what on earth were you trying to do here???

I was seriously disappointed in the ending of this book. I couldn't wait to turn every page and find out what was going to happen next, although I was completely mystified as to why a Siberian tiger was left on the island and who put it there (I assume it was Lima, but that was never confirmed). I was also disappointed with the way the murders were "solved" (was the little girl's murder ever solved?). The imagery Ms. Stokes creates is undeniably spectacular, however, there were too many loose ends left at the end of this particular novel, and it seemed like she just got tired of writing and ended it too quickly, with not enough explanation. I must have told at least six people what a great book I was reading, and they all wanted to borrow it when I was finished; now I'm not sure I even want to lend it out! I haven't read the Tree People yet; I will though, as I would like to know if all her books end in a similarly disappointing fashion - I sure hope not! The Listening Ones sure had great potential, but the ending fell totally flat.

Somewhere between mystery, shamanism and science fiction, this book has a strange plot of overlapping mysteries, a completely obvious pair of murders, and a rather gratuitous amount of gore. Oh - and it finishes off with a fight between a killer whale and a Siberian tiger. (? ) The heroine, Tribal Sheriff Jordan Tidewater, is strong, interesting and likeable, the imagery is beautiful, and the supporting characters are the strong point. Unfortunately, the plot never really comes together in any meaningful way.

The story is average, but the descriptions of the places are outstanding. The author writes well of what she sees. An average mind can take some interesting 'armchair hikes' with this book only to be stimulated to see the reality of it. My wife and I went twice last year and will return in May...

It was very nice to meet again some characters from Naomis first book. The subplots were promising, but then she closed them much to fast - it's almost like the author missed her deadline and suddenly had to finish the book, which should have had 200 pages more, in one night. By the way, Naomi, just in case you should read this review: Please go on, I can't wait to continue with the adventures of Joan Tidewater and her friends, but - PLEASE! - meake it less violent next time, I really dont need to read EVERY detail of a brutal murder.

I definately would not include this book in the "Mystery and Thriller" genre. There was certainly nothing mysterious about it, except maybe why some of the characters and their "sub-plots" were introduced in the book at all, and the only time I was "thrilled" was when I finished it - which several times I considered not even bothering to do

I liked The Tree People, however, I was sorely disappointed with the Listening Ones. I agree very much with the customer who described the book as rambling and disjointed. Since the murdere was completely obvious in the first couple of chapters I spent the rest of the book wondering how the main character could be so dense. The subplots were left largely unfinished and unexplored and never interacted with the main plot. While the decriptions were beautiful and the protaganist was as likeable as before, the book was overshadowed by the everpresent almost pointless violence. People did not simply die; they were murdered or tortured in bloody ways involving all sorts of body fluids. The plot was sacrificed on the altar of violence! I learned nothing new about Native American culture or Northwest forests that wasn't in the last book in exactly the same way. What a shame!

There is malevolence spreading throughout the Quinalt Nation, located along the shores of the Olympic Peninsula in the state of Washington. Evil forces have been set in motion when men from another country desecrate the Native American land with the ritual sacrifice of their orphaned nephew. The corpse of the lad is found by Jordan Tidewater, tribal sheriff. Recently Jordan was deputized as a U.S. Marshal in order to help locate and halt the smuggling operations that are killing native wildlife to glean their valuable body parts. ...... The death of the eight year old who is about the same age as her own child, makes Jordan vulnerable to the charms of Loma Clemente, a visitor to the area who claims he is seeking to buy machinery that will be exported to his homeland to cut down the forest for the much needed timber. Jordan feels a deep passion for the enigmatic and exotic stranger, an emotion that she has not felt since her cheating husband destroyed her personal image of herself several years ago. The sheriff does not have much time to enjoy her awakening feelings. Forces are at work that are on the brink of unleashing death and destruction upon her people unless the shaman-law officer can uncover and squash them in time. ...... Naomi M. Stokes ingeniously paints a vivid and colorful picture of the Pacific Northwest, imbuing the area with a sacred and haunting mysticism that feels compellingly real. THE LISTENING ONES invokes a sense of otherworldly existence in everyday life. This allows the reader to comfortably switch paradigms from the more familiar Judeo-Christian teachings. By easing the audience into viewing this different perspective of the world, the novel becomes a rare glimpse into understanding another value system of beliefs, turning the work into that rare experience, an extremely enjoyable and educational reading moment. ......Harriet Klausner

I am SO GLAD I found this book discarded at my workplace, and did not buy it at a store! The cover has gorgeous reviews all over it, the very stuff that induces me to buy NEW. I'd have been suckered in completely! Thank God, because I have never, I mean NEVER, disliked a book so much.

I hated the first chapter--all of you who've read it can surely "guess why"--but it made me desperate to keep reading. I wanted these bad guys to pay like I've never wanted it before.

So on I read, and on and on, and finally, I began to notice I was getting a great many lessons on supposed Indian lore that might not be genuine, but getting no closer to the come-uppance I desperately desired for the story's villains.

Not long after that, I began to notice there really WASN'T any story. The first chapter had misled me into expecting one.

I also began to pick up a theme. It was a protracted "defense" of the crime in chapter one, and it sounded like this to me: "Human sacrifice is kind of okay, really, and in fact, all of our religions and customs have it in one form or another. Nearly everything in human culture traces back to the concept of human sacrifice, especially the brutal sacrifice of little children, believed to be the best kind. The selling of Avon products from door-to-door in the 1950's may have sprung from the widely accepted ancient practice of sacrificing babies, believe it or not. Human sacrifice is kind of compelling and exciting and sexy, isn't it, if you give yourself a chance to honestly think about it? Taking part in a human sacrifice would be kind of a sign of your superiority, if you could just peel off your strait-laced, modern, moral, empathetic taboos and go with it. And best of all, sacrificing a precious human life for the purpose of getting everything you want in your own life REALLY WORKS!"


Rather than unfolding as I read, the story faded into non-existence, such that it took me several days to finish the book in my spare-spare time. Characters complicit with the main villains somehow became innocent bystanders, as if the author forgot they were in on it. I, too, felt that Ms. Stokes got tired of writing and wound it up in a frantic hurry instead of finishing. Just look at the typos! They get so thick toward the end, that you see these:

.,

like you see in hurriedly-typed term papers for school, which a student corrects before handing it in. Where was the editor at Tor Books on this? Fire that guy! He could have saved this book. Why didn't he?

I hated the villain in "The Listening Ones" so terribly! Yet the author turned him into a comic book villain at the end, dispatching him in a couple of sentences! Folks, this is a book you can throw at the wall WAY, WAY MORE THAN JUST ONCE.

I must add, the romantic sex scene in "The Listening Ones" is the most well-written, well-conceived I've ever read. It was simply beautiful. What a shame! What a waste of characters, of creativity, of wonderful characterization, of plot-idea, of writer talent.

Hope the author straightens up someday and gets back to writing. This one was a career stopper.

As a reader, I have a right to be this nasty. I needed a good book, was promised a good book by the smash-hit reviews on the cover, was confused (as the publisher intended) into thinking those reviews were for this book, not its predecessor by the same author. I invested DEEPLY in the book. It really hurt.

Last thing! Don't read it for the Northwest Indian lore. It might be purely bogus, in fact I'm pretty sure it is. The author does not wield authority that gives a reader any assurance whatsoever that anything in the book can be taken to the knowledge-bank and there deposited without bouncing. Quite the opposite, in fact.

I felt this book was wonderfully done. Being from the Pacific Northwest I could relate to much of what the author was trying to portray in regards to the area and the people. What I enjoyed the most is an insight of our wonderful Native American culture. I was quite intrigued by such a beautiful outlay of one of the Indian cultures. I have just completed this magnificent book and have just purchased "The Tree People" this weekend. I hope to finish that very soon. To the author, please continue writing. I really have enjoyed "The Listening Ones", please don't stop now!