Read(ing): The Chopin Manuscript, 1-2

I said I would listen to The Chopin Manuscript, Audible's weekly mystery-in-a-round serial, and that process has finally begun. I was delayed slightly by Terry Pratchett's latest Discworld installment, which was a return to form until the last 40 minutes, which were also, disappointingly, a return to form. If you've read more than 30 Discworld novels, than you know what that means. There may never be a magnum opus. Which is too bad, because as a title and a concept, that would make a great Terry Pratchett novel. And Vetinari would make a challenging protagonist.

The Chopin Manuscript, Chapter One, by Jeffrey Deaver:

The series starts out with one of those "someone you'll never know or care about dies" prologues. Maybe I was too distracted by the over-produced soundtrack at the time, but it lead me to believe the story was taking place sometime during World War II. Also, I don't like actors as audiobook readers, and my first impression was that Anthony Molina was laying it on a little thick.

The first shocking twist is that this is all taking place now(ish). Our nondescript hero is brought into questioning at a Polish airport. Exposition is had, and potential characters are name-dropped. There's a daughter, her fiance, a handful of old compatriots who once hunted down a war criminal using non-profits instead of guns, cultural treasures hidden away by the Nazis (including the "I'm pretty sure it's fraudulent" Chopin manuscript), and the warlord's rumored puppet master nicknamed Faust.

Of course, this being a Deaver story, it's not long before the main character is heading back home to Tyson's Corner, presumably to drop by the latest expansion of the mall, ride the Metro, and visit MVC Late Night Video. Not the most compelling setup, but there are enough hooks for the other writers involved to run with. And in the end, it reminded me of why I love listening to thrillers:

"He smiled as if that could flick away the cached memories, clear as computer .JPEGs, of that morning."

You just can't put up with a metaphor like that unless you're trapped in a car or a dentist's chair, when all you can do is laugh or scream.

The Chopin Manuscript, Chapter Two, by David Hewson:

As with most of the authors involved in this project, I've never read anything by Hewson. I've listened ahead up through chapter 5 though, and this is my favorite installment by far. This guy might bear checking out.

Ditch the predictable "random thug gets shivved before he can kill the innocent girl in the alleyway" bit, and this would have made a damn better prologue. The girl is the orphaned niece of the piano tuner murdered in the opening scene, and her rescuer and eventual kidnapper IDs himself as the mysterious Faust. That would have been a lot cooler if we didn't already know there was a Faust, and if Jeffery Deaver hadn't felt the need to explain the literary significance of the name.

Anthony Head seems more in his element here. It's a good thing this book isn't set anywhere outside of Europe.