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A review by saareman
The Safe Man: A Ghost Story by Michael Connelly
4.0
Fooling the NABers
Review of the Audible Original podcast edition in 8 episodes (May 16, 2024) adapted from the original short story (October 23, 2012).
As with most of the reviews from May 2024 onwards, this is a review of the new multicast Audible Original edition performed by Jack Quaid and Titus Welliver along with several other voice actors in smaller roles. The 8 podcast episodes total 2 hours and 18 minutes. This new adaptation extends the original short story which was narrated by only a single voice actor in 1 hour and 33 minutes. All of the new reviews to date are being posted on the original 2012 version as no librarian has yet added the podcast adaptation (as of May 24, 2024 at least).
Posting a review on the older edition seems the safer option as the GR librarian rules about podcasts are still somewhat vague and may cause the new edition to be deleted by a GR NABer (ie. a librarian who deletes books and associated reviews by labelling them as Invalid or Not A Book). Once upon a time all podcasts were considered "Not a Book" but the latest Librarian manual on Valid Book Records allows for "Podcasts that are a reading/narration of a book's content." The grey area here is that the rules on Non Book Items says that "Theatrical production recordings" are considered not a book.
Since the new podcast edition adaptation has no print equivalent it might be targeted as a theatrical production and then deleted by an overly zealous librarian. Safer then to leave your review with the earlier version.
Cover image for the 2024 Audible Original podcast edition. Image sourced from Audible.
Even though the author here is crime/mystery writer Michael Connelly and one of the narrators is Titus Welliver (the actor who performs as Harry Bosch in the various TV adaptations), this is not a Harry Bosch detective book. It is instead a rather effective ghost story about a locksmith (the Safe Man of the title) who is called to the home of a horror/mystery fiction writer to open a locked safe which had been installed by the previous owner, who had been an occultist. The brand name of the safe is that of a mysterious "Le Seuil" (French: The Threshold) company. Once the safe is opened, manifestations from 'the other side' begin to appear. The locksmith and the writer are then caught up in a quest to discover the secrets behind the Le Seuil safe and how to close it off.
The cast of voice actors in the new 2024 Audible Original production of Michael Connelly's "The Safe Man". Image sourced from Audible.
I thoroughly enjoyed this new adaptation and the voice performances by the entire cast were excellent. It was also interesting to discover that Michael Connelly once wrote a ghost story mystery separate from his regular crime genre. I had totally missed the 2012 story when it first appeared.
Review of the Audible Original podcast edition in 8 episodes (May 16, 2024) adapted from the original short story (October 23, 2012).
As with most of the reviews from May 2024 onwards, this is a review of the new multicast Audible Original edition performed by Jack Quaid and Titus Welliver along with several other voice actors in smaller roles. The 8 podcast episodes total 2 hours and 18 minutes. This new adaptation extends the original short story which was narrated by only a single voice actor in 1 hour and 33 minutes. All of the new reviews to date are being posted on the original 2012 version as no librarian has yet added the podcast adaptation (as of May 24, 2024 at least).
Posting a review on the older edition seems the safer option as the GR librarian rules about podcasts are still somewhat vague and may cause the new edition to be deleted by a GR NABer (ie. a librarian who deletes books and associated reviews by labelling them as Invalid or Not A Book). Once upon a time all podcasts were considered "Not a Book" but the latest Librarian manual on Valid Book Records allows for "Podcasts that are a reading/narration of a book's content." The grey area here is that the rules on Non Book Items says that "Theatrical production recordings" are considered not a book.
Since the new podcast edition adaptation has no print equivalent it might be targeted as a theatrical production and then deleted by an overly zealous librarian. Safer then to leave your review with the earlier version.
Cover image for the 2024 Audible Original podcast edition. Image sourced from Audible.
Even though the author here is crime/mystery writer Michael Connelly and one of the narrators is Titus Welliver (the actor who performs as Harry Bosch in the various TV adaptations), this is not a Harry Bosch detective book. It is instead a rather effective ghost story about a locksmith (the Safe Man of the title) who is called to the home of a horror/mystery fiction writer to open a locked safe which had been installed by the previous owner, who had been an occultist. The brand name of the safe is that of a mysterious "Le Seuil" (French: The Threshold) company. Once the safe is opened, manifestations from 'the other side' begin to appear. The locksmith and the writer are then caught up in a quest to discover the secrets behind the Le Seuil safe and how to close it off.
The cast of voice actors in the new 2024 Audible Original production of Michael Connelly's "The Safe Man". Image sourced from Audible.
I thoroughly enjoyed this new adaptation and the voice performances by the entire cast were excellent. It was also interesting to discover that Michael Connelly once wrote a ghost story mystery separate from his regular crime genre. I had totally missed the 2012 story when it first appeared.