REVIEWED by Alexander
TITLE: Waiting for the Flood
AUTHOR: Alexis Hall
PUBLISHER: Riptide Publishing
LENGTH: 2 hours, 51 minutes
NARRATOR: Alexander Doddy
BLURB:
People come as well as go.
Twelve years ago, Edwin Tully came to Oxford and fell in love with a boy named Marius. He was brilliant. An artist. It was going to be forever.
Two years ago, it ended.
Now Edwin lives alone in the house they used to share. He tends to damaged books and faded memories, trying to build a future from the fragments of the past.
Then the weather turns, and the river spills into Edwin’s quiet world, bringing with it Adam Dacre from the Environment Agency. An unlikely knight, this stranger with roughened hands and worn wellingtons, but he offers Edwin the hope of something he thought he would never have again.
As the two men grow closer in their struggle against the rising waters, Edwin learns he can’t protect himself from everything – and sometimes he doesn’t need to try.
REVIEW:
As far as a title matching the book, this one is a 10/10. That being said, the pace of the story was slow, and it was a strange relief when the flood actually breached Edwin’ home near the end since it had been discussed and debated, and fretted about from the beginning. Now that may sound like a bad thing, but it really wasn’t for me, as the story was relaxing and it felt like the author used pathetic fallacy, where the slowly rising flood waters dictated the speed of the events.
Edwin was a likeable guy, even with his insecurities and maudlin behavior, while Adam, ever the optimist provided a much needed balance to the story. As Adam and Edwin get to know each other in the context of the impending flood, there must have been something that brought these two men together, but I am not exactly sure what.
Yes, they were opposites in many ways, but the attraction part was a bit hard to figure out, especially with Edwin’s reserved behavior. I really liked Adam though, heck, I liked Edwin too, but as individual characters, not quite seeing their connection.
It was nice to hear a “new to me” British narrator, and Doddy’s voice was nice to listen to, except that in his attempt to modulate his tone to suit the feel of the story, I sometimes lost a word or two when the story required a softer sound to the dialogue. I listen in the car, on walks, and sometimes even at work when possible, and all too often I had to rewind 30 seconds and concentrate on what was being said. I will draw attention to Doddy’s clean, crisp diction and even though I had difficulty with the (appropriate) drops in volume, I will also commend him on following the feel of the book so accurately.
So all things considered, I would definitely look for more stories narrated by Doddy, as the overall production was good, and to be honest, I have not found a whole lot of solid British narrators who appeal to me.
AUDIO BOOK RATING: 
BUY LINKS: