And Then There Were None

Agatha Christie wrote this in a spare and efficient way so that the story starts moving immediately, and speeds up as you go. It will be impossible to put this book down once you start reading it.

As you can imagine from the book's age and the author, this is a classic English murder mystery. The murders are there, but the blood does not overwhelm. Violence and social niceties nudge one another for your attention. At the same time, there is hope. Agatha Christie adds her hope for the future in a most unusual way in this novel, that will leave you encouraged for the future of humanity after first causing you to despair.

One of the beauties of the plot is that it expands on the famous locked room format to include an island where there is no access or exit, nor any way to communicate. That gives much more room for interesting plot developments without losing any of the intellectual puzzle of a locked room.

An unusual factor about this novel is that you will soon find yourself identifying with the guilty victims (even though you are not a murderer). Usually, mystery novels have the reader identifying with the innocents or the detective. That is accomplished by creating a gripping sense of paranoia as the numbers of those on the island rapidly dwindle.

Don't miss this book!

After you are done and have savored all of the book's brilliance, reflect a little about how Agatha Christie explored stalled thinking about what was going on to make the plot so effective. Then think about all of those places in your life and business where things may also not be what they seem. If you can use this insight to locate your misconception stalls, you will be doubly blessed by reading this book.


The Chronicler of Demise   December 3, 2003
 1 out of 5 found this review helpful

Agatha Christie is the unwitting and morbidly fascinating chronicler of her own demise - the gradual fading of her milieu, her period, its mores and values, beliefs and superstitions, dreams and aspirations. The mirror of pre-Hitler Europe crack'd and then there were none. She was there, an indefatigable and uncannily observant documentarist of a dying era. sam Vaknin, author of Malignant Self Love - Narcissism Revisited.


No stars for a boring reading   February 17, 2002
 7 out of 12 found this review helpful

I love the novels of the 'Queen of Crime' and love to listen to all the dramatisations from the BBC with John Moffatt as Poirot and June Whitfield as Miss Marple.

Therefore I was keen to hear of new recordings coming out from Macmillan. However this one and the others are all very disappointing. For a start they are abridged. What is the point of that? If you want to make changes do as the Beeb do and dramatise it.

For the modern ear, they need enhancing, and bringing to life, these readings fail to do that.

The abridgement cuts out crucial background and the reader struggles to make sense of it in this truncated form.

Very disappointing.


As a diversion to a tedious car journey   January 25, 2002
 3 out of 5 found this review helpful

I do rely on other listeners comments when choosing audiobooks to listen to while walking the dog and have generally been very well advised. However, I was disappointed with this particular rendition. It lacked atmoshphere and the characters seemed totally two dimensional.
This is no fault of the narrator who kept me listening for long after I had lost interest in the characters and later the plot.
However, I will persist with the title and will obtain a copy of a full cast dramatisation of the same. I think I will enjoy it better.