Ritual Audiobook By David Pinner cover art

Ritual

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Ritual

By: David Pinner
Narrated by: Ric Jerrom
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Buy for $19.32

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Police officer David Hanlin is asked to investigate the presumed murder of a child in an obscure rural village in Cornwall. During the protagonist's short stay, he is slowly subjected to a spectacle of psychological trickery, sexual seduction, ancient religious practices and nightmarish sacrificial rituals. Shrouded in the same brand of mystery and contradiction that forms its tangled plot, Ritual, the 1967 debut by playwright David Pinner, is commonly recognised to be the basis for the 1973 film, The Wicker Man, which has enthralled and inspired generations of film enthusiasts throughout the world.

©1967 David Pinner (P)2014 Audible, Inc. Horror Ghosts Fantasy
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A rare instance where the movie is better than the book. Decent but slow.

The Wicker Man is better

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I struggled to finish this... It is so full of monotonous and overly exaggerated metaphors and similes that you completely forget what the narrator is even talking about.
The performer tried to differentiate between characters, but 2/3s of the time, you have no clue who is talking. The main character is SO insufferable. I don't know if that was intentional or not, but I don't care. I hated him.
AND I SWEAR TO GOD... if I have to hear about Anna's nipples/boobs one for goddamn time...
This book is just frustrating.

Anna's Nipples

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I bought this book because it’s the basis for the excellent 1973 movie “The Wicker Man” (don’t bother with the Nicholas Cage remake). “Ritual” is very disappointing: Too many characters, very little action, and a convoluted plot. I think this may have been a better read than a listen; the narrator employed a wide range of accents and voices which showcased the range of his talent but which I found to be too much and distracting. All in all, a disappointment—I couldn’t make myself finish it.

Boring and Long Winded

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