A Man Called Peter

Would you try another book from Catherine Marshall and/or Renee Ertl?

Catherine Marshall was a gifted author. The story is extraordinary and inspirational. I have found it most uplifting. The narration by Renee Ertl, however, is sadly lacking. She has a pleasant voice, but mispronounces many words and has a halting, stilted style of reading. She constantly misinterprets phrases, putting odd emphasis and pauses where they don't belong. It interferes with the listening experience, causing you to focus on her style instead of this great biography of an exceptional man. You are constantly aware that she is reading, and not very well. It's a lot like an elementary school student struggling to read poetry without inflicting it with an unnatural sing-song. Too bad. I'll never get another audio book performed by her. Doesn't anyone listen to these things before they are released for distribution?

I am not especially religious, but I first read this book as a teenager 50 years ago, and some of this man's words have stayed with me for half a century. Most of them are in the sermons at the end of the book. In this revised edition there is a long, boring introduction by Peter John Marshall (their son) in which he states that he replaced one of the sermons his mother selected with one of his own favorites. Again, where are the sermons? This book is NOT unabridged. I agree with other reviewers that the reader is awful, but surely a good narrator (preferable male because Marshall was male) could have been found to read the sermons of this man.