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Blind Justice
Blind Justice
Blind Justice
Audiobook11 hours

Blind Justice

Written by Anne Perry

Narrated by Davina Porter

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

3.5/5

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About this audiobook

New York Times bestselling author Anne Perry transports listeners back to the Victorian era with her William Monk novels. In Blind Justice, mystery abounds in London as Hester Monk, wife of Thames River Police Commander William Monk, questions Abel Taft - a charismatic preacher accused of extortion. Taft appears guilty as sin, but his trial explodes when a star witness drops a bombshell that has the Monks scrambling to save their dear friend Oliver Rathbone.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateAug 27, 2013
ISBN9781501992414
Blind Justice
Author

Anne Perry

With twenty million books in print, ANNE PERRY's was selected by The Times as one of the twentieth century's '100 Masters of Crime', for more information about Anne and her books, visit: www.anneperry.co.uk

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Reviews for Blind Justice

Rating: 3.6405529880184333 out of 5 stars
3.5/5

217 ratings121 reviews

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  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    My first Wells book, and I must read more of his now. Much better than I had even guessed it would be.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    This story may have been ground-breaking in its time, but in 2011 it just seems trite. A man makes himself invisible and then goes on a crime wave. There are some interesting philosophical ideas about visibility being one of the keys of keeping civilization working, and that's why I gave it two stars. The big reveal at the end of the book that the invisible man is an albino and thus was hiding from the world doesn't have the intended shock value.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I didn't enjoy this one as much as Wells' two more famous books. I just couldn't get it out of my head that (spoiler alert?) for most of the book the Invisible Man had his Invisible Junk flopping around, making him far less menacing a villain than Wells intended.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The Invisible Man is a tale of the antihero, Griffin, a scientist/student who found a way to make himself invisible which he saw as a means of power. “An invisible man is a man of power”. But there are disadvantages and everything he hoped to accomplish is halted by these difficulties, dogs that sense him, food which shows when ingested. Griffin can take his place beside Frankenstein and Faust as individuals who become more and more destructive as they pursue power. It is also a moral fable; invisibility places Griffen outside of society and alienates him. In the 1001 reference book; the reviewer states that the novel shows the author’s hostility to Nietzschean thought and particularly “superman”. The novel also reminds us that scientific discovery can be used to further evil rather than good. I enjoyed this tale and at first was thinking 3 stars but changed my mind and gave it four.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    *Spoilerish type reivew* This was a decent book by Wells, but my least favorite of the books I have read by him. This one obviously is a short novel about a man who is invisible. I thought the idea had a great deal of potential, but I never felt like the story ever took off for me. The Invisible Man is simply grumpy and perhaps a lunatic and the story turns into more of a chase down the bad guy plot. Not a bad read, but certainly not one to remember.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    When this story began I was rather sympathetic to the Invisible Man, and enjoyed the story which was written in 1897. Stories this old are apt to improve one's vocabulary and bring back expressions probably heard from my grandparents. The tale took an unexpected twist for me, and my sympathy for a scientist who perhaps didn't realize the consequences of his actions was dashed. Instead we find we have a story of a sociopath, a man who seems to have been mad at the world from his college years. We can distill this down to "mad scientist" I believe.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Great book! by my favorite auther, Hubert George Wells (who has sadly been dead for a very long time)for sci-fi fans, you'll love this!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This book is a quick easy read and well worth it. Not a tremendous amount happens in the story, but then again its only 110 pages. It is a classic science fiction story about a man who makes himself invisible. However life as an invisible man isn't exactly as he believed it would be.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Ein seltsamer GastIn Iping, einem kleinen englischen Dorf, kehrt ein seltsamer Gast in den Wirtshof ein. Völlig vermummt unter Bandagen und mürrisch bezieht die Gestalt ein Zimmer und lässt sich nur selten blicken. Da ist es weniger verwunderlich, dass sofort die Spekulationen unter den anderen Gästen und Bewohnern beginnen: Was hat dieser Mann zu verbergen? Was befindet sich unter der Vermummung?Je länger der Gast dort bleibt, desto seltsamer finden ihn die Menschen. Dann geschieht in dem Dorf ein rätselhafter Raub. Natürlich ergreifen die Bewohner die Initiative und wollen den Fremden zur Rede stellen. Denn wer, denn nicht er, soll diesen Raub verübt haben. Doch als dieser die Bandagen endlich löst, ergreift sie Entsetzen. Denn darunter befindet sich…. Nichts.Vom Helden zum AntiheldenH. G. Wells beschreibt hier die Geschichte des Chemikers Griffin. Zeit seines Lebens beschäftigt wer sich mit außergewöhnlichen Experimenten. Nach einigen gescheiterten Versuchen ist es ihm schlussendlich gelungen, das Unmögliche möglich zu machen: Er wird unsichtbar.Doch was ihm zunächst als großer Vorteil erscheint, wird ihm schnell zum Verhängnis. Die Menschen haben Angst vor ihm. Denn so etwas können und wollen sie nicht verstehen.Auch Griffin tut sein Eigenes dazu, denn er ist nicht gerade das, was man als einfachen Zeitgenossen schildern würde. Er wird oft von Zornesanfällen übermannt und ist ansonsten auch sehr impulsiv, wenn nicht gar wahnsinnig veranlagt.So erlebt der Leser hier einen agierenden Protagonisten, den er zwar grundsätzlich versteht, dem er aber keine Sympathie entgegen bringen kann. Und fehlt die Sympathie, bleibt auch das Mitgefühl aus. So wird der Protagonist, der für den Leser eigentlich ein Held sein soll, zum klassischen Antihelden. Und trotzdem bleibt man gefesselt, denn Wells ist ein großartiger Geschichtenerzähler. Einfach und klar ist seine Sprache. Denn obwohl der Roman bereits 1897 erschien, hat die Sprache auch für den heutigen Leser nichts an seiner Modernität verloren.A scientific romancesDer Unsichtbare zählt zu den frühen Werken des Autors. Dieser selbst ordnet diesen in seiner Schaffenszeit zu den „scientific romances“, also Romane die man heute als Science Fiction Romane bezeichnen würde.Wells zeigt hier auf, dass der Traum von der Unsichtbarkeit nicht immer ein positiver sein muss. Denn was die Menschen nicht verstehen, macht ihnen Angst und was ihnen Angst macht, das jagen sie.Ein wirklich empfehlenswerter und kurzweiliger Roman von einem großartigen Autor.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    It’s such a great concept, and of course has spawned various derivatives and movie versions over the years, so you have to give H.G. Wells some credit for penning The Invisible Man in 1897. In one of the better aspects of the book, Wells makes the invisible man irascible and increasingly insane, towards the end proclaiming he’s going to go on a reign of terror, and that “this is day one and year one of the new epoch – the Epoch of the Invisible Man. I am Invisible Man the First.” Perhaps that’s what comes from drinking strychnine! Wells also comes up with a reasonably plausible explanation for how invisibility is achieved, far-fetched as it is. However, I have to say that the novel is not as great as it could have been. There are too many descriptions of chases and physical altercations, and what the book wants is more subtlety. The invisible man uses his power to steal, and I suppose it’s interesting that he’s faced with the dilemma of only being invisible outdoors in January if he’s naked. But the concept could have been expanded on, and he could have been a hidden witness to all sorts of dark things people do privately (and maybe altruistic things as well). He could of course also have been a voyeur. He could have used his power far more intelligently. Meanwhile, those who are pursuing him don’t ever think about throwing flour or something like that onto him so that they can see him. It’s short and worth reading, but a little unfortunate that after a great initial concept from such an intelligent writer that it’s so simple.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Maybe even 4.5 stars -- this is the best H.G. Wells book that I have read so far. I found the prose flowed easily and didn't seem dated (though I think that some of the science is) unlike that in "The Time Machine" or "The Island of Dr. Moreau".One complaint - Griffin is shown by the end to be mad - to use modern terminology, a sociopath incapable of empathy or sympathy. I would have liked to have heard a little about his background and whether he had demonstrated signs of this condition when growing up in the epilogue. Also, when he reappeared at the end, he is albino - was he born albino? Is this lack of pigmentation what drew his interest to that area of research?
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    One of the neat things about Wells was his attention to detail. He was very careful to make the man an albino to facilitate his way of making the man invisible. Like the bit with the tea in "The First Men in the Moon", it's little things like this that make the story better than average. The character & situation are also well done.I consider this one of the 'must reads' for anyone interested in SF. So many other works built off of it. It's an excellent baseline to measure them against.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This book is a famous thriller from the author H.G. Wells. All begins when a stranger arrives in the village of Iping, wearing a long coat, gloves and a hat, covered in bandages and hiding his eyes with dark glasses. Nobody knows about him and why his strange behavior. Then, his secret is discovered and begins a dramatic adventure. The story is a bit slow at the beginning, but then it's pretty interesting and exciting.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A very good story that I wish was a little reversed in its order; the latter half with its personal retelling of the Invisible Man's origins was most excellent, and I sort of wish the whole tale was told by its invisible participant. The ending was also splendidly vivid. Definitely worth a look if you are interested in the early goings of science fiction, or just want a solid tale with some tension.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This probably would have worked better as a short story given that there are no major sympathetic characters. But still, Wells' exploration of egomania and the practical aspects of invisibility are captivating enough that the 200-odd pages go just as fast. The climax is as taut and suspenseful as anything out of Grisham or King. And even if the writing is sometimes stilted and the action handled clumsily, the book is well worth the read and has undoubtably earned its status as a classic.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I only really knew the story from the TV series I watched as a kid. This was much darker. It just about stands up as a story rather than historical artefact now, and if you step back a bit you can see how brilliant the idea of an invisible man must have been at the time. It's only short, so well worth an ebook read.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    In a time where modern storytelling is discussed in terms of spoiler alerts and twist-endings, it was hard for me to feel enthused about a book which answers its own mystery right in the title. In fact, I had carried around my Walmart published copy of this novel for the past 17 years, always picking it up out of a sense of historical literary obligation, only to put it back down immediately. A story about a man who was invisible. So what? By now it is an idea that has been done to death in both books and movies.So when I decided it was finally time to set my copy free back into the wild from whence it came, I said what the hell and hunkered down with it before we parted. And you know what? It is surprisingly a fun read.Wells is an able storyteller, and although the narrative clunks along a bit around the middle when Griffin explains to his old friend Kemp how he came to be invisible (both the suspiciously convenient arrival of this friend, as well as the overlong explanation of the science behind the invisibility are distancing and distracting) the story is surprisingly engrossing.As a fan-girl of all things British, in particular the Victorian era, I was especially taken with the period details including the narrative voice. To some readers this aspect of the novel will probably be a given, but I expected something more akin to modern science-fiction where the emphasis seems to be on taking a reader out of the commonplace. Here, Wells' third-person narrator sounds more like a peer of his realist counterparts, with great care and attention being placed on describing the mundane village setting of Iping and the insular, nosy life of the people in that community. This kind of subtle satire of small town communities is as lively as it is amusing.I do, however, feel that I have to subtract points for the unnecessarily prolonged reveal of poor Griffin's invisibility. Wells keeps the "surprise" from everyone, even the reader, which seems maddeningly coy, considering he knows that we know what's going on. But the slow build does create tension which plays out satisfyingly when things do start to move.Griffin as an anti-hero comes across as insane enough to be considered dangerous (the things he did to that poor stray cat!), but despondent enough to pity. And in a wonderful turning of the tables near the end (SPOILER ALERT!), when Kemp turns from the hunter to the hunted, we see how a kind of small town small-mindedness is perhaps more dangerous than a man no one can see. For a man does not have to turn himself invisible to be unseen and unloved.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    An intricate work, with several twists and turns. Certainly engaging on the question of human psychology, specifically on the potential corruption that the power of invisibility might bestow upon a man, but overall, a less compelling story than others of H. G. Wells' works. Perhaps this was due to my increasing distaste for the Invisible Man (the character) as time went on, and the final twist in the tale came too late to win me back fully.

    Even so, a good read, and a classic. Well worth the time spent.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Read as part of the BIG BUDDY READ, 2015 EDITION!

    4 stars.

    H.G. Wells’ “The Invisible Man” (1897) is the account of a scientist condemned to invisibility because of an ill-advised decision to consume a concoction that hadn’t been fully tested. After conducting secret experiments for four years while living in London, the scientist, “Mr. Griffin”, sees invisibility as a means to escape from poverty and obscurity, being motivated by is a desire for power and a wish “to transcend magic.” Griffin relates, “I beheld, unclouded by doubt, a magnificent vision of all that invisibility might mean to a man: the mystery, the power, the freedom. The drawbacks I saw none.” Of course, H.G. Wells dwells on the drawbacks of invisibility and scientific investigation that completely discounts consequences.

    Ironically, Griffin is already “invisible” to society by the time he literally becomes invisible. Wells buttresses this idea, with Griffin’s backstory emerging later. With a reckless desire for “his magnificent vision,” Griffin profoundly alienates himself from society, with his poverty becoming repugnant to himself; this is what he is striving to abandon through his scientific labors. His words at his father’s funeral bring attention to this broad material and emotional disconnect: “I remember the funeral, the cheap hearse, the scant ceremony, the windy frost-bitten hillside, and the old college friend of his who read the service over him--a shabby, black, bent old man with a sniveling cold.” His literal invisibility leads to further alienation, which precipitates violence. Wells reveals a very astute picture of the pathology of violence.

    Wells’ construction of the book reveals his own fascination with science, as well as a suspicion of its applications. His explanations of scientific experiments are ingenious and terrifying. Griffin develops a process to discolor his blood vessels and remove his pigmentation, but this pursuit lacks any fundamental merit, suggesting that when science exceeds the limits of nature, danger and insanity always follow.

    Well’s accounts of Griffin’s predicament are a strength of the book. Practical challenges that Griffin faces are described vividly. For example, to be fully invisible Griffin must be completely naked, since only his body is invisible. This is especially entertaining because Wells withholds describing Griffin’s physical attributes from the reader. The reader, like the characters, must imagine the antagonist in order to know (and understand) who he is.

    In the final chapters, Mr. Griffin assumes the role of the most feared agents in contemporary times: a terrorist, unseen in the midst of civil society, he strikes with a vengeance, using his invisibility as a weapon. Griffin makes his presence felt and feared: “That invisible man must now establish a reign of terror... He must issue orders. He can do that in a thousand ways...” Written almost 120 years ago, The Invisible Man is surprisingly relevant in discussions of social invisibility, science, and violence.

    Highly recommended simply for the fact that it changed the face of science fiction for decades, impacting many of the grand masters.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    From the twentieth century's first great practitioner of the novel of ideas comes a consummate masterpiece of science fiction about a man trapped in the terror of his own creation.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Having read three of H. G. Wells‘s best-known novels now, I am not only impressed by the readability and modern appeal of his writing style, but also by his facility with adapting his style and tone to his subject matter. The Time Machine is poetic and melancholy; The War of the Worlds is dark, scary and suspenseful; and The Invisible Man is actually quite comical. At least, it is in the early chapters, as the title character first tries to conceal his invisibility, then tries to escape capture. The hijinks that ensue play like a slapstick movie.But the novel takes a darker turn as the Invisible Man narrates the events that led him to become invisible, and he becomes a more pathetic, and consequently more enraged creature. In trying to become less noticeable, he actually made himself more conspicuous. In trying to fade away, he now stands out and apart from all humanity. In trying to give himself power, he has only made his life more difficult. It is no surprise that insanity follows. The Invisible Man is a horror story — not because the power of invisibility is in itself so frightening, but because of what it wreaks on the man who obtains it.As a side note, in reading the Penguin Classics version of this novel, I was quite prepared to accept Wells’s explanation of invisibility for the purposes of the story. The footnotes ruined this for me by pointing out, in scientific terms, how this method of becoming invisible was physically impossible, making it much more difficult to suspend my disbelief. Sometimes, the footnotes are best avoided, at least until the novel is finished.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Excellent read for any time for any generation. H G Wells has a masterpiece over here.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I don’t know how I missed H G Wells when I was young. His work is fun but I would have appreciated it more back then.This one shows that Wells has a sense of humor, and yet it’s a dark story. A brilliant physicist concocts a set of devices that enable him to become invisible. Then he loses his notebooks and equipment, so he’s stuck in a condition that isn’t quite what he had hoped it would be. While the story is entertaining and, in the last few pages, exciting, the character’s motivations are obscure. His rage seems to be an inherent part of his character.Recommended for late childhood and early teens, or if you want an easy but distracting read.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Still a great read.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The set-up to this story is somewhat unusual, as it begins with a stranger wrapped in bandages arriving at an inn on a snowy night. Everyone assumes he's horribly disfigured, and the text goes on a bit as if that is indeed the case, but given the title we the reader are well aware that he is in fact invisible. That said, I did very much enjoy this story. It's more of a horror story than I expected, with the titular character unquestionably playing the part of the villain (as opposed to a mostly well-meaning scientist cursed by his own hubris, as with Frankenstein or Dr. Jekyll). The pitfalls of invisibility (such as being able to see through one's own eyelids, for example) added a certain spark to the narrative, and parts were surprisingly suspenseful. The Invisible Man's motivations were sort of vague and unsatisfying, but in general I recommend this book.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    3.5 stars A man who doesn't want to take off his clothes (hat, jacket, etc.) arrives at a hotel in a town and people wonder what he is all about, as his entire face and body are completely covered up.It was good. I am always iffy with writing styles of “classic” literature, but I was fine with this one. It was short, so quick to read. There was lots of action at the end. I'd be willing to try something else by him.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Excellent! A classic thriller.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Mr og Mrs Hall får en pudsig logerende, der er pakket helt ind i bandager. Han er opfarende og ubehagelig. Efterhånden opdager man at han er helt usynlig bag bandagerne og at han supplerer sine sparsomme midler ved at snige sig ind hos Pastor Bunting og hugge penge. Uheldigvis er han voldsomt forkølet og nyser tit, så han har ikke succes som tyv. Han anholdes, men undslipper usynlig, men nøgen og det er halvkøligt. Han åbenbarer sig for en gammel studiebekendt, Dr. Kemp og vi finder ud af at han hedder Griffin. Han er prosektor ved et usselt universitet og opdager lidt tilfældigt at han kan gøre hæmoglobin gennemsigtigt. Han forestiller sig et usynligt menneske og den magt, den kan give, men han er nødt til at forske i hemmelighed og fattigdom. Modgangen gør ham småskør og da han endelig finder formlen for usynlighed har han ikke længere forstand nok til at udnytte den fornuftigt, men ender med at blive jaget som et vildt dyr.En klassiker og et ganske interessant psykologisk studie
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    My second H.G. Wells novel. Honestly, I didn't enjoy The Invisible Man quite as much as I did The War of the Worlds. The storyline and writing were both top notch, but I just found it hard to REALLY enjoy a novel in which I totally despised the main character. In all actuality, I guess my feelings towards the protagonist/antagonist (yes, both are the same character) would be considered a win for the author, as I feel that Wells didn't intend for the reader to truly like this character. What I find interesting is that as I was reading the novel, I did feel a bit of sympathy for the main character's plight from time to time, but then he would do something so over-the-top or horribly nasty that I would immediately lose any sympathetic feelings and replace them with something more akin to loathing. I did enjoy the novel for the most part though and Wells crafts a wonderful story that keeps the reader interested throughout. I found the science behind his explanation of events to be sufficient to carry the story especially considering the time in which it was written and think that this is another fine example of early Science Fiction before Science Fiction was actually defined as a genre.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This was a quick read. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't great. I was surprised that we didn't get to hear the invisible man's story until so far in. From the perspective and information given, it was like the fact that he was invisible was supposed to eventually strike us as a great surprise, but... it's called "The Invisible Man." Anyway, it did pick up once we finally heard his story.From the beginning, I wanted to like the invisible man, or at least to have some sympathy for him. Oh, maybe he has a reason for not wanting to talk to anybody, I hoped, but he was just a bad-tempered jerk from the start. I feel like the author could have addressed some deeper themes here if the story had been just a little different, but maybe it's just supposed to be more of a fun read.I did find the ideas about how he became invisible interesting-- the real science fiction part of it. I also laughed at one scene where he has a dreadful time trying to convince someone he's invisible, and the end was somewhat exciting.