This series was on my list for a long time before I finally listened to it all the way through. The thing that held me back was the way Will kept mentioning his guilt and blaming himself for an accident that had killed his wife a few years prior to the start of this series. I truly felt for the guy and his son but I have too many of my own issues to want to listen to a fictional character fail to process his. A real life person, sure, especially if I could help them carry the burden, but a fictional one, not so much.

However, once I realized that I could skip 15 seconds ahead every now and then to move past the worst of this poor guy’s moments self recrimination, I finally began to enjoy the book. And, I’m happy to report that these moments do become less and less frequent as the book, and especially the series, continues.

Bottom line: you can get away with skipping ahead 10 or 15 seconds (the amount of time is configurable in the Audible player settings) every now and then during the first few chapters to move past the frequent bouts of self loathing. Once the story starts to pick up the pace, I think you’ll find it easier to listen to and well worth your efforts.