Instruct: Classify a given Amazon review as either positive or negative.
Query: Loved the book, hated the reading

This review refers to the Audio-book. I'm a huge James Lee Burke fan, but I found the reading of this book to be unbearable. I have listened to Mark Hammer read before and have enjoyed his renditions of other authors like Elmore Leonard, but here he just sounds tired, sloppy and unconvincing as a Cajun reader. His performance is unidimensional and lacks any variety. When he attempts to mimic a southern accent it sounds like someone from Detroit imitating Gomer Pyle. Towards the end of the reading, it sounded like he needed to clear his throat. If you want to hear a stellar reading, try another James Lee Burke work "Purple Cane Road" read by Will Patton.