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    Crosstalk
    Crosstalk
    Crosstalk
    Audiobook18 hours

    Crosstalk

    Written by Connie Willis

    Narrated by Mia Barron

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Part romantic comedy and part social satire, here one of science fiction's most lauded authors examines the consequences of having too much connectivity, and what happens in a world where, suddenly, nothing is private. One of science fiction's premiere humorists turns her eagle eye to the crushing societal implications of telepathy. In a not-too-distant future, a simple outpatient procedure that has been promised to increase empathy between romantic partners has become all the rage. So when Briddey Flannigan's fiance proposes that he and Briddey undergo the procedure, she is delighted! Only.the results aren't quite as expected. Instead of gaining an increased empathetic link with her fiance, Briddey finds herself hearing the actual thoughts of one of the nerdiest techs in her office. And that's the least of her problems.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateOct 4, 2016
    ISBN9781490627953
    Crosstalk

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    Reviews for Crosstalk

    3.5/5

    371 ratings48 reviews

    What did you think?

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    • 5/5
      Connie Willis has recently become one of my favorite authors. Her dialogue is funny and smart. The “sci-fi” element that creates the premise for the story keeps the plot from feeling formulaic without upstaging the characters, and allows for real suspense on how it’s all going to turn out. Cross Talk has a likable heroine and hero, and the narrator does a good job with all the supporting characters’ voices—especially the villains, even though they are male. The story is a little more action-oriented and maybe not quite as funny as To Say Nothing of the Dog, but really enjoyable. As usual, the romance is very chaste but satisfying, so this is a great book for people turned off by graphic sex scenes.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Started slow and a little annoying but ended up being a real delight. Really enjoyed it.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      I like Connie Willis - always an enjoyable and interesting read, but never the same story or setting or tropes. This book was lighthearted and funny - Connie has a lot a skill as a story teller.
    • 2/5
      So tedious, words cannot express my need to get this book over with
    • 4/5
      The beginning is rather stiff. Briddie is supposed to be in love with Trent but their relationship is awkward. She lies to everyone so it's hard to like her very much. As the book goes on the characters become more believable but her greatest skill is with plots. It's a very good story about telepathy. I recommend it. Passages is an even better novel.
    • 4/5
      This was one fun book. We listened to it in the road, mostly. A bit talky at times, but still engaging.
    • 2/5
      As much as I love Connie Willis, this began to annoy me about 100 pages in. It read like a screwball romantic comedy but the plot moved way too slowly. I didn't finish it.
    • 3/5
      Disappointing for Connie Willis. This is too convoluted, unwieldy, too many convenient details and events, and deus ex machina, and an annoying kid. On a topic like this one, things had to be tight, and there were many times where I thought (haha) this was not consistent. The constant back and forth of dialogue and thinking gets exhausting.
      Also, the men saving women, that was also annoying.
      ETA: after thinking about it further, this book is pretty much a rehash of Passage.
    • 3/5
      Annoying in all the typical Connie Willis ways. A sweet ending got me to upgrade from 2 stars to 3.
    • 3/5
      Follows the Connie Willis formula to a T - including some ideas about gender and romance that I have less patience for as I get older. Not her best, this feels like a mishmashed retread of older novels combined with a pretty boring gripe about contemporary communications technology - one that doesn't acknowledge that the issue isn't the technology at all, but the people using it.
    • 4/5
      Many are bombarded by too much information from our continual connectivity to media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc. You would think that this would be sufficient for this romantic comedy’s protagonist Briddey Flanagan, who works at a small communications technology firm, but evidently not. She is already plagued by an intrusive Irish family, including a matchmaking aunt and two sisters, one who is seeking her advice in finding a boyfriend and the other who is an overbearing mother to a precocious nine-year-old daughter. If these daily interruptions are not enough, Briddey and her (soon to be fiancé) boyfriend, Trent, decide to undergo EED surgery. EED surgery is a minor neurological procedure to enhance empathetic receptivity with your partner. Many are recommending that she not undergo this surgery, especially her family, the Daughters of Ireland, and, C.B. Schwartz, the geeky research acquaintance who works for the same company in an office in the basement that he rarely leaves. The latter believes that there might be unforeseen consequences.When Trent and Briddey undergoes the surgery, each in separate rooms of the hospital, are cautioned that the procedure might not yield the desired results for several hours. However, before this connection is made, Briddey discovers that she is telepathic connected to C.B. Since telepathy should not be occurring, I guess this is the unforeseen circumstances. And events go downhill from there.Although Connie Willis is a prolific science fiction writer, she has always wanted to a write a romantic comedy. Her skill in character development is easily displayed in this genre as in her usual writings. The comedic moments are presented fast and furiously which I found enjoyable. I found myself quickly flipping through pages to discover the next humorous dilemmas share by Briddey and C.B., Trent, and Briddey’s family. If you would like a light, enjoyable read without too much science fiction this would be a good choice.
    • 2/5
      I finally gave up on ever finishing this book. The premise was somewhat interesting, but the protagonist was utterly unlikeable and kept making foolish decisions that bored me. I still gave this two stars because Connie Willis can make pretty much anything fun to read for a while.
    • 5/5
      This will now be one of my all-time favorite Willis novels. The characters are believable, (mostly) likable, and totally wonderful. The storyline is one of a kind, and fascinating to me. After it started getting really going, I had a difficult time staying away from it, in order to perform the most mundane of daily tasks. The twisty turns of the plot line were superb. And I am very sorry to see it end.
      Seriously, if you haven’t read this novel already, please do. You might love it as much as I do!
      Five huge stars, and highly recommended to all.
    • 3/5
      I found the protagonist to be a bit annoying. The pacing was also too fast. It kept me reading but it would have been nice to take a breath or two at times. The ending was short and sweet.
    • 5/5
      Crosstalk is the "disturbance in a communication device's (radio, telephone, etc.) transmission caused by a second device's transmission, resulting in crossover, intermingling, and confusion". Briddey Finnegan works at Commspan a cellphone company that is in competition with Apple. She is dating Trent Worth who wants to have an EED done which is a brain surgery that connects the couple emotionally and allows them to feel what the other person feels. It's like a step before asking her to marry him which she is anxious to allow happen as he is perfect and they could get an apartment with a doorman that blocks out her family that keeps barging in on her life.First, there's her great aunt Oona who talks with a fake Irish accent and belongs to the Daughters of Ireland and is hoping to find a "fine Irish lad" for her nieces. Then there's her sister Kathleen who dates losers and is always asking her opinion on her boyfriends. Then there's her sister Mary Kate who is overly worried about her nine-year-old daughter Maeve and believes that she is up to something when she is not. Then there's Maeve who is an expert in electronics and is exasperated by her mother.Her family is against her getting the EED and so is C.B. Swartz the man at her job who creates the apps for the new phone. C.B. is an oddball who lives in the basement where there is no cellular service and doesn't own a cell phone. But Trent manages to get them in to see the top doctor who does EED's early and she tells no one that she is having one done. Once she has it done she calls out to Trent afterward and in her mind C.B. answers telepathically. It takes a while for her to believe that he didn't bug her room and that she is actually talking to him telepathically.C.B. tells her that those with the pure Irish genes have the possibility of being telepathic. But C.B. is keeping something from her. And when she begins to hear more than his voice she freaks out because she can't keep the tidal wave of voices from overwhelming her and he rescues her. Soon Briddey finds herself falling for C.B. but wonders if he feels the same way. And then when she hears from Trent telepathically things really get complicated.This is a wonderful book that you want to never end and it is very long so you almost get your wish. The characters are both loveable and hateable. And the quotes at the beginning of each chapter is perfect. This is an amazing book with a creative spin to it and I give it five out of five stars.QuotesIt is always the best policy to speak the truth, unless, of course, you are an exceptionally good liar.-Jerome K. Jerome (The Liars’ Club)But seemingly a lad with a kind heart isn’t good enough for her. It’s ‘compatiable’ he’s got to be. Compatible! ‘Kathleen’ I said to her, ‘if there aren’t times when you’re wantin’ to break his head in, then ‘tis not love you’re in, ‘tis only a romantic dream.’ You lasses shouldn’t be wantin’ a man who’s ‘compatible’, but one who’ll be there when you need him.-Connie Willis (Crosstalk p 140)Thankfully the rest of the world assumed that the Irish were crazy, a theory that the Irish themselves did nothing to debunk.-Eoin Colfer (Artemis Foul)Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them.-Antoine de Saint Exupery (The Little Prince)Three o’clock’s when every doubt and regret and guilty thought bubbles up out of your subconscious to plague you. “The dark night of the soul,” F. Scott Fitgerald called it.-Connie Willis (Crosstalk p 348)There’s nothing so bad that it couldn’t be worse.-Irish ProverbThose who have courage to love should have courage to suffer.-Anotony Trollope (The Bertrams)To be Irish is to know that in the end the world will break your heart.-Daniel Parick Moynihan
    • 4/5
      Kind of hard to follow, but effectively evokes the sensory overload the characters are going through. Sweet romance I would have liked to more central to the story.
    • 5/5
      Fun book about being able to hear other people’s thoughts and how it can go very wrong!
    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed this book. I am aware of a lot of negative comments about it but I for me it was just a fun, fun read and while I don’t read a lot of romance, this is a fun romance. The story is about “too much information” meaning too much communication and is set in a cell phone business trying to get the next big market break though in telecommunications. The company wants to be able to increase communications so that not only words but feelings/emotions can be communicated. Connie Willis can write a very humorous story. I’ve like a lot of what she has written and this is up there with some of my favorites.
    • 2/5
      The book was fast paced and fun to read but I found myself annoyed with the main character and the romance was kind of creepy.
    • 3/5
      This is a high 3 from me--it stops short of a 4 because I didn't find it particularly moving, and for its length, there wasn't a lot of payoff. It's 500 pages long, and it's a remarkably brisk read--quite a page turner, like a Michael Crichton but with zero violence or machismo--so kudos for accomplishing that feat--but though fun at the time, it wasn't a filling meal, so to speak.

      I wouldn't steer anyone away--I enjoyed reading it--it's just that afterward I wanted something more. So 3 stars it is.

      I suspect my lack of emotional involvement came from the plot itself. No spoilers, but it didn't seem to me that the plot was in evidence--I like to know where the story thinks it is going, like "will they solve the murder" or "will she convince the authorities to let her keep her child" or "will the Tellurians triumph over the Korakk invaders" but here stuff just kept happening, and that's probably why 500 pages! So without knowing the stakes at play and being able to root for a successful outcome, there's nothing to do but amble alongside them, randomly, as events unfurl.

      (Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s)
    • 4/5
      Connie Willis's Crosstalk focuses on Briddey Flannigan, an employee of Commspan (a generic telecommunications company) who gets an E.E.D. performed in order to be more emotionally connected to her boyfriend, Trent. C.B., a co-worker, warns her that there may be unintended consequences and she awakes from the surgery to find that she's telepathic and can hear C.B.'s voice in her head. From there, the narrative focuses on Briddey trying to control her unwanted "gifts" with C.B.'s assistance all while hoping to avoid disaster with Trent.Willis's story ably satirizes our hyper-connected world, with frequent invasions of privacy and anxiety-inducing social obligations to be glued to one's phone and social media. Though she uses telepathy as a plot device, she successfully grounds the story in something so pervasive in our every day lives that it never feels like too much speculation. The overall story is a bit unclear at first as Willis seeks to put the reader inside Briddey's head and convey the chaos of hyper-connectivity - this subjective style being one of Willis's strengths as a writer. Once she's established the world and the ground rules, the narrative really takes off and it's difficult to put down. A good read for fans of Willis's other work or those looking for speculative sci-fi that's a bit closer to home.
    • 4/5
      I loved this book! Briddey wants to think the best of others, even when they are walking all over her. I liked how eventually she was able to recognize who really loved her. Telepathy provides lots of opportunities for the author to inject humor, but also for true terror. Layered over the whole novel was the question of how much is too much instant communication.
    • 3/5
      When I first heard the premise of this story, I had expected it to be a lot more sinister. Maybe it's because of all the mysteries and thrillers I've been reading. What I found instead was a comical novel that explores the dangers of communication, with a fast pace and a romance that is both cute and creepy all at the same time.

      The author begins by showing the reader a glimpse of Briddey's daily life. And it is hectic. To be honest, I never really figured out what exactly Briddey's job was but after reading about a "normal day at the office", I myself was mentally drained. In that sense, the author did a good job of portraying the obsession society has with communication and technology. Briddey was barraged by phone calls, texts, emails, and messages from all sorts of other apps. Reading about the craziness of her life made me really glad that I stick to the bare minimum when it comes to apps.

      Briddey herself was the most annoying and ignorant character I have ever read about. I'm serious, she actually pissed me off. She can't do anything on her own, she constantly jumps to conclusions, she acts irrationally and does stupid things that cause her more problems, and she is a pushover. These characteristics remained throughout the novel and so I never really had much sympathy for her. She sort-of wizened up towards the end but I still never liked her.

      Most of the other characters also felt underdeveloped. There were only a couple of characters that I actually liked and they were mostly the reason that I continued to read the story. The characters could definitely have had a stronger personality and more nuances; if you have read any of my other posts, you will know that one of the things I truly don't like are one-dimensional characters. If this had been different, I think I would have liked the novel more.

      The story itself was quite funny. It didn't have as much depth as I would have liked; most of the plot was a bit on the shallow side in the way that it dealt (or didn't deal) with issues. I also feel like the story didn't really show me anything that I wasn't already aware. Yes, too much of something can be a bad thing. Yes, there are positives and negatives to everything. And the pros and cons that the author talks about were ones that I already knew. However, despite that, I had a fun time reading this story and enjoying the comical scenes involving Briddey. There were some science aspects of the story that were interesting, like the mention of genes and feedback loops. However, I got lost in the explanations that the author gave near the end of the book. It felt like a whole bunch of information was just thrown at me and I wish the delivery of it had been smoother.

      My verdict is on the fence for this novel. The characters were not as well-developed as I would have liked and the concept itself was a bit simplistic when it came down to it. However, I liked the lightheartedness of the story as well as the fast pace. I finished this book in just a few hours and found myself laughing and enjoying the overall flow of the story, but there definitely things that disappointed me. If you are looking for something funny with romance and a bit of science fiction, then give this novel a shot. But this is definitely not going to win any praise from die-hard science fiction fans!
    • 3/5
      Fun, but somewhat sillier than her other books, not that the fate of her telepaths isn’t serious, it’s just that somehow the light treatment of the character interaction is too intensely part of the whole telepathy part - nor are the potential problems of telepathy as well developed as the problem of telepathy. And what is it with Celtic/Red haired telepaths, there have been too many.
    • 4/5
      “There's such a thing as being too connected, you know, especially when it comes to relationships. Relationships need less communication, not more.” — Connie Willis, “Crosstalk”Part science fiction, part paranormal fantasy, part romantic comedy, Connie Willis's entertaining 2016 novel “Crosstalk” may more than anything be a satire on contemporary culture's desire for connection, preferably through technology rather than by people actually talking to one another. The lines above spoken early in the novel by C.B. Schwartz, one of the main characters, would seem to summarize the author's own view: Communication, like most other things, is best used in moderation.Briddey Flannigan, like C.B., works for a company in the competitive smartphone industry. She and her boyfriend, Trent, have decided to each get an EED, an implant in the brain that supposedly allows lovers to communicate their emotions to one another even at a distance. Almost instantly everyone in the company finds out about their plan, and C.B., a scruffy young man who hides out in the frigid basement, tries to discourage her. She goes ahead with the operation anyway, but instead of being connected to Trent, she finds herself connected to C.B. And it's not just their feelings that are shared, but virtually every thought the two of them have.You might not think Willis could possibly sustain this farce for 500 pages, as comic novels, like movie comedies, usually work best when relatively short, but somehow she does. The complications keep coming and coming. If some of them are predictable -- you know C.B. and Briddey will fall in love and that Trent is up to no good -- most of them will surprise most readers.I will close with another C.B. Schwartz quote, my favorite: "If people really wanted to communicate, they'd tell the truth, but they don't."
    • 4/5
      Took me a while to get into this one, and put it down more than once but I slowly warmed to the characters & concepts. Once I got past the 35% mark, I lost a lot of sleep by getting sucked into the Act 2 twists & having to finish the book in one night.

      I received this via NetGalley for a fair review.


      Spoilers below in an aside to the author










      Ms Willis, Maeve needs her own spin off novella for a YA market! Imagine the possibilities of her adjusting to middle school with all you've built into her!
    • 1/5
      Utter crap. I simply loved her time travel books. But this one simply sucked.
    • 3/5
      Until I realized this was a silly sf romantic comedy, I actually got annoyed at the main character's family, and how we were subjected to them too much. Once I realized it was supposed to be silly, I liked it!
    • 4/5
      Amusing, well-plotted, but pretty lightweight. A romantic comedy in book form. (Actually, this would make a great movie.)
    • 4/5
      In the near future, a brain implant has been developed called an EED which would allow couples to sense each others emotions – a type of telepathy. Briddey’s boyfriend suggests that they have the procedure done. She agrees, convinced that a marriage proposal would soon follow. But things don’t go as planned, and Briddey ends up with a wrong connection. The law of unintended consequences!This was a fun book with a bit of a slow start. Like most Connie Willis books, it’s a little longer than need be, but that is her writing style and I have learned to enjoy it. There are lots of characters, including Briddey’s crazy family and co-workers, and a few subplots. Once those are set up, the story takes off.The plot is clever and timely. Briddey live in a world that already has too much connectedness, and since she got the EED, she can’t turn off the noise. Now Briddey needs to find out what happened, how to fix it, and not let her boyfriend know the procedure has not worked the way they planned.This is not serious science fiction, it more of a comedy with lots of techy gadgets, a romance, fun characters, and farcical situations.