Ordinary Thunderstorms is an extremely flawed novel. It's ostensibly a mystery, but it never completely solves that mystery. The protagonist makes a series of very odd choices that don't strike me as being believable. The ending is kind of a non-ending with a lot of loose threads, yet it's clearly not setting up a sequel. Yet, I give it 4 stars for the beauty of the writing. Boyd does an amazing job describing his characters and the setting. He uses an astounding vocabulary, but doesn't sound like he's using a thesaurus. The imagery in this book is incredible. It's just the plot that was weak and full of holes. I suppose I should have given this book three stars, but I was impressed enough with the word craft to give it an extra.

The narration was very good. Gideon Emery puts emphasis on all the right parts, but doesn't sound like he's acting out the part.

I liked this book a lot, but it's probably not a good choice for those who want a tight plot and a solid wrap-up in their mysteries.