Samyann's Blog, page 15

Then She Was Gone – by Lisa Jewell

Have you ever listened for hours to an audiobook waiting something to happen? Or listened to a book that has your mind wander and you’re just don’t feel motivated to start over? Well, you’ll enjoy Then She Was Gone. Based on an intriguing premise, a teenaged girl disappears – ten years later mom begins dating a man who has a daughter eerily similar in many ways. This is in the book summary and the first 5 hours of listening. No sex, no objectionable language, character driven, no zombies or dragons, no murder in those first five hours … maybe a little mystery, but not so much that I could finish the book.

Narration is monotone. Don’t listen before ya’ll go to bed unless instant sleep is the objective.. Sorry to my friends across the pond, but this is a UK author and narrator…not my cup o’ tea.

This book has a ridiculous number of very favorable reviews, ergo it’s undoubtedly just me. Couldn’t get into this story even a little bit. What other readers are so enthused about is a mystery to me.

Just over ten hours of listening, released by Dreamscape Audio in April, 2018.

The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker

At close to twenty hours of listening, The Golem and the Jinni, is a fairly long audiobook, released in 2013 by Harper Audio and narrated by George Guidall. This is the debut novel for Helen Wecker, an Audie Award finalist in 2014.

The Golem is a woman who’s owner dies just prior to ‘waking’ her. She’s immediately in a dilemma, in that she has no master to serve. The Jinni, in a rather pedestrian manner, is accidentally released from a decorative container after being confined for over a thousand years. He’s not your three-wishes-type genie, rather he was imprisoned with an iron manacle on his wrist and comes ready to fight. The two go through individual trials, events of daily living sprinkle the pages, and they struggle to ‘fit in’ to their new worlds. Eventually, they meet. Thus is the thrust.

Liked: It’s a fun story, nothing overtly offensive, no sex, no bad language, just a thoughtful SciFi without zombies or fire breathing dragons.

Disliked: Not much really ‘exciting’ happens in this story, it’s not exactly a page-turner. But, it has it’s moments.

The Golem and the Jinni leans toward the author wondering aloud what might really happen in this somewhat strange story. It’s very imaginative and creative – but not what one would consider pulse-pounding.

As for narration, if you’ve never listened to George Guidall, do yourself a favor – he’s terrific.

Year One – by Nora Roberts

Nora Roberts is one of the best selling authors of all time, right up there with Shakespeare, Tolstoy (Google it), and very well known, world-wide, as a sappy Romance author. Based on the numbers, she has legions of fans who absolutely adore her stories. Just in case you’ve been living under a rock, Nora is also J. D. Robb – author of the wildly popular In Death series. However, Year One is a different genré, SciFi. 

Year One is a dystopian, apocalyptic story. Within a matter of weeks, an unknown virus sweeps the world, decimating billions of people. For some reason, which may be revealed in a sequel, there are folks immune to the virus. A few of these lucky people also have mysterious abilities – like sprouting wings, shooting fire from fingertips, ‘thinking’ a car ignition to fire, magical stuff. Some are good guys, some not so altruistic. Of course, we have a Type-A male lead, and a talented, beautiful damsel heroine — it is, after all, a Nora Roberts.

For hard-core SciFi lovers, this book isn’t going to cut it. Elements of an apocalyptic story are missing. Although there are frequent references to supplies, sources aren’t specific. And things don’t seem to run out; there is plenty of electricity, food, gasoline, transportation. If necessities are available, it surely wouldn’t be for very long. Realism isn’t in Year One. For example, the damsel needs to make the kitchen of an abandoned house sparkling, bleach and all, so she can cook – they will only be there are few hours, but … okay. Guess I’m a slob. I’d hand the Type-A a can of beans and a spoon I wiped on my jeans.

As for the romance … well, it’s Nora Roberts.

In my humble opinion, Year One is light-weight in both Romance and SciFi, and Nora should keep her day job.

The unabridged audiobook is just over twelve hours of listening, released by Brilliance Audio in December 2017, and narrated by Julia Whelan. Whelan’s male voices are problematic, but she does okay – the story is listenable. However, the lack of realism in a world pandemic beyond comprehension made it difficult for me to finish.

Has a woman ever won the Congressional Medal of Honor?

One, as of 2018. Dr. Mary Edwards Walker was not only the first woman surgeon in U.S. Military history, she was also the only woman to be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, the highest honor given to a citizen of the United States. Hard to believe that no other woman has ever earned this award. Well, they’ve undoubtedly earned the medal, they’ve just never be given the honor.

At the beginning of the American Civil War in 1862, the The New York Tribune wrote, “Dressed in male habiliments … she can amputate a limb with the skill of an old surgeon, and administer medicine equally as well. Strange to say that, although she has frequently applied for a permanent position in the medical corps, she has never been formally assigned to any particular duty.”

Actually, she was – as a nurse – and she turned down the role. She also thought women had always had the right to vote, in that the phrase “We the People” isn’t exclusionary of women, blacks, or anyone. She was arrested in 1866 for wearing pants, a year after Andrew Johnson presented her with the medal for her American Civil War service. This included months of active, front line emergency surgery and amputations, in addition to her capture and imprisonment by the Confederacy in 1864. In 1917, the rules defining eligibility were changed to require ‘combat’, and all medals presented not meeting this criteria were revoked. She kept hers and proudly wore it until she died at the age of 87 in 1919. The rules were reversed by Jimmy Carter in 1977.

The Congressional Medal of Honor is visible in the photo below:

 

 

Blue Dahlia by Nora Roberts

Blue Dahlia takes place in an old mansion near Memphis, Harper House. The house is also the base of the Harper nursery. Nora’s knowledge/research of flowers, their names, landscaping, etal, is sprinkled through the pages. The descendent of the original builders of the old house lives there, plus owns and manages the family nursery. She hires a recently widowed beautiful (all Nora Robert’s lead females are gorgeous) Stella Rothchild to manage the nursery. Stella moves into the old mansion with her two sons. Also living in the mansion … is a ghost.

It wouldn’t be a Nora Roberts without romance, so guess what? The landscaper is a drop-dead-gorgeous-hunk who is also a Nora Roberts Type-A macho-man. He and Stella … oh, don’t want to spoil it for you 

The Orphan’s Tale by Pam Jenoff

A character-driven novel, The Orphan’s Tale opens with an article about a traveling museum of circus memorabilia drawing the attention of an old woman in a nursing home. She goes to the museum to look at a boxcar she recognizes from a photograph. The story is a flashback of her memories to Nazi-occupied Europe during WWII. The setting is a traveling circus.

The basic plot takes place in 1940s Europe. A young girl becomes pregnant and is tossed out of her home. Sired by a Nazi officer, the infant is taken from her immediately after birth. Ostracized by her family, she takes a job as a cleaner in a railroad station, sleeping on a pallet. One evening she hears the buzzing whimper of dozens of infants crammed into a boxcar. She takes one and is shortly found hiding in the forest; the girl is not a Jew, the infant, however, is circumcised. A circus owner rescues them both and provides shelter. The girl learns how to fly (trapeze). Threatening SS officers, escapes, hiding, and learning the ‘ropes’ of the circus is her life.

Liked. It’s an unusual take on the WWII genre. The ominous aura of the Nazi regime is there and characters lives are driven by these horrible events – but, the war itself is not the primary focus. This is a story of the bonds among the circus people, the seriousness and dangers of their art. It also tells of the sacrifices they make for each other, and strangers as well.

Didn’t like. The title is misleading, imo. The only ‘orphan’ in the book is a peripheral character that adults protect. They alter their own lives for his benefit – but, he’s a baby who has no ‘tale’ to tell. Narration is problematic in areas in that the male voices are not well differentiated. Just my opinion, you may find it peachy. Based on the serious content, the happy circus musical intro and closing should be removed. It’s jarring and doesn’t fit well with this book, at all.

The Orphan Train is narrated by Jennifer Wydra and Kyla Garcia – with the comment above, there are no issues. The production is fine. There are other reviewers that criticize the accents – but, I’m neither German nor French so … they sound fine – shoot me.

No sex, no language issues, nothing offensive anywhere – suitable for anyone – but a child wouldn’t grasp the dire situations. The Orphan Train is thirteen hours of listening, released in February of 2017 by Harlequin Audio.

Recommended.

The Outsider by Stephen King

The Outsider is a murder mystery. The victim is a small boy. The little guy is sodomized and brutally murdered, all vividly described by King – some readers will find this particularly difficult to read. The town quickly accuses the baseball coach because of incriminating evidence. If you’re like me, you can assume the title of the novel might tell you that they have jumped the gun. Maybe? The guy is a local family man with kids. But, the evidence is pretty convincing – like DNA and fingerprints. No spoilers, but read on!

As evidenced by the cover, you’ll be correct to assume it is typically hide-under-the-covers-creepy stuff – pure Stephen King … brighten the lights. You either like King, or you don’t. Regardless of your opinion, everybody into the macabre will agree the guy is a fantastic story-teller. Although The Outsider isn’t quite up to the standards of other King novels, devoted fans shouldn’t be disappointed. But … it’s not my favorite King novel. If you’ve never read/listened to Bag of Bones by Stephen King, give it a go as it is one of his best, in my opinion, albeit long. The Bag of Bones audiobook is read by the author.

Will Patton is an excellent choice to narrate The Outsider, breathy, spooky. His voice makes one think of an innocent, sweet, guy who will smile as he pulls the wings off a fly. Reading tempo nice. Some differentiation between the voices problematic, but it’s certainly listenable. Pay attention, and you’ll have no trouble discerning who-says-what-to-who.

Violence description (the little boy), no sex scenes, infrequent language use some may find offensive. Close to nineteen hours of listening, well produced, released in May 2018 by Simon & Schuster audio.

Macabre fans enjoy!

Tribute by Nora Roberts

Tribute by Nora Roberts has been around a while, released in audiobook format in 2008 and very true to the Nora Roberts formula of drop-dead-gorgeous-girl-meets-drop-dead-gorgeous-boy. Tribute floats through sexy love scenes, a light mystery. It’s a Nora Roberts book; all she does is happy endings. Also typical of Nora, the norms of writing conventions are out the window, like point of view.

The story is about a failed soap star, daughter and granddaughter to film stars,  giving up on the Hollywood world and returning to the homestead to refurbish her deceased grandmother’s estate. A go-to plot for romance writers, return to the homestead, remodel. Guess who lives across the street? The requisite hunky guy! The femme fatale has relationship issues, of course, and hunky neighbor breaks through them. All the while there is a murder mystery – and hunk protects femme fatale as he should, of course.

Narration by Jennifer Van Dyck is somewhat problematic. The male voices are hard to distinguish. Tribute is about 15 hours of listening, published by Brilliance Audio.

Some will roll eyes and likely not finish this book. If you’re a Nora Roberts/chick-lit fan, you’ll be okay with Tribute.

The Deep Dark Descending by Allen Eskens

Homicide Detective Max Rupert is grieving, never having recovered from the accidental death of his beloved wife in a hit and run. In a quirk of fate, Max learns that his wife’s death wasn’t an accident at all – she was murdered. We’re off and running with a police procedural/murder mystery with the twist of a cop in pursuit of vengeance.

It’s a terrific page turning story. Why would anyone want to kill her? She volunteered helping abused women. Occasionally, Max ‘fixed’ a few abusive situations in a vigilantly manner that were, in his mind, justified. But, he never killed anyone – just taught them a lesson. Killing the murderer of his wife is a difficult decision. Can he? Will he? He’s a cop, so his wife’s murderer is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law, right? Well…..

Nice tension, especially considering Max captures his bad guy quickly. No spoiler there, you’ll get this early in the book. Creative writing. Every other chapter the murderer gets to watch Max augur holes on a frozen lake, preparing an icy grave. The other chapters are devoted to Max’s investigative sleuthing prior to the capture.

This is the second book I’ve listened to by Eskens; he’s become a favorite author of mine. R. C. Bray is excellent, as usual. The Deep Dark Descending is 8 1/2 hours of listening in unabridged format, released in October 2017 by Tantor Audio.

Recommended, a decent listen, enjoy!

The President is Missing by Bill Clinton & James Patterson

The President Is Missing is a cyber-crime story. There is an unknown entity with the power to plummet America into the dark ages leaving the country vulnerable in a multitude of ways. There is a small circle of people surrounding the President, and one of them is a traitor. The President, a recent widower, isn’t healthy; he is battling a serious blood illness. 

Liked: It’s a decent who-done-it; the plot is timely given the modern threat to US infrastructure. There is a significant element of tension; things happen quickly. Life-threatening situations traverse the pages.

Didn’t like: narration of Dennis Quaid. I like his acting, so was intrigued by the idea of listening to his reading. Quaid sounds like a lifetime smoker that needs to cough. Further, the author presents events that make the reader jump back a few chapters to see what they missed. Nothing was missed. Circumstances are tough to grasp until clarified in a later chapter … a strange writing style that is difficult to follow on occasion.

The book is an opportunity for Bill Clinton to voice his opinion about the viciousness of today’s politics in the United States – mentioning no names. The current social media world, press bias to both left and right, and how it is jeopardizing the fundamental fibre of America. The country is changing, and not in a good direction in the opinion of the author. The book is a platform for his views. A platform unavailable without writing this book with the exception of commencement speeches. So …. take it for what it’s worth. The book isn’t liberal or conservative but conveys observations that can come across preachy at times.

Listen to the free audio sample. If you can handle several hours of Dennis Quaid’s need to clear his throat, have at it. It is not great literature, by any stretch. But, a good story.

The unabridged audiobook is thirteen hours of listening and released by Hachette Audio in June of 2018.