Samyann's Blog, page 28
March 25, 2016
Cell by Robin Cook – Audiobook Review
Cell is written by Robin Cook, narrated by George Guidall, and about the audiobook is about 10.5 hours of listening. In the Robin Cook genre, Cell is a medical thriller. In a concept from the headlines, Cell centers on the iDoc application/cell phone. With the current medical applications available in the real world today, i.e., heart/pulse rate, exercise apps, etc., the possibilities raised in this story are chillingly real. iDoc is imagined to replace the necessity for the primary care physician. It even allows for screen tap monitoring of body chemistries and dispensing as needed of drugs like insulin. None of this sounds too far fetched, does it?
Cell takes the concept and runs away with the possibilities … mysterious deaths, the app making decisions. A small hospital radiologist is our hero, and the digging for the truth is fraught with danger in search of the greedy and/or guilty.
George Guidall is … well … George Guidall … great. A good narrator will make a good book better, so they say … ’tis true with Cell.
Typical Robin Cook! Enjoy.
Cold Cold Heart by Tami Hoag – Audiobook Review
Cold Cold Heart is written by Tami Hoag, narrated by Julia Whelan, 12 hrs and 25 minutes in length, and Book 5 of the Kovac and Liska Series.
First, if you’re looking for a Kovac/Liska police procedural – those two characters are way, way on the outside of peripheral, barely mentioned. That said …
Cold Cold Heart begins with a thrills/chills page-turning kidnapping … the opening is a gripping scene of terror. The author does a fine job conveying the ramifications of traumatic brain injury and PTSD from the viewpoint of the victim. Nicely done and a true insight.
You may have trouble not grating your teeth with the male voice interpretations by Julia Whelan … not good, in my opinion. This book would have been better, I think, if narrated by a man … maybe Dick Hill or Scott Brick. Just my opinion, you may like.
Typical Tami Hoag .. 85% good who-done-it mystery with a few nice twists – the rest a bit eye rolling requisite romance come-hither you may fast-forward through.
A Fighting Chance by Elizabeth Warren – Audiobook Review
Narrated by the author and about eleven hours of listening. To be clear, I’m a fan of Warren and her fight for the little guy. That said, this book is biographical in nature and will give you an insight into her childhood/past and her present motivations. Middle class roots and a ‘boot straps’ mentality … if only you can get your hands on the straps themselves … which is a culture change of the heart and mind. Not completely Pollyanna in overall presentation, but hopeful nevertheless.
Although Elizabeth Warren has said she has no aspirations beyond her role in the U. S. Senate … going to the effort of writing this book will make one wonder what her long range plans may involve. President Warren?
I wonder. As will you.
Closer Than You Think by Karen Rose – Audiobook
Closer Than You Think is written by Karen Rose, narrated by Hillary Huber, and an unabridged audiobook about 28.5 hours of listening. This is book 1 in the series dubbed Cincinnati.
This is a long book, a police procedural. The lead character is on the run from her career as a court appointed counselor to abused women/children. Part of the job requirements is her attention to the perverted men that have perpetrated the evil deeds and squirmed through the system. One such evil-doer is on a ‘get even’ hunt for her … or so we’re led to believe through at least the first two-thirds of the book … then … well, no spoilers, but we’re left uncertain for quite a while.
An interesting segue in this story is the Waardenburg Syndrome … Google to learn more … but it’s a genetic issue which causes unusual eye, skin, hair color – sometimes deafness.
Personally, I found narration to be way too slow, ergo bumped it to 1.5, male voices were pretty good. The lead character is a bit too ‘swooney’ with regard to some mawkish loves scenes … you may roll your eyes a bit. But, it seems these are required elements when you have a drop-dead-handsome FBI agent hero and a damsel-in-distress heroine. These romance scenes always come across as contrived, but that’s just me. You may like the wet panties references *sigh-fast-forward*.
Nice twists, easy listen. If you’re in the mood for a who-done-it, this ‘ll do.
March 2, 2016
Kent Family Chronicles by John Jakes – Audiobooks Review
These comments address The Kent Family Chronicles, the entire series of eight books, in audiobook format. All books are narrated by Marc Vietor. The entire series is approximately 125 hours of listening. Shortest book is 15.5 hours, longest over 26 hours. Vietor does a good job with narration, although the uniqueness of male voices is problematic. Most significant, you’ll have little difficulty determining who-says-what-to-who. Tempo and pacing fine, albeit the narration is a bit slow for my taste, bumped it to 1.25.
The entire series is a broad spectrum history of the United States from just pre-Revolutionary War through the 1890s and a chronicle of the Kent family through this time. Beginning with Phillip through the generations to the children of Gideon, a great-great-grandson. Members of the clan fight in the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Civil War, are at the Alamo, the California Gold Rush, the Great Chicago Fire, the Johnstown Flood, and much more. The author skillfully intersperses vignettes of imagined and factual history. For example, two of the fictional characters of the series are sheltered for a few days at the home of the Lincolns in rural Kentucky – a baby is part of the family, young Abraham. One of the fictional characters is counseled by Benjamin Franklin. Fiction, Phillip’s childhood friend is Marquis deLafayette, non-fiction: deLafayette’s role in United States and French military. The series is rife with this type of paradigm, but it is not difficult to determine what is true and what is fiction. All the instances that involve the Kents and John Jake’s other fictional characters are products of his imagination. Much of the rest is a fun methodology of conveying historical events.
The stories are very listenable. I found no need to re-wind or fast-forward; no segment boring or irrelevant. Theses books are not ‘love stories’ in the typical sense, albeit familial relationships, the crux of The Kent Family Chronicles, must include love stories, n’est-ce pas? In those areas where a sexual encounter is defined it is relevant to the plot and tastefully written. This does not occur often, but the clan does proliferate :-). A word to the prudish: there are a couple of rapes vividly described.
Very typical of the time written, the 1970s, writing is a bit verbose. Several of these books were adapted for television mini-series, popular at the time.
John Jakes is a terrific historical fiction author, recommended. Enjoy!
February 2, 2016
Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein – Audiobook Review
Narrated by Morven Christie, Lucy Gaskell – Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins. This is a WWII story, unique in that the lead characters are two women, a pilot, and a radio operator. One is captured by the Gestapo, tortured, and interrogated as a spy. During her capture, she writes what the Gestapo define as a confession, and it is actually a very long-winded and literary story of her friendship with the other female lead. There are thousands of ratings and reviews, average rating is well over 4 star.
It’s not that good, in my humble opinion. No spoilers, but there are a few circumstances in this story that simply wouldn’t have happened – some absurdly coincidental instances. I realize that it is fiction and the author is entitled to license – but – it’s not a good idea to force a reader to stretch beyond the conceivable unless the book is clearly SciFi. Also, it’s a bit of a chic-lit or young adult book, even though it is not a love story. This is about two young women who have a special friendship. Throw in the whole-world-is-collapsing-around-us-WWII stuff, and you have a unique bond.
Narration is disappointing. You will definitely have a problem discerning who is speaking at the moment – which one of the two? Rewind hell. The voices are not unique, even though one is from Scotland and the other Manchester.
I’m a bit flummoxed- the story and the narration do not warrant all the oohs and ahhs of the reviews posted to date. Not my cup ‘o tea.
Grass Roots by Stuart Woods – Audiobook Review
Narration by George Guidall, just over 12.5 hours of listening. This is a legal-political thriller, book four of a series featuring the character Will Lee. Lee is running for the Senate in this novel and is also appointed defense attorney in a trial. The defendant is a white male accused of raping and murdering a black female. Will request recusal due to his senate race and the judge insists he defend. Thus is the thrust of Grass Roots. Albeit, there are many other issues, i.e., a campaign manager suicide, an unfaithful girlfriend-slash-CIA-agent, the sudden debilitating stroke of Will’s mentor. More … a bible thumping political opponent. There are many reviews out there, so I’ll simply state that the story is a good one.
However … using a novel as a platform for political sniping by the author is annoying. I can listen to this stuff by the hour on any 24/7 news station, I don’t need it in a a piece of fiction that I depend on for escape! You guessed it – the democrats are the good guys – the republicans are the bad guys. Sigh.
George Guidall is perfect, as usual. No issues with narration. If you can take some right vs left wing plather – have at it!
The Forgotten by David Baldacci – Audiobook Review
Narrated by Ron McLarty and Orlagh Cassidy, The Forgotten is approximately 12.5 hours of listening. What’s not to like? Baldacci has produced a number of great stories since he hit the jackpot with his breakout novel, Absolute Power in the late nineties. Fifteen years later and he’s still pumping out a new novel at least once a year. The Forgotten has been in my queue for a few years and it is part of a series. The lead, John Puller, is a tough-guy-combat-veteran type A character that doesn’t hesitate to kill the bad-guy. But, he has a well concealed gentle heart, especially when his sexy boss is in the picture.
There are a ton of reviews and the author summary is a good synopsis. The uniqueness of this story is the fact that it gives us a peek into the private life of Puller and his childhood. If you like the Puller series, this one fits right in and you’ll enjoy.
Can’t say enough about the narration – McLarty and Cassidy are just great, smooth transitions. Worth a listen!
January 31, 2016
The Doll Maker by Richard Montanari – Audiobook Review
Narrated by Scott Brick and approximately 13.5 hours of listening. The Doll Maker is a police procedural, book eight in the Balzano and Byrne detectives series by Montanari.
The primary evil-doer lures his victims using his looks and charm and sans graphic detail, poses them with invitations to ‘tea’. Twists and turns abound in a chase wherein the killer is always a step ahead of the detectives. With down and dirty police work, Balzano and Byrne relentlessly grind away at clues as bodies pile.
Well written, a nice listen. Scott Brick is always a pleasure to hear. Enjoy!
The Sleeping Doll by Jeffery Deaver – Audiobook Review
Narrated by Anne Twomey and just over fifteen hours of listening. After reading this book you will be very familiar with kinesiology, also known as human kinetics, the study of human movement. So familiar that you’ll wonder why the the word ‘kinesis’ is mentioned so often – over and over and over again. In my opinion, it was a bit of an overkill in character defining. The lead is a female police detective, formerly a jury consultant, with this unique talent – the best human kinetics analyst in the world (This fact should have her working for the FBI or something, not just a detective, I would think). The evil-doer is a Charles Manson type, a narcissistic-cold-blooded-cult-leading-killer. The story is a study in the whole cult phenomenon – how people are sucked in, particularly vulnerable young women.
The author synopsis tells the basics, a cult leader escape from prison. The story proceeds through his revenge targeting and the resulting chase and a great deal – I mean a lot – of kinetic analysis. In the last few minutes of the book, we’re reminded that the lead character is a kinesis analyst – in case the listener forgot, I guess. Really.
Narration by Anne Twomey is okay, albeit a bit monotone for my taste. She does not go to great effort in creating unique voices, especially male character voices.
Not one of Jeff Deaver’s better books. An abridged audiobook version might be better.
