Samyann's Blog, page 32

The Crossing by Michael Connelly, Audiobook Review

Narrated by Titus Welliver and just over nine hours of listening. Over the past ten years or more, I’ve listened to about a dozen books by Connelly and have enjoyed them all. For the most part, these books are in the Harry Bosch series. In all these years I’ve developed a preference for the ‘voice’ of Harry Bosch, which has included narrators Len Cariou, Peter Giles, Dick Hill, and  more. I have a favorite, but basically, especially in The Crossing, Harry Bosch should sound much older, a man in his late 50s or early 60s … he’s retired and should have a more grizzled, gruff voice. Titus Welliver sounds too virile and young. Okay for the voice of Mickey Haller … but not Harry Bosch. My opinion. Shoot me.

That said, The Crossing is very typical of Connelly. A great deal of thought and effort went into plot. The story begins with Mickey Haller needing some investigative help, and he calls on his retired half-brother, Harry Bosch. Harry isn’t particularly interested in working on the ‘dark side’, i.e., for a defense lawyer. Harry has always worked to bring the guilty to justice and isn’t interested in helping get a bad guy off the hook. That which piques Harry’s interest a suspicion that the man his brother is defending is innocent. Thus is the premise of The Crossing. Good guys and bad guys waltz through the pages, including bad cops. You’ll have little trouble picking them out!

Welliver does an okay job with narration, with the codicil above. Like I said, I have a preference. *Waves at Dick Hill*

The Guilty by David Baldacci – Audiobook Review

Narrated by Kyf Brewer and Orlagh Cassidy, The Guilty is close to twelve hours of listening. For some reason, Cassidy isn’t given credit in the Audible listing, and unless you read the other reviews or simply buy the book, you don’t know she’s narrating. Well … she is, voicing all female characters, in addition to the role of Jessica Reel, Wil Robie’s partner. Cassidy is partnered with Kyf Brewer rather than Ron McLarty, the usual narrating partner. Brewer does an okay job, but I can’t help wondering why the change. Typical of Baldacci, this is a nice audio production, including  music and other sound effects. So, enough about narration. It’s fine.

The Wil Robie-Jessica Reel stories usually surround an element of espionage or international intrigue. The two are usually saving mankind from some apocalyptic self-destruction or a bad guy extraordinaire. Not so in The Guilty. Wil receives news that his estranged father has been arrested and charged with first degree murder. The Guilty is a familial relationship tale, i.e., Wil Robie and his father have been estranged for years.  Fences need mended and a murder needs solved. Thus is the thrust of The Guilty. A nice murder mystery, but you may have a suspect in mind pretty early in the story. Enjoy!

Night Shadow by Nora Roberts – Audiobook Review

Audiobook just over seven hours long, narrated by Kate Rudd.

Gage = Lead male character = Charming, tall and handsome, ridiculously rich, Type A chauvinist.

Nemesis = Charming superman-vigilante, with a bizarre paranormal ability, who always seems to be in the Night Shadow ready to rescue a damsel is distress. He wears all black, including a mask (Spoooooky).

Deborah = Lead female character = Assistant District Attorney (the damsel in distress), career obsessed, beautiful, swoons to the  charms of both.

Before the end of the first chapter you’ll have no trouble guessing Nemesis = Gage, both of them give Deborah weak knees. Deborah is written to be the strong female lead, but succumbs to the sexual innuendo of these two characters like a high-hormone-laden teenaged girl. Her reactions are awkward and silly. The romance aspect of Night Shadow is so mawkish your eyes will roll back to bounce on your tailbone. Fast-forwarded a lot through several required, and lengthy, sex scenes to get back to the mystery. Typical of Nora Roberts, 70% of the novel is sickly sentimental foo-foo, 30% mystery, and point of view is an author whim. Nora has a wonderful way of throwing conventional writing dictums out the window :-).

For anyone familiar with the In Death series by Nora Roberts/J.D.Robb, the Deborah/Gage dynamic is just too similar to that of Eve/Roark. Coffee references, Gage being filthy rich … even has a secret high-tech room in his mansion, Deborah being in law enforcement … all uncomfortably similar. Roberts/Robb should simply adjust character names and re-work a bit to create Night Shadow – In Death. Might consider changing the narrator to Susan Erickson for the audiobook and ta-da … new book in the In Death series.

The story line is pretty basic, but good. A cop killing drug dealer is the target of the DA, and for personal reasons, the target of Gage. When the two can stay focused on the bad guys instead of dewey-doe-eyed lovey-dovies, it’s not a bad story.

If you like Nora Roberts romance novels, you’ll like much more of the story than I. *shrug*

 

Night Shift by Nora Roberts – Audiobook Review

The audiobook version of Night Shift is just over seven hours of listening, narrated by Kate Rudd.

Character development is problematic with this story. Both main characters come across as over-the-top and sweaty romance-novel corny. The type-A cop is strong, gritty, handsome, hunky, patronizing. The female lead is vulnerable, swooney, with transparent infusions of inner strength mixed with girly-virginal dependence. Sound familiar? “You Tarzan, me stupid” is actually phrase in the book … meh. It would be funnier if the characters weren’t so stereotypical.

That said, also very typical of Nora Roberts, the fundamentals are there for an interesting procedural. There is a bad-guy out there, stalking and terrifying. He’s calling a late night radio personality and threatening her life. Enter Tarzan-hero cop.

About 70% of the story is devoted to the come-hither-get-away romance, 30% to the stalker mystery. Kate Rudd narration is okay, nothing special, but listenable.

For the most part, Night Shift is a weak effort, in my opinion. Nora Roberts has created better stuff. But, that’s just me….you may love it!

 

Gabriel’s Angel by Nora Roberts – Audiobook Review

On the short side at just over six hours of listening, Gabriel’s Angel is narrated by Todd Haberkorn. Pacing, tempo fine. Haberkorn does a credible job with male and female voices alike, a particularly good effort voicing seniors.

On a dark mountain road in near blizzard conditions, a very pregnant woman has a spin-out accident. She nearly collides with a ruggedly handsome artist/painter. Her car disabled, the two main characters spend a platonic few weeks stranded in his mountain cabin. No secrets given, this foundation is put forth by Nora Roberts early in the story.

Where she was going, where she was from, her history, his history, etc., all is revealed as the remainder of the story unfolds. And … this is a Nora Roberts romance, after all … the two leads fall in love and overcome all obstacles in their paths. A happily-ever-after, curl-up-on-the-sofa love story. No big twists, nothing is a surprise, events are predictable. Not terribly deep, not intended to be. Not explicit in sex or language, much is fade-to-black. If you are among Nora Roberts’ legion of fans, you’ll enjoy!

 

Falling Glass by Adrian McKinley – Audiobook Review

Just under ten hours of listening, narrated by Gerard Doyle.

This is a novel narrated with an Irish accent, and unless/until you get used to the cadence, some listeners might find it annoying. Most sentences end with a raised inflection, like a question. Suggest that you listen to the Audible sample before making the investment. If I had, I probably would not have purchased this book, the reading was ’not my cup ‘o tea’ … but, it is a good mystery.

Falling Glass is a tale surrounding the escape of a woman and her children from her husband, a wealthy businessman. The woman learns, accidentally, that the man has a dangerous past … no spoilers, but that past is revealed about mid-way through the story. The man hires a tinker-turned-investigaor to hunt her down, and he ultimately becomes her protector.

Falling Glass is a good mystery, albeit not a page-turning thriller. You know who-done-it right out of the chute, the journey to a satisfying conclusion is a curl-up-on-the-sofa Agatha Christie-type story. Recommended with a ‘listen to the sample first’ warning.

 

Cop Town by Karin Slaughter – Audiobook Review

Over fourteen hours of listening, narrated by Kathleen Early. This book has primarily good reviews. A few readers (listeners) have panned Cop Town, but, for the most part, it has been well received. Much of this story is extremely disturbing. If an author has an objective to evoke emotion, Slaughter has pulled it off, i.e., the female characters will make teeth grind. Realizing this story is based in the mid-seventies, the reader will get the picture regarding women being subjected to brutality beyond modern-day comprehension. Cop Town was published in 2014, ergo, women triumph in the end, but I’m of the opinion that the 1970s Atlanta police department’s viscious chauvinism is over-stated considerably.

Cop Town is a decent police procedural surrounding the serial killing of Atlanta policemen and the resulting mystery. The writing is good, the story good. The characters, however, are grating. All male characters, Atlanta policemen, are bullies, bigots, chauvinists, drunks, and fundamentally nasty, mean, and disgusting. The female characters, most Atlanta policewomen, are often submissive, enabling, whiney, one even swoons. Even in the mid 70s, the Atlanta police department would not put officers on the street with such ridiculously little training, uniforms so ill-fitting they would endanger their lives or the lives of fellow officers … even women or blacks.  Frankly, much of the detail is absurd and wouldn’t have happened. I’m ready and willing to buy into a good-old-boy mentality and childish pranks in the police department, but … come on, some of this is just plain garbage annoying to read.

If you can get by some eye-rolling issues, the police procedural, clues, mystery … all is good. Narration by Early is fine, no trouble discerning who says what to who.

 

Cop Town by Karin Slaughter – Audiobook REview

Over fourteen hours of listening, narrated by Kathleen Early. This book has primarily good reviews. A few readers (listeners) have panned Cop Town, but, for the most part, it has been well received. Much of this story is extremely disturbing. If an author has an objective to evoke emotion, Slaughter has pulled it off, i.e., the female characters will make teeth grind. Realizing this story is based in the mid-seventies, the reader will get the picture regarding women being subjected to brutality beyond modern-day comprehension. Cop Town was published in 2014, ergo, women triumph in the end, but I’m of the opinion that the 1970s Atlanta police department’s viscious chauvinism is over-stated considerably.

Cop Town is a decent police procedural surrounding the serial killing of Atlanta policemen and the resulting mystery. The writing is good, the story good. The characters, however, are grating. All male characters, Atlanta policemen, are bullies, bigots, chauvinists, drunks, and fundamentally nasty, mean, and disgusting. The female characters, most Atlanta policewomen, are often submissive, enabling, whiney, one even swoons. Even in the mid 70s, the Atlanta police department would not put officers on the street with such ridiculously little training, uniforms so ill-fitting they would endanger their lives or the lives of fellow officers … even women or blacks.  Frankly, much of the detail is absurd and wouldn’t have happened. I’m ready and willing to buy into a good-old-boy mentality and childish pranks in the police department, but … come on, some of this is just plain garbage annoying to read.

If you can get by some eye-rolling issues, the police procedural, clues, mystery … all is good. Narration by Early is fine, no trouble discerning who says what to who.

 

What causes Global Warming?

CO2 – that’s carbon dioxide. It’s comes from burning fossil fuels, like coal. Emissions, like smoke stacks and automobiles.

China #1 culprit.
United States a distant 2nd, like half as much.
Way less, Europe, but, they’re guilty, too.


Methane Gas

Cows fart all over the world. It’s also caused by things such plant growth … and we all gotta eat. But, the most comes from:

China, then
United States


Oceans are the 2nd highest source of methane gas. Who’d a thunk.


Deforestation – that’s cutting down trees. Lots of trees.

Russa
Brazil
Canada
United States

Since world population is incredibly higher than say, 200 years ago, it would stand to reason that 1, 2, and 3 are also skyrocketing. We’re burning more fuels, farming more because of so many needing food sources, and cutting down more trees so all these people have somewhere to live.

It’s silly to deny Global Warming and think otherwise. Population growth is not cyclical … it is on the upswing … all the time. It’s a simple fact.

So … addressing the problems of Global Warming is going to involve more than one country.

Donchathink? Shoot holes in my theory?

I love Google.

The Killer & The Enemy – Novels by Tom Wood – Audiobooks

The Killer and The Enemy are both about fifteen hours of listening and narrated by Rob Shapiro. These stories have been in my library for quite a while, so thought I should get to them! I’ve been looking for a Mitch Rapp character to follow ever since the death of an amazingly talented author, Vince Flynn.  Tom Wood’s character, Victor, isn’t the good-guy patriot of a Mitch Rapp. The lead character is a down and dirty, cold-blooded assassin who kills-for-hire. The only elements of ‘morality’ I spotted, in close to thirty hours of listening, was a normal empathy regarding children and an innocent hooker. If possible, Victor will try to minimize collateral damage, but if it happens, he won’t lose any sleep. Victor likes his job. There is a fundamental issue of personal motivation missing, however. The author does not reveal any backstory to Victor. Personally, I’d like to understand where he is coming from, how he got into this line of work. We never learn, at least in the first two books of the series.

These stories are very well written cat-and-mouse thrillers. Lots of hair-raising chills involving arms dealing kingpins, body guards, torture, and dodging bullets. Good guys and bad guys sprinkle the pages and you’ll have fun discerning the culprits. The stories are a gun afficianado’s dream, lots and lots of fire power, double-taps, and gruesome brains-running-down-walls descriptions. The author is exceptional at creating some very tense scenes and you’ll be certain that Victor will ‘buy it’ this time. The stories are non-stop action and cinematic.

Rob Shapiro does a superb job, just the right degree of tenseness, no over emoting. Nicely done.

Although Victor is not exactly the patriot-hero, he has his moments. I will be following along. You can’t help but root for him and understand his behavior … sometimes.