Samyann's Blog, page 33

The American Fathers Episode 1 by Henry Sullivan – Audiobook Review

Narrated by a cast of five actors, The American Fathers Episode 1 is a short audiobook, 58 minutes. Sound effects are sprinkled throughout the prose. This combination, i.e., the length, cast, and sound effects, brought to mind radio mysteries. Well produced.

Both dialogue and narration are excellent. Snappy and authentic. The cast of actors does a terrific job in transitions with voices/characters. You’ll find a seamless reading and will have absolutely no trouble discerning who-says-what-to-who.

Although the story itself is short, the topic is intriguing. In a not-to-distant future, a very powerful movement will thrust the country into a haves and have-nots culture. Dynasties of enormous wealth call the shots and there are a few who see a future of unknown but certain failures of a catastrophic nature. Two women find their commonalities are deeper than their similar viewpoints and a predicable liaison ensues.

With The American Fathers Episode 1, a lot happens in a short time. Note  this book is for mature audiences and is LGBTQ.

The quality of this work is very good. But, you may be disappointed in the brevity.

 

Black Hills by Nora Roberts – Audiobook Review

Narrated by Nick Podehl and just over seventeen hours of listening.

Black Hills is a mystery-love story. One aspect of the story is the terrific mystery of a serial killer. The second aspect is a love story that spans decades, from childhood through … well, getting back together again.

The love story may have you grinding your teeth, as it comes across very contrived. Over-the-top behavior by both the female and male leads, mawkish sex scenes … and typical of Nora Roberts, based on an interesting premise. Personally, I think the two leads were too damned nasty to each other … people who love each other aren’t so … well … obnoxious. The Type A lead male character isn’t very likable, and in my opinion, is a chauvinistic ass. But, that’s just me.

The two meet as children when he is forced by his New York parents to live on rural farm with his grandparents. He hates it until he meets a feisty young girl and love blooms. Life has them move in different directions and years pass. He comes home again to a grown woman with a life she loves as the owner of a successful wildlife sanctuary. Sparks fly as they battle through the whys of their paths, choices, and love. In the meantime, a serial killer lurks. Thus is the thrust of Black Hills. Very good research of wildlife care and behavior of big cats, and wildlife tracking.

The story is nicely narrated by Podehl, good pacing and voicing of all characters.

 

The First Phone Call from Heaven by Mitch Albom – Audiobook Review

Just over 7.5 hours of listening, narrated by the author, Mitch Albom.

The First Phone Call from Heaven is a story that takes place in a small town in Michigan. Several people receive telephone calls from deceased loved ones, all told from the perspective of a widower. The story follows the expected disbelief and belief, skepticism, news media, pilgrimages to the small community. The resulting fervor of activity is initially a boom to the small town. The story is fundamentally a mystery in search of the source. Are these telephone calls really from Heaven or are they a hoax? Thus is the foundation.

If you’ve read other material by Mitch Albom, such as The Five People You Meet in Heaven, Tuesdays with Maury, etc., you’ll understand when I suggest that he’s a believer. Albom’s stories are inspirational and uplifting, The First Phone Call from Heaven is no different. Album throws in just enough analytical skepticism to make the story readable, but ultimately a fundamental belief comes across. It’s not overbearingly preachy.

Mitch Albom reads the story himself, which is always a pleasure. Hearing the written word as the author intended leaves little to discuss. The narration is fine.

The First Phone Call from Heaven is spiritual, ethereal, mystical, in no particular religious denomination. But, it is a typical “miracles can happen” stories.

 

The Search by Nora Roberts – Audiobook Review

The Search is another Nora Roberts story that has been re-released as technology has moved forward since the originally published hardback. Different covers, different formats, same book. The setting starts quickly with the disappearance of a little boy from a park cabin. The main character, a dog trainer, begins a volunteer search and rescue and finds the boy within a few hours. No secrets, this is simply the avenue used to introduce the story environment and the strong and independent lead character, Fiona.

With a handsome and reclusive local artist, Simon, Fiona has a come-hither relationship that blooms into an affair, and the predictable happens. Found myself fast-forwarding through mawkish and contrived girl-gets-boy-gets-girl gooey stuff in pursuit of a decent story of stalking and murder. Fiona is the only person to have escaped a serial killer. The man is now in prison for a spree which included the revenge killing of her then cop-fiancé and his K9 partner. Ten years have passed, Fiona has a new life … and the killing rampage is repeated by a copycat. Fiona a presumed target.

Some interesting details about dog training and search and rescue technique. Beyond the typical Nora Roberts love-story-drama, several dogs play minor characters any dog lover will enjoy.

Tanya Eby does an okay job of narration, male voices included. No trouble discerning who-says-what-to-who, nice pacing, a pleasant fifteen hours of listening. If you’re a Nora Roberts fan, you’ll enjoy.

 

Carnal Innocence by Nora Roberts – Audiobook Review

This book has been around for over ten years, early in Nora Robert’s writing career, but released in audiobook format in 2014, according to Audible. Different publishers for different versions, different covers – same book. Narrated by Tom Stechschulte, the audiobook is close to eighteen hours of listening.

A concert violinist escapes the circuit of concert halls, a pushy stage mother, and a philandering boyfriend-conductor for her deceased grandparents home in small-town Innocence, located in the deep south. The entire town of Innocence is beyond soap-opera-ishy; affairs abound. All characters are extraordinarily stereotypical, i.e., the men type-As, the women southern belles, the children “Yes’m.” and “No, sir.” polite. The distinctiveness of southern morays is a touch over-done, in my opinion. Not sure where ‘carnal’ fits into the title, other than the loose morality of the town residents.

Innocence is in the throws of a serial-killer rampage. The main character is thrust into the middle of an existing mystery including … wait for it … the arrogant, handsome, sports-car-loving and obscenely rich bad-boy with a dripping southern drawl. Caroline, a sophisticated Yankee, is charmed … no surprise. Personally, I found his attitude toward her, and all women, patronizing, but that’s just me. Requisite and mawkishly romantic love scenes may have you fast-forward a few times before you finish Carnal Innocence. There are some scenes that seem superfluous. Could be an effort at setting and environment flavoring rather than plot oriented detail on the part of the author. But, the story moves along nicely and is a page-turner.

Tom Stechschulte does a nice job with a slick southern accent. Distinctive voices for all the characters, women and children included. You’ll have no trouble discerning who-says-what-to-who.

Typical Nora Roberts, this is a love-story-mystery-drama-who-done-it, in a not so typical good-ol’-boy setting. If you’ve enjoyed any of her work, you’ll like Carnal Innocence. A surprise ending.

 

Poacher’s Son – by Paul Doiron – Audiobook Review

Under ten hours of listening, narrated by Henry Leyva.

There are several reviews of the audiobook that are critical of accents. Guess I’m just not that picky, because it didn’t bother me. The main character has a bland midwestern ‘accent’. The other Maine characters sound fine to me, a pretty good effort on the part of the narrator to make the characters unique. Besides, everybody in the northeast US talks funny, don’t they? So I guess unless you are actually from that area, you’re not going to have a problem with narration … Henry Leyva is pretty good, in my opinion … and I’ve listened to thousands of audiobooks. There. Shoot me.

The story is that of a Maine wildlife warden, son of a worthless, narcassistic man who is an abusive, backwoods, poaching drunk. But, hey … he’s ‘dad’, and accused of murder. Faithful son, the wildlife warden who hasn’t heard from dad in years, is compelled to believe in dad’s innocence. Thus is the thrust of The Poacher’s Son.

There are a few spots that caused my eyes to glaze, flashbacks to childhood, etc., areas that didn’t move the story forward, in my opinion. But, for the most part, this is an interesting who-done-it. Learned a bit about Maine and there are nice passages about the backwoods and beauty of the area. According to Doiron, the weather is very warm/hot … huh, would ‘a thought snowy.

A nice listen, worth the listen. Enjoy!

 

The Liar by Nora Roberts – Audiobook Review

At over sixteen hours of listening, narrated by January LaVoy, The Liar is a long book. A good title, in that the bad guy is a psychopathic evil-doer extraordinaire. The lead character falls for him hook-line-and-sinker, abandons her friends and family, and is whisked from the rural life of a country girl to that of luxury, private jets, and caviar.

The story begins with a young widow, husband dead in an accidental drowning, a teeny child, and her world has fallen to pieces. She has been left millions of dollars in debt and completely alone. Thus begins the tale. First lie? She thought they were rich. The lead character returns to her roots, and you guessed it … the handsome handyman-type … this is a Nora Roberts, after all! Found myself fast-forwarding through some requisite sex scenes, just because they’re thrown in as a fundamental requirement to this type of story, and well … there’s only so many way’s to ‘do it’. No criticism, some people enjoy the romance element of these books. Every Nora Roberts aka J. D. Robb (In Death series), has randy activity, ergo no surprise. The two main characters sleuth away through the pages to a satisfying Nora Roberts happy ending.

The narration by LaVoy is fine, she does a nice job with the child’s voice, seniors, men, women. A wide variety of characters and I enjoyed the reading. The story itself is pretty predicable. No spoilers here, and the plot is okay, but you’ll figure out the outcome well before the end of the book. This book was part of an Audible Daily Deal … I would have spent the credits on a Nora Roberts novel anyway. Enjoy!

 

Open Season by C. J. Box – Audiobook Review

Audiobook close to eight hours of listening, narration by David Chandler.

Open Season is book #1 in the Joe Pickett series. Pickett is a wildlife/game warden who’s exploits will bring to mind Nevada Barr’s character, Anna Pigeon. I’ve become a fan of Pickett via accidentally reading book 15, possibly in an Audible Daily Deal, and purchased book 14. I enjoyed the stories enough to revert to the beginning of the series. My initial reaction is sad … in books 14, 15 Joe Pickett’s faithful dog is named Daisy, and in book 1, he has an eight-year-old retriever named Maxine. Although Joe’s dog is not a major character, she is a regular companion. Not going to give any spoiler. But … what can I say, I love dogs, and it would seem Maxine’s future is doomed at some point in the series.

Open Season starts this series, and Joe Pickett is a wet-behind-the-ears game officer, the father of two little girls, with a beautiful, pregnant wife. His first adventure surrounds a mysterious wild animal that was thought to be extinct. The little meerkat-like creature is the catalyst for a myriad of characters to show the true colors of greed and not-so-altruistic agendas. A fairly innocuous career of game warden is far more dangerous than one would believe!

No profanity, no explicit sex, a ‘clean’ read. Nice mystery and a pleasant introduction to a lengthy series. Narration by David Chandler is fine; you’ll have no trouble discerning who-says-what-to-who. Enjoy!

 

Beasts and Savages by Emma Woods – eBook Review

At approximately 250 pages in length, Beasts and Savages is a young adult SciFi novel surrounding the adventures of Lea, a young girl in a wonderfully imaginative world. The story is a breakout novel by Emma Woods, and I would really love to go 5 stars. However, there are a few minor issues of spelling, scene break, etc., very minor and the reason for the 4 star rating.

In this extremely creative domain, women are breeders and hunters of men, and men are savages and serve only one biological purpose. Girl children are coveted and raised by women, boy children reared by men to fulfill a single purpose that results in sacrificing their lives … or so we believe.

The story begins with Lea facing physical changes that eventually confront all young ladies. But, with twists that are in one way creative and in another … well, I can only say ‘yikes’! Suspend belief and you’re in for a delightful romp through an extraordinary tale.

No language issues, no graphic sex, no dragons, no vampires. What is it then? Well, a really, really fun story – great ending. Don’t hesitate to purchase as a gift.

 

The Survivor by Kyle Mills – Vince Flynn Audiobook Review

Close to eleven hours of listening, read by George Guidall.

First, an initial caveat. I’ve been a fan of Vince Flynn and the Mitch Rapp series for well over 10 years. The Survivor is the latest edition of the series and is a fairly seamless continuation of the previous novel, The Last Man. Following Vince Flynn’s death in mid 2013, I poured through his website and Facebook presence, and like many of his fans, was saddened with his passing.

Although not specifically acknowledged anywhere in this book, it has been my belief that Vince Flynn started writing The Survivor before he passed away, and The Survivor was completed by Kyle Mills. This has always been my understanding, based on the Vince Flynn website and a comment posted on the site by Flynn’s editor at the time, indicating that the publisher and Flynn’s family were actively looking for an author to complete the book. Just my opinion, but this tidbit should have been included in the dedication … in the audiobook, it is not. Too bad.

That said, The Survivor is an extraordinarily smooth transition from Flynn to Mills … another tiny piece of evidence which indicates to me that a large segment of this story was penned by Flynn himself. At any rate, well …. kudos to Mills in that he seems to be a Vince Flynn clone. For those who are familiar with Flynn’s writing and the Mitch Rapp series characters, I think you might agree. It’s really quite astonishing.

Anyway, continuing the story of The Last Man, Mitch is confronted with protecting the country from leaked CIA secrets and stupid politicians. All the familiar characters are sprinkled through the pages, i.e., Director Kennedy, Hurley, etc. Mitch Rapp is expertly portrayed as the loose-cannon-patriot-superman.

George Guidall is amazing, of course. Guidall simply is the voice of Mitch Rapp, having been the narrator for the entire series. This likely contributes a great deal to the smooth transition of authors … narration carries an already good story to a stellar audiobook.

I’m looking forward to continuation of the series, and based on the conclusion of The Survivor, Kyle Mills plans to do just that!