Samyann's Blog, page 39

Chasing Fire by Nora Roberts – Audiobook Review

Read by Rebecca Lowman, 15 hours of listening. Chasing Fire is about exactly what you’d think, smoke jumpers. The lead character is the daughter of an industry legend, and takes after her father, i.e., smoke jumping is her calling. Woven into the plot is the requisite ruggedly handsome leading man, jealously, the sabotage of life-saving equipment, murder, and a myriad of colorful secondary characters. You may suspect several of the characters, but may also figure out this who-done-it long before the finale. Some terrific fire-battling/hair-raising scenes, typical Nora Roberts come-here-get-away-come here-get-away romance that is on occasion as steamy as the fires. Although I’m no expert in fire-fighting, there seemed to be nice research of equipment and procedure. It all came across as realistic smoke jumping, a career not for everybody.

This is my second listen of Rebecca Lowman, the first being a Sparks romance, Safe Haven. She’s good. Flirty and sexy when needed, with a credible delivery of a type A male.

I purchased Chasing Fire via an Audible Daily Deal, but if you’re a fan of Nora Roberts, it would be well worth a credit. Enjoy!

 

The Neon Lawyer by Victor Methos – Audiobook Review

Read by Nick Podehl and very short, just 4.5 hours of listening … a novella. There are several issues raised in this story that are a bit of a stretch to imagine, i.e., legal issues. However, story trumps all, so they say. In that respect, this is a good story that you’ll have no trouble following. I never waste a credit on a book this short, but since this was an Audible Daily Deal, it wound up in my library. The story centers on the grizzly murder of a child and subsequent vigilante justice. A wet-behind-the-ears lawyer defends the child’s mother. Nothing earth shattering, just a nice crime procedural, court-room drama. Good guy defense lawyer, bad guy prosector. Narration by Podehl adequate, not exceptional. A quick page turner you will enjoy.

Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury – Audiobook Review

Read by Christian Rummel, just under ten hours of listening. I have no way of knowing, but I suspect that most horror fiction writers, i.e., Stephen King, Dean Koontz, etc., have learned part of their craft in the writings of Ray Bradbury. Creepy, scary, poetic, dark, lyrical are a few words to define Something Wicked This Way Comes. The story is a bit of a coming-of-age tale, two young boys being the subject matter. There are a few hundred reviews, and a gazillion fans of Bradbury, ergo not much I can add. If you’re a fan of horror, fearsome boogymen and nightmares, have at it! You’ll enjoy. If you’re easily spooked by words and aren’t into being scared shitless, take a pass. .

The narration by Rummel is excellent. Nothing more fun, for some, than curling up with a horror story. This one will do! Enjoy!

 

The Twilight Zone Radio Dramas – Audiobook Review

Various authors, four hours, read by full cast. If you’ve ever watched The Twilight Zone television episodes, all tales in this listen will be familiar and you’ll picture the actors and settings from your memory. The familiar tune leads off each episode, and rather than hearing the voice of Rod Serling, you’ll hear the introductions and epilogs narrated by Stacy Keach. There are many, many Twilight Zone episodes, the four-hour file I listened to contains only the following:

“Night Call” starring Mariette Hartley

“Long Live Walter Jameson” starring Lou Diamond Phillips

“The Lateness of the Hour” starring Jane Seymour and James Keach

“The Thirty-Fathom Grave” starring Blair Underwood

“The Man in the Bottle” starring Ed Begley, Jr.

“Night of the Meek” starring Chris McDonald

As enjoyable and enchanting as the television series. Your visions will be black and white, however . Have fun!

Valhalla by Robert Mrazek – Audiobook ReviewChristopher Lane

Read by Christopher Lane and just over ten hours of listening. Make no mistake, Valhalla is a page-turning thriller. You will be compelled to listen to what scrape the main character wriggles his way through next. The story begins with a wealthy Texan discovering a WWII aircraft beneath the Greenland ice. The author teases with conveying cargo of potentially fascinating WWII memorabilia … Roosevelt gifts and letters. Exciting plot with these simple bits, right? But … shortly we get into the real meat of the tale! Another mystery is several hundred feet deeper … and at least a thousand years older.

You’ll be hard pressed to imagine how the lead characters can possibly survive some situations, which is a main thread … one dire circumstance following another. From frost bite in Greenland to claustrophobia in an island tunnel off the coast of Maine to grazing gunshots … from White House skullduggery to Al Qaeda to corporate greed. Throw in a thousand year old Viking ship, an ancient cult,  and the fact that Leif Erikson was a god. Really? Imaginative stuff! Fun listen, enjoy.

 

Advise and Consent by Allen Drury – Audiobook Review

Read by Allan Robertson, Advise and Consent is approximately thirty four hours of listening. I read this book in paperback format for the first time in the 60s, a good five years after it’s initial publishing date.  Ever since then, this book has been ‘in my mind’ as the pinnacle of  expressing Washington politics in fictional form. Although written in an era of cold-war fears, the Washington political machinations haven’t changed a bit and Allen Drury does a magic job. As an aside, Drury was a UPI journalist with years and years of inside information and friends. The reader need only imagine the early sixties, a bountiful time post WWII, pre Vietnam era. Take away modern amenities such as the cell phone and the Internet, replace all with phone booths (Imagine a bank of phone booths for the press in the capitol.), manual typewriters, the power of the written press, radio news, and the black and white TV evening news that we lived with at the time.  Throw in post McCarthy era fear of Russia and Communism. Advise and Consent was written in 1959 and won the Pulitzer in 1960.

Thus is the setting for a congressional Advise and Consent of the President’s nominee for Secretary of State. The first half of the book is primarily setup. There are many characters and a myriad of personalities who, in the second half of the book, will be familiar old friends … or nasty enemies … of the reader. Which is which, well, that likely depends on you’re political persuasion. No spoilers, but the process involved is very realistic and a terrific American government history lesson.

The narration by Allen Robertson is stellar. It is apparent from his reading that he is a fan of Allen Drury and the story of Advise and Consent. Well worth the credit and you will be listening to this book more than once … as will I.

Enjoy!

 

Paranoia by Joseph Finder – Audiobook Review

Paranoia is a hair under thirteen hours of listening. Adam Cassidy hates his job as a grunt in a high-tech firm. He gets caught in an innocent no-no that, with prosecution, would land him in jail. Rather than take that nightmare ride, Adam agrees to the undercover role of a spy with a competitor. This sounds innocuous enough until you realize that the high-tech world is extraordinarily cut-throat and competitive. Even though Adam Cassidy is a man of questionable moral character, the new boss is ultimately a problem in that the man is scrupulously honest, rare for a CEO. Adam is beginning to develop a loyalty to this employer who is treating him like a son. What now? Thus is the thrust of Paranoia and there are twists and turns to enjoy ahead!

I listened ten years ago and listening again was a pleasure. Some of the fictional technology in Paranoia is reality today. Scott Brick, as usual, is amazing. He brings forth the author’s intent beautifully with voice inflection and the overall timbre of the tale. Thrills, terror, humor, corporate skulduggery, and yes … “paranoia” … all are awesomely presented.

Even though this story is ten years old, the circumstances of corporate games, boardroom drama, etc., could all come from headlines today.

 

Yeah! Great Amazon Review!

 A journey and a romance and a thrill ride!, May 21, 2015


By
Allyn



Verified Purchase(What’s this?)
This review is from: Yesterday: A Novel of Reincarnation (Kindle Edition)
I absolutely adore any author who has the skill to teach while telling a gloriously romantic tale. Samyann does this. Through the twists and turns as we follow Amanda and Mark through time and struggle and survival, we also learn so much! Chicago is an old city with a rich and tragic at times history. As Amanda and Mark explore their unnatural connection and attraction to each other, we get to go on a journey through Chicago’s past as well.

I found Samyann’s writing to be sharp and full of life, the structure and flow pulled me in and kept me there, fully immersed in the world painted for me.

I wished Amanda could let go and join Mark in his pursuit, it seemed he chased her through lifetimes! But I know this was important to keep the stories alive and thrumming. I loved the character structures. You can’t get more fleshed out characters than these two (or four) and watching as they learned about each other and about their pasts was addicting.

I am surprised Samyann doesn’t have any other books out, she writes with the skill of someone who has been at the ink and quill for a while. But I am happy to have stumbled into reading Yesterday. I will be keeping an eye out for further works.

Lady Sun by Marni MacRae – eBook Review

Written in a style of very modern writing, Lady Sun makes many references to 21st Century cultural morays, i.e., Amazon, Google and Google Earth,   such Hollywood icons as Tom Hanks and his Castaways co-star, Wilson, Johnny Depp, Matt Damon in the Jason Bourne role, the long running television show, Jeopardy. Even Barnes and Nobel is mentioned. That bricks and mortar books store will certainly be a complete unknown, maybe even before I finish this review . Not a book you would call one-for-the-ages … but, a book that will truly be a flash-to-the-past in 100 years for anyone interested in what life was like in 2015. Chapter one begins with the lead character, Sophie, gazing at her definition of paradise from the portholes of a yacht: a sandy beach with palm trees. And, for a reason not yet defined by the author, a prisoner. How’d she get in this predicament? What happened? Thus begins a tale of adventure and romance.

A light read, Lady Sun has all the elements, mysteries, thrills, good guys and bad guys, a sweet romance, and yes … a paradise of a setting. The male lead, Lucas, would be a great ‘castaway’ for any red-blooded girl . Enjoyed!! 

No Eye Has Seen by Clifford Rush – eBook Review

No Eye Has Seen is about 45 pages long, an evening read. Twin girls have a secret, like all twins, but this secret will lead to a grizzly end. The story is a police procedural; a murder has been committed and one of the twins is the victim. Well written, my only complaint is that it’s too short. This is a terrific mystery that could have been developed into a great page-turning novel. Likely author choice in that No Eye Has Seen is a nice introduction of a character that traverses the pages of sequels. Nice descriptions, thoughtful turn-of phrase throughout. Heavy with dialogue that pulls the reader nicely through the mystery, the book is a mystery with twists that will surprise the reader. This collaboration is rife with realistic police procedural and interesting detail. A page-turner to enjoy!