Vik Marinos

Succinct and informative

Revisado: 12-07-22

This book is a great first step if you're trying to learn more about the Culper Ring and the spy network of the Revolution. There isn't much fluff, and it compiles the facts well, while including the failings as well as the successes. My only complaint is that the narrator mispronounces a few words and that can be a little jarring, but it's not enough of a problem to put me off the story itself.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Did we mention yet that David was a football hero?

Revisado: 09-07-22

Full disclosure, I'm returning this book before I've finished it, in the middle of chapter six. The book begins by saying a murder has happened and since then, it's been hours and hours of repetition about the husband being an entitled worshipped athlete and the wife being a complete angel and strong independent force of nature who also bows down to her husband in every little thing he wants her to do. That is all it's been for a few chapters now: David is a piece of garbage who faces no consequences ever and Belinda is without flaws, perfection incarnate. Backstory is important of course but this particular backstory is structured like a waterwheel that repeats itself and goes nowhere.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Wonderfully creepy and mystical

Revisado: 01-28-19

I'm a hit and miss fan of Stephen King, but this book is by far my favorite of his. The main character Edgar has just the right amount of gallows humor mixed with an honest desire to be better in the aftermath of a life-changing incident. The other major characters, specifically Wireman, Elizabeth Eastlake, and Jack, are delightful as well. On a personal note, as a Minnesotan, it's so much fun to listen/read a book that includes my state that isn't simply 'it's cold and the 'city' Minneapolis/Saint Paul is mentioned'. I've seen others complain that the ending doesn't explain well enough what was happening, but I actually like that. After all, Edgar and his crew wouldn't have any way of getting the complete story themselves.

I do have a complaint, and that is the sometimes cringe-worthy relationship between Edgar and his daughter, Ilse. As a woman who isn't from the south (and neither is she), I can't imagine continuing to call my dad 'daddy', let alone in every other sentence like she does. Edgar is a little too fixated on her body (her breasts and butt are mentioned more than once), and they're just a little too close for my tastes. It isn't enough to ruin the book by any means, or approach the realm of genuine discomfort, but I did find myself rolling my eyes often when I listened to their interactions.

The best part of the book, however, is without a doubt John Slattery's performance. He gives each character just enough of a distinction for the listener to distinguish between them without going into the realms of falsetto females and cartoonish voices. He does give Ilsa a bit of a baby voice, but I imagine that's how a girl who refers to presents as 'prezzies' and says things like 'that's wonderful, daddy' would speak to Edgar anyway. His performance is dry, witty, and simply authentic. I can't imagine the book being narrated by any other, and I hope that he ends up recording more of these performances.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Repetitive and biased.

Revisado: 02-18-18

To be far to the author, most of the people he had to write about in this book came across as pretty insufferable, including the victim with the constant insistence that she was the purest angel to ever walk the face of the earth.

But I can't blame the people involved with this case for the fact that he felt the need to repeat the same irrelevant facts over and over. How many times does the reader need to hear about Michigan's humidity or Dr. Dragovich's love for Sherlock Holmes, or that Gloria is the Miseners' rock? How many times does it need to be said how much the jury loathed certain witnesses? I'm pretty sure he actually repeated the same quotations multiple times.

Between heading off in irrelevant and dull directions- namely, the life history of everyone involved in the trial- and the constant repetition, the only reason I finished this book is that I got it in a 2 for 1 deal and didn't think I could return it without losing the other. After the verdict especially, the final chapters stretched on, as though Henderson felt as though he needed to write the reaction of every single person he had interviewed.

It's unfortunate, because the story itself is incredibly interesting, but when it's told through the eyes of someone who quite clearly glossed over the defense and demonized the prosecution on top of the amateurish writing, it's no better than reading or watching any other account where the prosecution is praised and the defense is ignored. I finished this book with a strong feeling of irritation, salvaged only by the narrator. If Paul Michael Garcia can make this tolerable, I'd love to see what he can do with a really good book.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 11 personas

Fantastic underwater terror

Revisado: 02-24-17

I've listened to a few books narrated by Scott Brick, and this is yet another FANTASTIC performance in his impressive catalog- I loved every second of his narration.

Norman is probably the best sci-fi protagonist I've ever read (although full disclosure, I haven't read many sci-fi novels). As a psychologist, he's much more reflective, calmer, and more aware than I expect to find in most heroes.

The terror in this film is more subtle than it could have been, which I absolutely appreciated- part of the terror for me in the ocean itself is the mystery of what could be beneath the water. Crichton doesn't elaborate too far in his scenes, and doesn't spell things out, so it keeps that mystery, especially when Norman is struggling with the idea of whether or not he is the one causing the deaths.

As a side note, he should have brought Harry back and left Beth there. That woman was unhinged.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Should have been called "SoldierLine"

Revisado: 02-24-17

If you could sum up Timeline in three words, what would they be?

Too many soldiers.

I feel the need to elaborate. I never expected medieval times would be all fairs and lutes, but from the minute the characters go back into the past, it's one close call after another. A narrow escape and then more soldiers. And more soldiers after them. And the most random cameo villain, a deranged feral knight covered in mold who inexplicably likes to behead anyone who comes across an abandoned chapel. And then a villainous stalactite (seriously). Attacking birds. A hoard of bats. A few close calls in various rivers. A few close calls on various ceilings. Problems with the computer. Will the glass panels hold water? It gets to the point where there's a sudden turn for the worst and I literally said out lout "OH OF COURSE." It almost feels like the gaps in knowledge about the past were filled in by scenes of danger- only the architecture is ever really elaborated on to much extent.

Would you be willing to try another book from Michael Crichton? Why or why not?

Absolutely. I loved Sphere, and I did like this book as well. I'm just discovering Crichton, but I'm enjoying myself.

Which character – as performed by John Bedford Lloyd – was your favorite?

Definitely Marek. I don't know if the accent is at all correct, but that didn't bother me. And his delivery of Marek crying "asshole!" as he attacks Sir Guy made me skip back a few times just to hear it again.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Pornography without substance- first 9 hours only

Revisado: 11-02-16

What would have made Black Dahlia Avenger better?

To be completely fair, I only made it nine hours into the twenty hour story before quitting, but this story could definitely use actual evidence, or at least evidence given earlier in the story and with more substance than 'the body was posed like a famous Man Ray photo and George Hill Hodel worshipped Man Ray, so this is 'inescapable evidence' that George Hill Hodel committed the murder'.

What was most disappointing about Steve Hodel’s story?

The first half of the book is essentially a character assassination. Steve Hodel does do a fantastic job explaining what a sick bastard his father was, but a sick bastard does not mean G. Hodel was in fact the Black Dahlia Avenger. The incest trial, the forcing young Steve to smoke an entire cigar, G. Hodel's relationship history, the sex parties, sharing women with Fred Sexton is all very interesting, but after nine hours of that with VERY little evidence connecting him back to Elizabeth Short, I feel as though I've listened to a son only airing out his grievances about the man,

What about Kevin Pierce’s performance did you like?

Kevin Pierce always gives a fantastic performance, but this was not one of his best. I found it halting and a little unsure, as though he were reading the book for the first time or simply had a tough time getting through it.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Black Dahlia Avenger?

MUCH of the beginning. Or at least tie in G. Hodel's many issues with some evidence, so it doesn't feel like I'm listening to nothing but sex scandals when it's supposed to be a book about the murder of Elizabeth Short.

Any additional comments?

It's a shame I couldn't get through this, because based on the aftermath of the novel, a lot of people took this theory very seriously and found it solid, which leads me to assume that there must have been something worth hearing in the second half. But if I were a juror, just based on what I've listened to so far, I would have acquitted G. Hodel because it feels as though the 'prosecutor' is using emotional arguments in place of evidence.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 11 personas

Have we mentioned yet how perfect Elizabeth was?

Revisado: 08-01-16

I'm not sure how to review this book. Kevin Pierce tells it in such a way that I forgive every irritating repetition and melodramatic phrases that Bosworth contorted to find, whereas I'm pretty sure that if I were reading this book in paper form, I wouldn't have finished it.

"The darkness in one soul had now eclipsed the light in all their lives. The devil incarnate had been found hiding in plain sight in the midst of this living Norman Rockwell painting that had been until now the world for the Van Iseghams."

Seriously, cue thunder crashing.

Although the crime itself is compelling and it was fascinating (and yet anger-inducing) to hear just how scummy (to keep it PG) Rick DeCaro is, did Bosworth REALLY need to remind the reader at least once every half hour in a sixteen hour listen (after the non-stop hammering in the first few chapters) just how goooood Elizabeth was, and how much loooove is in the Van Isegham family? And how perfectly perfect they all are, so upstanding, so full of love, so selfless and sacrificing, on and on, over and over. It made the people seem absolutely unreal, which seems to me to be a shame. I couldn't feel their grief because they were such caricatures, so black and white, good versus evil. I think the book would have been much better if Bosworth didn't take such pains to repeat ad nauseum that the Van Iseghams are as pure as new snow and spun sugar. The actual events in those years were gripping enough without this constant grating commentary.

Actually, the author does this more than once. Every single character has to comment on how strange it is that Rick reacts so coldly to the marriage, the youth of the children (seriously, those poor kids) has to be brought up again and again, Basile was always broke before the 'package deal', etc etc. I think another review I read summed it up perfectly: "Was he paid by the word?"

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 3 personas