Michael Kentby

Good Narrator, strained premise

Revisado: 03-22-16

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

Interesting but thin.

Would you recommend Fantasy in Death to your friends? Why or why not?

I would recommend for the narrator, and if someone was a tech fan, or a fan of this author. But in general as a book, no.

What about Susan Ericksen’s performance did you like?

She was very engaging, had very distinct character voices with what seemed to be accurate accents.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Not really. I thought it was basically a decent book, but didn't move me.

Any additional comments?

I thought the premise was good...that virtual gaming could be an instrument killing in a possible murder. Really intriguing. I wanted to see how it ended. But like a lot of fiction set in the future, the technology hasn't been invented yet, and so the author takes a lot of liberties and allows the technology to have functionality that wasn't well explained and hard to understand. It was a little like how "Trekie" fans have to retroactively justify inconsistencies in plot points in the Star Trek series. It asks us to willfully suspend our disbelief a little too thinly. Things stopped making sense, and therefore I lost my interest in trying to figure out "who done it", or cared who did it. And the character that ended up doing it to me seemed very 2-dimensional in the end. He was a very intelligent character, but his alibi/reason for doing what he did was so illogical that it was hard to believe that he believed it would clear him of the crime. Loved the premise and most of the characters (especially the lead female detective), but in the end, nothing really added up. The narration was very good.

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Scientific self-help

Revisado: 02-16-15

Practical, data supported and eye-opening. A great way to avoid the Haviar in your life. Book is brief, but impactful.

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Intriguing guy

Revisado: 12-05-14

What made the experience of listening to Steve Jobs: The Man Who Thought Different the most enjoyable?

Steve Jobs had a really amazing life, and he was a very complex, interesting guy. I am not sure I would have liked to have worked with him, but genius visionaries are often erratic and difficult. It's an amazing thing to create something from nothing, and Steve Jobs, for better or worse, changed the world, because he changed how we are social with one another, incorporating technology.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Steve Jobs: The Man Who Thought Different?

When he was held up at gunpoint for his (illegal) blue box device that made free long distance calls. To think he went through an experience as shady as that and still built the (arguably) world's most successful company, is amazing.

What does Sean Runnette bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Sean Runnette was quite good. He took his time, he was authentic in his delivery and he engaged me easily.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

I think Job's speech to Stanford was very moving.

Any additional comments?

To understand why technology is used as it is today in the personal realm, it's important to understand how it all came about, and the personality who drove it all. The brand image and marketing of the products are sometimes very different than the usage of technology by the man who proliferated them (he did not allow his children to have iphones/ipads for example). The proliferation of technology by Steve Jobs was sometime benevolent, wanting to expand the horizons of human experience and possibility. But Apple, and Steve, were not always about "changing the world" or "enriching lives" or creating personal freedom. Sometimes it was simply about competition, ego and creating a financially successful business in the marketplace. The way all these forces personified themselves in Steve Jobs is amazing to read about, and ultimately determined much of how we use technology, and interact with each other, today.

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A Good Start to this Series

Revisado: 07-30-14

Where does Do or Die rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I partially agree with the review above. I've also listened to (or read) a few of the Inspector Green books and yes, in this one Green and his wife Sharon do have an edginess in that sometimes make them hard to like. But I wouldn't omit this book from your listening list because the characters are still in development. Rather I'd say it's essential because it sets the stage for the rest of the series.

"Do or Die" really spells out clearly where they came from (second-marriage stressed-out new parents living in a tiny rented apartment). But they definitely get warmer to each other, and to us. As Green's work ethic, passion for deductive reasoning and pursuit of justice puts his new second family life precariously on the edge time and time again, I found myself rooting for them because I knew, from "Do or Die", how far them came.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

Definitely! The plot is murder mystery set in the high brow setting of an cutting edge brain research program on the edge of a breakthrough, complete with all the competitiveness and backstabbing that can occur in academia.

The author clearly did her homework. She navigates through the complexities of research protocol like a seasoned scientist, making the sleuth Inspector Green, (and us) really have to think our way through this case to solve it. Sometimes it got a little convoluted, and I had to double back and listen again. But it really made me appreciate all the thinking the author must have had to do to construct this puzzle of a plot.

And I loved the twist of "missing tie" (I won't reveal more than that) that nearly destroys the investigation! (That moment actually made me gasp).

What about Kevin Kraft’s performance did you like?

I thought his dramatizations of Marianne and Henry Blair, who had just lost their son to murder, were particularly moving and vulnerable. They were the most human to me, and I could feel their love, pain and regret as they "confess" all the skeletons in their family closet over dinner with Green.

Kraft's voicing of Mr. Haddad, the protective (some would say fanatical) Lebanese father was also good very believable, bordering on scary. There were a lot of different characters in the book...Canadian-Irish,Yiddish, male, female, young, old. I'm not sue if the accents were all accurate, and some of the policemen sounded the same, but for the most part they were all different enough that I knew who was who.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I have been very moved by other Fradkin books, but this one mostly made me think. My overall feeling was of being impressed rather than moved. I appreciated how well the plot implications were thought out to create a beautiful, complete closure at the end, much like completing a complicated math algorithm. There was a feeling of satisfaction the mystery all sewn up at the end, like I had just turned in my algebra homework and felt good that I figured it out.

Any additional comments?

I love the "buddy" element of this series. Green and Sullivan are a terrific team, a kind of modern day Holmes and Watson. Green is intuitive and given to wild avenues of investigation, while Sullivan is practical and grounded. Green is intense and self-absorbed and drives everyone crazy, while Sullivan is a hard-working father and man's man with much more balance. But together they more than the sum of their parts, with Green bouncing ideas off Sullivan, and Sullivan bringing him back to earth. And when Green's brilliance finally ends up figuring out "who done it", it's Sullivan who helps him execute his plans effectively (and within proper protocol!).

Sullivan could probably never figure out a case on his own, and Green, though brilliant, is more likely to destroy an investigation with his maverick approach. Whether cooperating by asking complementing questions while interviewing a suspect in the field, or whether butting heads over sandwiches in Nate's Deli, it's the dynamics and chemistry of this odd team that make the book work. And because they have so much respect and care for each other in their friendship, I found myself caring for them too.

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Can technology still destroy us? A great book.

Revisado: 07-17-14

Would you listen to Fail-Safe again? Why?

Yes, because it's so rich in thought about the implications of science, war, technology and ethics. Listening to it more than once would uncover more nuances.

What did you like best about this story?

I loved the build up at the end and the incredible surprise ending.

Which scene was your favorite?

The tense discussions between the President and his translator and Khrushchev and his translator. It was amazing (and scary!) to see how much could get "lost in translation".

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Learning of the president's decision, and how much he cared about everyone in the world.

Any additional comments?

I have vivid memories of watching this classic black and white movie with my father on the TV set. It was riveting then, and was equally riveting to listen to. The narrator gave a finely paced performance, and he must have chosen to make the president JFK, because his Massachusetts accent was very good.

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Classic Pulp Fiction...with a wink and a nudge.

Revisado: 03-26-14

Would you consider the audio edition of Solomon's Vineyard to be better than the print version?

Yes. The book is very "film noir", so it's fun to hear that stylized tone in the narrator's voice. You don't get that from reading a book like this, only from listening to it or watching movies like "The Maltese Falcon". The narrator did a good job capturing the film noir style, which made it more enjoyable than reading it.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

Yes. As the author says in the foreward , "This is a wild one. Maybe the wildest yet. It's got everything in it...". And it's true! Gangsters, a bootleg-running religious cult and ladies of the night. Kidnapping, murder and gun fights. Corruption, S&M and human sacrifice. I think the author's intent was to get every cliche of the Pulp Fiction genre in the book, without appearing cliche. For example, during Prohibition, they start to play craps in the back room or a speakeasy, with the corrupt police chief a player among others, and Karl makes a big deal out of calling the house out of their crooked game with rigged dice, just to impress the local redhead Ginger he just me and is trying to make, Then the local gangster, who is Ginger's boyfriend comes in and bitch slaps Karl and humiliates him in front of Ginger. The whole thing is so trite, it's funny when you think about it. But it reads like a drama, it doesn't make you roll your eyes. In fact It's great fun to see how this out of town Private Investigator is going to solve all the crimes and come out clean. It kept me on the edge of my seat as all the subplots converged in a dramatic finale that showed our man, Karl Craven, was the smartest man in the room all along.

Which character – as performed by Kevin Kraft – was your favorite?

Karl Craven (and all the many believable female voices Kraft created for Karl's numerous amorous encounters.) Karl was at once brave and foolish, both masculine and ridiculous. A loner and a self-proclaimed ladies man, he struggles with eating to much, and seems almost oblivious about his massive weight ("The scale said 240. That was about 20 pounds too much"). Full of street smarts, his own common sense sometimes seems ridiculous. For example, when a girl tells Karl that he is tough, Karl says "that's cause I was in the army". LOL. An edgy man with a honest conscience, he is still a product of his time (and perhaps his profession) and is slightly racist, as when he refers to the hotel porter as a "negro" or as he talks about his recently murdered partner: "Oke Johnson was the smartest Sweede I knew." And then shortly after, true to his contradictory style, he calls him a "dumb Sweede"! Karl is so infatuated with himself and what he does that he reads G-man comic books. And he hates the goody-goody Boy Scout type Agents, but loves the "wonderful" G man who's always rescuing his girl from the gangsters. Karl is like a perpetual adolescent. He says almost forgivingly forthright about his feelings, like "I decided I would kill him when I got through with the job. That made me feel better. " The first time he deals with the local cops he calls them "dumb cops", and when he beats at the salesman who is hitting on a girl in the bar he says "I hate salesman. And cops."

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

I was probably more scared than "moved" in this book. The ending and rescue from the human sacrifice of the religious cult was very exciting. I was full of tension and suspense when the gangsters attack the speakeasy by rolling a flaming car into the speakeasy full of trapped people. This is not an "emotional" book, so I guess the closes thing to being "moved" was being disturbed, as when an innocent girl is beaten to death for "talking" about the corruption.

Any additional comments?

The author, Jonathan Latimer, is a noteworthy Hollywood Screenwriter and crime novelist (google him) who also ghost wrote for those blacklisted during the McCarthy era as well as for the Perry Mason TV shows. In "Solomon's Vineyard", Latimer strikes a very good balance between writing a darn good pulp fiction crime novel with commenting on the genre itself without passing over into parody. The reader (listener) really has to pay attention to catch the subtle jibes the book makes at itself and it's style. For example, I think it's funny that everyone of that era is presumed to know how to play craps. Ginger, a 21-year-old girl at best from the mid-west, seems to know all about how to play craps. And Karl knows how to spot rigged dice and makes a big display out of it. The gangster in this book, Pug Banta, is described as having long arms, short legs and club foot, but has Ginger as his girl, one of the prettiest girls in town. I mean, a club foot? It's practically comical! But never for a second does Latimer denigrate the genre with his insightful pokes.

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Brings me back...

Revisado: 11-21-13

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes. I played Dungeons and Dragons often as a kid/teenager, and this really brought me back to that world of imagination and adventure.

What did you like best about this story?

It seemed well researched in terms of D&D lore. Everything was consistent with my remembrance from my D&D days of the geography, creatures, races and magical abilities of characters. It had a nice cliffhanger, too, which made me want to listen to the other 2 books in the trilogy.

What does Kevin Kraft bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

He's great with the character voices. I could tell who was talking to who.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

She's a beautiful, powerful, exotic green elf wizard. But whose side is she on?

Any additional comments?

Take a trip down memory lane with this fun adventure book. Can't wait to hear the other two books in this series!

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