J. Locke

OUTSTANDING

Revisado: 03-05-20

20 years of public education and another 20+ years of working, Ive never read Beowulf, but this is a beautifully written and voiced (thanks to veteran narrator George Guidell) book. Ive listened to it 3 times so far - which I did not set out to do, but the first time through, in addition to having to understand the "plot" (I picked this up not knowing it was written in a poetic style similar to say The Inferno by Dante, so for those who are horrified at saying Beowulf is a poem and therefore has something other than a plot, forgive me!) hah - ok, so the first time, you have to turn your ear to the cadence and the use of old english terms. There's a bit of mental gymnastics when trying to get down the names (think a little LOTR Tolkien but not so much as Silmarillian Tolkien). After the first listen through, you get a wonderful hour of explanation by the translator - Seamus Heaney - so very very helpful. So the second time through, you go back and because you have more of a framework of the story and the people involved, you can concentrate more on the meat of the story. The third time through has been pure pleasure, more and more understanding and awakening to the use of the language, the timelessness of this great work and the connection to our Christian Faith. I would highly recommend this!

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No Sex, no porn, just a story- How refreshing.

Revisado: 12-20-18

I LOVED Restless - which is also a spy, WWII book - so I gave this a go. Im 47, (hence not a YA-er) and loved that I can listen to this with whomever, recommend it to whomever. If you LOVE planes and flying - you will love this book. I gave it 3 stars because its a bit much with the girl power - and the white men-rule-everything but overall its a good story that I want to hear it again. The jamaican RAF pilot was gratuitous identity politics but thankfully its in the last 1/2 hour of the story. That was really why the rating isnt better.

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Stereotypes and Cliches + Horrible Narrator

Revisado: 12-14-18

Just dont- I pulled this book off of a "best of the Year" list and saw the rave reviews. But I should have looked deeper into the reviews... Its awful. Narrator is a woman who does the worst male voice I've heard in a long time from an audio book. ALso, the book was full of cliches - and the story's main plot was rich man, abuses wife. Theme of the book is men are horrible, women should think of themselves, and city life is great. (subtext- dont bother having kids).

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Kept my attention, but a bit too soapy

Revisado: 08-25-18

I read the other Erin Kelly books - which I enjoyed - but somehow, this one was just too much like a soap/serial that went on and on. That can be great if you are into that, but perhaps I've just heard too many great great books to be into this type of story. Pretty much - the book follows a pattern - one chapter its from his perspective, the next is from hers. Its a great concept, but thought his side of the story wasnt fully told until the very end. (whereas, hers was told basically in even bits throughout). Plus the ending seemed to be unrealistic given that these people were supposedly soulmates. Again, that's my own prejudice showing through here, but if I were her, I would not have chosen to do what she did in the end. Trying to avoid writing a spoiler review. Bottom line, if you are over 40, and not into 'girl power'-type stories, read a different book by Erin Kelly.

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Right thriller read by a master

Revisado: 04-25-18

Excellent. Could not stop listening to this classic. Such superb writing and the narration was excellent. Highly recommend . The bonus is that there is no outright sordidness since of course such tasteless prose could not have been written in Henry James time.

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Stinks on ice

Revisado: 12-18-17

I need long books for my morning walks - and gave this book a good listen - 4 or 5 hours? At first I thought maybe this is young adult fiction? But that would presume that young adult fiction is all bad (which of course its not). This is just about the weakest writing and story line I've heard in a while. The dialogue is terribly shallow. I was hoping for a good mystery that extended over 3 books, and thank goodness I didn't buy the other 2 at the same time.

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If you like Restless, you will like this one

Revisado: 10-06-17

Although they are much different in plot - the writing is great, and really kept me on the edge with excellent character development - except I did prefer Restless to this book. I think its just that my preference is for WWII and espionage- so you might find this an interesting read. Im glad I read it though, and would definitely recommend it. After this, I read "The Burning Air" - by Erin Kelly -

If you have been listening to mysteries like me since they were cassettes, Im cautious about choosing books, (I dont know why - its only time and a little bit of money wasted when a book is a stinker. And yet, its just disappointing when you get one - and its hard to know until you are already 1/2 mile away from the house and kind of stuck with it.)

So, I liked it - its like the Burning AIr in that there are some things that are far fetched and its hard to imagine this story really playing out. WHich of course is why I liked Restless so much - the characters seem very real, and the whole plot is of course entirely possible (and probable).

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its a good story.

Revisado: 10-05-17

I struggled a bit at the beginning, but nevertheless would recommend. I use books on tape for my miles-long walks, and I was about to give up after the first two chapters. By the third I was hooked and could follow the story. Characters were complex, interesting.

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