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Don't waste your cash on this one

Revisado: 12-02-23

It has been quite a while since I posted a review but for this one, I just have to.

I've read the whole Bibliomysteries series and this is, by far, the worst of the bunch. The first story is a vampire story and I have no interest in vampire stories. Second story was child abuse and pedophilia, more topics I don't want to read about. Way too creepy and depraved -- and an unfortunate introduction to the author. I should have liked the the third but I was so turned off by the first two that I could not get into the story. The only story I did enjoy was the last one, but where was the mystery?

This volume was utterly disappointing for me. If I had not paid cash for this one (fortunately deeply discounted), I would have returned it and gotten my credit back.

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Not as good as the first two volumes

Revisado: 12-02-23

What happened? The first two volumes of Bibliomysteries were marvelous. Mostly hits -- and more stories.

Wish I could say the same about this volume. The narration of the first two stories was a drag on the stories themselves. The first story I could not get past the writer's style and quickly lost interest. The second story was okay but was killed by the narration. Maybe they would have done better sandwiched between 3 and 4, which were head and shoulders above the first two. Lisa Unger's "The Dark Door" grabbed my attention right away and held it to the very end while Simon Brett's "Biblioteca Classica" sent me searching for more Simon Brett.

Overall, a disappointment.

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YA well-couched intro to the Civil War

Revisado: 10-05-20

The authors use the concept of "high-tech" to capture the attention of YA and slightly younger readers while introducing them to the names, battles and chronology of the American Civil War. It is age (middle grades?) appropriate in the level of detail and depth of analysis -- and yet interesting enough to hold the attention of this adult. And, no, the book is not dumbed down; it covers a lot of ground in a short amount of time, giving out a lot of facts, names, dates, locations (but no quiz at the end, so don't worry). It is more narrative and action than it is analysis.

Narrator Fred Sullivan has done an excellent job here. The pronunciations is clear and correct (especially proper names); the pacing is slow enough for young ears to digest but not so slow that they are bored.

For those trying to decide if this book is appropriate for their young readers:
What the book does include: battlefield statistics (numbers of deaths and casualties are mention for a couple of the battles); discussion of various firearms; mention of slavery as one of the reasons why the war was fought (but no discussion of the institution itself); the fact that civilians rode out to the battlefields to watch the various battles. This is a military history and the idea that soldiers died is not avoided but details are not provided.

What the book does not include: in-depth discussion of why the war was fought or in-depth analysis of the political and economic positions of either side. That is not the purpose of the book. There is no bullet by bullet description of the battles, no blood and guts. No guided tours of the military hospitals. Nonetheless, the book is aimed at an audience that already understands that in a war, people die; that the goal of a battle is to defeat the other side.

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Poor narrator

Revisado: 10-03-20

Wodehouse is a hoot.

What a shame that this edition is completely ruined by the narrator. His straight reading is clear and pleasant to listen to but the voices he has chosen for the various characters are grating and unintelligible. Life is too short; I am marking this one DNF and moving on.

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Good mystery, wrong everything else

Revisado: 06-03-19

American author. American narrator. 1920's England. Doesn't work it for me. I listen to too many books written by Brits and read by Brits to be fooled by this one. The vocabulary is wrong. The diction is wrong (both the written and the spoken). In spite of the setting, this book is American to the core.The main character is entirely implausible for the period and the place. The only thing that has kept me going to the end is the mystery itself, which isn't half bad.

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Disappointing

Revisado: 05-15-19

Sadly, this is not Felix's best effort--and I have read a number of them, which I have really enjoyed and even re-read regularly. Sid Halley should have stayed retired and Dick Francis's name long since should have been removed from the cover. Long since time for Francis fils to start down his own path.

The basic set up for the novel had potential but didn't deliver. Every thing was predictable -- even the surprise twists were predictable. This was not the same Sid Halley we have come to know from his earlier stories and I can't believe that 6 years of retirement made him completely stupid. Even worse, all the characters were not well written. Finally, there is the writing and Francis fils has already shown us that he can write better than this--although he does have to come up with something new in the way of spousal endearments, because his "my darling" is becoming rather worn out after the number of times it has been used in this book and and in Even Money.

The secondary plot about the hand-wrist transplant did not do it for me. He never says a word to his wife about it; who in this day and age doesn't discuss even the investigation of such surgery with his spouse before embarking on the project? Then, he wants it so badly that he is wishing out loud for someone to die; that is not the Sid Halley we have come to know from his previous outings. Then there is the blatant set up for a future story ( please, I hope not). All too horribly contrived.

In general, I enjoy Martin Jarvis as a narrator and he did a good job with this one but Tony Britton will always be the voice of Sid Halley (and Dick Francis) in my mind -- and he is no longer recording books.

All in all, if you are looking to try a Felix Francis, don't start with this one; and if you want to meet the real Sid Halley read them in the order they were written.

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Truth in Advertising. Please!!

Revisado: 05-07-19

This title would have been far better received if the description had explained clearly what it contains. That is to say that it contains audio snippets from the dictaphone recordings that Christie made in the process of writing her 1977 autobiography and is NOT a recording of the published book, which is 147 pages long and thus much longer than the 79 minutes of this recording. If you are expecting a recording of the published book, this is not it. Sadly, the published book is not available on audio.

As for the content of the recording, I will have to return to it on a day when I have the patience to sit for an hour or so, straining my my aging ears to listen to what I know will be a fascinating listen to an accomplished author discussing her craft and her process.

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Sorry I missed this at the local theater

Revisado: 05-06-19

I chose this as my April Audible Original freebie because I had to give away my tickets to see the show performed locally and I wanted to hear what I might be missing. Considering that my daughter, who took my tickets, loved the production, I am going to say that this might be one title that should seen on stage rather than just heard. Sad to say, this is another Audible Original that I did not make it through. DNF! Did not finish; could not finish.

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Too many narrators

Revisado: 05-06-19

I chose this as one of my two free Audible Original titles. I quit after 20 minutes. Too much dialgoue and not enough exposition, even for a children's title, was driving me crazy. Maybe in a few years my grandson and I can enjoy this together.

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Horrible narrator, lackluster writing

Revisado: 02-11-19

Yes, overall just one star. The poor narration is such a turn off that it completely brings down the score of what could have been a strong 3 star contender. Could no one convince the man that the story itself is compelling without help from the narrator? The interviews are interesting but the story is a lot less sensational than than the author/narrator wants us to think. He sounds like one of those voices on one of those unsolved mystery TV shows, the kind where there really is no story and they are just trying to string you along for two hours making you think that there will be a big reveal at the end. Maybe because there is no big reveal at the end but simply the sad, un-sensational story of a very troubled man --and no I am not referring to Cash himself. If you are paying for this, don't waste your money or credit.

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