BJBSF

Stop reading reviews and get this book!

Revisado: 06-28-21

There is nothing I can add to the other 33,000 reviews. Stop reading and start listening to this audiobook.

The performance by Ray Porter is exceptional.. It is Andy Weir’s best book. Just get started.

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Light history of a fascinating man and his time

Revisado: 05-17-20

I wasn't sure I needed to read more Churchill after all the other books, including Martin Gilbert and William Manchester's works. But Larsen writes like a novelist, and his insights into some of the key people around Churchill and the most challenging year in Britain's history do not disappoint. It is a non-fiction page-turner which describes the ordinary lives of the Churchill family and the Prime Minister's key advisers during extraordinary times. I was sorry it didn't go on beyond Winston's first year.

John Lee's narration was fine with me, as I've heard him read quite a few books, both fiction and non-fiction. This story, written by an American, requires telling by a British reader.

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Another Winner

Revisado: 04-01-19

You know what you're getting with Mark Greaney, as accomplished a thriller writer is there is. Mission Critical does not disappoint, with a fast-moving story, engaging characters, and vivid bad guys.

A tip of the hat to Jay Snyder, whose reading of Greaney's books give a cinematic quality. Snyder moves between characters deftly, and handles the burden of numerous accents in stride.

I listen to Gray Man novels while exercising, a powerful motivation for getting off the couch.

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Another Winner From Sandford

Revisado: 08-14-18

John Sandford is one of the best thriller writers out there, with compelling characters worth caring about and well plotted stories that keep the reader or listener fully engaged. If you've come to know his Lucas Davenport over the years it is always enjoyable looking in on his career and his family as he pursues another interesting case. Each Sandford book sells the next one in the series.

In Twisted Prey, Lucas becomes involved in an assassination attempt on a US Senator from Minnesota by professional killers with ties to military contractors and the other Minnesota Senator. The case unfolds in the usual Sandford style, with the pace picking up throughout the book, causing a disruption of your bedtime or other planned leisure activities. The details of the investigation and the motivations and conduct of the federal law enforcement agencies are well researched and fascinating to follow.

Richard Farrone is back as narrator and brings just the right touch of seriousness and humor to the book. He is the perfect reader for this series.

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The Best Part Was When It Ended

Revisado: 08-02-18

After what seemed like days of listening, I could not wait for this book to end.

Brad Meltzer slams together several far-fetched coincidences into a storyline and dresses it with the macabre behind-the-scenes minutiae of the Dover military mortuary, where our hero, a master mortician, uncovers a deadly conspiracy surrounding a secret government unit with ties to--wait for it!--Harry Houdini and the Library of Congress.

The plot requires more than the suspension of disbelief--you have to embalm disbelief and then bury it in your backyard. Mix in characters that are tragically unsympathetic and a post-mortem guest appearance by the Librarian of Congress and you have a dog's breakfast of a thriller novel. It's almost as if someone dared Meltzer to pick random words out of a hat and write a novel about them. How to refill a candy machine for maximum effect? No worries, we can include that too!

Just to ensure there was no chance of resuscitating this rotting corpse comes Scott Brick, whose breathless, melodramatic narration gives every paragraph end-of-the-world import. After the first half hour of his overwrought drama I was ready to embalm myself. January LaVoy's reading was not quite as annoying, but it seems she had to maintain the tone set by Brick in Meltzer's too-numerous flashback narrations.

The book and the narrators deserved each other.

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Third Book Is Disappointing

Revisado: 03-02-18

I loved the first two books in this series and couldn't wait for The Kremlin's Candidate, which I pre-ordered. It is a big disappointment.

It's not just the ending. There are enormous plot holes requiring leaps of faith for readers expecting Jason Matthew's usually tight and credible story lines. I had a visceral dislike of the last two hours of the book. It makes me wonder if the writer wrote without a clear ending in mind and had to wing it to meet deadline. The cynicism of the ending was both sad and illogical given the described events. Making Vice Admiral in 12 years? No marine patrols around the winter palace? And the overall US domestic political framework is more Cold War than 2018.

On the other hand, Jeremy Bobb is a wonderful reader.

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This Book is Awful

Revisado: 01-22-18

If you/ve read any of Dan Brown's books, then you've read this one, too.

His tired formula: Robert Langdon + beautiful companion + evil conservative Church force + endless chases + scenic surroundings + condescending mansplaining + laborious overly dramatic exposition.

Each chapter is slow and predictable. My ears hurt from listening. I like to listen during long walks, and I found myself jeering the author rather than cheering the protagonist. It is that bad.

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