Lynn

Love Deaver's Novels, but...

Revisado: 02-04-22

I have enjoyed all the many Jeffery Deaver novels that I've read/listened to, but I'm having trouble with this one because of the music. It is sometimes too loud, but is very much a distraction throughout. The story is good, the narrator is good, but it is dreadfully hard to listen to because even when the volume is down, it is intrusive. I have noticed it being a problem in other of his books, and I sincerely hope it isn't an ongoing issue.

Had it not been for the music, be assured I would have rated this at least four stars... maybe five.

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Not what I expected

Revisado: 10-18-21

I have a really hard time with non-fiction. It isn't that I'm not interested, because I really am. I'm a news and political junkie, I just feel like reading a whole book about it is a slog. Not this one. Although every word is pure fact, it "reads" (I do audio) like a novel. I couldn't stop listening. And it isn't just the content. Adam Schiff narrates his own book so well, it was almost like sitting in a room having a conversation. I've tried many other non-fiction by authors I love and respect (e.g., Rachel Maddow) and fell way short of finishing. This book does, indeed, cover some very familiar territory, but then takes you several steps past what you thought you knew about the goings-on of the previous administration.

Please just assume that I've tacked on another two or three stars on to the maximum five available to me.

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Not the best in the series

Revisado: 12-07-20

I truly liked the others in the series that I've read so far. I've not read them all, nor have I read them in order, but as each is pretty much standalone, I don't think I've missed any really important information that wasn't summarized nicely even when skipping through.

My problem with this book is that it involves sooo much sexual torture and involves (albeit briefly) brutal killing of babies. That the sexual torture is inflicted upon men instead of, as usual, on women doesn't make it any better. Don't get me wrong; I'm no wimp. I read rather graphic murder mysteries all the time, but it just seems like it's a bit more motivated by sexual titillation than by advancing the story.

Also, there were instances of misinformation. For example, she seems to think that contemporary witches prefer to be referred to as Wiccan. That is an incorrect generalization that just isn't true. Wicca is a religion, the followers of which are called Wiccan, although they do consider themselves to be witches. However, witches can be of any religion or no religion at all.

Another spot is the assertion by an ostensibly Mayan "god" that he was trying to reverse the damage done by the "white" Jesus. Jesus was not white, he was Middle Eastern and by all accounts would have been a person of color - brown skin, brown hair and brown eyes, not the European blue-eyed blond guy he's been morphed into.

As an editor of novels, I have always advised authors to do their homework. Don't just dream something up and assume your "facts" are indeed FACTS.

I may give this author another read only because I've enjoyed other books in this series. But if I were in a position to, I'd advise against this particular book.

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Good book about witches

Revisado: 09-17-20

I am having a really hard time finding good reads about witches. Some are for teenagers. Some are overly sexualized. Some are more fantasy genre. This one is actually good. It deals with witches as real people and from a pragmatic point of view. I am personally not into the Christian (or any religious) ties to the craft, but in this case, it didn't really detract from the story. Because my usual fare is heavy duty murder mysteries, I don't object to the use of cursing, but this book contains very little - for those of you who may be more sensitive to that sort of thing than I.

My only real objection is the narrator. Ms. Kellgren is actually a very good narrator, but didn't quite fit the story line here. Her accent is just a bit heavy on the British and not at all on the New England or even a neutral American. Given the setting, I would have preferred New England. Save Ms. Kellgren for a Brit mystery or a transplant from London to the USA.

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Trilogy Part II

Revisado: 07-21-20

Part I was interesting and kept my interest, even though both I and II are much more "girly" than my usual reading fare. Unfortunately, Part II was all expository and, while integral to the story, held no suspense beyond the various romantic interests intertwined with one another. At this point, not having read Part III yet, I'm think this would have been better all in one longer book, or at the very least edited and combined into two.

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So Sorry

Revisado: 04-21-20

I really wanted to like this book. Unfortunately, I really, really didn't. Fight scene after fight scene doesn't replace a good plot. F-bombs and sh*t bombs don't replace good dialog. I'm a fan of some pretty gruesome detective stories, and god knows I do plenty of swearing myself. A well placed f*** is like an exclamation point - great when it's needed but loses impact when over used. In this case, it comprises way too much of some writing that was pretty janky in the first place.
If you can dig beneath all the fighting, the plot outline might have been interesting, but determined as I was to finish the book, I only made it 3/4 of the way before giving up in utter frustration.
I was hoping for more craft, both of the witch variety and the writing variety. Neither showed up.

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Story is awesome.

Revisado: 03-06-20

Just the sort of thing you'd expect from Preston & Child - Mystery, adventure, and weirdness. My only problem was the narrator, but then I have a problem with many narrators. The specific issue is pronunciation of words both foreign and domestic. Just as written words often need a copywriter or proofreader, these spoken word stories could use some serious help from someone who actually KNOWS how to pronounce certain words. I'm working very hard to overcome my tendency toward being Grammar Police (extremely seldom a problem with these two), but hearing words mispronounced is still jarring and distracting for me.

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Top Notch Mystery

Revisado: 06-17-18

I have "read" all of the Rhymes/Sachs mysteries so far, and each one has been thoroughly engaging and captivating. This is no exception. Several threads are introduced that seem to have little bearing on one another but... well, just read on.

I also must give highest marks to the narrator, Edoardo Ballerini. He captures accents, both foreign and domestic to a tee, and he's one of the best male narrators to read female parts. He doesn't adopt the whiny simpering voice that some do, nor does he attempt some quasi-falsetto. Strong women sound like strong women, not made weak and ineffective simply by the voice given them by a less accomplished reader.

Give me more Deaver/Ballerini collaborations, please.

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Really good but not quite great

Revisado: 06-09-18

The story was good and even when I sort of had things figured out, was (as usual) written to keep me wanting to listen to the very end. However, on almost any day of the year, I would listen to Will Patton read the dictionary, but his voicing of one prominent character I found very, um... well, to be honest, annoying. I understand that giving individuality to many characters might be daunting, in this case I truly wish he had gone in some other direction.

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More romance than suspense

Revisado: 02-19-18

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

No, because I seldom recommend even books I think are stellar. Few people have the same taste in books, films, or even television shows.

What could Iris Johansen have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Boy, where to start. I think if one was looking for the Harlequin Mystery Series kind of book, this might be a good fit. It just wasn't the sort of thing I would call either suspense or mystery...at least not without the /Romance added to the category. Then I would have known not to select it.

What didn’t you like about Elisabeth Rodgers’s performance?

Probably was OK for the kind of book it was, but a bit emotive for my taste.

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