Thomas Allen

The academic is going to teach the warriors to be humane

Revisado: 06-19-24

The story is entertaining enough, though there is really nothing new here. I did get tired of the main character always questioning the humanity of the actions of those around him. It was actually pretty hypocritical, as when it became his time to be aggressive and kill bad guys he did so with gusto. But then he’d turn around and question the actions of everyone else. I guess the author is trying to teach us readers some lesson, but the execution of that messaging is pretty poorly done.

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Less than half the book is about the crew

Revisado: 12-10-23

Of the nine hours of the book, only about three or four is actually about Jay Zeamer, Joe Sarnoski and the rest of the crew. While I of course understand the need for background information, this book expanded on that background info so much as to come across as filler. I got pretty tired at long winded explanations like why Douglas MacArthur was a self promoting D-bag of a general. I'd like to have learned more about the rest of the crew, get their backgrounds and their lives leading to Old 666 like we did with Jay Zeamer and Joe Sarnoski. When the book did return to the stories of these heroes, it was actually quite good. And the ending, epilogue, and afterward were nicely done.

I also disagree with the naming of this book as "Lucky" 666. It wasn't luck that made these airmen so impressive and successful. The book demonstrates it was their grit, determination, talent, practice, planning, and bit of a rebel streak. Not luck. I'm left to wonder if it was the authors that came up with this name, or a publisher looking for a splashy, albeit inaccurate, title.

While Jeremy Bob did a passable job in reading this book, he was relatively uninspired. I felt like he would read a text book with the same cadence, and i felt that did the story a bit of an injustice.

And finally, the music... They open and close with music fit for a spy thriller, not something appropriate to honoring self sacrificing warriors in the vast blue sky.

So is this book worth the credit? I'd say the four-or-so hours it covers the crew are, as would be a much abbreviated set of background information. But not for the filler and not for the narrator.

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Strange story surprisingly deep

Revisado: 03-24-23

Don’t let the description fool you into thinking the story is repetitive it certainly isn’t. But it’s fascinating to compare similarities between the protagonist’s experiences and to tie them all together. The book also has some frustrating points and some real heart. I really enjoyed this read. The narrator was fantastic in his separating characters through voice and accent. And at one appropriate point I think he had a genuinely emotional reaction to the story as he read it. That part was more experience than story.

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Weird, fun, and heartfelt

Revisado: 03-05-23

One last adventure through the multiverse. It's just as weird, and fun, and heartfelt as the previous books - a great way to cap the trilogy. I'm not usually a fan of books where kids are introduced to create problems. But I loved this one! And the author continues as a great narrator.

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All of the magic of book 1

Revisado: 07-17-18

Rob Dircks does a great job of creating a really fun, new and original story with the elements of Where the Hell is Tesla. And he does this with a more grown-up (but still irreverent and enjoyable) main character. In addition to saving the multiverse, Chip has to deal with love for his bride and potentially being a father. I also really liked all of the new characters introduced throughout the book. It's all touching and fun and very much worth the listen.

Right off the bat, Rob Dircks does a great job reading his own book. Several times throughout, I reflected on how great it was that we knew exactly how the author wanted his characters to sound. He has great pacing and voice characterizations. And I'd swear that he's having just much fun reading as I am listening.

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Unapologetic Guy Book

Revisado: 07-02-18

Another solid and straightforward entry from Andrew Vaillencourt. This book has some interesting political wrangling, a smattering of romance and dangerous flirting, and an antagonist twist. But at it's heart, it is a fast-paced action book. This is an unapologetic story for the stereotypical, beer-drinking dude. And the characters are PERFECT for that kind of universe. Actually, the characters are the reason I kicked this from an enjoyable four stars to an outstanding five.

I listened to this as an audiobook, and Jay Ben Markson continues to impress. Great pacing and character representation. I especially got a huge kick out of his representation of the few parts with the "blood-thirsty action junky" named Bernadette.

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High society foolishness that is somehow fun

Revisado: 07-02-18

This book is a lot of high society snobbishness and pretentiousness out of almost everyone (even Pendergast). But then in comes D'Agosta to give us a reality check through his eyes and so everything remains fun.

While the murders are fascinating, you'll probably figure out the "how" pretty quickly. But the "why" remain elusive and tantalizing. You may also figure out the "who", but you'll be wrong as to that person's motives. The book follows a certain line of thought and then suddenly does the dog after a squirrel thing by making a hard turn to chase another idea.

Scott Brick continues to plod along as the solid-yet-pedestrian narrator.

Overall, I rather enjoyed this book though I can't quite understand why. It has a lot of elements I should find distasteful. But in the end I would recommend it.

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Lots of fun with a great little twist at the end

Revisado: 07-02-18

I had a lot of fun with this story. It's scary and mysterious and easily connected with. The character development is done like an upper cut to the jaw (hard and fast and dizzying), but that means that I really felt I knew the main players well and quickly. About half-way or so through the book, the listener is given a pretty good makeup of the antagonist. But the origins come as a surprise near the end of the book, and the motivations come as another sweet little surprise if the listener is paying attention.

Scott Brick did a solid, albeit maybe a little pedestrian, job as the narrator.

Overall, a very fun listen.

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A trudge until the last three hours

Revisado: 07-02-18

Stereotypes, stereotypes, stereotypes. The hard-boiled cop with a foul mouth who bucks authority. The FBI agent who takes over and puts everyone else down. The academics who think the cops are stupid and ignores their advice. The eccentric old man to whom nobody listens. The stereotypes keep popping up. With the constant march of the stereotypes and the boring and flimsy story, I almost gave up several times. But after 10 hours, the book paid off with a decent climax and ending. But then in the epilogue the story drops right back into eye-rolling stereotype.

At least we have a light sprinkling of Pendergast. A lot more Pendergast would have done this story a lot of good. Also,the heroine isn't a helpless damsel in distress and isn't an overly aggressive woman with something to prove.

As to the narrator, David Colacci needs two things. First, he needs to learn to do voices. Giving each character a different accent doesn't cut it. And don't make Pendergast sound like he's sucking on a Tootsie Roll the whole time. Second, he needs a director who can help him to read acceptably. Odd pauses popped up here and there. And his voice volume constantly raised and fell and kept falling away or blowing out at a mid-range volume setting.

I know that the Pendergast series gets better. I've listened to Still Life with Crows and also to Brimstone (books 4 and 5) and they are both great books. So if anything, this book gives me some background on some of the characters.

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Straightforward futuristic fun

Revisado: 06-05-18

Let me start by talking about Jay Ben Markson's performance. If you're like me and you listened to the preview snippet, you may have found his narration to be rocky and crackly to the point where it sounded like it was going to fall apart. This almost kept me from ordering this book. But Mr. Markson's performance turned out to be really quite good. He has good pace and emotion, and he does a good job with the characters.

While very enjoyable, the story itself is nothing revolutionary. It's a straightforward actionfest with a linear and fairly predictable path. But like I said, it's enjoyable. And while the character development may be a little on the light side, it's enough for me to care what happens to them and to be curious to move onto the next book to see where this goes.

If you're looking for a fun way to keep the mind occupied for 10 hours without taxing it too much, this is a good choice.

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