ReadNPaint

Entertaining and well-read

Revisado: 06-17-13

I have listened to one or two others of the Walt Longmire series and I enjoyed this one very much. A lot happens quickly in the plot and I had to rewind a few times but that was a minor inconvenience. It's a story with some sad and tragic happenings but also some wonderfully strong characters who form strong bonds. The humor runs toward dry and sometimes absurd, not mean, but pointing out our human traits and weaknesses, especially the banter between old friends and among the people who work together at the police department and who frequent the local diner.

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Good, but not as good as I had hoped.

Revisado: 09-22-12

I have mixed feelings about this book. It's a very well-done, detailed true story of a unique and remarkable man who survived internment in several Japanese POW camps during WWII and eventually began to thrive and to help others improve their lives, particularly by sharing his Christian beliefs. While one hesitates to say anything negative when discussing his horrific experiences and acknowledging the price he paid for his service, I have to say the book is in places overly dramatic and at times not believable. It is perhaps even a bit cultish. But it is a powerful story that spotlights the brutality of the Japanese military during WWII, a topic avoided these days because of our current favorable relationship with Japan. The reader gets a little rushed in places and, because there are no obvious breaks for paragraphs, events seem to get crowded together in ways that seem odd. I think if one were reading the book it would be obvious that time had passed between certain events but when listening it seems that they follow on each other non-stop.

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esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Engrossing!

Revisado: 09-22-12

The book is interesting, the reader is clear and makes the story come alive, and this compelling account of the US Ambassador to Germany and his family in the early 1930's makes history easy to absorb. Although the book is about Nazi Germany and how our diplomats dealt with (or didn't deal with) the rise of Hitler, the topics of tolerance, religious freedom, one-party government and abuse of power provide thought-provoking echos in terms of current events.

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esto le resultó útil a 2 personas

Interesting and enjoyable.

Revisado: 07-14-12

I already liked this writer and this series, so know that upfront. The plot is unusual and complicated, the characters are interesting, and the background relating to sculling and crew is fascinating. The introductory quotes from books about the sport and from accounts of some of the teams are nice little extras. For instance, who knew that a male crewmember training to compete in a four man boat consumes up to 6000 calories a day? There's not as much drama and romance vis a vis the two detectives who figure in this series as there has been in other books. One main character is a vet with some head injury syndrome and PTSD (I think) and he's an interesting and refreshing character.

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esto le resultó útil a 2 personas

Dated story theme

Revisado: 07-14-12

I did not enjoy this story as much as some of the other reviewers. I thought the story was very dated and not particularly believable in places. Also, the book is just chock full of stereotypes and thus the characters aren't developed in interesting ways as much as they could be if they weren't mostly sterotypes, such as the "typical power-hungry Irish policeman stereotype", for instance.

On the plus side, the book moves along quickly, following an intricate plot. The narrator does a good job.

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esto le resultó útil a 3 personas

Starts out interesting but the story comes apart

Revisado: 02-03-12

I was very disappointed in this book. I've listened to other Wallenders and really liked them. The plot starts out interesting and then just stalls and then comes apart. To the extent that I could follow the narrative I found it not either interesting or believable and the point of the story, when it does become clear, is not interesting, novel or exciting. Characters disappear and die for no reason and no believable reason is supplied as the book unfolds. Get it from the library if you really need to read/hear this final book in this detective series.

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Another entertaining Virgil Flowers saga

Revisado: 11-22-11

I was a little concerned about buying this audiobook when I read that some other Sandford fans didn't think it lived up to the other Virgil Flowers books. It isn't as intense and heavy a book as some of the others but Virgil is still Virgil. It's an entertaining story and it kept my interest all the way through. The narrator is very good and he does the funny bits very very well. The back-and-forth with the motel desk clerk named Thor is priceless. My only quibble is that I felt the storyline lost some of its believability toward the end and usually I find the Sandford plots and characters completely believable. Perhaps Sandford meant for Virgil to lose his edge a bit. If he did, then the next Flowers book will surely be a humdinger.

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Not very good

Revisado: 08-03-11

I found the dialogue and thought processes of the characters sexist and anachronistic and the depictions of both the male and female characters demeaning. I wish I hadn't bought this audiobook. It would have to be a whole lot funnier than it is to make up for the endless chronicling of lowlife behavior. Tomlinson in the Doc Ford novels is funny and kind of nuts. Jeffty is just a sad case.

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