Leland

More Training than Risk Management

Revisado: 02-14-20

You only want to spend 60 minutes to learn Risk Management. This book will cover the highlights of Risk Management, mostly terminology than concepts, in about 40 minutes. The other 20 minutes is providing basic tips for recalling the information in the future, particularly if you have a few more hours to listen again as it suggest. Better advice is to get a book that spends 3 hours on the details and concepts of the subject.

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A jarring fanboy telling of his time with Mattis

Revisado: 01-16-20

I've read Mattis book "Call Sign CHAOS" and found it to be a very thoughtful book about international issues. I like Mattis. I thought this book may provide more insight into the man and his tenure as SecDef. Instead, this is a story akin to a primary school student telling his class of the awesome summer he had and the time he met his hero. The lavish praise of Mattis is a bit much while purposely contrasted by a loathing of Trump.

I decided to end my listen after the author reads the mind of a secret service agent and tells us the purpose of the agent's actions. The agent simply asked if the author needed to be in an unsecure room observing the President. However, the author tells us that the agent was really trying to remove people that could witness Trump talking and embarrassing himself. When the author is speaking in an omniscient style, I'm clearly listening to a work of fiction.

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Too short... not a problem listened to it twice.

Revisado: 02-12-19

I've held off purchasing this book and others like it. I care about politics, but I don't care for it to be a part of my daily life. However, some things are getting hard to ignore. Kurt Schlichter gets it. I enjoyed his book and the comedic tone in which he wrote it. It's no laughing matter, but ridicule is the best defense. If anything, the book is too short. But I listened to it twice in a row and enjoyed every bit the second time. Tony Katz provides an outstanding performance.

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Cash grab mess

Revisado: 08-29-18

The book is a chronological mess. It starts with game 1, then talks about the Astrodome, then gets back to the WS, does this jumping around throughout, and ends with a story from the 1800's that has nothing to do with baseball. The author wanted to tell his story, and wrapped it in the success of the Astros to get people to buy it.

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A mix of advertisement and autobiography

Revisado: 12-12-17

Putting aside the marketing of Scrum and the authors story, there is enough here to describe Scrum. But much of the capability is asserted and very little theory is provided. It seems to just work, saves time and money, and allows you to get inside your competitors OODA loop (the OODA loop is about the only concept fully explained, much of the rest is technique asserted to work). I think Scrum is a good concept, I just wish there was more in the book about what makes it work.

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Enjoyable plot and story moved along poorly

Revisado: 03-27-17

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

Most fiction requires suspension of disbelief. But this book could have kept the story; had Nathan and Holly act like real people, discover the big plot of the bad guy; and then had a story about cleaning up the mess while protecting the secret clandestine operation from becoming public. That would have allowed the same action that played out at the end and be a bit more believable. All it would have required would have been giving a second for Nathan to trust his girlfriend, or his father, or heck the owner of his business competitor that he considered to be an upright guy that he would recommend a friend to go to work for him.

Which scene was your favorite?

The opening scene where the trained security the guard notices odd behavior and checks it out without getting involved. It was the only realistic and reasonable scene in the book.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No.

Any additional comments?

Perhaps I watch too much YouTube and How It Should Have Ended, but too many chapters of this book could have ended better if the characters did something that would have seemed a reasonable thing to do. Instead, it was almost like a horror story in which the main character makes you want to scream, "don't do that!"

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Once you get pass the premise, it's a good book.

Revisado: 08-10-16

What did you like best about Red Dragon Rising? What did you like least?

The general plot was great, and mostly what I expect from the authors. It's a good story about how and why a war is fought, and the details of what actually happens. That much I enjoyed and is why I purchased the book.

Would you recommend Red Dragon Rising to your friends? Why or why not?

I don't have many friends into these kinds of books, and those who are, I would recommend other series well before this one. Perhaps, like me, if you already gone through all of Clancy, et al of the 80's/90s, more recently Brad Thor, and other Larry Bond stuff; then this is a good series.

Which character – as performed by Luke Daniels – was your favorite?

I think both Mara and Josh were performed well. But the portrayal of the SEALs nearly took me out of the story. To be fair, the material Daniels had was as bad as the portrayal. It's very hard to believe Larry Bond wrote both about the SEALs in this book and Exit Plan. Did Jim cover them in this?

Did Red Dragon Rising inspire you to do anything?

Look for a new series.

Any additional comments?

Ok, Audible's default question didn't really hit the problem with this book/series. The problem is the premise is (not a spoiler, as the books starts with this) massive global climate change has affected the Chinese economy causing them to push expansion into Vietnam for fertile fields to feed their population. This is set in the present, and it is ridiculous. I just completed reading "Shattered Trident", that also had a war between China and Vietnam, which was extremely plausible. The premise for this series requires the worse of global climate change to actually already occurred, and it hasn't. The financial numbers rattled off at the beginning are absurd.

Yet, besides the premise being the cause of war and occasionally mentioned in dialogue. The actual plot has very little to do with it. At its heart, this is a story about civilians caught in the middle of a war, a nation unprepared for the aggression of its neighbors, and how the US government might react to this event. All these items at the heart, have nothing to do with the premise, which actually saves the story in my view. So if you can make it through the first 20 minutes of the book; you'll find a decent story. Oh, and the do the same in book 2 of the series.

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A good book for all ages

Revisado: 08-28-15

Where does The Ables rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

It's a fun book. The performance was a bit off, because Jeremy doesn't do characters very well. I enjoy when an author reads their own book, but this somewhat monotone. That said, the story is solid and entertaining.

What other book might you compare The Ables to and why?

It seems more like an action hero novel. Its a good book for kids. Not quite the quality of Ender's Game, but I think it is a fair comparison.

Which character – as performed by Jeremy Scott – was your favorite?

In terms of performance, Phillip was the best character, but then the performance between characters was somewhat flat. However, the story and the performance makes the Mom a very endearing character. Her love of her family is very touching.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

What the parents do for their son throughout the book is a good lesson. I also enjoyed the teacher who stood up for her pupils, even against the public perception that the students were less able and needed society to protect them. However, the actions of the Mom in the book was the most memorable and emotional.

Any additional comments?

I hope Jeremy writes another book, and performs it as well. He has a great gift for story.

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Great book and good narration

Revisado: 12-17-14

What made the experience of listening to Blood and Honor the most enjoyable?

First, I understand the complaints of others about Michael Russotto's narration, particularly when compared to book 1's Dick Hill. They are very different voices, but to me, Dick portrays non-English speaking characters better. In the Corps series, I recall hearing both narrators, and I preferred Russotto's Pickering portrayal over Hill's, but I liked Hill's Killer McCoy better. But in the Corps, there were fewer non-English speaking characters, so Russotto wasn't bad. In Blood and Honor, he made all Spanish speaking and most German speakers seem very slow. But what made the experience more enjoyable? The further removed from Book 1, thus remembering Hill's performance, the more I got used to Russotto. In short, wait a bit before listening to book 2 after book 1.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Blood and Honor?

SPOILER: Graham's trip to Argentina. It was almost classic Griffin to have all the key characters magically show up for an important event at the same time.

What three words best describe Michael Russotto’s performance?

Not his best

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The care and attention by the revolutionaries and later by Enrico Rodriguez to prevent unnecessary harm to others.

Any additional comments?

Don't listen to book 2 immediately after book 1. Give it a month. Then the narration won't be such a shocking difference.

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Reacher is a hypocrit

Revisado: 06-08-14

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

No. The story was outrageous compared to the previous series. With the exception of Reacher not given full freedom to run about (SPOILER, but only for the first 15 minutes), the rest of Reacher reacting is pretty much him over reacting. The final nefarious plot is poorly built and requires quit a bit of nonsensical bias and huge suspicion of disbelief to seem rational.

Has Nothing to Lose turned you off from other books in this genre?

No. Because I realize that the Reacher series is about entertainment rather than seriousness. And with one exception, there is very little from one book that spills into another book, which I find disappointing at times (be nice if some of the events in the previous book was used in future books). "Nothing to Lose" is simply a book in the series that could be skipped with no loss.

Which scene was your favorite?

SPOILER: The company owner stranding Reacher at the Air Force Base. Almost wished the author had some fun with the reader and Reacher, and have Reacher realize he made a major mistake with his over reaction.

Was Nothing to Lose worth the listening time?

I get books for my long commute. For that, it was worth a listen. If you wanted a good book just to enjoy some night or weekend, it wouldn't be worth it.

Any additional comments?

SPOILER: This whole book is premised on a city wanting to live in privacy in a manner hardly different than Reacher himself. Sure, they have freedom sucking laws that people would consider to be overbearing to liberty, perhaps illegal in civil rights. But if so, its hardly anymore illegal than Reacher constantly lying to people to hide his true identity and thus have his privacy. I kept wondering when Reacher would realize Despair was a town living the Reacher life without being a drifter.

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