James G Phillips

Patton Oswalt sealed the deal.

Revisado: 08-04-23

I had been looking at this title for a while, and was on the fence, but bought it because yo was read by Patton Oswalt.

I was not disappointed. It was a good story, well paced, well developed and well read.

The narration really made it pop. Oswalt seems to me just to be an really likable person, pleasant to listen to, and his voice characterizations are great.

Im guessing he and I could not be further apart on the political/social spectrum, but that has no bearing on talent, and so I would likely buy an audio book just because he was the reader.

Buy the book; you will not be disappointed.

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Mark Cain/Michael Gilboe, a PERFECT combination.

Revisado: 12-08-22

I own every audio book available that was written by Mark Cain. This guy is a pleasure to read and/or listen to, well, his writing is…I have no idea what he is like in person, but I digress.

Michael Gilboe is the perfect narrator who expertly brings off the sarcasm, humor, and irony in Cain’s writing. I will be searching out other author's work he may have read just because he is so good at what he does.

If you have ever had something go wrong, and thought “of course…” knowing that life often (usually) sucks and we just have to get through it, you will understand and love the Circles in Hell series.

If you have any sort of biblical knowledge, or were exposed to the classics in school, the references peppered all over these books will be fun for you as well.

I do not laugh out loud often, especially when I’m alone, but on my 3-hour daily commute, this made other drivers look at me as if I were deranged, and I laughed out loud, a lot. These books made a boring trip fun.

Buy the entire series. You can thank me for the recommendation later.

You’re welcome.

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Someone else said "Unfortunate;" I concur.

Revisado: 12-08-22

Have you ever gone to one of those big-box, membership stores that sells granola in 50 box lots, or yogurt in 3-gallon tubs, only to make a purchase of said bulk items, only to get home find that in fact you do not like the items at all?

Yes, you “saved big” by “buying big,” but what did you really end up with?

That is where this audiobook purchase left me. Sixty-one hours for one credit? What a deal!

Nope.

For me the reader is as important as the writer, and I should have paid more attention to the negative reviews on the reader of book one, which I could not even bring myself to finish, and I hate wasting anything.

The negative comments about the reader's annoying cadence, halting style and overall tone were correct. It was nothing less than a painful listen.

I am wondering if anyone else felt that Shaggy, Scooby, Daphne, Fred, and Velma were going to pop out at any moment and pull the rubber mask off the evil caretaker/villain?

That is the vibe this listen gives.

The story was OK, and if it had been read by someone else, it may have been enjoyable, or maybe not, but we will never know.

I’d say give this one a pass.

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esto le resultó útil a 7 personas

The narration ruined it for me.

Revisado: 11-23-22

The person narrating any given story usually makes or breaks it for me. A good narrator can make even a marginal storyline an enjoyable listen.

That was, sadly, not the case here. The story is long-winded and a bit pretentious, with boring segments that that just drone on and on.

The narration made the lead female character seem like and whiney-entitled Gen-Z stereotype, and I don't think, though maybe I am wrong, that is what the author intended.

The alien voice characterization was especially grating, and annoying, while being laughably childish. (Think 1950s robot voices in B-movies.)

I'll suffer through, and finish the listen, as it is long drive from work to home, and the expense of these audiobooks is not insignificant to me, but it is like your mom forcing you to finish something on your plate that you ~really~ don't like.

The story was just OK, and I don't think I will bee seeking out other books by this author.

I think this book would be most appealing to the teen-female demographic, and is not really grown-up science fiction, if such a thing exists anywhere but in my mind...

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Great Story, Great Narration

Revisado: 06-22-22

A good narrator can make even a marginal story palatable, but happily, that isn’t necessary here.

It is a great story made even batter by captivating and entertaining narration.

Buy the book…er, audio book.

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The reviews made this seem really promising, but..

Revisado: 05-12-22

The story drags; the narration is trite and awkwardly delivered. I held on until chapter 5, but after the author utilized the word "adjunct" for about the 57th time in the same chapter (OK that is hyperbole, but the repetition of the word was profoundly annoying) I had to bail out and return the book. Sorry, but I found zero entertainment value to this one.

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Great Listen, Well Produced, Well Read.

Revisado: 12-10-21

I am not a big Motley fan, though I do like some of their songs, and I LOVE Rush, so Nikki Sixx likely would not like me (listen to the book to get that reference) and I don't by many memoirs written by musicians and stars, but there was a really good buzz going around about this book, and since I drive an hour and a half each way to work and back every day, and my audio book library was getting thin, I bought it.

I ~must~ be entertained at all times...

Sixx narrated the book himself and did a great job, easy voice to listen to, good timing, pace and flow.

I was very pleasantly surprised, the book contained lots of interesting stories from the life of Nikki Sixx that showed how he got from A to B, while not turning into a "oh, poor me," or "look what I overcame" sort of book.

Sure, nothing was handed to the guy, and he worked tirelessly for everything he got, but he never seemed to be trying to make the listener feel bad for him or think he was some sort of super-human overachiever.

Guess what, hard working, caring about your work product, and trying to give value for the dollars people give you can pay off big.

Aside from all that, there were a lot of funny, raucous, and interesting stories from his life of good, poor and downright illegal behavior, all of which made the guy and his band what they are today. The insights on the LA hair band scene, and what killed it, were interesting as well.

It is a great listen and worth the money. Buy it; you will not be disappointed.

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I had really-really high hopes....

Revisado: 12-10-21

Having reviewed "the reviews," I had high hopes that this would be an entertaining and enjoyable listen; it was not.

I like dystopian, post apocalyptical, and other such depressing or disaster themed books. I though this one might tick all the boxes, but it had some aspects that caused me to bail out with about 17 hours of listening left, that I looked forward to as much as my next root canal.

First, the narrator was, in my personal opinion, just awful. I will describe my thoughts on his performance, not to be insulting, hyperbole, or to exaggerate in any way, but just to describe how he sounded to my ears.

Have you ever spoken with someone with a poorly fitting partial dental plate?

One hears lots of lisp-like sounds, has the feeling that teeth are clacking just a bit too much, detects slurring, and just a very distinctive sound that such a condition creates.

This poor guy is a prime example of how that sounds, and it annoyed me greatly. That alone would not have stopped me from finishing the listen, but then there is the matter of his cadence and regional, or attempted regional accents.

His reading was slow and halting, and he seemed to vacillate between a poorly done native American accent, and a poorly done imitation of someone truing to sound like they were from Minnesota cheese making country.

All that was bad enough, but the story itself just dragged on and on with mundane, uninteresting and superfluous details. Rather than setting a mood or tone, they just plain bored me. This story, as much as I was able to choke down, was hours of complete and utter boredom, punctuated by moments of "sort of interesting action and interactions."

I am honestly having a hard time reconciling some of the reviews I read with what I actually heard when I bought the audio book.

Sorry, maybe it is for you, but it is certainly not for me.

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esto le resultó útil a 2 personas

Best deadpan humor I have heard in a good while.

Revisado: 01-13-20

Dry, funny, original, cynical and engaging.

Buy it now.

This one gets my highest ~for what is worth to you, which is likely very little~ recommendation.

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