Madelon Wilson

The Title Says It All!

Revisado: 02-02-25 El oyente recibió este título gratis

Vince Stadon is obsessed with Arthur Conan Doyle's novel THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES. He has made it his mission to read every edition, every pastiche; to see every movie, television series; to listen to every audiobook; and to play every video game. He questions whether he is going mad. He decided early on in his quest that writing out the longish name of the author and the equally longish title of the work could become cumbersome and boring, so he refers to Doyle simply as 'ACD' and the title of whatever work he is consuming simply as 'Hounded.'

Why would anyone spend hundreds of hours consuming the same story over and over and over again? The overarching answer is that HOUNDED! was written during the COVID pandemic. What else could a man do other than read, listen, play, and watch?

Stadon's wife has absolutely no interest in the books, the author, or anything else Sherlockian; however, she is an avid reader — just not Holmes. The descriptions of discussions with Mrs. Stadon will have you laughing out loud as Vince portrays her as his tipsy wife with a penchant for wine. Spoiler alert: there is one actor who portrays the Great Detective that she will watch. I must say, he's one of my favorites as well.

The narrator of the Audible edition, Richard Auty, has a soothing voice that allowed me to drift in and out when I was several hours into his reading. I don't think I missed a single quip about Stadon's wife or the outlandish promises Stadon made to her. I just hope that he made good on at least some of them.

In its own way, HOUNDED! is a humorous and intriguing reference that belongs in every Sherlockian library. How many people participating in a pub quiz could answer the obscure questions regarding just the movies based on THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES? I'm not a pub quiz person myself, but I am married to a movie buff who expects me to know what the actor (any actor) on the screen may have been in. I'm terrible at that game. HOUNDED! would give me a leg up on any film or television series based on the Conan Doyle original.

Realizing how long it would take me to write down titles, years released, actors, and all the minutiae Stradon provides, I ordered a paperback copy as soon as I finished listening to the audiobook. One can never have too many reference books — especially ones that make you laugh.

Hounded! is a hilarious compendium of knowledge dedicated to one novel — THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES. It belongs in every Holmesian library — both the audiobook for the joy of listening to Richard Auty and a physical copy for reference.

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Jeff and Lynda's Roman Honeymoon

Revisado: 12-01-24 El oyente recibió este título gratis

"The Adventure of the Vatican Cameos" is a short story in the Sebastian McCabe-Jeff Cody series that sits between books three and four. I prefer reading a series in the order suggested by the author. I made an exception this time because the introductory commentary says that it is unlike the books that precede it.

Thomas Jefferson Cody and his new bride Lynda (née Teal) are honeymooning in Rome. They are there as tourists when a series of bizarre events occur. First, a young woman, Amber Kidwell, is distressed over her missing boyfriend and her ransacked room in the BnB. Lynda notices the young American is wearing a cameo necklace incongruous with her casual outfit. Apparently, Jeff Cody is something of a skinflint, so when he buys a cameo necklace for Lynda in the Vatican gift shop, it is both romantic and out of character. And last, there is the rather swarthy man, who Lynda thinks of as a gypsy, watching the building where the Codys and Ms. Kidwell are staying.

The missing member of the series team is Jeff's best friend, Sebastian McCabe, who is a professor of English whose literary hero is none other than Sherlock Holmes. While Jeff is making his cameo purchase, Lynda surreptitiously picks up a copy of the Holmes short stories in Italian. She never expected to need bedtime reading material on her honeymoon, but Jeff is one of those guys who reads to go to sleep.

While at the Trevi Fountain, Lynda becomes the victim of a street thief who unceremoniously yanks her new cameo necklace off her neck.

That night, after reading “The Adventure of the Six Napoleons,” by Arthur Conan Doyle, Lynda starts to put two and two together and is ultimately responsible for solving the crimes.

Listening to an audiobook presents certain challenges, especially when the narrator does character voices while having an accent himself. Overall, Steve White does an admirable job with soft-spoken Lynda and the deeper voice of Jeff Cody. I did find the southern accent he does for the American Amber Kidwell sometimes difficult to understand. It was a phrase here and there but still disconcerting.

Overall, the story and narration provide an admirable listening experience.

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A Chivalric Holmes Aids a Lady in Distress

Revisado: 06-10-24 El oyente recibió este título gratis

I will confess that the original Arthur Conan Doyle, as told by Dr. Watson, "The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton," collected in THE RETURN OF SHERLOCK HOLMES, is unremembered from my tween reading of the stories of the Great Detective. It is now my habit to read the 'new' Holmes and to follow up with a reading of the 'old' Holmes. Charlotte Anne Walters has skillfully denuded Conan Doyle's narrative of its essential shaggy dog story while translating Watson's chronicle of events into the modern world of cellphones and laptops. Before writing this review, I read the original for comparison purposes.

Whether the late nineteenth century or early twenty-first, Holmes and Watson prove that chivalry is not dead. In the analog world of Holmes damning letters can prove socially ruinous. In modern London, paparazzi and security cameras replace the written word. In any era, the existence of venomous blackmailers is always the same. Their victims find themselves in a damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don't situation where alerting the authorities will inevitably bring ruin.

In place of Victorian mores, Walters offers the subjugation of a woman to a viciously controlling man. He manages every detail of her life — he owns her body and soul. Can Holmes save the day?

The narrator, Steve White, was good but not great. I found myself missing some of his words. This flaw did not overly impact the story Charlotte Anne Walters wrote.

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Even After Ten Years This Novel Stands Up

Revisado: 10-15-20 El oyente recibió este título gratis

It was August 2010 when I first read BITE CLUB, and I loved it! It is now 2020, and I thought it was about time to revisit West Hollywood with the novel that started it all. This time, rather than reading, I listened to the audiobook. Listening in 2020 is significant; listening in October 2020 made it eye-opening.

On the surface, BITE CLUB is still a cozy mystery, yet there is an undercurrent that has new bite today.
One does not usually think of a murder mystery as a fun book, but BITE CLUB will surely change your mind. Hal Bodner has a way with a story that will suck you into the action then deliver a right cross to your funny bone. Oh yes, and get your mind out of the gutter. This is not gay pornography; it is a character driven tale that provides very human insight into alternate lifestyles, including those of some alternate species.

WeHo has a serial killer. The bodies are piling up. The mayor is a straddle-the-fence, please everybody politician. The city manager is the other side of 60, opinionated, foul-mouthed, and with the fashion sense of a blind drag queen. The chief of police works at not pissing off the city manager. The coroner eats junk food with one hand while examining the dead body with the other. Can you see where this is going? What about the bite? That would be telling.

Overall, the narration is pretty good. I was a bit nonplussed by Kitty Hendrix's pronunciation of some simple words… "wanely" for "wanly" - "r-sing" for "arcing" - "esque" for "eschew". There were several others. I also found that her character voices didn't match the voices I've had in my head for the past ten years. She is a pleasant enough reader, but I feel that there are surely others that could have done a better job.

Here is a tale that will keep you listening well into the night to see who is going to come out on top. It's not quite a roller coaster, but you may find yourself biting your nails, then welling up with emotion, and last, but not least, laughing out loud at the antics of this diverse cast of characters.

Listen and enjoy!

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Women Then, Women Now

Revisado: 02-13-19

A well-written book is hard to put down. By the same token, a well-narrated audiobook is truly binge worthy.
Such are the books in the Jack the Ripper Victim series, by Alan M. Clark, and narrated by Alicia Rose This, the fifth book in the series, elicits a certain dread that makes it as difficult to hear as it is to stop listening. The dread comes from what anyone who has read anything about the Ripper knows of Mary Jane Kelly, the fifth and final victim in the canon. She was the youngest, and by all accounts, the prettiest, and the only one so badly mutilated as to lose all semblance of humanity. As the protagonist of this tale, Alicia Rose's dramatic narration puts you, the listener, into a place you would not want to be. Somehow, using nothing but her voice, she puts you into that place that is Victorian London's seediest. Her rendition of Clark's introductory material, sets the stage perfectly. This is historical fiction that depicts, quite plausibly, the life that Mary Jane Kelly may have lived before it was so brutally ended.

It is important to understand that THE PROSTITUTE'S PRICE is a work of historical fiction, not another book attempting to solve the Ripper murders. It is a book about one woman, who by all accounts was a young, professional prostitute at a time when women were considered chattel no matter their social standing. From beginning to end, we see that Mary Jane Kelly lived by her own set of rules and did not allow male dominance to get in the way. Whether her choices were good or bad, they were her own. Alan Clark has given each of Jack's victims a voice but none more than Mary Jane.

Clark has done a remarkable job channeling his inner feminist. The entire series portrays the strength of women. If you think about what women have done in support of family and children, you will understand that these are not the stories of drunks who were murdered. These are the stories of women who did whatever was necessary to keep body and soul together in the squalor that was London's East End. I promise you that reading these books will change your perspective on this period in history.

If I may interject a point of personal privilege here, in 1999 I was in London. One of the things on my to-do-in-London list was to participate in a Jack the Ripper walking tour which I did with my husband. Our tour guide was Donald Rumbelow, a former City of London police officer, and the author of THE COMPLETE JACK THE RIPPER, which I had read. He is a London Police historian and has written books about crime other than this infamous unsolved case. The first thing to know about these tours is that almost nothing of the actual murder sites remains today. There are no Victorian chills until you get to Artillery Lane, Spitalfields. Walking down this unlit channel, in near total darkness, evokes an almost indescribable dread. When Clark puts Mary Jane Kelly walking on the very street, a street that still exists, I was back on that walking tour remembering the foreboding I felt some twenty years ago.

Whether you read or listen (or switch back and forth), this book, and the entire series, will add to your understanding of a time of great societal change and of the hardships women had to endure while that change was taking place. Think of where we are today. We have fought for and earned rights denied to these Victorian women, yet we stand on the precipice once again. I urge you, man or woman, to read these books to better understand the ongoing plight of women.

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Good for the Lemony Snicket Crowd

Revisado: 09-20-18

I listened to this audiobook using the Audible for Fire TV to see if this was a good way to listen to books. I have to say, I would have no problem listening to other books this way.

The book itself leaves a bit to be desired. Perhaps because I am reading a book, on my Kindle, that deals with the very real feminist issues of how women (and girls) are expected to behave with regard to men (and boys), I found the way that Moria interacts with her brother James is a glaring example of how NOT to raise a daughter. She had to play the meek, and weaker, sibling to mitigate his ire. Apparently, we are what we read, and the appreciation of one work heavily depends on the one that came before.

Throughout the book, I thought that the narrator was mispronouncing the name Moira. After listening, I went to my audible library and found that the girl's name, in the book, is Moria. My apologies to the narrator.

I am a huge fan of the Sherlock Holmes legend. I've read the canon, I go to the movies, and I watch the TV shows. I also read the tales written by authors other than Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Seeing and reading the variations on the original keeps Holmes a contemporary, as well as historic, character. I'm okay with Holmes using a computer and cellphone in 21st century London, as well as Moriarty being a woman. I think that when I availed myself of this free prequel, I expected a bit more than simply seeing the family surname, Moriarty, as the only hint this was to be a precursor to the Holmes and Moriarty rivalry. In fact, I found Moria to be far more cunning than her brother James. Is this to be a case of 'behind every successful man, there is a woman?'

Overall, the story is interesting, however, the narrator sounded too much like she was reading a bedtime story. It was difficult to determine the age group for which these books are intended. My best guess is that they are aimed at the Lemony Snicket crowd (or from my childhood, readers of Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys).

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Steampunk Prometheus

Revisado: 01-29-18

Since I recently read and reviewed the eBook BODACIOUS CREED, I concentrated on the narration while listening to the Audible edition. I have often read print books and then listened to the audio version in the past; however, I have not done this before in such close proximity in time. Where the author of the words in print dictates the tone of a book, it is the narrator that is the tone of the audiobook. D. Golden's use of her voice gives each character distinct personality. Her voice for the nineteen year old sociopath, Corwin Blake, is irritatingly spot on.

I did notice that Ms. Golden pronounced one or two words throughout the book in a way that made me think she is pretty young and unfamiliar with them. Most notably, the way she said 'hearth' which, by some reckoning, might be a somewhat archaic term.

I often wonder if the popularity of audiobooks goes beyond convenience. When I listen, the days of bedtime stories always crosses my mind. This may also be due to the fact that I almost can't go to sleep without reading my own version of the bedtime story. The drawback, of course, to listening before sleep is that one can lose one's place and have to figure out just how far back to go in order to get the whole story. I read the eBook so recently that if I did miss a bit in the listening, memory filled in the blanks. I have also gotten in the habit of noting the Audible chapter number (which always seems to be the author's chapter plus one) before I turn out the light.

So much for the audiobook; on to the book review. Having read and listened just days apart, the following is my review of the book as it appears on Goodreads and Amazon.

When I was a kid, I was a big fan of TV westerns. In my old age, I have become a big fan of steampunk, a sub-genre of science fiction and fantasy, in all of its many forms. BODACIOUS CREED is a perfect marriage of the wild, wild West and steam.

As we grow older, it is sometimes difficult to remember those little joys of childhood. I am reminded of a time when I was 8 or 9 years old when I used to play TV westerns with the kid next door. We had bikes for horses and six-shooter cap guns. We became the heroes and bad guys from our favorite shows. We had no grass or dirt paths, but in a child's imagination, even concrete Bronx sidewalks can be dusty trails with tumbleweeds. Jonathan Fesmire brought all that back with his descriptions of U.S. Marshals, bounty hunters, and their horses.

What I am not is a fan of current zombie fiction… no Walking Dead for me. Such zombies are just too nihilistic. I have always had a fascination with Voodoo and its tradition of creating a zombie slaves. As horrible as that may be, at least they don't feed on others to make more of their kind.

So how do steampunk cowboys end up with zombies? Steampunk is a very broad spectrum sub-genre of science fiction. As such, there is an 'anything goes' acceptance of everything so long as it runs on steam and can be described as mechanical. Extrapolate from that the need for gears and levers and add in the ether (or aether) and you have all the ingredients for raising the dead with science rather than ritual.

Although the setting is Santa Cruz, California, there is a Dodge Cityesque saloon run by a "soiled dove." Anna Lynn Boyd is the strong, intelligent woman who happens to be the madam of The House of the Amber Doves. This is her story as much as it is U.S. Marshal James Creed's.

While reading BODACIOUS CREED, the movie "Cowboys and Aliens" kept coming to mind. That was a must see movie for me that I truly enjoyed. There is something about the flavor of this book and that movie that seem to overlap. Also, if you are a fan of the Will Smith movie "The Wild, Wild West" you might just love this book as much as I did.

So without telling the story, what we have here is a well-written tale capable of making an old soul feel young again. That feat of legerdemain is accomplished with charismatic, well developed characters and writing that pays homage to attention to detail without getting bogged down in repetitive minutia.

I would highly recommend that upon finishing this book you avail yourself of the short story offer on Jonathan Fesmire's website. "The Obstructed Engine" provides a starting point for some of the characters in the Creedverse.

Oh yes, and I love the cover art.

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Her Mantra, "Something better…"

Revisado: 08-15-17

I generally read everything in a book - the preface, the introduction, the author's note - everything. I find that these extras give me insight into the book as well as into the writer's intent. The author's note in SAY ANYTHING BUT YOUR PRAYERS has confirmed what I thought while reading the other three books in the Jack the Ripper Victim series. These are not novels of the crime and the criminal but rather of the women who only became known to the world by dying at his hand. I use the masculine pronoun for the same reason Alan Clark did… we know the vile murderer as Jack. If I were to classify these books, I would have to say that they are historical fiction not crime fiction.

Elizabeth Stride differed from the other victims in that she was not native to London. She was born in Sweden and was named Elizabeth Gustavsdotter. Going to London, after personal trials in Sweden, was to be her great adventure. Despite hardship, Clark has given Long Liz Stride a somewhat better life than the other victims. She also had a better death. As the third victim, and the first in the double event, Elizabeth did not suffer the same indignities the others did.

I made no special effort to read these in the order of their deaths. Each book stands on its own as a look at how these women may have lived their lives during a time when the haves and have nots were as different as night and day. Again, as in the book about Catherine Eddowes, OF THIMBLE AND THREAT, Elizabeth shows her awareness of the Whitechapel murderer.

Too often, the public at large is obsessed with the perpetrator of heinous acts. Thousands of pages have been written about Jack. Documentaries abound speculating on his identity. In all of this, there are a few public documents available for his victims, and, of course, their autopsy reports. I see the book in the Jack the Ripper Victim Series as a counterbalance to the fascination with evil.

I would be remiss if I didn't, once again, say how much the narrative performance of Alicia Rose enhances the writing. Her British accent adds a certain authenticity to the story of each victim. Despite the accent, she speaks clearly and with just the right amount of emotion to make listening a truly enlightening experience.

I would certainly encourage history buffs to read these books. Also, if you have even a passing interest in the ripper, you will find new context for the crimes. Remember, historical fiction is based in well-researched fact.

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The Downfall of the Pretty Girl

Revisado: 08-09-17

I have now listened to three of the four books in the Jack the Ripper Victim series, and I see that Alan Clark's fictional biographies of the women, made famous by their murder, are historical treatises on the plight of women in Victorian London. We have be told, when reading about Jack, that his victims were drunken prostitutes, that they had husbands and children whom they abandoned in favor of the cruel life on the streets using their bodies to earn their doss. In other words, to Victorian men, women were less than nothing, mere chattel to be done with as they pleased. Giving a life, replete with emotions, needs and desires, to each of the victims allows us to see these women as the human beings they once were.

Each of the books provides a totally believable scenario for the life of each victim. His account on Katherine Eddowes differs slightly from the other two about whom I have read. Her life had a definite turning point that led her down the path of over indulgence in alcohol and giving in to the need for money by prostituting herself. The history contained here is in some ways less appalling than for Annie Chapman and Polly Nichols. Alan Clark has struck a balance that lends more credence to this series of fictional biographies.

This is the first book in the series where the soon-to-be victim voices an awareness of Jack. In fact, she makes a fairly significant life decision based on that knowledge.

OF THIMBLE AND THREAT gives more of a direct nod to Clark's long standing in the horror genre as both a writer and an illustrator. This is most evident in the more than a little chilling end to Katherine Eddowes life.

I continue to be enthralled with the stories in no small part because of the narrative performance of Alicia Rose. I am inclined to recommend that you skip the written word in favor of the spoken so as to be fully immersed in the experience of Victorian London her reading provides.

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The Demon Within; the Danger Without

Revisado: 08-05-17

In his introduction to A BRUTAL CHILL IN AUGUST, Alan Clark adds some historical context that I never knew before, despite being an avid follower of the Whitechapel killer. That fatal August was pretty chilly due to the eruption of Krakatoa that spread fine ash over the northern hemisphere. As I read this, I mentally bemoaned the inadequacy of history texts in presenting events in a broad enough context. My motto is that any day that I learn something new is a good day… so today is one of those days.

Although this is part of the Jack the Ripper Victim Series, each book is a standalone novel not about Jack but about one of his victims of which the canon tells us there were five. A BRUTAL CHILL IN AUGUST is the story of Mary Ann "Polly" Nichols, Jack's first victim. In creating a biography from what is known of the victims, Alan Clark has obviously done his homework with regard to the history of Victorian London. He explores the ways of superstition and religion in that time period in such a way that his background as an artist and writer in the horror genre add just the right flavor to the tale, No doubt, Jack the Ripper is the narrative of an unsolved murder spree, but Jack himself has become a time-honored trope in horror.

Let's forget about Jack for the moment because he is truly peripheral to the point here. Polly Nichols comes alive in a world beset by the ills of adherence to class structure. If you are poor, you live and work with others of your class. This class structure led to such travesties as the workhouses which were little more than forced labor prisons for those in need.

This series has led to some personal experimentation with listening to audio books without having read the text. The narrator, Alicia Rose, does a five-star job of reading. Her British accent enhances the story by putting you there, in London. She speaks clearly and with the right emphasis to bring Polly Nichols to life. I could be easily persuaded to listen to anything she might perform.

The story ends as you would expect, no change in history here. However, if you read this book on Kindle, you will miss out on the chilling musical rendition the Audible edition provides.

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