Lew

Outstanding!

Revisado: 11-26-24

Brilliant time travel/ spy story. Super casting, excellent writing, one of the best audible originals in years.

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Nakamura's Most Convoluted Novel. Had to Quit.

Revisado: 03-03-23

To state that I'm a fan of Fuminori Nakamura would be a vast understatement. He is one of, if not the most prolific writer of Japanese crime-noir and his novels are typically brilliant from the razor's edge of back alleys, gangsters and Tokyo's dark underbelly. "My Annihilation" is pure internalised noir with all of the trappings of internal monologues, puzzles within puzzles and an infantry of quirky and dangerous characters. But this book becomes so convoluted, so deeply entrenched in it's own self-indulgence that I simply could not continue. There are masterful puzzle writers such as Thomas Pynchon (never an easy read), but for this genre, the writer takes us deep into numerous psychologies, too many Russian dolls within Russian dolls; replicating the same personality in numerous characters whose names become a muddle of confusion. Brian Nishii, our faithful narrator of Nakamura's audiobooks delivers and masterful and well-crafted performance but when you're lost in the maze of Nakamura's fanciful puzzles it simply became too frustrating (for me). I love this author's work, almost every time. But not this time.

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A Riveting 5-Star Performance

Revisado: 01-21-23

This single actor monologue performance is both a testament to exquisite writing but also tour de force masterclass in acting of the highest caliber. Carey Mulligan is shockingly good, alone, weaving a riveting account of a horrific event in her character’s life and we, the audience, are drawn into this marvelous account until the unnerving twist leaves us stunned and wondering how humans endure the most devastating of circumstances. Bravo to Audible for producing this extraordinary one woman play.

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An Extraordinary Life, The Real Deal

Revisado: 06-05-22

This is by far one of the most heartfelt and empassioned memoirs ever written by one of our most senior field operatives at CIA, and also possibly the most candid and generous glimpses into the work and dedication that goes with that impossibly secretive territory. Beautifully written, this account of Ric Prado's life's work across decades and continents is nothing short of spectacular and with all of ( or as much as permitted), the good, bad and ugly without apology or regret but with gratitude and pride. Featuring an all star cast, this book delivers the most honest look at life from the sharpest end of the spear in the US clandestine services and certainly a guide book to those inspired to follow in this line of work. For anyone with the good fortune to have touched the hem of this business anywhere in the world, you'll know without question that this is the real deal. Kudos to Scott Brick for another masterful performance.

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Complex Story, Weak Narration

Revisado: 03-14-22

This book is considered one of the great foundations which shaped the brilliance of Elmore Leonard's work. It's easy to understand the brilliance of George V. Higgin's natural flowing dialogue and how even character names (Jackie Brown) were inspirations for Leonard. But with any book that is driven almost entirely by dialogue, full chapters of only characters speaking to each other, the narration has to be flawless. In this case, the story is complex with numerous characters and, as others have indicated, the narrator has consderable trouble differentiating who's who. When two characters are speaking and they both sound exactly the same, the book becomes overly challenging. No disrepsect to Mark Hammer for the valiant effort or George V, Higgins for breaking new ground in crime fiction (though he refused to be classified as a crime fiction writer), but this book was hard to follow. The Friends of Eddie Coyle may be one to actually read. As an audiobook, it doesn't work with this narrator.

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Insightful, beautifully decorated, refreshingly honest

Revisado: 02-10-21

If approached with the understanding that former or retired Directors of Central Intelligence must abide by not just a stringent review process by CIA, but their own honorable conduct in the careful choice of words, this is profoundly frank, unreservedly human and never self-serving account of an extraordinary career in public service to the United States government. Brennan will be remembered as one of CIA’s titans of leadership and a model for how to protect the US population against all odds. This book is written and read from the heart and I am grateful for Director Brennon’s candor in sharing the journey.

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The Post-Apocalyptic Feel Good Book of the Century

Revisado: 06-01-20

If there was ever a need for a feel-good version of a post-apocalyptic world where a global pandemic has taken all but a few, maybe 2020 is the right time and place for kindness in the midst of disaster. The Last Tribe opens with a family surviving against all odds, maybe genetically, it's never explained, and follows their journey to find other survivors. It's a boiler-plate story with (minor SPOILER): absolutely no zombies, no hoards of evil people, just people surviving in a world where the population is gone. Going into this book with a general awareness that it's about people just trying to nice to each other for a change, I enjoyed it. Scott Brick is a champion and if anything saves this book, it's his 100% commitment to make it feel real and alive. For anyone looking for scares and terror, this book will satisfy only to the extent that the world is a scary place and survival isn't going to be easy but this is definitely not a get-scared book. It's a feel-good book.

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A Plodding and Pointless 7 hours.

Revisado: 12-20-19

The title, "Twelve Nights at Rotter House" is a punchline to joke that is only revealed in the final pages. Of course, some reviewers had warned that this is not your typical haunted house book; no jump scares, no sudden frightening moments. I was curious because who doesn't like a good haunted house book and the reviews were terrific. The book is a plodding, slow (and I mean very slow), unrevealing diatribe of endless dialogue between two troubled ex-best-friends trying to sort out hard feelings in a supposedly haunted house. But dear reader, nothing happens apart from a few psychological twists that leaves you wondering if the house is really haunted or not. The performance is very good but the dialogue is so constant that the reader often struggles to keep two voices clear and separate. It's not his fault. This book takes you nowhere. There are basements, there are spooky legends, but there's nothing but relentless talk; about horror movies, about ghosts in pop-culture and arguments on top of arguments with a side of sexual betrayal. The payoff comes in the final pages and is so glaringly predictable that you find yourself begging for your seven hours and 47 minutes back. I stayed to the end but caution readers to read the reviews here and on Amazon before spending the credit. This one is just bad.

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Astoundingly Good CIA Autobiography

Revisado: 10-26-19

This book lays bare as much as the author probably could, without spending the rest of her life in jail, about a career in the CIA and as a deep cover operative in our clandestine services. For those who love the cloak and dagger intrigue, the training, the bells and whistles, it's all there. But this author digs deep into her own soul, her motivations, her values and penetrates like a laser into the cracks and fissures that underscores the US mission in counter-terrorism. It's never a negative story, but rather a life story and it's honestly told and beautifully read by the author. For anyone who has served, or even touched the outskirts of this career-choice, this is the real deal. The author is brash, cocky, fearless and often too smart for the job, but these are the thoroughbreds in the great game. Strap in because it's a beautiful and intense ride.

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Unlistenable

Revisado: 06-29-19

As a huge Jonathan Lethem fan, it pains me greatly to declare this audiobook virtually unlistenable. It was a huge mistake not to preview the audio narration and thus this is an unfair review of the book’s content. But as this is an audiobook after all, the narration is so colossally bad that it renders this book impossible (for me) to endure.

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