Barry S. Sharpnack

Wow, so much worse than his first. Really too bad.

Revisado: 09-05-14

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

Democrats, and extreme cynics.

What could Josh Bazell have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Not sure... maybe scrap the idea for this book, and start over with a new story.

Which character – as performed by Robert Petkoff and Stephanie Wolfe – was your favorite?

None

What character would you cut from Wild Thing?

Sarah Palin

Any additional comments?

It's too bad when fiction writers need to inject their real-world political opinions into their fictional stories. Stephen King does that too sometimes, and it almost always lessens the quality of the novel.
I'm no fan of Sarah Palin, but putting her in this book and making her such an awful character not only rubs a lot of people the wrong way, it distracts from the storyline. But the story in this book wasn't very good anyways, so even if he left Palin out, it would still be a terrible book.
To Josh Bazell: I might give you one more chance if you write another novel, but if you pull the same stunt again and write such a comically bad story, well... never again.

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Waste of a credit.

Revisado: 12-11-10

I really wanted to like this book. I loved older books written by Straub, like Ghost Story and Koko. Ghost Story is still one of the best horror stories I've ever read.
But Peter Straub began to slip some time in late 80's or early 90's. His books became strained, vague, and uninteresting. He completely changed genres. So I basically gave up on Straub.
With A Dark Matter, I decided to give him another shot, hoping that he had returned to some form of horror. I shouldn't have wasted my credit. I should have known better.
This story is boring and repetitive. It simply explores several characters' bizarre dreams and imaginations (I think). It was frankly difficult to follow. I gave up on the book before I finished it. I just couldn't hang in there. I can't tell you if the ending was any better because I never got to the end.
The only good thing about this book is the narrator. Robertson Dean is excellent, I've listened to some of his other narrations, and he never dissappoints.

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esto le resultó útil a 4 personas

Ruined by the narration.

Revisado: 12-14-09

First of all, let me say how much I hate the voice of this narrator. He has a high voice, and sounds like a 16-year old. And he runs his sentences together without a proper break. No talent at all at voices. I don't know how he got into audiobook narration, maybe he's related to a producer or something... this is a classic case of a bad narrator ruining a decent book.
The story is only decent. I loved The Crime Writer and The Program, both excellent. But this book seemed to be too similar to other thrillers I've read (e.g., Harlan Coben, etc). It just seemed formulaic, and it never grabbed my interest. It gave me the feeling that I'd read the same story somewhere before.

I will remain a Gregg Hurwitz fan, and will try to read all his books. I know he will write better books than this one. I just hope his future books aren't mutilated by the narrator as this one was.

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esto le resultó útil a 10 personas

*Yawn* ...typical late King.

Revisado: 12-03-09

First off, I am a huge fan of the "early" Stephen King, what he wrote in the 70s and 80s... The Shining, Christine, Pet Cemetary, It, Misery, etc. All excellent top-of-the-genre horror novels.
Since the early 90s, King has softened up quite a lot. Books like "Dolores Claiborne", "Duma Key" and "Lisey's Story" make me just scratch my head and wonder if this is really Stephen King writing.
He's written consistently "soft" novels since the early 90s, and "Under the Dome" is no exception. It's not horror, not a thriller either, but more a story about political and religious corruption, and lust for power. Many of King's recent novels have his own political ideas injected into them, and this one is no different. It gets tiresome after a while. If I want politics I'll turn on CNN.

King does a very good job with characters, I'll give him that much. But this book is so long, it drags. After the first 20 hours, it was very hard for me to keep interested. The book became totally predictable, and the novelty of the "dome" completely wore off.

It's also pretty sad how every Christian is portrayed as a complete nutcase.

About the narrator: I'd never heard Raul Esparza before, and I must admit I didn't like him at all. For some reason his voice sounds too young to me, and didn't really fit the story. He made the doctor Rusty sound like a 17-year old surfer dude. The voice he used for the little girls made me cringe. Yikes! Awful... I think he's just new at audiobook narration, and obviously needs more practice. This book would have benefitted from a more mature male voice.

To sum up: it starts out interesting, but gradually tapers off and I lost interest as the hours passed... and passed... and passed.
I wish the old Stephen King would come back and write something scary. I want to be frightened again.

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esto le resultó útil a 27 personas

I loved this book

Revisado: 11-25-09

I like McCarthy's writing style, but its never been better than in The Road. The setting is a bleak future, a man and his boy holding on to each other despite having absolutely nothing to live for. The story moves along well, with McCarthy's brilliant prose, but the bleak atmosphere is not something all will appreciate.
Many criticize this book because of the lack of sophisticated dialog. In fact, a man and his son travelling along a road in the cold of winter probably would not have many deep, philosophical discussions.
The story is simple, but it's what McCarthy does with it that gives its complexity.
There are some moments in the story that are some of the most memorable I've ever read; particularly the man's remembrance of the final conversation he had with his wife.
The author manages to introduce a fair amount of realistic suspense into the story. I cringed at what the man found in the basement of that house...
McCarthy is one of the most brilliant writers, and he is at his absolute best here. But you'll probably either love it or hate it.
Oh yeah, Tom Stechschulte's narration is perfect for this book.

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esto le resultó útil a 24 personas

Bad effort my a good author.

Revisado: 11-22-09

I like Morrell. The Protector was excellent, and so was Creepers. But I just could never get into this one. Mystery lights in the wilderness mess with people's minds. There isn't a whole lot to this story in the way of plot. It probably should have been a short story. It's slow and fairly boring. It's also a little unbelievable, the way so many people fall under the control of these "lights". Skip this one, and try some of Merrill's other books.

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esto le resultó útil a 3 personas

Wow!

Revisado: 11-22-09

Where has this autho been all my life? I'd never heard of Jack Ketchum till recently, and took a chance on this book. I am partial to this type of story, and the genre in general, but I didn't expect the book to be as good as it was. Very, very intense, graphic violence, but for a good reason. The antagonists (the family of cannibals) are truly froghtening, even the children. If you can deal with the violence, I highly recommend this book. One of the most frightening stories I've read in a long time.

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esto le resultó útil a 19 personas

Perfect follow up to a perfect book.

Revisado: 11-22-09

Rarely do I say this about a sequel, but in this case, the sequel is even better than the first book (The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo). I recommend reading the first book before reading this one, though. Both are interesting, and very intelligent novels. Plenty of suspense, intrigue, mystery in each, with outstanding characters. Narration by Vance is top notch.

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esto le resultó útil a 2 personas

His books are becoming repetitive

Revisado: 11-22-09

I am a big Vince Flynn fan, and really enjoyed reading his books in the past, especially "Consent to Kill", which is my favorite. Guidell does a great job of narrating them.
But now it seems that his recent books are just copies of what he's already written. I hate to say this about Flynn, because I am a big fan. But there was nothing new in this book. Same thing as before: Mitch Rapp chases sadistic terrorist around, always one step behind, while the terrorist unflinchingly kills anyone who gets in his way. The action always leads up to a final plot to blow up/assasinate someone or something important.
I would like to see Flynn add a little more originality to his books, he's starting to repeat himself.

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Bosch vs. the Chinese cartel

Revisado: 11-22-09

I love Harry Bosch, and have read every book. This one is a nice departure, as it involves the Chinese gangs, and part of it takes place in Hing Kong. Nobody writes crime like Connelly, and this book is no exception. Highly recommend.

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esto le resultó útil a 3 personas