Bob

The laughter that won't stop.

Revisado: 12-22-05

Just a quick review on this one. This might've been a 4-star selection had it not been for the never-ceasing honking laughter from the interviewer, Lynn Hirschberg. If you can get past that, Bill Murray shines as you'd hope he would.

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An 11 Hour Chase-Scene

Revisado: 01-26-04

If you enjoyed the movie "Die-Hard" and want more of the same, this is the book for you. Other reviewers here have noted that this book would make a good movie, and they are probably right. If you are looking for a well-writen book with an intricate plot or interesting characters, however... you should just click on by.

It's evident that the author knows how to write well. If not, there would be no other way to stretch this into an eleven hour chase scene. The truth is, you could probably skip over full hours of this book and pick up just about where you left off... chasing somebody or being chased.

I cannot say that this is the worst book that I've ever listened to, but I'm not convinced that it's the book that made me listen. In fact, the narrator Stephan Rudnicki might be the only reason that I made it through the entire book. Like he's proven in his other narrations (Ender's Game, for example), he's able to walk the fine line between acting and narrating without becoming too dramatic or distracting.

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esto le resultó útil a 9 personas

adequate

Revisado: 12-01-03

I purchased this book after reading all of the glowing reviews here... and now that I've finished listening, I'm somewhat puzzled. While this was a decent book, it definitely didn't live up to my expectations. I found the plot to be slow and the characters to be caricatures. Goods guys are sincere. Bad guys are evil. And crusty cantankerous (crippled) guys? Why, you know that they really have a heart of gold, right?

Like a couple other reviewers here, I found the sex scenes unnecessary, but for a different reason. They were mostly absurd. I definitely wouldn't characterize them as porn or x-rated like other reviews... I just kind of thought they were filler and had to wait through them until the plot continued. I found myself talking out loud to my car stereo on several occasions saying: "okay, okay... we know they get it on... let's get on with the story now".

It would be misleading to say that I disliked this book. The writing was adequate. The narration wasn't terrible. I just don't know that it was worth fifteen hours of my time.

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esto le resultó útil a 2 personas

A solid Audible selection

Revisado: 07-02-03

You probably won't be astounded when you find out "whodunnit", but this is an enjoyable book nonetheless. No loose ends and a somewhat believable plot.

I was a little unsure at first with the narration. He seemed a bit slow and deliberate, but I quickly became accustomed to the pace. Also... did anybody else happen to notice that they seemed to switch narrators about half-way through the book? It was either a different person, or they prodded the original reader into a faster pace (and with a higher pitched voice). Not too distracting, it just caught my attention.

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esto le resultó útil a 11 personas

you know what you're gonna get

Revisado: 05-08-03

I think that I have listened to every "Spenser" novel that's available on Audible. It isn't so much that they are fantastic books... it's more that they are predictable in their high-quality. I tend to listen to these short Robert B. Parker novels between larger books... enjoying a mostly mindless story before undertaking another long listen.

Joe Mantegna continues his entertaining portrayal as Spenser... one that he's also become known for in made-for-TV movies. As a side-note, the voices that he gives his female characters in his readings never fail to amuse me. I particularly enjoy when he attempts to pull off a rendition of a woman trying to seduce Spenser. Those laughs alone make the commute fly by quickly.

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esto le resultó útil a 13 personas

Made to be a movie

Revisado: 03-25-03

If you're looking for a nice light read that's well-written, this is just the book for you. Just don't expect to be dazzled. It should be no surprise at all that this book is being made into a movie.

There is one serious flaw here, though. None of the characters are very likable. You go through the entire book, and don't really care much whether the main character lives or dies.

If you're new to Robert Crais, I'd strongly suggest that you wait to read this book until you've finished the Elvis Cole series. Go check out 'The Monkey's Raincoat'.

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esto le resultó útil a 9 personas

Relevant Accessible History

Revisado: 03-25-03

As somebody who uses Audible to make my commute bearable, I have the tendency to gravitate mostly towards mindless fiction to make the time pass... and base my reviews primarily on how successful books do with that criteria.

That being said... this is a book that isn't mindless, but still kept me captivated. It's a facinating look into both American policies in Central America as well as techniques that are used in tracking people. I have thought about this book frequently during the recent hunts for Osama Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein. I was very surprised how hit-and-miss the technologies seem to be.

The author does a good job in presenting the details of the situations without making personal judgement on the characters involved, but does so in a manner that isn't school-bookish.

Well done.

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esto le resultó útil a 31 personas

Same ol' Spenser

Revisado: 03-25-03

If you've read any Spenser novels before, you probably don't really care about the reviews... you're going to read (or listen to) it anyways.

That being said... you won't be disappointed by Joe Mantegna's reading of these books, although I found the accents that he gives the female characters hysterical. The "he said, she said" comment of the previous reviewer is valid, but I didn't find it overly distracting.

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Nothing New Here

Revisado: 03-25-03

Let me begin by saying that I think I've either read or listened to every book that Grisham has written. Let me continue by saying that I haven't really enjoyed many of them. I consider his books to be perfect beach, airplane, or commuting material. This book is no different.

No, you won't really like the main character. You won't feel sorry for him when things start going badly for him. You know where the story is going after listening to the first half hour.

Reading a Grisham book is like watching an episode of a television drama. You're not expecting high-brow intellect or overly thought-provoking moral dilemmas. You listen to Grisham because it's a fast-paced story that makes the time fly by.

He delivers that again here.

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Makes the commute fly by

Revisado: 03-25-03

Like a previous reviewer, this was my introduction to Steven King.

I've long considered myself king of the cynics... especially concerning anything metaphysical, enchanted, or ghostly. I've avoided Steven King books for years. If you are of the same state of mind, don't be put off by this book. It's a true gift for a story-teller to be able to create a tale with "regular guys" and have you pulled along, accepting the unbelievable things that are happening to them.

My only complaint would be the rapid "conclusion" of the book. After listening to almost 20 hours of a book, it was disappointing to have the loose ends tied together in one brief chapter. From reading other reviews of Steven King, I understand that this might be typical: really strong for the first three-quarters, and then kind of trails off.

I think that the stronget compliment that I can give an author is to say that I've purchased more books since. I'm now listening to "Bag of Bones"... and am enjoying it every bit as much.

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esto le resultó útil a 32 personas