Zakbo2

Potentially a great story, but….

Revisado: 05-23-22

I usually enjoy Brad Meltzer’s writing. That said, this book started with a great premise and an initial high quality plot, but was ruined by the lack of an editor screaming “Cut! Cut!” about 2/3rds of the way through the story.

The premise is a fine one: a young, recently graduated law student secures a highly competitive post as a clerk for a Supreme Court Justice. He is then conned into giving confidential information to a poser claiming to be a former law clerk and a predecessor of the protagonist. The story then sweeps in additional characters, intrigue, and blackmail threats. So far, so good.

However, the story then goes on and on and on with increasingly redundant episodes as if the author’s index finger became stuck on a Cut and Copy key. Improbable, and largely unnecessary trauma continues to plague the clerk, his friends and a love interest for chapter after chapter, not moving the plot along in any worthwhile way. I listened to the book on Audible and generally enjoyed the narrator. However, that person must have reached the point of thinking “Not again - narrating this thing is like being trapped in Groundhog Day.” After slogging through this, the original plot becomes a distant memory. I got to the point where I couldn’t wait for the story to be over; a sad end for an originally intriguing book. In other words, a fine story is buried under an apparent need to hit an arbitrary word and page count. The author can do much better.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Fine read, superbly researched,interesting times, questionable narrator

Revisado: 08-18-21

Briefly, Mr. Tapper’s book follows a young substituted congressman into a classic portrayal of the slime of the Swamp. The best part of the book is his authentic research into the post-WWII Washington, the workings of a Hellfire Club vaguely resembling the British original but filled with power players, most of whom are corrupt Republicans (which Jake feels is redundant) and some interesting information on the Eisenhower presidency. Since the book is a novel, its later chapters turn into a predictable potboiler for the purpose of sales, grade c. To me, however, the most unusual reaction I had to an otherwise good book was Mr. Tapper’s choice to do his own narration. It’s somewhat akin to watching a few good George Clooney movies, then going to church, only to find George as the homily speaker. Tolkien, a singular linguist and scholar, did not read his own three books in The Lord of The Rings, even though he was eminently qualified to do so. I think that Mr. Tapper’s choice of himself as Reader was misguided at best and egocentric at worst. Hearing a top-tier factual reporter spinning a fable with the two married protagonist characters acting out The Sincere Grey Hero and Rosie the Riveter was simply too much Tapper. The story would probably have gone down better had he chosen an experienced, polished reader other than himself for this project. Like, say, George Clooney.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Puzzling book

Revisado: 06-06-20

This story, while quite long, is basically well-plotted with strong character development and excellent narration. However, the last few chapters represent a bizarre, completely contradictory departure from the entire build and flow of the entire story. The writing, which while filled with some distracting songs throughout, had been sharp, consistent, and internally consistent until the very end. The final scenes and chapters had an unmistakeable feel of an abrupt, ?deadline rushed?, unfocused and unsatisfactory end to an otherwise pretty strong story. I’ve reread these chapters twice in the context of the overall work, and it’s almost as if another writer with a totally separate agenda came in to wrench the story off the rails. Extremely offputting. The major problem is that the development of the main characters had been a long, slow buildup in a specific direction. With virtually no explanation, the characters are then spun off their axis to arrive at a completely inconsistent end, If this were a graduate-level writing expertise, reviewers would rip the inconsistencies and note the artificial nature of the books’ ending. It’s hard to rate an otherwise excellent story very highly with this sort of problem ending, and I suspect others have found this equally disconcerting.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

An excellent 4 1/2 star historical tale of Big Drac

Revisado: 02-19-20

Ms Kostova is an imaginative creator and a marvelous writer. Her plot is careful and well thought out; her research disciplined, extensive and exhaustive; her characters speak from life as she imagines it; her writing clean, sharp, and musical. I had not read anything by Ms. Kostova before, but I have no doubt that we’ll be hearing much more from her.

The narration by Ms. Eyre is similarly excellent. Regardless of whether you are intrigued by vampire stories or a well researched historical tale, don’t miss this terrific book.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Stands the test of time; awful narrator

Revisado: 11-19-19

I’ve read Crais from the beginning. I love the fact that he went quickly from a “first-novel” writer to become the top writer of this genre in a step-by-step fashion: the quality of his writing between the first and the eighth, L.A. Confidential, is remarkable. He has only gotten better since that time.

But this narrator, Lawlor, is so completely wrong for Crais’ books that the publisher should really order a redo with any of the fine narrators who have read his later novels. The pitch and tone of this reader are all wrong — the guy is as high-pitched as an Irish tenor. Bono could do better. Moreover, the reason that the dry humor, mental quips, and smarmy comments work so well in Cole’s character is because he’s basically a straight man with a quick, irreverent attitude. This guy makes Cole sound like a greased up William F Buckley.

As I’ve found consistently, to enjoy Crais’ writing, there’s no substitute for just reading his books. But certainly the later two narrators deserve 5 stars compared to this effort.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 2 personas

Interesting research and story, bad narrator.

Revisado: 10-30-19

The well-researched story of the conflict among these men is well done and is pretty well written. However, this is an Audible book. Narration is important. This narrator sounds like a middle aged man who spent 24 hours snacking on Quaaludes, then decided to read the text to an audience of 5 year olds. Live and learn - I should have just read the book.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

A clumsy polemic with a bad ending

Revisado: 08-02-19

While it may not be completely fair to review a 20-year-old book with the benefit of more recent writings - some of which are excellent stories - this is my least favorite Grisham book of his long career. Both the plot and the storytelling itself are simply dreary — overlong, with caricatures as characters. The book is a sad, rickety framework for the sale of a Southern Baptist formulation of a mysterious, heavily starched white God who has apparently lost all of the attributes of the irrational, bloodthirsty, vengeful God of the Old Testament in favor of a whispy now-you-see-Him-now-He’s-only-in-the-form-of a 42 year old white female missionary in the deepest heart of the Pantanal at the junction of Brazil and Bolivia. Without spoilers, the book posits the last will and testament of a cantankerous old billionaire with 3 ex-wives and children so corrupt, so unredeemable as to be veritable cardboard illustrations of the Seven Deadly Sins with facelifts. “Greed, I’m your sister Lust. We have no personalities, so let’s just sit down and cackle in the corner for 100 pages or so.” And on and on. But the children have Shakespearean complexity compared to their many lawyers, all of whom are repellant stinkbugs who connive against their own clients and each other, and presumably deliberately use their Maserati’s to run down dewy-eyed crippled children and small helpless animals. Watching these poisonous potted plants at their idle mischief takes up 1/3 of the book, the balance being the internal struggles of an incurable alcoholic lawyer-as-protagonist who finds the good guy God through an Ivory Snowlike 42-year-old Virgin in the Jungle. Additional characters are treated as accessories, like disposable handbags used to sparsely decorate each scene. The native Indians whom our Virgin serves are Stone Age relics who live in Squalor — a small village just east of the unnamed mud plain at which the Virgin labors alone. It’s just all thin gruel from a writer whose talents, at their best, produced phenomenal works like A Time To Kill, The Firm, A Painted House and Sycamore Row.

I listened to the Audible version, which I strongly advise against. Against all odds, both the author, his editors, and his publishers turned over every rock to find a narrator whose throat was apparently surgically removed in favor of a broken voice box. This person begins with whispered wheezing in an annoyingly whiney dialect which sounds like Jacob Dylan with adenoids. The only variation in the voice is an occasional note of dirty gravel which appears from time to time as he whispers his monotone way toward a highly predictable, poorly developed death rattle of an ending. All in all, a hot shower after finishing this is highly recommended.

But I’ve covered all the best parts: you’ll have to read it for yourself to discover some of the flaws in the book.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

A bit too contrived

Revisado: 07-12-19

The Silent Patient is close to being a really good read in 5 parts, but alas — an interesting plot line with well-developed characters falls into a sluggish Part 4 and a confusing, unlikely part 5 - the final chapters of the book.

The first 2/3 of the work is built around dialogue among major and minor characters, an interesting psychological subject, and a convincing narrator. Interior monologues drive the book forward with their attendant advantages and risks. The first two parts move briskly in a well-written structure. The middle sags, however, with an excess of set-ups, character twists, and an overall complication of subplots which ultimately are nothing but elaborate red herrings. Rather than serving a strong but disguised plot line - ala Agatha Christie, whom the author references as a major influence in an Afterward interview - a number of these digressions simply muddy up the real story line.

Without my spoiling the ultimate twists, the author chooses a strange and uncomfortable back-and-forth chronology shift - at least psychologically - to pull all the threads together at the end. This is the least successful part of the book, and left me with a feeling of watching a somewhat clumsy magic trick where the mechanism is much more evident than the magic. It’s too bad - the book has some unique features and fine character development - but ultimately left me unsatisfied and deceived.

Read or listen to this book for the pleasure of a tricky story built into a complex world, but be prepared for an ending which may fall short of your hopes for a meaningful outcome. And be clearly aware of the chronology of events!

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Not for me

Revisado: 06-04-17

The author is apparently well-respected by her legions of fans. I should have looked at the reviews before I bought it; almost every 4 and 5 star reviews are from women fans. As a man, I bought the story because of the professional reviews suggesting that Ms. Stabenow is a clear, talented storyteller. In my opinion, the first two chapters lacked any literary merit, were poorly constructed and were choppy. Not a fave.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

"Skillfully presented, but ultimately unpersuasive." - A Federal Judge in Denver

Revisado: 05-18-17

Mr. Meyer's story was thoughtfully plotted and well written. The characters are carefully drawn, largely believable, and the author's dialogue skills are evident. If the climax at the book's end suffers from twice the number of reasonable plot twists, that is not for lack of creativity on the author's part. After finishing the last five chapters, however, I found myself craving pretzels and cinnamon twists.

The real problem with the Audible edition is simply the awful narration by Mr. Berkrot. This is the first time I have heard his performance, but for me, at least, his vocalization was truly unpleasant. First, the narrator's voice is unflinchingly grating and his tone is spiteful. Worse, the narrator seems to have only one cadence and volume: a hissing, snarling, overload shouting that really spoiled much of the story for me. I can only say that I would have enjoyed the intricate story and the author's excellent choice of words had any normal reader taken on the job. I'm very sorry to say that Mr. Berkrot's narration was distracting, annoying, and teeth-clenchingly awful.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña