David Maddux

Hire a professional reader

Revisado: 05-20-24

There’s a reason people have jobs as professional readers: because they can read. I made it 5 hours into it before I gave up. (Spoiler alert: Larry Harris isn’t a professional reader). It’s clunky, not very well “acted” (for lack of a better word) and the pacing is just excruciating.

He’s got some semi-interesting stories but fills nearly every one with fodder by name-dropping every mid-level producer, sound engineer, bongo player or limo driver. Yeah we get it Larry: you know/knew a LOT of people.

I’m almost up to the point where Destroyer will blow up KISS’s career and Donna Summer will become, along with The Bee Gees, the biggest act in the world of disco but I can’t take ONE MORE MINUTE of Harris’s plodding, galumphing “reading”.

Want to know about KISS: “Behind the Mask” by Leaf and Sharp is a great read and I kinda like Paul Stanley’s book “Face the Music” (and while Stanley is not a professional reader, his Audible book is leaps and bounds better than this one).

And Donna Summer: For the Record is a pretty solid read as well.

But at this point, even as a kid who has those red-neon sign and palm tree albums all over his collection, I could care less about Casablanca. Maybe Harris’s ego wouldn’t let him hire a reader or the company thought having him read it would work. It doesn’t.

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A sad, amazing read

Revisado: 03-31-24

Krakauer is extensive in his research. The sad fact is that while Missoula may feel unduly smeared, the rape culture allowed by the system, and overlooked by so many, could have just as easily been detailed in Spokane or Fort Collins or Fresno or Hattiesburg or a hundred other campuses.

It’s a wrenching, infuriating, sometimes satisfying but mostly humbling deep dive into a problem given too little credence by too many.

The bravery exhibited by the women willing to tell their story and face their accusers is something most average people will never be able to muster. They are the heroes of the book.

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So much not right

Revisado: 10-15-23

Let’s talk about the narration: there’s a reason there are professional readers. This author is excruciating to listen to. Audible member for a dozen years and have been listening to books on tape/cassette since college and this is in the bottom 1% for narration ever.

Now: the story. About an hour in the only thing going thru my head, as a gay man who was 21 in 1982 and lived thru these times is “this ‘tale’ doesn’t pass the sniff test.” Doesn’t ring true. In the least. This author has crystal clear recollections and conversations about things which happened more than 35 years ago. And the sheer numbers don’t jibe with the numbers of deaths in the area at all. She basically claims to have buried EVERYONE in a 6-county area who died of AIDS during that period.

And … sure enough, Google about this author. This is an exaggerated fable. The author only speaks thru a lawyer, there’s little corroborating evidences of much of it, and her own family members call BS.

This is true in the same way A Million Little Pieces is true. There may be parts which were real, but this is a cash grab by a storyteller and does a massive disservice to those who survived, fought, petitioned the government and died during that era.

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May take a few to find his stride

Revisado: 02-13-22

I’m not averse to other authors continuing a series (Anne Hillerman continuing the legendary Tony Hillerman’s series is an example.) But it may take a few to get it right.

His voice (A. Lee’s, not Scott Brick’s) is just not what I’m used to. Reacher is familiar, not clichéd, and this book he’s a caricature of that guy. He’s “a bad penny” and a hundred other clichés.

Brick is solid and my toughest part is I’ve listened to him do a dozen books in Brett Battles “Jonathan Quinn” series so hearing him makes me picture Quinn more than Reacher.

The story is solid, if a little predictable …

(SPOILER COMING:)

Did anyone not see Michael being there at the end or even for a second believe he was dead?

Not giving up yet but expect better.

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Another great story

Revisado: 04-28-21

Glad we’re getting to see more with some of my favorite supporting characters. Brett Battles has done another amazing job of hooking me from the first pages. Ananke, Liesel, Rosario, Dylan and Ricky make such a great team.

I think this story takes longer to get rolling due to tying the five stories of the leads together but those stories are great as background to the real mission.

Didn’t think I could love a Quinn spin-off this much. Allison Johnson gives a great performance. Can’t wait to dive into book #2.

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Another terrific story from Battles

Revisado: 03-30-21

The revenge tale behind this is so good. I continually get lulled into his stories (and Scott Brick is just the best reader). The backstory, and the quest for justice here propel the story forward. I'm addicted to Quinn and all the supporting characters for me are at this point, alive in my mind.

Already looking forward to the next Night Man Chronicles (I've already devoured The Vanished in print, so I'm up to date).

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Battles continues to raise the bar

Revisado: 03-09-21

I thought 4-5 books ago when he opened The Unleashed with the jungle abduction sequence that I'd never read an opening so page-ripping-great. And The Unknown, beginning with the train abduction of the scientist through the underground base rescue and recovery is just simply ADDICTIVE. On par with the best sequences written by Alistair MacLean, Lee Child or Michael Connelly, IMO.

Everything about the read is a hook, and I enjoyed it so thoroughly. Battles writes these fascinating flesh-and-blood villains, and The Unknown is no different. The storytelling, the usual cast of Quinn and Co. and the absolutely fantastic performance by Scott Brick (audio) makes this yet another one of my favorites in a series I can't get enough of. I read across a broad spectrum of crime thriller authors, and I've got EXACTLY three I have to buy on the day their new works come out: Brett Battles, Michael Connelly and Anne Hillerman (as she continues her father Tony's Leaphorn/Chee/Manuelito series).

Can't wait to dive into The Vanished.

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Another fine read

Revisado: 02-24-21

The tone for the book is different, as befitting the circumstances we find Nate and Quinn and the crew in, but Battles again puts together a great yarn filled with the twists and turns and breathtaking moments I've come to expect from his writing.

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A thrill ride from start to finish

Revisado: 02-24-21

Brett Battles continuously ups his game. I keep reading in the series and am always just captivated with Quinn and the gang, and the pace of the stories--and The Unleashed is no different. The opening setup and kidnapping sequence are just so well written I could smell the jungle and hear the bullets.

I keep trying to "hit the brakes" and slow down my listening of the series but I make it about a day or two before I have to listen to the next one. And (without dropping any spoilers) I was completely shocked by the conclusion of this one.

He's one of my favorites, and I hope Quinn, Orlando and all the characters are around for a long time.

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Battles is a kickass storyteller

Revisado: 01-22-21

Jonathan Quinn and the gang are back, and Brett Battles does his usual wonderful job telling a twisting, turning, engaging yarn of murder and intrigue. There are few authors I immediately grab their latest from and he is one. I thought the tale of Tessa and Abe, and the eventual backstory for what gets the tale rolling was just riveting. How I missed this in the canon of Quinn/Nate/Orlando novels, I don't know, but it was worth every minute.

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