Anonymous
- 17
- reviews
- 4
- helpful votes
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Dead Silence
- By: S.A. Barnes
- Narrated by: Lauren Ezzo
- Length: 13 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Claire Kovalik is days away from being unemployed—made obsolete—when her beacon repair crew picks up a strange distress signal. With nothing to lose and no desire to return to Earth, Claire and her team decide to investigate.
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Couldn’t finish
- By Donald Klaczko on 03-12-22
- Dead Silence
- By: S.A. Barnes
- Narrated by: Lauren Ezzo
Abandoned at chapter 16
Reviewed: 03-31-22
I really wanted to like it. Maybe I would have liked the ending but I couldn’t get there. Just over and over listening to the lead describe her anxiety.
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The Scorpion's Tail
- By: Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child
- Narrated by: Cynthia Farrell
- Length: 11 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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A mummified corpse, over half a century old, is found in the cellar of an abandoned building in a remote New Mexico ghost town. Corrie Swanson is assigned what seems to her a throwaway case: to ID the body and determine cause of death. She brings archaeologist Nora Kelly to excavate the body and lend her expertise to the investigation, and together they uncover something unexpected and shocking: the deceased apparently died in agony, in a fetal position, skin coming off in sheets, with a rictus of horror frozen on his face. Hidden on the corpse lies a 16th-century Spanish gold cross.
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Swanson and Kelly really need Pendergast!
- By shelley on 01-13-21
- The Scorpion's Tail
- By: Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child
- Narrated by: Cynthia Farrell
Ruined
Reviewed: 08-08-21
Honestly was just barely staying with this story to see it through. Not well written and hero’s are somehow idiots and brilliant at the same time. Oh and in the end the women get saved by Pendergast who just shows up out of nowhere and monologues all the pieces together. Lazy boring storytelling.
This is coming from a guy who read all the early Pendergast stuff.
Was 3 stars and then he showed up and made it worse.
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2 people found this helpful
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Memory Man
- By: David Baldacci
- Narrated by: Ron McLarty, Orlagh Cassidy
- Length: 13 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Amos Decker's life changed forever - twice. The first time was on the gridiron. A big, towering athlete, he was the only person from his hometown of Burlington ever to go pro. But his career ended before it had a chance to begin. On his very first play, a violent helmet-to-helmet collision knocked him off the field for good and left him with an improbable side effect - he can never forget anything.
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Not the usual production quality
- By Maris on 05-01-15
- Memory Man
- By: David Baldacci
- Narrated by: Ron McLarty, Orlagh Cassidy
Abandoned
Reviewed: 06-27-21
Couldn’t finish it. All about a guy who’s brilliant and makes Sherlock type detective discoveries and everybody else is stands around and admires how brilliant he is. His “partner” is a dumb vessel so he can explain the plot twists to the reader.
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The First Conspiracy
- The Secret Plot to Kill George Washington
- By: Brad Meltzer, Josh Mensch
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 11 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Taking place during the most critical period of our nation’s birth, The First Conspiracy tells a remarkable and previously untold piece of American history that not only reveals George Washington’s character, but also illuminates the origins of America’s counterintelligence movement that led to the modern day CIA. In 1776, an elite group of soldiers were handpicked to serve as George Washington’s bodyguards. Washington trusted them; relied on them. But unbeknownst to Washington, some of them were part of a treasonous plan.
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Brilliantly written and narrated!
- By Wayne on 01-09-19
- The First Conspiracy
- The Secret Plot to Kill George Washington
- By: Brad Meltzer, Josh Mensch
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
Scott Brick is the worst
Reviewed: 05-18-19
This over acting and excessive writing was just so much. Couldn’t handle it. Had to abandon 3/4 the way through. So disappointing.
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Snow Crash
- By: Neal Stephenson
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 17 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Neal Stephenson is a blazing new force on the sci-fi scene. With the groundbreaking cyberpunk novel Snow Crash, he has "vaulted onto the literary stage." It weaves virtual reality, Sumerian myth, and just about everything in between with a cool, hip cybersensibility - in short, it is the gigathriller of the information age.
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A solid sci-fi novel
- By Brent on 02-05-03
- Snow Crash
- By: Neal Stephenson
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
Just too dated
Reviewed: 06-20-15
What disappointed you about Snow Crash?
i just couldn't handle an imagining of the future in which the Internet isn't available. That, and bad writing.
Would you ever listen to anything by Neal Stephenson again?
Yep. Seveneves was great and I'll try others.
Would you be willing to try another one of Jonathan Davis’s performances?
Yes
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Caveat Emptor: A Novel of the Roman Empire
- By: Ruth Downie
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 10 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Ruso and Tilla, now newlyweds, have moved back to Britannia, where Ruso's old friend and colleague Valens has promised to help him find work. But it isn't the kind of work he'd had in mind - Ruso is tasked with hunting down a missing tax man named Julius Asper. Of course, there's also something else missing: money. And the council of the town of Verulamium is bickering over what's become of it. Compelled to delve deeper by a threat from his old sparring partner, Metellus, Ruso discovers that the good townsfolk may not be as loyal to Rome as they like to appear.
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A trifle dreary
- By David on 12-17-12
- Caveat Emptor: A Novel of the Roman Empire
- By: Ruth Downie
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
Getting better
Reviewed: 05-09-15
This series is unique mostly because the characters and the story lines are actually getting better. I'm enjoying the author's ability to tell an interesting story and give me an intimate view of this early AD world. Nice work.
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Dark Places
- A Novel
- By: Gillian Flynn
- Narrated by: Rebecca Lowman, Cassandra Campbell, Mark Deakins, and others
- Length: 13 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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Libby Day was seven when her mother and two sisters were murdered in "The Satan Sacrifice of Kinnakee, Kansas". As her family lay dying, little Libby fled their tiny farmhouse into the freezing January snow. She lost some fingers and toes, but she survived, and famously testified that her 15-year-old brother, Ben, was the killer. Twenty-five years later, Ben sits in prison, and troubled Libby lives off the dregs of a trust created by well-wishers who've long forgotten her.
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Riveting but brutal
- By Gray on 12-09-12
- Dark Places
- A Novel
- By: Gillian Flynn
- Narrated by: Rebecca Lowman, Cassandra Campbell, Mark Deakins, Robertson Dean
I almost didn't make it
Reviewed: 11-05-14
Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?
Listening to this book required stamina. The characters are deeply unlikable, every last one of them. I listened to this book right after finishing Gone Girl and hoped to find a similarly unique story. The interesting thing is, many of the plot elements in the two novels are the same. Complex and emotionally damaged women in her early 30's, set in areas of rural Missouri and Kansas. The difference is key, though. In Dark Places, a perfect title by the way, the book centers on a women who has experienced a tragedy and who has drifted, listless for many years. Lots of time is spent in her depressing mind and in the sad lot of people in her life.
Would you ever listen to anything by Gillian Flynn again?
I'd have to hear some reviews that helped me believe Ms Flynn has taken a different approach.
What does the narrators bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
Like in Dark Places, the producers decide to use multiple narrators to read in the voices of different characters. It works well here and I hope to see this technique more in other books.
Do you think Dark Places needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?
Please, no.
Any additional comments?
On the bright side - get it - the ending is satisfying. The overall storytelling, the writing skills, and creativity are excellent. In fairness, this book bills itself as a dark read and it delivers. I really can't fault the author for that. Make sure you have happy people around you when you read it.
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Swan Song
- By: Robert R. McCammon
- Narrated by: Tom Stechschulte
- Length: 34 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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Facing down an unprecedented malevolent enemy, the government responds with a nuclear attack. America as it was is gone forever, and now every citizen - from the President of the United States to the homeless on the streets of New York City - will fight for survival. In a wasteland born of rage and fear, populated by monstrous creatures and marauding armies, earth's last survivors have been drawn into the final battle between good and evil, that will decide the fate of humanity.
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Simply an Amazing Story
- By Amanda H. on 06-21-12
- Swan Song
- By: Robert R. McCammon
- Narrated by: Tom Stechschulte
No Stand
Reviewed: 06-28-14
What would have made Swan Song better?
A richer story, better dialogue, less stereotypical characters, a lot of editing.
What was most disappointing about Robert McCammon’s story?
The most disappointing was the choice to make the main characters bumbling idiots, weaklings and one dimensional. Oh, and the words. The words in the book were bad.
What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?
The performance was fine.
If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Swan Song?
Yes
Any additional comments?
Here's the thing, this book was "recommended" to me by Goodreads because I loved the Stand, by Stephen King. And sure, there are some similarities - post apocalyptic wandering across the former United States, new communities, warring groups forming, some magic. However, King is a storyteller that weaves complex characters and plot points together in a way that isn't obvious. His primary characters have complexity and interact in human ways. Swam Song's characters, especially the main characters, are so limited and one-dimensional, so weak and stupid, so obvious and boring that the comparison with King is an insult.
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Night Film
- A Novel
- By: Marisha Pessl
- Narrated by: Jake Weber
- Length: 23 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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On a damp October night, beautiful young Ashley Cordova is found dead in an abandoned warehouse in lower Manhattan. Though her death is ruled a suicide, veteran investigative journalist Scott McGrath suspects otherwise. As he probes the strange circumstances surrounding Ashley’s life and death, McGrath comes face-to-face with the legacy of her father: the legendary, reclusive, cult-horror-film director Stanislas Cordova - a man who hasn’t been seen in public for more than 30 years.
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What's Real?
- By Amanda on 01-12-14
- Night Film
- A Novel
- By: Marisha Pessl
- Narrated by: Jake Weber
My first 5 star review in many months
Reviewed: 02-01-14
Would you listen to Night Film again? Why?
I don't typically listen to books twice. That's not the way I'm wired. A great book is hard to predict, its characters are unique but relatable and the story does a few things you didn't see coming. Night Film, along with maybe King's The Stand is going on my read-it-one-more-time list. Bravo, Pessel.
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1 person found this helpful
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The Dog Stars
- By: Peter Heller
- Narrated by: Mark Deakins
- Length: 10 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Hig survived the flu that killed everyone he knows. His wife is gone, his friends are dead, he lives in the hangar of a small abandoned airport with his dog, his only neighbor a gun-toting misanthrope. In his 1956 Cessna, Hig flies the perimeter of the airfield or sneaks off to the mountains to fish and to pretend that things are the way they used to be. But when a random transmission somehow beams through his radio, the voice ignites a hope deep inside him that a better life exists beyond the airport.
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Absolutely Stellar!
- By Mel on 08-10-12
- The Dog Stars
- By: Peter Heller
- Narrated by: Mark Deakins
How a poet survived the end of the world
Reviewed: 10-09-12
This is not the kind of book I listen to. It is melancholy (yet happy) and even tempo-ed and has a grand total of 5 characters, including a dog. Yet, I raced through the entire 10 plus hours in about 3 days, riveted and eager to learn what happens next. A character study written in a poetic style about a couple of survivors many years after a flu wipes out nearly everybody left on the planet. Sole searching and introspective and still able to pull off a fascinating story arc. One of the best books I've listened to in a very long time.
Lovers of dogs, flying, Colorado and all introverts should read/listen to this story.
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1 person found this helpful