#audiobook – Page 4 – Rosepoint Publishing

Down Range by Taylor Moore – #AudiobookReview – #ThrowbackThursday

Garrett Kohl #1

Book Blurb:

In this action-packed debut thriller for fans of C. J. Box and Jack Carr, DEA agent Garrett Kohl fights to protect his home on the Texas High Plains when a vicious criminal enterprise comes after his family.

As a decorated undercover DEA special agent, Garrett Kohl has traveled the world – and fought in most of it – but it’s the High Plains of northwest Texas he calls home and dreams of returning to one day. Kohl is in the middle of an assignment in Afghanistan when his commander orders him back to Texas on a short mission expected to take a week at most. But Kohl is unsettled to discover that he’s moving from one kind of war to another.

The once-peaceful ranching community he loves is under attack by a band of criminals who have infiltrated law enforcement and corrupted local businesses, and are now terrorizing Kohl’s own family. Hoping to prevent bloodshed, Kohl tries to resolve matters peacefully. But when the group strikes first, he has no choice but to go on the attack.

Unfortunately for the crew of criminals, Garrett Kohl, besides being an elite undercover officer for the DEA, is a battle-hardened Green Beret who spent the better part of his career hunting terrorists. Although outnumbered and outgunned, Kohl knows the wild and forsaken Llano Estacado region of Texas better than anyone. And like so many trespassers before them, these murderers will find out the hard way that the only thing tougher than this land is the people who call it home.

My Review:

Alright! This book is supposed to appeal to fans of C J Box and I’ve read-listened to CJ and enjoyed his books. But no, I’m not sure you can compare it to C J Box. This author has a writing style all his own and engaging characters with a somewhat more charismatic appeal.

Down Range is the first in a new series but for a debut, it makes quite a wallop. Action thriller from the beginning with a scene in which former Green Beret undercover DEA Special Agent Garret Kohl discovers he is witnessing a massacre in Afghanistan. Totally unexpected is a ten-year-old boy, Asadi, running for his life out of the village with no chance to escape. Kohl steps in and manages to save the boy but runs the risk of getting himself in serious trouble for blowing his cover and the investigation.

It’s determined both will be sent home and Agent Kohl is now charged with keeping the boy alive as the only possible witness.

I loved the road trip to his dad’s ranch in the Panhandle of Texas. Descriptions of the area border on poetic prose and there are fascinating histories gracefully interwoven with tender moments of bonding between the boy and Kohl.

Kohl’s irascible dad seems to take a paternal interest in Asadi and it isn’t long before Asadi is relaxing into the dream of America, the land, the wide open spaces, food, and the animals. Asadi particularly loves the horses and quickly determines a favorite.

Unfortunately, Texas takes a dark turn in the second half of the book when they bump up against the local narcotics trade. Of course, they don’t realize they are up against a former Green Beret who has seen his share of action and knows how to handle them. Sometimes though you feel sorry for poor Asadi caught in the middle who it seems to have jumped from the opium trade in Afghanistan to the local Texas drug trade.

I enjoyed the characters, loved Asadi and Kohl’s dad, his brother (an attorney) and a maybe romantic interest. It’s a well-plotted, fast-paced book that got the characters developed while keeping the action ball in the air which was non-stop.

I downloaded a copy of this audiobook from my local well-stocked library. These are my honest thoughts. This will be a fun series and this one quite the immersive narrative whether or not you think you don’t like contemporary Western fiction.

Rosepoint Publishing: Four point Five Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Western Fiction, Action Thriller & Suspense Fiction, Crime Thrillers
Publisher: Harper Audio
ASIN: B08S5N2JQD
Listening Length:
Narrator: Jeremy Arthur
Publication Date: August 03, 2021
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)
Title Link: Down Range [Amazon]

The Author: Taylor Moore is a former CIA Intelligence Officer who worked in both analysis and operations and later consulted for the Department of Defense in Theater Security Cooperation, Force Protection, and Counternarcotics. He now lives in the Texas Panhandle with his wife and two children, where is a full-time author and screenwriter. You can learn more about Taylor and his series featuring Garrett Kohl at his website.

©V Williams

#ThrowbackThursday

The Connellys of County Down by Tracey Lange – #AudiobookReview – #ThrowbackThursday

Goodreads Choice Award nominee

Book Blurb:

From Tracey Lange, the New York Times bestselling author of We Are the Brennans, comes The Connellys of County Down: a story about fierce family loyalty, good intentions gone awry, and the consequences of improbable love.

When Tara Connelly is released from prison after serving eighteen months on a drug charge, she knows rebuilding her life at thirty years old won’t be easy. With no money and no prospects, she returns home to live with her siblings, who are both busy with their own problems. Her brother, a single dad, struggles with the ongoing effects of a brain injury he sustained years ago, and her sister’s fragile facade of calm and order is cracking under the burden of big secrets. Life becomes even more complicated when the cop who put her in prison keeps showing up unannounced, leaving Tara to wonder what he wants from her now.

While she works to build a new career and hold her family together, Tara finds a chance at love in a most unlikely place. But when the Connellys’ secrets start to unravel and threaten her future, they all must face their worst fears and come clean, or risk losing each other forever.

The Connellys of County Down is a moving novel about testing the bounds of love and loyalty. It explores the possibility of beginning our lives anew, and reveals the pitfalls of shielding each other from the bitter truth.

My Review:

Tara, the youngest of three siblings left orphaned by their parents, has just been released from prison after serving eighteen months. She is thrilled to be returning home to her older sister Geraldine and brother Eddie but discovers pretty quickly that Geraldine is running an extremely tight ship in order to sort the chaos and leave her some sanity. Still, the responsibility of the two younger kids has stretched her near to the breaking point.

The rigid structure Geraldine created in her absence has left no room for spontaneity in any of the other two and they’ve learned to go by the rules or face the wrath.

Eddie, the middle child, is still suffering after effects of a horrible car accident when he was fourteen and is now trying to raise his son Connor.

Prior to Tara going to prison for drug trafficking, she was involved in teaching and made use of prison time by allowing her artistic side to grow and shine. Luckily, her expertise with graphics has landed her an illustrator position which she quickly learns to love along with the two boys who created the start-up.

In alternating chapters, each gets their POV where we learn the secrets they hold from each other. It was fun to be a fly on the wall in their separate lives as each navigates a serious issue, struggles with a disreputable childhood, and strives to overcome their baggage.

In many cases, where the children have had to be the adults, their loyalty to each other is strong, unconditional, and sacrificial. The three main characters are well-developed and sympathetic, but it’s easy to engage in supporting characters as well. Perhaps some of their decisions come from immaturity, but they share and support each other without question. I cheered Eddie’s advancement, heart sank with Geraldine’s foolish plan, and applauded Tara’s success with her graphics.

The officers responsible for sending Tara away had their eye on a larger target. But something about the case continued to bother him and he kept a close watch—perhaps too close–and that left me with a small case of disbelief. Tara’s record is always hanging over as she begins to grasp and then navigate the quandary Geraldine has initiated. Will it result in a return to the slammer?

It could.

Still, the twists in the conclusion worked and provided a satisfying end.

I downloaded a copy of this audiobook from my local well-stocked library. These are my honest thoughts.

Rosepoint Publishing: Four point Five Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Family Life Fiction, Women’s Fiction
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
ISBN-10: ‎ 1250865379
ISBN-13: ‎ 978-1250865373
ASIN: B0BJYBB316
Listening Length: 9 hrs 21 mins
Narrator: Barrie Kreinik
Publication Date: August 1, 2023
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)
Title Link: The Connellys of County Down [Amazon]

The Author: Born in the Bronx and raised in Manhattan, Tracey Lange comes from a large Irish family with a few secrets of its own. She headed west and graduated from the University of New Mexico before owning and operating a behavioral healthcare company with her husband for fifteen years. While writing her debut novel, We Are the Brennans, she completed the Stanford University online novel writing program. Tracey currently lives in Bend, Oregon, with her husband, two sons and their German Shepherd.

#ThhrowbackThursday

Flight of Dreams by Ariel Lawhon – #AudiobookReview – #ThrowbackThursday

Book Blurb:

With everyone onboard harboring dark secrets and at least one person determined to make sure the airship doesn’t make the return trip, Flight of Dreams gives an utterly suspenseful, heart-wrenching explanation for one of the most enduring mysteries of the 20th century.

On the evening of May 3, 1937, Emilie Imhof boards the Hindenburg. As the only female crew member, Emilie has access to the entire airship, from the lavish dining rooms and passenger suites to the gritty engine cars and control room. She hears everything, but with rumors circulating about bomb threats, Emilie’s focus is on maintaining a professional air…and keeping her own plans under wraps.

What Emilie can’t see is that everyone – from the dynamic vaudeville acrobat to the high-standing German officer – seems to be hiding something.

Giving free rein to countless theories of sabotage, charade, and mishap, Flight of Dreams takes us on the thrilling three-day transatlantic flight through the alternating perspectives of Emilie; Max, the ship’s navigator, who is sweet on her; Gertrud, a bold female journalist who’s been blacklisted in her native Germany; Werner, a 13-year-old cabin boy with a bad habit of sneaking up on people; and a brash American who’s never without a drink in his hand. Everyone knows more than they initially let on, and as the novel moves inexorably toward its tragic climax, the question of which of the passengers will survive the trip infuses every scene with a deliciously unbearable tension.

With enthralling atmospheric details that immediately transport and spellbinding plotting that would make Agatha Christie proud, Flight of Dreams will keep you guessing till the last minute. And, as The New York Times Book Review said of her last novel, “This book is more meticulously choreographed than a chorus line. It all pays off”.

My Review:

The best part of this audiobook was the authenticity of characters the author brought to her fiction account of what might have actually happened to set off the Hindenburg in a fiery explosion that crashed to the ground within thirty seconds. Of the ninety-seven persons aboard, there were sixty-two survivors, among whom were two boys named Werner, eight years (a passenger) and fourteen years (the cabin boy). The two dogs did not survive.

With the possible exception of today’s school children, is there anyone not familiar with the story of this amazing 1937 German sixteen-story hydrogen blimp that burned into a molten heap in a field in New Jersey?

The real reason for the explosion was never determined, however, theorizing a possible leaking gas cell.

That’s okay, as this riveting narrative captures people from the original passengers and crew and creates a possible scenario and a fascinating read. Atmospheric—of course. It cruised at an altitude of 650 feet but could reach about 1500 feet if needed and the descriptions of the interior, not just passenger areas, but crew quarters and engine compartments are detailed.

The author used passenger and crew names and if they survived in real life, they survived in her book.

Interesting to have the POVs of the main characters, their reason for being on the ship, hopes, and dreams. The cabin boy is especially engaging, as is a young woman attendant (the first on a dirigible). Not all are sympathetic and the suspicions, tensions ramp up with each chapter and each new POV.

The storyline as it progresses into the climax takes on a frenetic pace, particularly after the initial explosion. Heart in throat, it’s hoped one of your favorite characters (or person in real life) survives.

And it’s amazing any did. Sixty-two (twenty-three passengers, thirty-nine crewmen).

Hindenburg disaster - photo courtesy Wikipedia — Photo courtesy Wikipedia

I applaud the research that went into the book and loved the epilogue that explained many more details and specific reasons for the way she spun the novel. Whether you’re a fan of historical fiction or not, this is a gripping book, the examination of a zeppelin airship, its attempt to land following a local thunderstorm, and the reason why it was filled with highly flammable hydrogen. The Hindenburg disaster “marked the abrupt end of the airship era.”*

My second audiobook by this author, as good as the first The Frozen River. You can’t go wrong with either. I downloaded a copy of this audiobook from my local well-stocked library. These are my honest thoughts.

Rosepoint Publishing: Four point Five Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Historical Thrillers, Literary Fiction
Publisher: Random House Audio
ASIN: B01AO8KUPM
Listening Length: 12 hrs 40 mins
Narrator: John Lee
Publication Date: February 23, 2016
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)
Title Link: Flight of Dreams [Amazon]

The Author: Ariel Lawhon is a critically acclaimed, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of historical fiction. She is the author of THE WIFE THE MAID AND THE MISTRESS, FLIGHT OF DREAMS, I WAS ANASTASIA and CODE NAME HELENE. Her books have been translated into numerous languages and have been Good Morning America, Library Reads, Indie Next, One Book One County, Amazon Spotlight, Costco, and Book of the Month Club selections. She lives in the rolling hills outside Nashville, Tennessee, with her husband and four sons. She splits her time between the grocery store and the baseball field.

#ThhrowbackThursday

*Courtesy Wikipedia

The River We Remember by William Kent Krueger – #AudiobookReview – #HistoricalFiction

Best Books of the Year 2023

Nominee for Best Mystery & Thriller (2023)

Book Blurb:

On Memorial Day in Jewel, Minnesota, the body of wealthy landowner Jimmy Quinn is found floating in the Alabaster River, dead from a shotgun blast. The investigation falls to Sheriff Brody Dern, a highly decorated war hero who still carries the physical and emotional scars from his military service. Even before Dern has the results of the autopsy, vicious rumors begin to circulate that the killer must be Noah Bluestone, a Native American WWII veteran who has recently returned to Jewel with a Japanese wife. As suspicions and accusations mount and the town teeters on the edge of more violence, Dern struggles not only to find the truth of Quinn’s murder but also put to rest the demons from his own past.

Caught up in the torrent of anger that sweeps through Jewel are a war widow and her adolescent son, the intrepid publisher of the local newspaper, an aging deputy, and a crusading female lawyer, all of whom struggle with their own tragic histories and harbor secrets that Quinn’s death threatens to expose.

My Review:

Oh my goodness. It’s a heavy one, this novel.

Memorial Day in the 50s in Jewel, Minnesota was several lifetimes ago. Men who returned from WWII and the recent Korean conflict are still working through their PTSD difficulties, assimilation back into society. It was a decade of violent memories, intolerance, and prejudices, and in this little community, as most, those who exploit and reap the spoils.

Main character Sheriff Brody Dern is one of the local decorated war heroes. Noah Bluestone, a Native American WWII veteran another but he returned with a Japanese wife who was recently fired by the Quinns before her employer, wealthy landowner Jimmy Quinn is found floating in the river. While there is not a lot of loss felt by the residents, they immediately suspect Bluestone.

Many support characters among the well-developed main characters create a multi-layered picture of the townspeople, struggles, and dynamics. From bold, colorful depictions of the area to the emotions, tempers, and prejudices of the people, the storyline captures the suspense and tension of the investigation.

Certainly there are themes of discrimination and intolerance as well as the foil in the young boys subplot to throw the reader off. More than one twist here but all roads lead to a satisfactory conclusion and in the meantime, a study of human nature in the prose provides thoughtful reflection.

The author penned an immersive story with engaging characters—but you may have to hang in there long enough to enjoy it.

I downloaded a copy of this audiobook from my local well-stocked library. These are my honest thoughts.

Rosepoint Publishing: Four point Five Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Historical Fiction, Mysteries
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
ISBN-10: ‎ 198217921X
ISBN-13: ‎ 978-1982179212
ASIN: B0BW1YTM96
Listening Length: 13 hrs 33 mins
Narrator: CJ Wilson
Publication Date: September 5, 2023
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)
Title Links: The River We Remember [Amazon]
Barnes & Noble
Kobo

The Author: Raised in the Cascade Mountains of Oregon, William Kent Krueger briefly attended Stanford University—before being kicked out for radical activities. After that, he logged timber, worked construction, tried his hand at freelance journalism, and eventually ended up researching child development at the University of Minnesota. He currently makes his living as a full-time author. He’s been married for over 40 years to a marvelous woman who is a retired attorney. He makes his home in St. Paul, a city he dearly loves.

Krueger writes a mystery series set in the north woods of Minnesota. His protagonist is Cork O’Connor, the former sheriff of Tamarack County and a man of mixed heritage—part Irish and part Ojibwe. His work has received a number of awards, including the Minnesota Book Award, the Loft-McKnight Fiction Award, the Anthony Award, the Barry Award, the Dilys Award, and the Friends of American Writers Prize. His last five novels were all New York Times bestsellers.

“Ordinary Grace,” his stand-alone novel published in 2013, received the Edgar Award, given by the Mystery Writers of America in recognition for the best novel published in that year. “Manitou Canyon,” number fifteen in his Cork O’Connor series, was released in September 2016. Visit his website at http://www.williamkentkrueger.com.

Enjoy Your Sunday!

Someone Else’s Shoes by Jojo Moyes – #AudiobookReview – #TuesdayBookBlog

Best Literature & Fiction

Nominee for Best Fiction (2023)

Book Blurb:

Who are you when you are forced to walk in someone else’s shoes?

Nisha Cantor lives the globetrotting life of the seriously wealthy, until her husband announces a divorce and cuts her off. Nisha is determined to hang onto her glamorous life. But in the meantime, she must scramble to cope–she doesn’t even have the shoes she was, until a moment ago, standing in.

That’s because Sam Kemp—in the bleakest point of her life—has accidentally taken Nisha’s gym bag. But Sam hardly has time to worry about a lost gym bag—she’s struggling to keep herself and her family afloat. When she tries on Nisha’s six-inch high Christian Louboutin red crocodile shoes, the resulting jolt of confidence that makes her realize something must change—and that thing is herself.

Full of Jojo Moyes’ signature humor, brilliant storytelling, and warmth, Someone Else’s Shoes is a story about how just one little thing can suddenly change everything.

My Review:

Well, gee, I do hate eating crow.

Guess I’d formed an opinion of the author back when I read The Giver of Stars after having read The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson. I read the latter for a book club at the time and given that Book Woman was published first, the former was wallowing in controversy. Still, no denying the wildly different writing style.

Well, different here is the theme. The women couldn’t be at more opposite ends of the spectrum of living. Sam is married with a daughter and the sole breadwinner as her husband lost his job and his father about the same time.

The depression that hit him has been a one-two punch he’s not moved beyond since. He spends his time as a couch potato. Sam is exhausted, both at home and at work where her supervisor picks at everything she does even though she appears to be quite effective at her position.

Nisha, an American, on the other hand, is living with an extremely wealthy and powerful husband, frequent fliers, while their son is living in an American boarding school. So it’s with a shock that she discovers her gym bag with her clothes and her husband’s favorite red Louboutin shoes were switched with someone else’s.

Sam, however, was in a hurry rushing to meetings and without time to return them immediately, simply wears what she finds in the bag to each successive meeting where she totally kills it. In the shoes and the clothes, she is transformed. She looks good. Feels good. Projects confidence and power.

So, yeah, Nisha comes off as wholly unsympathetic, a narcissist and spoiled. She is shocked when she is not allowed back into their posh apartment and then in succession discovers that along with her clothes, has no money, no bank cards that will be accepted, nothing. Her husband has completely cut her off—no explanation.

It’s a multi-layered, complex novel. The main characters are remarkable opposites, well-developed and believable. As the plot line progresses, Nisha’s character softens and Sam’s character begins to push her boundaries. There are interesting support characters who particularly near the conclusion create a bonded sisterhood. That part was fun, if not pushing disbelief.

Which brings me to the star rating. First, I had difficulty believing a wealthy woman would be working out, rubbing elbows, with the ordinary middle class. I loved the surprise Nisha saved for Carl but also had difficulty thinking he wouldn’t have known immediately who was the snitch. Also, while I savored that part, there were epilogues and the first was appreciated. The third…possibly TMI?

Otherwise, on the whole, I enjoyed the book and will now have to admit I’ll be looking for other books by this author. The narrator in this audiobook did an incredible job.

I downloaded a copy of this audiobook from my local well-stocked library. These are my honest thoughts.

Book Details:

Genre: Literary Fiction, Women’s Fiction, Romance
Publisher: Penguin Audio
ASIN: B0B7XWYTCH
Listening Length: 12 hrs 21 mins
Narrator: Daisy Ridley
Publication Date: February 7, 2023
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)
Title Link: Someone Else’s Shoes [Amazon-US]
Amazon-UK

Rosepoint Publishing: Four Stars

The Author: Jojo Moyes is a novelist and journalist. Her books include the bestsellers Me Before You, After You and Still Me, The Girl You Left Behind, The One Plus One and her short story collection Paris for One and Other Stories. The Giver of Stars is her most recent bestseller and Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pick. Her novels have been translated into forty-six languages, have hit the number one spot in twelve countries and have sold over thirty-eight million copies worldwide.

Me Before You has now sold over fourteen million copies worldwide and was adapted into a major film starring Sam Claflin and Emilia Clarke. Jojo lives in Essex with her family.

The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon – #AudiobookReview – #HistoricalFiction

in Historical Fiction

Book Blurb:

Maine, 1789: When the Kennebec River freezes, entombing a man in the ice, Martha Ballard is summoned to examine the body and determine cause of death. As a midwife and healer, she is privy to much of what goes on behind closed doors in Hallowell. Her diary is a record of every birth and death, crime and debacle that unfolds in the close-knit community. Months earlier, Martha documented the details of an alleged rape committed by two of the town’s most respected gentlemen—one of whom has now been found dead in the ice. But when a local physician undermines her conclusion, declaring the death to be an accident, Martha is forced to investigate the shocking murder on her own.

Over the course of one winter, as the trial nears, and whispers and prejudices mount, Martha doggedly pursues the truth. Her diary soon lands at the center of the scandal, implicating those she loves, and compelling Martha to decide where her own loyalties lie.

Clever, layered, and subversive, Ariel Lawhon’s newest offering introduces an unsung heroine who refused to accept anything less than justice at a time when women were considered best seen and not heard. The Frozen River is a thrilling, tense, and tender story about a remarkable woman who left an unparalleled legacy yet remains nearly forgotten to this day.

My Review:

I love it when an audiobook hooks immediately. So hard to put that earbud down! This novel tells the story of Martha Ballard, an early eighteenth-century midwife, who (unusually) not only reads and writes (and thinks for herself!), but has also been educated in medical conditions as well as local herbal tinctures.

Now in her fifties, she has successfully delivered hundreds of babies, not losing one baby or mother by malpractice. So as her reputation precedes her, it is not entirely unusual for her to be called to the scene of a suspicious death to render a forensic opinion of a man found frozen in the Kennebec River. Most jump to what might be the obvious cause of death, but Martha notices a number of issues that would point otherwise.

Her opinion was immediately countered by a young male doctor new to the village with little experience and less competence. His narcissistic ego is disagreeable and creates a strong antagonist sure to be reviled.

I was really taken with Martha. She is intelligent, thoughtful, kind, as well as strong-willed and independent. She has, from the beginning, kept a diary detailing her practice, including births, deaths, and callouts, and the diary becomes a historical record of the woman and her accomplishments.

“Like all mothers, I have long since mastered the art of nursing joy at one breast and grief at the other.”

She befriended and treated many women assaulted or bullied at the hands of husbands or others who at the time thought of women as little more than chattel. She recently treated a rape victim who decided to prosecute the men involved causing a huge uproar in the village and surrounds and, again, in opposition to the new doctor. I often wondered how she managed to protect herself facing her own husband’s lack of protection with his absences.

So many laws then weighed heavily against the female populace, rules and regulations that kept her impotent to even testify unless her husband was present.

The book evokes an atmosphere that chillingly cloaks the people and the village in suspicion and mistrust. It’s winter, everyone seeking protection from the elements, closed in, lack of communication except for gossip and hearsay. The simplest tasks are taken to monumental proportions to accomplish. Martha sacrifices over and over her own security, warmth, and protection in her calls from patients. At this point in her life, she and her long-standing husband have only one child left in the home. I wondered more than once how she survived, admiring her courage especially at that time in history given her oppositional stance in the rape trial.

The author shared her discovery of the woman, her diaries, and beautifully blended fact with fiction. Most of her diary entries were simple and didn’t elaborate, but remarkable in the decades covered bestowing knowledge to those who came after.

It was well-plotted and fast-paced with an amazing MC. Obviously, lots of research! But I wondered if it pushed disbelief regarding the latitude given her. I downloaded a copy of this audiobook from my local well-stocked library. These are my honest thoughts.

Book Details:

Genre: Historical Fiction, Women Sleuth Mysteries, Women’s Fiction
Publisher: Random House Audio
ASIN: B0BXK3SRBL
Listening Length: 15 hrs 5 mins
Narrator: Ariel Lawhon, Jane Oppenheimer
Publication Date: December 5, 2023
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)
Title Link: The Frozen River [Amazon]
Barnes & Noble
Kobo

Rosepoint Publishing: Four point Five Stars

Happy Thursday

Thirteen by Steve Cavanagh – #AudiobookReview – #TBT

Eddie Flynn Book 3

Book Blurb:

2019 Hudson Booksellers Best of the Year

The serial killer isn’t on trial. He’s on the jury.

It’s the murder trial of the century. And Joshua Kane has killed to get the best seat in the house – and to be sure the wrong man goes down for the crime. Because this time, the killer isn’t on trial. He’s on the jury.

But there’s someone on his tail. Former conman turned criminal-defense attorney Eddie Flynn doesn’t believe his movie-star client killed two people. He suspects the real killer is closer than they think – but who would guess just how close?

My Review:

Holy moly, how have I missed this author? I do enjoy legal thrillers, but this dual POV had me from the first page with two unique characters that kept me absolutely super-glued to the page. Alternate POVs between protagonist and antagonist. Not really anything new with that ploy—it was the characters; honed, crafted, molded into street-wise attorney and brilliant despot.

Eddie Flynn is the conman turned lawyer and he’s been asked to help defend one of the biggest names in the movie business on trial for murdering both his wife and her associate. Eddie is pretty sure that Robert Solomon didn’t do it. One thing Eddie is good at with his experience on the other side—people—and their “tells.” Bobbie is innocent.

Joshua Kane meanwhile has set in motion another of his well-crafted dramas. He loves it, the planning, the plotting, the manipulation—like marionettes on a string.

While the POV alternates chapters, the reader is soon embroiled in the diabolical cunning of the clever and cruel Kane and the push-back of Flynn. He may be a step behind but not for long. Flynn is great for leading the reader on his investigation in descriptive show, not tell, and we get an inkling of the mind that thinks out of the box with cunning reasoning and deductive power.

Kane has maneuvered his way bit by deadly bit to be part of the jury pool. The tension rises quickly as you realize how he will handle any further impediments to his succession into the box.

There are twists, gasps with totally unexpected turns and the already fast pace ramps up the urgency. Loved the courtroom drama, the behind-the-scenes action, and the blood pressure-spiking conclusion. More than a legal procedural, crime thriller, courtroom drama, it’s a heart-pounding ride through the mind of a one-of-a-kind character.

Coming in without reading the first two or three? So did I. But it made no difference. I had no problem following along other than now I’ll want to go back and play catch up.

Adam Sims does an outstanding job of capturing those opposing voices and making them real. I downloaded a copy of this audiobook from my local well-stocked library. These are my honest thoughts.

Book Details:

Genre: Legal Thrillers, Crime Thrillers, Suspense
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
ASIN: B07MTKTS23
Listening Length: 11 hrs 23 mins
Narrator: Adam Sims
Publication Date: August 13, 2019
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)
Title Link: Thirteen [Amazon]

Rosepoint Publishing: Four point Five Stars

The Author: Steve Cavanagh is a critically acclaimed, Sunday Times best-selling author of the Eddie Flynn series which has sold a million copies in the UK. His third novel, The Liar, won the CWA Gold Dagger for Crime Novel of the year 2018. Thirteen won the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime novel of the year 2019. FIFTY FIFTY was a Richard and Judy Book club choice, and the BBC Between The Covers book club choice. All of his novels have been nominated for major awards. His last four novels have all been Sunday Times Bestsellers.

The Eddie Flynn series can be read in any order, but the list in full in order of publication is as follows:

The Defence
The Cross (ebook exclusive novella)
The Plea
The Liar
Thirteen
Fifty Fifty
The Devil’s Advocate
The Accomplice
Standalone books – Twisted.

Find out more at http://www.stevecavanaghauthor.com or follow Steve on Twitter @SteveCavanagh_

The Narrator: Adam Sims trained at LAMDA. An award-winning and experienced stage actor, his credits include the West Yorkshire/Leeds Playhouse, the RSC, Royal Exchange Manchester and London’s West End. His screen credits include Band of Brothers and Lost in Space. As well as many recordings for BBC Radio, his voice-over credits are extensive and include computer games, animation, podcasts, television narration and corporates. He has recorded hundreds of audiobooks; titles ranging from Henry James, Edgar Allan Poe and Nathanial Hawthorne, to Haruki Murakami, Patricia Highsmith, Dennis Lehane, and Steve Cavanagh. He won the 2017 APA/Audible Audiobook Narrator of the Year for Flowers for Algernon.

#ThrowbackThursday

White House by the Sea by Kate Storey – #AudiobookReview – Biographies of Presidents & Heads of State

A Century of the Kennedys at Hyannis Port

Best History

Book Blurb:

Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, is synonymous with the Kennedy family. It is where, for a hundred years, America’s most storied political family has come to celebrate, bond, play, and, also, grieve. It is also the setting of so many events we remember: JFK giving his presidential acceptance speech, Jackie speaking with a Life magazine reporter just days after her husband’s assassination, Senator Edward Kennedy seeking refuge after the Chappaquiddick crash, Maria Shriver and Arnold Schwarzenegger tying the knot—and even Conor Kennedy courting pop star Taylor Swift. Anyone who has lived in, worked at, or visited the Kennedy compound in Hyannis Port has had a front-row view to history. Now, with extraordinary access to the Kennedy family, Kate Storey gives us a remarkably intimate and poignant look at the rhythms of an American dynasty.

Drawing from more than a hundred conversations with family members, friends, neighbors, household and security staff, Storey delivers a rich and textured account of the Kennedys’ lives in their summer refuge. From the 1920s, when Rose and Joseph P. Kennedy rented then bought a home known as The Malcolm Cottage, to today, when many Kennedys have purchased their own homes surrounding what’s now called The Big House, this book delivers many surprising revelations across the decades, including what matriarch Rose considered the family’s greatest tragedy, the rivalrous relationship between brothers Jack and Joe, details about Jackie’s life at the compound, and previously unknown glimpses into JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette’s loving and ill-fated relationship.

Fascinating, engaging, and illuminating, White House by the Sea provides a sweeping history of an American dynasty that has left an indelible mark on our nation’s politics and culture.

My Review:

Yes, of course, I remember exactly where I was when I heard that Kennedy had been shot. Who living through those years doesn’t? Shocking, it sent a nation into a grief spiral, saw the end of “Camelot,” and the excitement of having seen the youngest man ever voted into the presidency at forty-three. (It can be argued that Teddy Roosevelt was the youngest at 42, but he was not voted in.)

I have to admit, there is much I did not know, and, if the book is to be believed, corrected many of the erroneous rumors floating around for much of the century this book covers. Beginning with Joe and Rose Kennedy, this is an interesting chronology of the beginning of the Kennedy Compound in Hyannis Port.

Joe and Rose bought a simple house by the sea in 1928—it had been originally built in 1904—and soon underwent a major expansion along with the expansion of their family. A large Irish Catholic family, they began a legacy of summers at the home they called The Big House.

A lot of stories about the first and second generation of Kennedy’s, recounting the deaths of John, Bobby, Joe, and eventually Teddy. (Rose passed in 1995 at the age of 104 years.) The stories of extended family, siblings, grandchildren, and eventually cousins are examined.

A number of stories stand out, including the Cuban missile crisis with Khrushchev and the cruel promise of jobs in 1962 that saw busloads of innocent Black Americans from the south lured north in hopes of jobs and better conditions.

I enjoyed accounts of the family get-togethers, the games, the parties, the entrepreneurial ship exhibited by the younger kids, and the strong bind that bound the large family together as well as the additions of Jackie and Peter Lawford. Later were anecdotes of movie stars, artists, and singers. I also enjoyed the tales of the ships, the sailing, and the competition that saw their defeats as well as their victories.

As it progressed beyond JFK Jr., however, I felt a shift from happy accounts to those grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and cousins that fell into morose stories that didn’t end well. No longer an uplifting and clarifying narrative as much as an exposé.

I suppose it dipped into the Kennedy curse at this point and I felt a let down over what had been an enlightening biography. The narrator somberly, not for the first time quietly, completed the conclusion.

I downloaded a copy of this audiobook from my local well-stocked library. These are my honest thoughts.

Book Details:

Genre: Biographies of Presidents & Heads of State, US State & Local History, US Presidents
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
ASIN: B0BRDGXS8Q
Listening Length: 11 hrs 27 mins
Narrator: Kathe Mazur
Publication Date: June 27, 2023
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)

Title Link: White House by the Sea [Amazon]
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Rosepoint Publishing: Four point Five Stars

The Author: Kate Storey is the senior features editor at Rolling Stone. She was previously a staff writer at Esquire, where she covered culture and politics, and has written long-form profiles and narrative features for Vanity Fair, Marie Claire, Town & Country, and other publications. She lives with her family in New Jersey.