#ThrowbackThursdaybloggers – Rosepoint Publishing

Two Audiobooks Mini-Reviews – Hell Is Empty and Return to Sender by Craig Johnson #WesternFiction #TBT

Walt Longmire Mysteries Books 7 and 21

Yes, time for catching up on the Walt Longmire series! Gees, the last I read was The Longmire Defense, Book 19, back in February 2024. (Dang, I missed Book 20? I’ll have to remedy that.) So, yes, I try to go back and pick up an old one I missed back when, as well as keeping up with the new installments.

Recorded Books has always released the Longmire audiobook series and fortunately for all of us, George Guidall narrates. He is the quintessential Sheriff Longmire.

Return to Sender: Walt Longmire Mysteries, Book 21

Date Released: May 27, 2025

My Thoughts

Definitely a switch here in that Sheriff Longmire of Absaroka County comes to investigate the disappearance of a mail person who has the longest route in Wyoming. In this particular investigation, however, he doesn’t pursue the missing person without going incognito—undercover.

Pursuing any leads he gleans, he crosses paths with religious cult leaders nomading around the Red Desert. Between desperate scenes, assassins, and twists, the pace is, as always, fast.

Hell Is Empty: A Walt Longmire Mystery, Book 7

Date Released: June 8, 2011

My Thoughts

In this installment, as well as many of the others, Walt Longmire connects with the myths and magic of the Cheyenne Nation. He is befriended by a Cheyenne ghost of the past that imparts life-saving support as he confronts a blizzard while tracking down escapees into the mountains. It becomes a mystical journey, seen or experienced by him, given his affinity for the traditions of the local tribe.

Always some good quotables:

“Cigarettes are killers, they travel in packs.”

“I couldn’t die, I’d have too many women who’d kill me.”

Just when circumstances can’t get much worse, there comes a humorous note to break the tension. Sometimes you’ll exercise a little disbelief. It’s okay. Enjoy the author’s writing style. They are fun, fast reads, but do yourself a favor and listen to the gritty tones of the narrator as he carries you through another escape into a different world.

It amazes me how long the man can keep going, given that he must have aged a little since the series began in 2004. I love the support characters and his closest allies, his undersheriff, now fiancé, Vic, and Henry, a member of the Cheyenne Nation. They are not featured so much in Return to Sender, even so, these as well as any of the others could be read as standalones. His books are heavily spiced with a sardonic sense of humor and an extremely quick wit. If you’ve watched any of the Netflix Longmire series, you’ve come to love the atmospheric setting and the characters. It’s well written and immensely engaging and entertaining.

Many thanks to my local library for providing me with the opportunity to listen to these books. Any opinion expressed here is my own.

The Author: Craig Johnson is the New York Times bestselling author of the Longmire mysteries, the basis for the hit Netflix original series Longmire. He is the recipient of the Western Writers of America Spur Award for fiction, the Mountains and Plains Booksellers Award for fiction, the Nouvel Observateur Prix du Roman Noir, and the Prix SNCF du Polar. His novella Spirit of Steamboat was the first One Book Wyoming selection. He lives in Ucross, Wyoming, population 25.
http://www.craigallenjohnson.com/

The Narrator: George Guidall is a prolific audiobook narrator and theatre actor. As of November 2014, he had recorded over 1,270 audiobooks, which was believed to be the record at the time. Wikipedia

#Audiobooks

The Cyanide Canary: A True Story of Injustice by Robert Dugoni and Joseph Hilldorfer #AudiobookReview

Book Blurb:

From Robert Dugoni, the #1 Kindle -bestselling author of MY SISTER’S GRAVE, and Environmental Protection Agency Special Agent Joseph Hilldorfer comes a true story of good and evil, greed and its consequences, and an elusive quest for justice…

Early in the morning on August 27, 1996, twenty year old Scott Dominguez showed up for an ordinary day at the fertilizing plant where he worked. By 11:00am, he was clinging to life, unconscious and suffocating from toxic exposure to cyanide in a tank that was supposed to contain only mud and water.

EPA Special Agent Joseph Hilldorfer was tasked with finding out what really happened on that horrific day in Soda Springs, Idaho, but the answers would not be easily uncovered. For more than four years Hilldorfer, his partner Bob Wojnicz, and a force of top-ranking U.S. attorneys struggled to expose the disturbing truths behind the tragedy, but would their efforts be enough to put the man responsible, Allan Elias, behind bars?

Dugoni, a New York Times bestselling author known for his heart-pounding legal thrillers, and Hilldorfer, the agent who lived and breathed the Dominguez case, pen a compulsively readable work that is every bit as enthralling as fiction, yet is alarmingly true.

My Review:

My dip into a non-fiction book this year co-authored by Robert Dugoni and Joe Hilldorfer, the latter an EPA special agent in charge of the investigation in Soda Springs, Idaho. Of course, my ears perked up when I started hearing several of these little rural towns, out in the middle of nowhere, small bedroom communities for a major local industry.

Idaho is riddled with heavy mineral and mining sites as well as hot springs and mineral waters, such as this town’s namesake, Soda Springs. The first time we discovered the little town with the soda water, we couldn’t believe it until we tasted it.

The opening of the book reads like a Dugoni suspense thriller with the two young men being told to clean out the sludge in the tank, unaware it contained deadly cyanide gases, sans any protection.

Then the narrative morphs into textbook presentation and switches POV to Hilldorfer. Hilldorfer is still testing the EPA waters with violations of environmental laws lacking the serious level of meted justice it deserves.

The presentation veered into technical terms, detailed presentations, environmental laws, and examples of violations successfully tried with disappointing lightweight sentences.

Lots of characters, of course, contributed to the storyline, often preceded by personal background, education, and experience of the contributions of their successful (or failed) prosecutions and the reasons. The pacing slowed as the years advanced with little advancement and the necessity of returning to the courts yet again.

The case against Allan Elias, the owner responsible for the deadly and willful assignment, proved a slippery slope as his attorneys were perceived to find one loophole after another and Elias a bottomless pit of money to fight all allegations. Meanwhile, the survivor of the cyanide suffered permanent and life-changing losses and was racking up thousands of dollars in medical bills.

An interesting look into the evolving EPA coming into power and the progress made in protecting our environment while acknowledging the extent of work still to be done.

Did they ever send Elias to prison? Did Dominguez survive?

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

Rosepoint Publishing: Four Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Biographies of Lawyers & Judges, Lawyer & Judge Biographies, True Crime Biographies
Publisher: Tantor Audio
ASIN: B06XGYM4JG
Listening Length: 12 hrs 48 mins
Narrator: Tom Perkins
Publication Date: March 21, 2017
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)
Title Link: The Cyanide Canary [Amazon]

The Authors:

Robert Dugoni is the critically acclaimed New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and #1 Amazon bestselling author of the Tracy Crosswhite police series set in Seattle, which has sold more than 10 million books worldwide. He is also the author of The Charles Jenkins espionage series, the David Sloane legal thriller series, the Keera Duggan legal thriller series, and several stand-alone novels including The 7th Canon, Damage Control, the literary novels, The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell – Suspense Magazine’s Book of the Year, for which Dugoni’s narration won an AudioFile Earphones Award and the critically acclaimed, The World Played Chess; historical novels based on true events: A Killing on the Hill about Seattle during the great depression and Hold Strong, a WWII novel; as well as the nonfiction exposé The Cyanide Canary, a Washington Post Best Book of the Year. Several of his novels have been optioned for movies and television series. Dugoni is the recipient of the Nancy Pearl Award for Fiction and multiple awards for best novel set in the Pacific Northwest. He has also been a finalist for many other awards including the International Thriller Award, the Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction, the Silver Falchion Award for mystery, and the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Award.

Robert Dugoni’s books are sold in more than thirty countries and have been translated into more than thirty languages.

Visit his website at www.robertdugoni.com, and follow him on twitter @robertdugoni and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/AuthorRobertDugoni

Joseph Hilldorfer is a Special Agent for the Environmental Protection Agency and a member of the National Counter-Terrorism Evidence Response Team. He has been involved in high-profile environmental investigations in the Pacific Northwest since 1992. Prior to joining EPA, Hilldorfer was a distinguished Special Agent with the FBI in Seattle and New York City, working high-profile cases such as the Green River Killer and going undercover for the Counter-Espionage Squad. With an M.A. in Criminal Justice Administration from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and a law degree from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, he is admitted to the Pennsylvania bar. He lives in Seattle, Washington. [Google]

#ThrowbackThursday

Two Audiobooks and an eBook – Listen While You Work #BookReviews

Mini-Reviews – Catching Up on the TBR*

Still catching up on the reviews of my audiobooks and an eBook, here are three more, two of which might be good candidates for #ThrowbackThursday and one very recent release. I love finding an author or new series that I can binge on, so I’m usually willing to look back—in this case, way back.

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My Thoughts

Triptych – This one starts out the Will Trent series and doesn’t pull any punches. It’s obvious by the first that it will be in-your-face raw, descriptions not for the faint of heart. If you’ve read any Slaughter books, you know her mind can picture and describe in details things you’d rather not know or see. Getting past that, the well-paced novel pushes into a deeply complex narrative, peering into the minds of several main characters who are well developed but definitely damaged. And don’t tell me you don’t delight in her little surprises. 4 stars

Book Details

Genre: Psychological Fiction, Serial Killer Thrillers, Police Procedurals
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Author: Karin Slaughter
Narrator: Michael Kramer
ASIN: B000JMKRAW
Listening Length: 13 hrs 15 mins
Publication Date: August 11, 2006
Amazon
Goodreads

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My Thoughts

Murder Road – EEK! Creepy. If you’ve read this author before, you are aware she can conjure up some pretty sinister stuff, pushing the supernatural buttons and the hair on the back of your neck. My first reaction was the over-the-top jump on this newlywed couple as persons of interest. Then as the story begins to lay out, putting one disturbing fact after another, the chills begin to add up. Why does the couple act guilty? 4 stars

Book Details

Genre: Supernatural Thrillers, Horror Fiction
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Author: Simone St. James
Narrator: Brittany Pressley
ASIN: B0CB99YKLY
Listening Length: 9 hrs 10 mins
Publication Date: March 05, 2024
Amazon
Goodreads

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My Thoughts

Desert Heat – Joanna Brady Mysteries Book 1 – Introduction to the small desert community of Bisbee, Arizona and the woman who will fill the shoes of her hubby, died while running for Sheriff. Yeah, doesn’t sound like a suicide, but that’s what they claim. While it’s true the area is an enclave of drugs and smuggling, that doesn’t mean all cops have to be dirty. Joanna works to clear his name—and hers—which will hopefully give her some serious cred. I like Arizona, not necessarily the unrelenting, incessant heat—but the beauty, so I enjoyed the atmospheric quality of the novel. 3 stars

Book Details

Genre: Read & Listen, Police Procedurals
Publisher: Avon
Author: J A Jance
ASIN: B000FC11DS
Publication Date: March 17, 2009
Amazon
Goodreads

Summary

Triptych is one of those whose characters are all damaged, one way or another, and are busy trying to find a serial killer. Kinda makes you nervous, huh! Actually, I liked the Angie Polaski character. Several perspectives. I like the way the author builds into the storyline, adding layers and twists—adding tension. Pay attention or you’ll miss the last hint. Generally, I don’t think you can go wrong with this author, just be prepared for a mind that no way can you see it connected to the bio picture of her. She looks so…normal. 4 stars

Murder Road is one of those that has you screaming at the characters. You know those commercials where they run and hide where the axe murderer is waiting? Ack! I advised them more than once to just leave. And when they did, did they stay gone? Also, I wondered by the B&B lady did such a flip from wanting to refuse them a room to actually befriending them. Huh? This is an Amazon Editors’ pick for Best Mystery, Thriller & Suspense. Yeah, if you like disturbing, paranormal, tension and suspense—this would appeal. 4 stars

Desert Heat is a work-in-progress. Lots of groundwork laid for Book 1. The main character is not wholly developed and, at this point, I found her a bit difficult to fully engage. She begins the story as a devastated widow but quickly becomes a chief. Also, sometimes it feels like the reveal just defaults to the obvious. 3 stars

I received a copy of these audiobooks and the digital from my local library that in no way influenced my reviews. These are my honest thoughts.

Book Reviews - check

*To Be Reviewed

A Day of Fire by Kate Quinn – #AudiobookReview – #ReadingIrelandMonth24

A Novel of Pompeii

Book Blurb:

From six bestselling authors, including New York Times bestseller Kate Quinn, comes a vividly imagined novel following the lives of those in ancient Pompeii on the fateful day Mount Vesuvius erupts.

Pompeii was a lively resort flourishing in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius at the height of the Roman Empire. When Vesuvius erupted in an explosion of flame and ash, the entire town would be destroyed. Some of its citizens died in the chaos, some escaped the mountain’s wrath . . . and these are their stories:

A boy loses his innocence in Pompeii’s flourishing streets.

An heiress dreads her wedding day, not knowing it will be swallowed by fire.

An ex-legionary stakes his entire future on a gladiator bout destined never to be finished.

A crippled senator welcomes death, until a tomboy on horseback comes to his rescue.

A young mother faces an impossible choice for her unborn child as the ash falls.

A priestess and a prostitute seek redemption and resurrection as the town is buried.

Six authors bring to life overlapping stories of patricians and slaves, warriors and politicians, villains and heroes who cross each other’s paths during Pompeii’s fiery end. But who will escape, and who will be buried for eternity?

My Review:

I went looking for another book by Kate Quinn for #ReadingIrelandMonth24 and stumbled across this one. Of course I was excited! Six best-selling authors collaborating on the destruction of Pompeii? And one of the two narrators my favorite from the audiobooks with Kate Quinn? A win-win for sure.

I love the collaboration of the stories, each with their own vignettes, and gradually each tale begins to overlap and meld into a solid, entertaining storyline. It’s a wide swath of humanity—from the privileged and spoiled maiden to a prostitute just trying to survive day to day with her beloved sister.

With the current disaster or dystopian craze, I can see where this would make for an edge-of-your-seat flick (never mind the one made in 2014). The suspense is killing, especially when you know what’s coming. Why aren’t these people fleeing for their lives?

They had warning—by the volcano itself.

But rather than focusing on the population, the novel brilliantly hones in on the personal lives of just a small cross-section of the residents. It’s emotional, obviously deeply character driven that engages the reader quickly and invests them in each individual’s chances for survival.

Of course there will be a woman about to give birth—what worse time could there be? Politics are, as always, playing a big part in where the Romans’s minds are—haven’t they been through earthquakes before and survived? No reason to scatter with a few rattles and rolls. The high-born daughter betrothed to a man old enough to be her father—talk about frying pan to the fire!

In the face of an apocalyptic cataclysm, how will these people react? Selfless or selfish? Will either save them from the poisonous and heated gases, a shower of ash, and another of rock and stone?

The authors take the readers to heart-pumping expectations only to switch scenes and confront another crisis. The separate contributions by authors are seamlessly woven together to create one extremely thrilling book about a historical pyroclastic flow that killed more than 2,000 people.

I really enjoyed the book! But just too much disbelief that any could have survived, given a late muster to move results in my star rating. Still, I greatly recommend the audiobook; get your copy. 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: Ancient World Historical Romance, Ancient History Fiction, Literature Anthologies
Publisher: HarperAudio
ASIN: B0BT18P822
Listening Length: 11 hrs 19 mins
Narrators: Andrew Kingston, Saskia Maarleveld
Publication Date: August 8, 2023
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)

Title Link: A Day of Fire [Amazon-US]

A Day of Fire [Amazon-UK]

The Authors: Kate Quinn, Stephanie Dray, Ben Kane, Eliza Knight, Sophie Perinot, Vicky Alvear

Kate Quinn – Kate Quinn is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of historical fiction. A native of southern California, she attended Boston University where she earned a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Classical Voice. She has written four novels in the Empress of Rome Saga, and two books in the Italian Renaissance, before turning to the 20th century with “The Alice Network”, “The Huntress,” “The Rose Code,” and “The Diamond Eye.” All have been translated into multiple languages. Kate and her husband now live in San Diego with three rescue dogs.

The Narrators: Andrew Kingston, Saskia Maarleveld

Saskia Maarleveld is an experienced audiobook narrator and voice-over actress based in New York City. Raised in New Zealand and France, she is highly skilled with accents and dialects, and many of her books have been narrated entirely in accents other than her own. In addition to audiobooks, Saskia’s voice can be heard in animation, video games, and commercials. She attributes her love and understanding of reading books aloud to coming from a large family where audiobooks were the only way to get through car rides without fighting! Visit saskiamaarleveld.com to learn more.

©V Williams

March is #ReadingIrelandMonth

No Strangers Here by Carlene O’Connor – #AudiobookReview – #ReadingIrelandMonth24

County Kerry Mystery #1

Book Blurb:

Set in Ireland’s striking, rugged countryside, USA Today bestselling author Carlene O’Connor’s dark, atmospheric new crime fiction series combines the eerie atmosphere of Tana French and Louise Penny with the compulsively taut plotting of Dervla McTiernan and Lucy Foley, as an Irish veterinarian grapples with life, death, family dynamics, and the secrets at the heart of her small community…

On a rocky beach in the southwest of Ireland, the body of Jimmy O’Reilly, sixty-nine years old and dressed in a suit and his dancing shoes, is propped on a boulder, staring sightlessly out to sea. A cryptic message is spelled out next to the body with sixty-nine polished black stones and a discarded vial of deadly veterinarian medication lies nearby. Jimmy was a wealthy racehorse owner, known far and wide as The Dancing Man. In a town like Dingle, everyone knows a little something about everyone else. But dig a bit deeper, and there’s always much more to find. And when Detective Inspector Cormac O’Brien is dispatched out of Killarney to lead the murder inquiry, he’s determined to unearth every last buried secret.

Dimpna Wilde hasn’t been home in years. As picturesque as Dingle may be for tourists in search of their roots and the perfect jumper, to her it means family drama and personal complications. In fairness, Dublin hasn’t worked out quite as she hoped either. Faced with a triple bombshell—her mother rumored to be in a relationship with Jimmy, her father’s dementia is escalating, and her brother is avoiding her calls—Dimpna moves back to clear her family of suspicion.

Despite plenty of other suspects, the guards are crawling over the Wildes. But the horse business can be a brutal one, and as Dimpna becomes more involved with her old acquaintances and haunts, the depth of lingering grudges becomes clear. Theft, extortion, jealousy and greed. As Dimpna takes over the family practice, she’s in a race with the detective inspector to uncover the dark, twisting truth, no matter how close to home it strikes…

My Review:

Oh good grief. You can’t say I’m not consistent. An author I’ve read many times, her cozy mysteries, an apparently gave one to the CE to read in June 2022.

This one.

No Strangers Here launches a series in which the author leaves her cozy mysteries and turns out a much darker story. And you can believe that the author can spin some pretty interesting tales!

Detective Inspector Cormac O’Brien is back to lead the investigation into the murder of Jimmy O’Reilly in Dingle. Dr. Dimpna Wilde has returned to Dingle and the veterinarian quickly finds herself embroiled in the apparent murder owing to a possible connection to her family. Her father, also a veterinarian with a long-held practice is showing strong signs of dementia.

Wealthy racehorse owner Jimmy O’Reilly had quite the reputation for himself. He was quite the dapper dancer and the ladies loved it. Including Dimpna’s mother?

Along with a bird’s eye view of the beautiful tourist-drawing countryside and a well-rounded cadre of support characters, the narrative’s undercurrent reveals twists as the storyline progresses through each lead.

I reviewed Book 2 of the series, Some of Us Are Looking and really enjoyed it but I can’t find a Book 3 for this series. I found Book 1 to be a bit slower than the second, but as the start of a series, that’s not unusual. Dimpna has her problems, of course she does, but I found the novel about the Irish animal doctor engaging and either installment could be read as a standalone.

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

Rosepoint Publishing: Four Stars

Book Details:

Genre: International Mystery & Crime, Women Sleuth Mysteries
Publisher: Recorded Books
ASIN: B0B8R282TK
Listening Length: 12 hrs 26 mins
Narrator: Emily O’Mahony
Publication Date: October 25, 2022
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)
Title Link: No Strangers Here [Amazon]

The Author: USA Today bestselling author Carlene O’Connor comes from a long line of Irish storytellers. Her great-grandmother emigrated from Ireland to America and the stories have been flowing ever since. Of all the places across the pond she’s wandered, she fell most in love with a walled town in County Limerick and was inspired to create the town of Kilbane, County Cork. She writes the bestselling IRISH VILLAGE MYSTERIES, the HOME TO IRELAND series, and the new COUNTY KERRY MYSTERIES. Her books have been translated into numerous languages, and optioned for television.

Readers can find her at Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100086525205106 or through her website: http://www.carleneoconnor.net

The Storyteller’s Death by Ann Dávila Cardinal- #AudiobookReview – #bookclubs – #TBT

Book Blurb:

From International Latino Book Award-winning author Ann Dávila Cardinal comes a gorgeously written family saga about a Puerto Rican woman who finds herself gifted (or cursed?) with a strange ability.

There was always an old woman dying in the back room of her family’s house when Isla was a child…

Isla Larsen Sanchez’s life begins to unravel when her father passes away. Instead of being comforted at home in New Jersey, her mother starts leaving her in Puerto Rico with her grandmother and great-aunt each summer like a piece of forgotten luggage.

When Isla turns eighteen, her grandmother, a great storyteller, dies. It is then that Isla discovers she has a gift passed down through her family’s cuentistas. The tales of dead family storytellers are brought back to life, replaying themselves over and over in front of her.

At first, Isla is enchanted by this connection to the Sanchez cuentistas. But when Isla has a vision of an old murder mystery, she realizes that if she can’t solve it to make the loop end, these seemingly harmless stories could cost Isla her life.

My Review:

I wanted to like this book. It was the selection from the book club for the quarter. They go for an eclectic selection of books—those I would probably not read on my own—this being one.

Usually, if I can find an audiobook for the book club selection, I’ll choose that over reading it. I’m glad I did this time as well, the narration did help, with a couple exceptions.

I loved the main character’s name, Isla. I thought very pretty right up until one of her aunt’s drew it out in exaggerated pronunciation for the umpteenth time in that high-pitched irritating voice.

Isla Sanchez is sent to Puerto Rico every summer where she develops a strong bond with her great aunt. Her mother is an alcoholic and does not get along with her mother who cares for Isla.

But her grandmother passes away when Isla turns 18 and it quickly appears that she has imparted a gift of visions to Isla. Unfortunately, not all of the visions are benign and involve her beloved great aunt.

As the visions progress from alarming to dangerous, she realizes that the mystery of the murder must be solved. It never felt, however, that she was really in mortal danger.

I must admit that my attention wandered from time to time and like a petulant teenager who “tunes out” I did so with parts of the storyline I felt lagging or redundant. I enjoyed info bits about Puerto Rico, the customs, the foods, and celebrations. But part of my problem is that Isla comes from an entitled family—money—class—land, an irksome trope. And she becomes aware of that class distinction when she meets José.

While I enjoyed the storyteller aspect of the plot, her investigation successes came quickly, always seeking and easily finding the person who would supply that part of the information. No tension or suspense. Her time is her own, she has the money and resources to go where and when she wants. It’s all too easy.

There is a twist at the conclusion that did come as a surprise. Still, I’m a little underwhelmed with this one.

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

Book Details:

Genre: Magical Realism Fiction, Coming of Age Fiction, Family Life Fiction
Publisher: Recorded Books
ISBN-10: ‎ 1728250773
ISBN-13: ‎ 978-1728250779
ASIN: B0B5JPP7D4
Listening Length: 9 hrs 48 mins
Narrator: Marisol Ramirez
Publication Date: October 4, 2022
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)
Title Link: The Storyteller’s Death [Amazon]

Rosepoint Publishing: Three Point Five Stars

The Author: Ann Dávila Cardinal is an International Latino Book Award winning novelist and aging tattooed punk. Her first young adult horror novel Five Midnights, was released by Tor Teen (2019), as was the sequel, Category Five (2020). Her adult debut, the novel The Storyteller’s Death, was released by Sourcebooks and is a finalist for the Vermont Book Awards for 2022. Her next magical realist adult novel, We Need No Wings, will be released from Sourcebooks in October 2024. Her young adult, horror rom-com, Breakup From Hell, came out from HarperTeen in January of 2023.

Five Midnights won an AudioFile Earphones Award, an International Latino Book Award 2020, and was a finalist for a Bram Stoker Award. Category Five was a finalist for the 2021 International Latino Book Award. The Storyteller’s Death is a finalist for the Vermont Book Award.

Her stories have appeared in a number of anthologies, including Our Shadows Have Claws (2022), Other Terrors: An Inclusive Anthology (2022), Lockdown: Stories of Crime, Terror, and Hope During a Pandemic (2020); and Women Writing the Weird (2012) and she contributed to the Encyclopedia Latina: History, Culture, And Society in the United States edited by Ilan Stavans.

Ann lives in Vermont, needle-felts tiny reading creatures, and prepares for the zombie apocalypse.

Have a great week!

A Superior Death by Nevada Barr – #AudiobookReview – #ThrowbackThursday

Book Blurb:

Nevada Barr quickly attracted the attention of mystery fans when her first Anna Pigeon mystery, Track of the Cat, appeared. Now she immerses the intrepid park ranger in a perilous search that will take her far below the waters of Lake Superior. As Anna spends her days patrolling its shores, the surface of Lake Superior fills with tourists. In the depths below lie an ancient ship and the bones of its sailors. But when two tourists dive down to see the wreck, they discover that a new body has joined the skeletal crew. As Anna tries to discover how and why, she encounters secrets darker and more deadly than the waters surrounding the corpse. Filled with suspense, A Superior Death is also laced with Anna Pigeon’s self-deprecating humor. With Barbara Rosenblat’s spirited narration, you’ll immediately be scanning the splendid setting and looking for clues through the eyes of the savvy naturalist.

My Review:

I got a hankering for a Nevada Barr book again, a major reason being Barbara Rosenblat, the narrator for the audiobook. (And by the way, I’ve listened to a couple of Barbara’s other books and you wouldn’t know it was the same voice if it didn’t say so on the cover. She’s good. Her Anna Pigeon narration is primo.)

This is the second installment in the Anna Pigeon mystery series that I’ve followed for some time, as usual picking off the top first and basically listening to whatever was available at my local library. Not all in the series, but I’ve listened to a bunch of them totally out of order of course, but you could probably consider each as a standalone.

This installment has ranger Anna Pigeon on Isle Royale National Park in Lake Superior. I chose this particular book precisely because of its location. Anna’s last assignment was in the desert southwest, so this is a complete 180 for her and she’s still getting used to it, the people, and the living conditions.

When a body is found in a wreck on the lake bottom, Anna finds herself investigating suspicious circumstances. I love hearing about these remote locations, the beauty, the wilderness, and in this particular storyline, the diving and mystery of deep frigid water underwater wrecks as well as the mystique of the island inhabitants.

Lake Superior is known for quirky winds and ship-sinking storms. Kamloops, sunk in 1927 is a focus here. The frigid waters manage to preserve corpses as well as artifacts.

There are various plot lines, degrees of sketchy support characters, and suspects. Take your pick, but as Anna does so, the clever well-paced plot divulges answers. You might guess the perp when the action ramps up considerably into a satisfying conclusion.

Anna can be pretty amazing sometimes and you might have to suspend disbelief just a little, but go with the flow. It’s fun, descriptive, full of a snarky sense of humor delivered in that slightly wise-cracking whiskey voice that IS Anna. You can picture her. She can handle it.

This series is fun. It’s all good. I downloaded a copy of this audiobook from my local well-stocked library and I’ve started on Book 3 now. These are my honest thoughts.

Book Details:

Genre: Amateur Sleuth Mysteries, Women Sleuth Mysteries, Suspense
Publisher: Recorded Books
ASIN: B0002T8XL2
Listening Length: 11 hrs 43 mins
Narrator: Barbara Rosenblat
Publication Date: July 29, 2004
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)
Title Link: A Superior Death [Amazon]

Rosepoint Publishing: Four point Five Stars

The Author: Nevada was born in the small western town of Yerington, Nevada and raised on a mountain airport in the Sierras. Both her parents were pilots and mechanics and her sister, Molly, continued the tradition by becoming a pilot for USAir.

Pushed out of the nest, Nevada fell into the theatre, receiving her BA in speech and drama and her MFA in Acting before making the pilgrimage to New York City, then Minneapolis, MN. For eighteen years she worked on stage, in commercials, industrial training films and did voice-overs for radio. During this time she became interested in the environmental movement and began working in the National Parks during the summers — Isle Royale in Michigan, Guadalupe Mountains in Texas, Mesa Verde in Colorado, and then on the Natchez Trace Parkway in Mississippi.

Woven throughout these seemingly disparate careers was the written word. Nevada wrote and presented campfire stories, taught storytelling and was a travel writer and restaurant critic. Her first novel, Bitterweet was published in 1983. The Anna Pigeon series, featuring a female park ranger as the protagonist, started when she married her love of writing with her love of the wilderness, the summer she worked in west Texas. The first book, Track of the Cat, was brought to light in 1993 and won both the Agatha and Anthony awards for best first mystery. The series was well received and A Superior Death, loosely based on Nevada’s experiences as a boat patrol ranger on Isle Royale in Lake Superior, was published in 1994. In 1995 Ill Wind came out. It was set in Mesa Verde, Colorado where Nevada worked as a law enforcement ranger for two seasons.

The rest is, shall we say, HISTORY! Nevada’s books and accomplishments have become numerous and the presses continue to roll, so in the interest of NOT having to update this page, books, awards, status on the New York Times Best Seller List — and more — will be enumerated with the relevant books else where on this website.

Barbara Rosenblat - narrator — Attribute: Wikipedia

The Narrator: Barbara Rosenblat has been narrating for more than 20 years, and even had the honor of performing the first book ever recorded at Audible in 1999.

She has also appeared on screen such as in the Netflix original series Orange Is the New Black as Miss Rosa. Rosenblat was born in London, England and raised in New York City. Upon returning to the US, she read books to the blind for four years at the Library of Congress. On Broadway she appeared in The Secret Garden and Talk Radio. Barbara Rosenblat has narrated more than 400 audiobooks.

#ThrowbackThursday

The Last to Vanish by Megan Miranda – #AudiobookReview – #TBT

Book Blurb:

Ten years ago, Abigail Lovett fell into a job she loves, managing The Passage Inn, a cozy, upscale resort nestled in the North Carolina mountain town of Cutter’s Pass. Cutter’s Pass is best known for its outdoor offerings—rafting and hiking, with access to the Appalachian trail by way of a gorgeous waterfall—and its mysterious history. As the book begins, the string of unsolved disappearances that has haunted the town is once again thrust into the spotlight when journalist Landon West, who was staying at the inn to investigate the story of the vanishing trail, then disappears himself.

Abby has sometimes felt like an outsider within the community, but she’s come to view Cutter’s Pass as her home. When Landon’s brother Trey shows up looking for answers, Abby can’t help but feel the town closing ranks. And she’s still on the outside. When she finds incriminating evidence that may bring them closer to the truth, Abby soon discovers how little she knows about her coworkers, neighbors, and even those closest to her.

Megan Miranda brings her best writing to The Last to Vanish, a riveting thriller filled with taut suspense and shocking twists that will keep you guessing until the very end.

My Review:

A fascination for me from the time we rode motorcycles and the hope of some day riding the Blue Ridge Parkway (469 miles) which apparently parallels the Appalachian (hiking—not riding—2,190+ miles) Trail for a few miles—another fascination and a bucket list item I may have to give up. The AT is scenic, wooded, and wild. And no, hadn’t planned to hike the whole thing but there are sections you can drop in and off (doable).

So this blurb was a hook for me as I tend to read what I can find regarding the fascinating and popular hiking trail, this time located off the fictional Cutter’s Pass, North Carolina. Abigail Lovett has lived here for ten years working at the inn. Their little town has had seven unexplained disappearances off the trail at their location and now the brother of the last missing person is seeking answers.

It’s a small mountain community, close knit, and someone living and working there ten years can still be viewed as an outsider. She is not privy to the circumstances, nor has she really investigated. The owner of the inn is the widow Celeste, who with her husband, built the inn and is now a mother figure to Abby and a respected member of the village.

The town has gained an unwelcome reputation and is now subject to not just hikers and campers but those morbidly looking for incite, each thinking they might figure it out when local law enforcement couldn’t.

The storyline, however, turns out to be a slow burn—sometimes aggravatingly so—stuck in mud. I couldn’t engage with Abby, though she doggedly works on the secrets, picking at them until she gleans another little tidbit. No one is going to tell her anything, they close ranks.

Not an accident—no bodies—no bones—no trace.

There is tension and it builds albeit slowly and the apprehension carries through each hiker—obviously no connection and the timing doesn’t work.

Once a reveal happens, it all falls into place, a satisfying conclusion with a twist you probably predicted—and one I saw coming as well. Still, there are some interesting revelations about the trail, some shared history.

Part of my problem might have been the narrator who seemed hard-pressed to vary her inflection. I downloaded a copy of this audiobook from my local well-stocked library. These are my honest thoughts.

Book Details:

Genre: Psychological Thrillers, Women’s Fiction, Suspense
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
ASIN: B09KHFVWMT
Listening Length: 9 hrs 23 mins
Narrator: Alex Allwine
Publication Date: July 26, 2022
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)
Title Link: The Last to Vanish [Amazon]
Barnes & Noble
Kobo

Rosepoint Publishing: Three point Five Stars

The Author: Megan Miranda is the New York Times bestselling author of All the Missing Girls; The Perfect Stranger; The Last House Guest, a Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick; The Girl from Widow Hills; Such a Quiet Place; and The Last to Vanish. She has also written several books for young adults. She grew up in New Jersey, graduated from MIT, and lives in North Carolina with her husband and two children.