I very much enjoyed listening to Flesh & Bones by Paul Levine. It is a fun story about a lawyer, Jake, who takes a case defending a model, Chrissy. Jake is a former pro football player turned lawyer and Chrissy is an international fashion model. After too much booze and drugs as well as a series of bad...
The Lawyer by John Ellsworth is a legal thriller that takes place in Chicago and features a criminal attorney, Michael Gresham, who ends up being played by one of his clients. The story has a few unexpected twists and Michael negotiates his relationship with his ex-wife, the people he is defending, the FBI, a Mexican cartel,...
I listened to the audio version of Cold Fear by Rick Mofina. It was narrated by Christian Rummel, who did a great job. Emily Baker takes her 10-year-old daughter Paige, Paige's dog, and her husband Doug to a remote part of the Rockies. She has been in therapy and has been unable to tell her...
The Line by Bob Mayer was a fun read, or rather I should say listen. I listened to the audio version of the book on my phone. From the beginning, I was hooked. It is a military thriller and the writing and use of military jargon made it seem authentic. The story is about two...
Camino Island by John Grisham is an easy to read book. The characters are interesting and the story has a lot of promise. After the rather long beginning, the story draws the reader in and it is a light, fun read. That earns the story 3 stars, but I expect more from Grisham. Spoiler alert....
I thoroughly enjoyed this journey to 13th century France and I’m glad to have experienced it through a book and not in person! And for those who are “listeners,” the readers on the audiobook, Jayne Entwistle, Allan Corduner and Fiona Hardingham were absolutely amazing. The tale is told by three narrators: Botille, one of three...
The Good Braider by Terry Farish chronicles the experiences of a South Sudanese girl and her family fleeing their war-ravaged country and making their way to the U.S. to start a new life. Although this is a fictional story, the author, Terry Farish, did a lot of research so that the experiences of her characters...
Balcony on the Moon: Coming of Age in Palestine by Ibtisam Barakat is a memoir about Barakat’s struggle to finish school and become a writer while growing up in the West Bank. It is about her search for an identity as a Palestinian, a people without a country, and her determination to be valued and...
Have you ever had a dream where you felt like you were running down an endless corridor? Well, that is what the middle of Dark Matter by Blake Crouch was like. A little boring and frustrating. Fortunately, the endless corridor feeling was surrounded by some engaging suspense in the beginning of the story and a...
Trevor Noah, host of the Daily Show, has written a powerful book about his South African childhood. This book is by turns fascinating, horrific, funny, heartbreaking and hopeful. As excellent as the book is, the audiobook is even better. Mr. Noah narrates it; not only is he a brilliant reader, but hearing him read from...
The Yid takes place in Stalin’s Russia shortly before his death in 1953 and is a brilliant work of “reimagined” historical fiction. Solomon Shimonovich Levinson, a former actor with the State Jewish Theater, is about to be arrested. Realizing that his life is in peril and that he has nothing left to lose, he decides...
Me: (holding a copy of A Man Called Ove): Hey, you really need to read this book. It’s great! Other Person: Thanks, I need a book. What’s it about? Me: A man who is trying to commit suicide. It’s really funny! Other Person: Uhhhhh, that’s okay. Actually, I don’t need a book right now. Ove...
The Fifth Season is a compelling and multifaceted story set on a geologically unstable and volatile “Earth”. Earthquakes and volcanoes are a constant threat and if severe enough can cause a fifth season, or extended winter, due to the amount of dust and ash sent up into the atmosphere. Tsunamis created by “shakes” can wipe...
Children of the New World is a collection of 13 short stories, each taking place in a different, though future, place and time. I’ll start off by admitting that I’m not usually a fan of short stories. If I’m really enjoying a book, I like to stay with it for a while and really get...
Dark Matter is a fast-paced science fiction/mystery/thriller of a book. It is the story of Jason Dessen, a physics professor who had the possibility to make it big but decided to marry his girlfriend when she became pregnant with his child and settle down. His life is good, if a bit routine and average. When...