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Eric A. Silver

  • 17
  • reviews
  • 8
  • helpful votes
  • 59
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Predictable

Overall
1 out of 5 stars
Performance
1 out of 5 stars
Story
1 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 09-05-24

This was a rather predictable story, and scarcely worth the time it took to listen to it.

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A Ride to Growth and Maturity

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 06-26-24

A late night abduction leads to an unbelievable demand: “My son will ride your horse in the derby.” Never mind that Alessandro is barely eighteen and has next to no experience, His gangster father lives with the idea that he gives orders, and it is the task of everyone else to obey them.
The young Alessandro arrives at the stables all kitted out in his fancy riding gear and a sneer on his face, for he has inherited his father’s obnoxious ways, and throughout his young life, his father has given him everything he wanted. Everything except a sense of how the world really works. His desire to ride a horse in the Derby is all he needs, and he knows his father will make it happen.
Then Neil has to come to grips with the reality of the father’s threats to destroy his stables as one by one his horses develop broken legs and need to be put down. Could it be an accident? Indeed it could as these sorts of injuries happen all the time in the racing world, but small gifts are delivered which make clear that these were no accidental mishaps.
Yet Neil recognizes that the young Alessandro has talent, if only he were willing to recognize that his skills are not yet as great as he imagines them to be, and if he could only tone his arrogance down a peg or two.
Bit by bit, in a stunning finish marked by tragedy and triumph, Alessandro comes to realize that he does indeed have much to learn, as he embarks on a ride to growth and maturity, and that Neil is the man to teach him. The two grow together in the novel’s touching finish. Dick Francis at his best.

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Inadequate at the Ending

Overall
4 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
3 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 05-23-24

The writer attempts to compete with Tom Grisham in writing a fast paced legal thriller. The story moves along, somewhat ploddingly at times, and is inadequate at the ending, where nothing seems to make sense. Some of the characters are two-dimensional, and the murder is solved, or not, depending upon how the reader/listener regards it. Courtroom drama is always part of novels like this, but in this case, it falls somewhat flat. Throughout the story the reader wonders where the writer is going with all this, and the loose ends are tied together in a somewhat incomplete fashion.

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As realistic as possible

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 07-19-23

This story is as realistic as possible, and let me waiting for the next chapter. From a martinet admiral, to the grunts who fight for every square inch of earth, this story had me following along, recalling my own days in combat. They don’t get much better than this.

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The whole truth is half a story

Overall
1 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
1 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 07-15-23

I detest abridged stories, and this is no exception. What has been omitted exceeds what has been included, and the reader/listener has been victimized by the creators of half a story

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Moving and Packs a Punch

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 07-09-23

Archer is a first rate detective, a man who packs a punch, and receives a few himself. His analytical skills are what put him at the top of his trade, but there are times when he’s not quick enough to step out of the way. He’s a man with a strong ethical sense, one who will not take advantage of another, regardless of gender. And he knows what it is to have loved and lost, and this makes him a man of great sensitivity. This is a moving tale, and Archer is the one who has to live it.

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The Magic of Baseball

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 06-14-23

With this novel, Grisham brings home the magic of baseball, the dreams of a boy, a tyrannical father who is a pitcher for the Mets, but who somehow never had time nor love for his son. Grisham makes it possible for us to hear and feel the jostling of the crowds, the smell of the refreshments, and the diamond spread out before him. From the first crack of the bat to a rising dream and the end of a career, e experience it all. A short book, but a must-read that is exactly as long as it needs to be to tell the entire story.

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Save Your Money

Overall
1 out of 5 stars
Performance
1 out of 5 stars
Story
1 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 05-28-23

I can only concur with the reader who said that this book was a childish attempt to play off the DaVinci Code. The latter was a skilled literary work while this book is a silly waste of time that I read only that I might have the opportunity to leave an honest review. I wanted to return the book for credit, but found that it was not possible. The plot was poorly conceived and badly put together. The reader has all the characters speaking with Russian accents, deeply basso and always dead wrong. Regardless of whether the characters were Italian, German or African, the reader seemed be unable to get the pronunciation right. They all sounded like Russians, and even Natashya, who was Russian, came across as stilted and phony. My advice is that prospective readers should save their money, unless they are given to dime-store novels and cheap pulp fiction.

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Pope John VII Redux

Overall
4 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
2 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 05-13-23

Dramatis Personae:
The Pope, herein unnamed, reputed to be holy, but not that wise, perhaps even losing his faculties toward the end. Revered by some, reviled by others—mostly the arch traditionalists.
The Cardinals, 118 in all, some good, a few holy, some truly wicked steeped in simony, or even worse. They will gather to choose one of their number who will reign as the next pope. But one of them possesses an awesome secret, one so deep that if known would exclude him from the throne of Peter, and only one other cardinal knows his secret—he and the prior pope.
Can women be ordained to the priesthood? Many Catholics say they can, and should, but the church’s rules preclude this.
The secret is guessed by the readers, almost from the very beginning of the conclave, but it remains subdued until the very end. Catholic traditionalist will be shocked, and liberals will be pleased but as one liberal cardinal explains to the new pope, the secret may never come out until the new pope has passed on to the next world, and then, only his doctor will know. An exciting read, steeped in mystery and intrigue, and definitely worth reading.

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A True Spy Thriller

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 07-06-22

Spy stories are, by their very nature, thrilling. This one is all the more so because every bit of it is true. But this spy didn’t spy for his own country; he spied for the enemy. And he didn’t do so because he wanted money, but because he believed in an ideal: democracy. From his first tentative approaches to his exposure by a mercenary, to his hair-raising escape, the excitement of this tale leaves us breathless at every turn. Read this book—or rather, listen to it on Audible, and you will gain a new appreciation for the meaning of freedom, and the sacrifices of those who have provided it to us.

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