J. Lynn

Stupid, boring and ludicrously unrealistic

Reviewed: 05-04-24

This was the worst book I have read in years. The courtroom scenes were laughably bad, which provided a bit of comic relief from the monotony that preceded it for about 8 hours of listening.

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Duffy is back

Reviewed: 10-23-23

Sean Duffy is back, along with Crabby, Lawson, checking for bombs under the Beamer, the music, the philosophy, and the Dad jokes. Adrian McGinty delivers Belfast noir at its finest, again.

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Should never have been recorded as an audiobook

Reviewed: 08-16-23

This book is Charles Murray's thesis about how America is doomed to failure because of the deterioration of the "lower class". He uses statistics from census data and various surveys to support his arguments, and constantly refers to charts and graphs with, at most, the briefest descriptions of the contents of those charts and graphs. So it is an utter failure as an audiobook. I do see that there is an accompanying PDF, but I typically listen to audiobooks while driving or walking so that is useless to me. If I need to sit looking at a visual document as I listen to the book, I would rather just read the book.

In the case of this book, it's not worth the effort to go back and try to get into details. His explanations of the source of his data was dubious enough for me to doubt that this is anything more than his opinion extracted from some bare and cherry-picked data.

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Probably not the best choice for an audiobook

Reviewed: 11-07-17

Dr. Arnot starts the book with an explanation of the benefits of coffee, with many recommendation for picking coffees that have greater health benefits. While sometimes repetitive, I did find this very interesting and learned a lot from it. I have ordered some of the type of coffees he recommends and I'm looking forward to trying the lighter roasts.

The second half of the book focuses on a diet plan that revolves around coffee. He gives many recipes, but without measurements. Trying to follow a recipe from an audio book isn't very appealing, and I wish that Audible provided a PDF to accompany the book because I found this half of the book to be much less useful.

Dr. Arnot's narration, while enthusiastic about the material, at time sounded like he was slurring his words.

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1 person found this helpful

Don't expect to learn about the Roman Empire

Reviewed: 06-01-17

When I saw this book as the Audible Daily Deal a few months ago, I thought it looked very interesting: the state of medicine in Roman times. I was imagining a depiction of life so long ago like I had experienced in Ken Follett's Pillars of the Earth, or Michael Crichton's Timeline. While I didn't expect a sweeping epic like Pillars, I looked forward to learning more about Roman society and the medical techniques in use at the time. I was sorely disappointed to read about a doctor working in a hospital that had orderlies, nurses, administrators, and a chief medical officer. I half expected an MRI machine to pop out at any time. There was no description of the medical procedures. Early in the book, the Medicus operates on a broken arm. The author did not attempt to describe wheat the knowledge of human anatomy was at the time, or any details of what the doctor was actually doing to repair the arm.

This story could have taken place at any time. There is very little description of daily life: buildings, meals, dress, etc. This seems to be a fully-functioning society with a pub/brothel, bakery, markets, etc. So as a historical novel, it falls completely flat.

This book is a murder whodunit. But we are reminded over and over again that the doctor is not investigating the deaths, and he isn't. Eventually clues and evidence fall into his lap until the crime is solved. There is no suspense, the characters are very one-dimensional. I listened to this while doing some long yard-work sessions over a weekend. I was tempted to stop it and move on to something else, but I stuck it through to the end hoping it would pick up.

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1 person found this helpful

Masterful narration of a clever story

Reviewed: 03-28-17

Jess Kidd has written a very funny, very colorful mystery set in a small town in County Mayo on the west coast of Ireland. Mahony is a 26-year-old man living in Dublin who was raised in an orphanage there. He receives a clue about his birth parents, and heads to Mulderrig to try to unravel the mystery.

The story alternates between the present (1976) and the time of his birth (1950 and earlier). The characters are brilliant, with Mrs Cauley, a geriatric actress masterminding the investigation. The cast includes many ghosts who also populate the village alongside the living. Jess Kidd's dialogue captures the lyrical slang of Ireland (often a bit salty, so don't get your bollix in a twist!) and her constant similes had me laughing out loud. I do have to say that the story gets to be almost overwhelming about 3/4 of the way through the book and I found myself often skipping back a minute or two to make sure I didn't miss something. There is an incredible amount of action and many characters involved in it. As a warning, there are several gruesome descriptions of killings throughout the story: while this book has much humor throughout, it is a dark mystery at its core.

This story is brilliantly brought to life by Aiden Kelly's narration. He has a different voice for each character, and seamlessly switches from the dead impish little girl, Ida, to the laid-back Mahoney, or the sanctimonious false piety of Father Quinn and Mrs. Kelly. This book was meant to be heard in an Irish brogue.

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48 people found this helpful

A tale of healing and triumph over suffering.

Reviewed: 03-06-17

I have read several of Patricia McConnell's dog training books, and found them to be full of practical advice, with many examples from her long career working with dogs that have behavioral issues. In this book McConnell describes her own journey with her border collie, Will, who has severe anxiety and also sustains serious physical injuries that required many months of rehabilitation and healing. In the course of her treatment plan for Will, Tricia begins to confront some dark and traumatic incidents from her past, and to heal herself in the process.

The book is written from an honest and cathartic viewpoint. It is encouraging to hear how a renowned expert struggled with her own dog's behavior. I had great sympathy for Tricia's trauma in her past and, as the story unfolded I found myself rooting for both of them. The story is written from the perspective of a survivor, not a victim, and Tricia gives an honest description of what it took to make that transition.

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4 people found this helpful

Michael Forsythe heads back into the darkness

Reviewed: 02-28-17

The dark journey of Michael Forsythe continues in this second book of the series. (Read "Dead I Well May Be" before this one ... there are many spoilers for the first book in this one). Michael was definitely an anti-hero in the first book, but switches more into a hero role here as he is pushed into an assignment he only accepts reluctantly. The story get progressively darker, more violent, and at times gruesome as it unfolds. It does push the envelope of credulity at times when Michael/Sean continues to push through against long odds, but it is an exciting and ultimately satisfying read. Gerard Doyle does another fantastic job as narrator in the audio version, and his accents add much to the story.

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A tale of suffering & redemption, masterfully read

Reviewed: 01-09-17

Bill Homewood gives a masterful performance of Alexander Dumas's classic tale of betrayal, suffering, vengeance, and redemption in this audiobook. Edmond Dantes is a young man on top of the world at age 19, with his professional and personal ambitions on the verge of attainment, when his world comes crashing down as he is unjustly imprisoned. During his time in his dungeon cell, he meets with unexpected intellectual fortune and matures into a learned man. Upon gaining his freedom, he dedicates his life towards avenging those who have wronged him, and aiding those who were loyal to him.

Dumas goes into great detail in his descriptions, and the story does tend to drag on at times. I had some difficulty with the character names, as people's names changed as they attained status in French society. The story takes some abrupt and major jumps in location and story-line in a couple of places, which left me wondering if I had missed a chapter or two. I found Spark notes online that helped me to keep things straight.

I was a bit hesitant in starting a 52-hour audiobook. Bill Homewood did a marvelous job with the voices for each character, and he helped to keep the story moving along. I finished it in a month, and found myself wishing it would continue as I neared the end. It was well worth the time.

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Fast-paced mystery in a historical context

Reviewed: 11-21-16

Set in the height of The Troubles while the hunger strikes were front-page news, this backdrop adds a complexity to a murder-mystery. The story is fast-paced with a good deal of dark humor scattered throughout. The plot took big leaps at times, and I was a bit disappointed with that. Overall, through, I enjoyed the book very much and will continue with the series at some point.

The narrator added quite a bit to the book, with many different accents. Since the book is rife with Irish slang, hearing it in an Irish accent made it even more enjoyable.

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