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Kristopher KR

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A bit overly long

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

Reviewed: 09-26-24

Good story and great telling of history. Alas, it took forever to finish. I had a difficult time getting into it fully.

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Really Terrible

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

Reviewed: 04-25-24

I hate giving especially bad reviews, but yikes - this one was barely interesting enough to finish. It is a sad sign when I listen to a book while distracted by my hobby for painting and, within a few minutes, I already knew who the murderer was.

I mean- there was literally only one possible person.

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Wonderful book.

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

Reviewed: 06-20-23

I will say, I have never been a connoisseur of Jack Landon’s books and stories. But hearing about his life has made me realize that we both have a need to create and explore the world. Mr. London took that path early in life and that is what made him the adventurer he became.


Bronson Pinchot narrated and it was awesome to hear - but sounded nothing like the Pinchot I’m familiar with. I’m not talking his Balki accent either. I’m talking about his regular voice. It seemed like I was listening to Brooks Moore who narrates “How It’s Made”.

Anyway, I have been interested in biographies lately and this seemed like a good place to begin. I’d say give it a listen if you are a fan of London’s work. It gives fantastic insight to how he accomplished what he accomplished.

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Amazing- A new favorite.

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

Reviewed: 05-28-23

I became aware of Ron Perlman around the time when Beauty and the Beast was on. I was a teenage boy around then, so it wasn’t my cup of tea. But then Alien: Resurrection came. Then Blade 2 happened. Then Hellboy was released- and Ron Perlman quickly became a favorite.

Within this book, Perlman let’s loose in all the right ways. Not only does he invite the reader/listener into his life, but he does it with humor, class, and respect for the lessons he’s learned and the footsteps which he follows. He does all this in his own distinct ways and your eyes/ears are the better for it.

There’s some dark material in here. There’s, like any other life, tragedy and heartbreak. But there are also some catharsis and amazing lessons learned which flow poetically in Perlman’s words.

Definitely one I will recommend and remember forever.

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A Peek at an Era

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

Reviewed: 03-24-23

Ahh the ol’ gridiron! Man vs Man battling their ways across a yard (actually 100 yards! H’yuck!)

Steve Young has always lived his life with good morals and determination. He seems to have been raised by a decent family who supported him and loved him. He always lived his life in a way which he listened to his heart and it’s done very well for him.

But for the love of Cheez Whiz; we get it - you’re Mormon! Uh huh. Yeah yeah, Steve, I heard you the first 6,455 times.

Young played in the shadow of Joe Montana seemingly forever. But he never gave up and worked extremely hard to prove himself and make himself the best QB he could be. He won a couple Super Bowls and MVP awards. He was always fun to watch in his heyday.

So was this the most exciting biography? Not really, but it was nice to get an inside look, just a peek, into a certain era of football that became full of classic matchups.

Plus, his first time in Green Bay was wonderful 😀

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A Bit Off

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

Reviewed: 03-08-23

Kind of a difficult book to review. On one hand, it’s written by two people (David and Joe Henry) who are obviously huge fans of Richard Pryor and his entire line of work.

The narrator, Dion Graham does a hell of a job with the narration. Doing his absolute best to get Pryor’s delivery and timing and cadence correct without fully going hog wild with an impression. His version of Richard Pryor.

The problem with the book, while it’s well researched and gives an objective narrative with quotes and passages from friends and family….it seemed too much like a book report for The Henry Brother’s favorite stand-up.

I really probably should listen to a book about Pryor by Pryor himself. Perhaps if long time friends and family had written it? Maybe. A good listen nonetheless.

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All Bios Should Strive for this Amount of Excellence

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

Reviewed: 03-01-23

Truly, one of the best books I’ve listened to, genres be damned.

Lincoln was a great man and a great leader. There’s never been any doubt about that. Well, in his time of power, there most certainly was.

There are biographies about all the presidents. There are thousands of biographies about all walks of life. But this one was cover to cover intriguing.

Author Stephen B. Oates mastered the way to make a lifetime of stories flow in a way that makes you want to hear more. His use of language to paint a broad, but detailed picture is amazing to hear.

But the topper is definitely narrator T. Ryder Smith. Oates describes Abe’s voice as high pitched but firm. That was all Smith needed. He nailed it. And I truly think Daniel Day Lewis must’ve gotten his version of the voice for his role in Spielberg’s “Lincoln” from here. That’s just a theory tho.

I will most certainly check out Oates’ other work. I recommend you do too!

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Coulda Been

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

Reviewed: 01-31-23

This was such an aggravating listen. There’s so much…wrong…going on here.

First, the author, John Sandford has written some 65+ books - according to what I’ve found. This one is #29 in a series. And a couple later books in the series crossover with another character’s series of novels. A whole universe of this crap. No thanks.

Sandford is by no means Stephen King. Instead, this seems like a writer with a bunch of ghost writers under his wing.

Throughout the book, I kept thinking of how, in school, you were given an essay to write. Then the teacher looked over your rough draft and said something like “needs more detail”. So, you would go back and pick up your blue ballpoint pin from Bic and begin writings once again after procrastinating for days. See what I did there? I pulled a Sandford! All the details I added were completely pointless and dumb. He does this a lot in this book.

One such time: A character explains how they can use the jaws of life. They’ll jam the front of them in that opening, let it rip through the metal and tear the door clean off. Okay, why not just say “We’ll use the jaws of life to rip that door clean off.” That explains the machine and how it works.

Another scene explained in detail what each character was eating. Why the f do I need to know that?

Plus, dialogue would sometimes go from regular writing such as:

“That’s not what happened, and you know it !” X said.
“Then tell me.” Y said.

To something resembling a stage play:

X: “Give me the money!”
Y: “No way!”

Pick a style!

Another issue, the narrator, (Robert Ferrone). I liked him when he read one of my favorite books from last year: “A Long Time Ago in an Editing Room” about Paul Hirsch. His voice fit well with a biography. But this one, his cartoon voices and his tendency to stretch out the last bit of a sentencesssss got on my last nerve.

The plot, is a good one! US Marshal goes hunting for a cannibal and his gang. They chase them across a couple states and such. The cannibal is menacing and their plans hit the fan rather quickly.

But that dialogue—ugh. The attempts at witty banter was annoying. And “said” used over and over. There are other words!! I know I complain about that a lot, but audiobooks really make me notice them more.

I seriously do not want to hear anymore Sandford. I don’t think I can take it.

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So close to being really great—

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

Reviewed: 01-08-23

This one took me forever only because I have been zoning out on tv rather than listening to my audiobook.

But, I am now done and it’s one of those a bit hard to rate due to one major issue: the whole description of how our main character, Emmet Parker, leers at his new partner, like “she’s shapely, etc etc” always somehow about her appearance. Yes, we get it, she’s hot. Then, in other parts of the book, Parker describes seemingly every type of Native American based upon their physical descriptions. Example: So and so had a “sharp cheekbone” or “hooked nose”, etc. First, ok - you can just tell me that this person is Cherokee, and guess what? That’s enough. Secondly, the author, Kirk Mitchell, felt the need to involve each tribe in some way. Like all of them. Now, neither their descriptions nor their tribes had any bearing on anything. So why include it?

I will say this, however, I love Mitchell’s vocabulary. You know exactly who’s talking and how they looked, their posture, sweating, tics, etc - all without overly using repetitive words. I probably counted 20 uses of the word “said” with dialogue? And that’s awesome! The guy knows variety!

Stefan Rudnicki has a great, soothing baritone voice. He knew the right pace for this story, and he had the sound of a grizzled veteran in the field.

There was one small moment when I really cracked up; a scene wherein Parker is speeding towards a location— to paraphrase: “The other cop cars whooshed past him. Parker was driving 100 mph, which means they were doing at least that.”
—————
No, honey, if they whooshed past our hero, it means they were driving a skosh *faster* than him!


I see this is the beginning of a series. I may listen to the next in due time, but I won’t whoosh to the next book. 4/5

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King of Sting: The Story of Australian Conman Peter Foster Audiobook By Justin Armsden, Bronwen Reid, Hamish Macdonald cover

This took me a while..

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

Reviewed: 12-26-22

This is a bunch of podcasts edited together. I truly wish they would have edited out the opening of each episode. I mean, why not do that?

The story/investigation of Peter Foster is aggravating simply because so many people fall for his bulls***. How are so many people so gullible? And why do people like him get away with it so long?

I can’t say I’d listen to it again, nor would I recommend it too much simply because it’s the most frustrating story. There are enough crooks who keep making the news, Foster is just another sewer-dwelling jerk.

Anyway, on to the next book. Hopefully I will not take forever with that one.

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