SBL
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Eden Undone
- A True Story of Sex, Murder, and Utopia at the Dawn of World War II
- By: Abbott Kahler
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 9 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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At the height of the Great Depression, Los Angeles oil mogul George Allan Hancock and his crew of Smithsonian scientists came upon a gruesome scene: two bodies, mummified by the searing heat, on the shore of a remote Galápagos island. For the past four years Hancock and other American elites had traveled the South Seas to collect specimens for scientific research. On one trip to the Galápagos, Hancock was surprised to discover an equally exotic group of humans: European exiles who had fled political and economic unrest, hoping to create a utopian paradise.
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Abslutely enchanting
- By SBL on 10-15-24
- Eden Undone
- A True Story of Sex, Murder, and Utopia at the Dawn of World War II
- By: Abbott Kahler
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
Abslutely enchanting
Reviewed: 10-15-24
I was anchored off Floreana LAST WEEK! There was a shipboard talk about the Galapagos Affair. This book was mentioned and I downloaded it immediately, Post Office Bay which plays a big part in the story was one of our stops. I was told that Frido and Hacienda Paradiso, central locations in this riveting story no longer exist. The mystery of what happened to the Baroness has never been solved. The interactions of the characters in this story is suspenseful with loyalties changing around. If you have not already been to the Galapagos this book will sure make you want to go there.
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1 person found this helpful
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Peril at the Exposition
- A Mystery
- By: Nev March
- Narrated by: Safiyya Ingar, Vikas Adam
- Length: 12 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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1893: Newlyweds Captain Jim Agnihotri and Diana Framji are settling into their new home in Boston, Massachusetts, having fled the strict social rules of British-ruled Bombay. It's a different life than what they left behind, but theirs is no ordinary marriage: Jim, now a detective at the Dupree Agency, is teaching Diana the art of deduction he’s learned from his idol, Sherlock Holmes.
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Characters were lame
- By J. Miller on 10-07-22
- Peril at the Exposition
- A Mystery
- By: Nev March
- Narrated by: Safiyya Ingar, Vikas Adam
Anarchists!
Reviewed: 05-30-24
This was not as good as Murder in Bombay which I read in print.. Too many characters who kept changing sides so it was hard to decide who was a good guy. Interestingly, the May 19, 2024 New York Times Sunday Magazine had a feature about these same or similar anarchists planting bombs and doing other terroristic things. I don't really know if the danger to the Exposition is based on any historical facts. In any case, it was a good history lesson.
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Murder in the Rue Dumas
- Verlaque and Bonnet Provençal Mystery Series, Book 2
- By: M.L. Longworth
- Narrated by: Christa Lewis
- Length: 8 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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When Dr. Georges Moutte is found murdered, investigator Antoine Verlaque is stumped. Certainly the director of theology at the Universite d'Aix had his enemies. Moutte was just about to name the recipient of an elite fellowship as well as his own successor - a highly coveted position - when his lips were sealed permanently. But Verlaque isn't convinced anyone in the tiny community of academics is capable of murder.
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Such an engaging story and superb character development.
- By RC on 11-19-23
- Murder in the Rue Dumas
- Verlaque and Bonnet Provençal Mystery Series, Book 2
- By: M.L. Longworth
- Narrated by: Christa Lewis
French Accents
Reviewed: 02-01-24
I enjoyed the story BUT the narrator's faux French accent is so over-the-top that sometimes it's hard to follow. It's worse when she's speaking female characters then male. It doesn't add anything to the story to have to struggle decoding the accent. Her English speaking voices are just fine.
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The River We Remember
- A Novel
- By: William Kent Krueger
- Narrated by: CJ Wilson
- Length: 13 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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On Memorial Day in Jewel, Minnesota, the body of wealthy landowner Jimmy Quinn is found floating in the Alabaster River, dead from a shotgun blast. The investigation falls to Sheriff Brody Dern, a highly decorated war hero who still carries the physical and emotional scars from his military service. Even before Dern has the results of the autopsy, vicious rumors begin to circulate that the killer must be Noah Bluestone, a Native American WWII veteran who has recently returned to Jewel with a Japanese wife.
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This book makes me believe that there are good books written by good authors.
- By Va on 09-15-23
- The River We Remember
- A Novel
- By: William Kent Krueger
- Narrated by: CJ Wilson
Love Minnesota
Reviewed: 12-01-23
Story was interesting; good description of a small town where everyone is in everyone else's business. The narrator was able to make the various voices natural sounding. I had volume control problems because when he was speaking some of the female parts it was so quiet I had to crank the volume up and then got blasted when he reverted to the next thing.
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The Order
- A Novel
- By: Daniel Silva
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 9 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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When Pope Paul VII dies suddenly, Gabriel Allon is summoned to Rome by the Holy Father’s loyal private secretary, Archbishop Luigi Donati. A billion Catholic faithful have been told that the pope died of a heart attack. Donati, however, has two good reasons to suspect his master was murdered. The Swiss Guard who was standing watch outside the papal apartments the night of the pope’s death is missing. So, too, is the letter the Holy Father was writing during the final hours of his life. A letter that was addressed to Gabriel.
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Unfortunately the last one
- By Wade on 07-18-20
- The Order
- A Novel
- By: Daniel Silva
- Narrated by: George Guidall
Angels and Demons and Gabriel Allon
Reviewed: 07-20-20
It was hard to remember that I was listening to Daniel Silva, not Dan Brown.
But it was a page turner nevertheless. And I like the settings in Rome with which I am familiar.
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Murder on Pleasant Avenue
- By: Victoria Thompson
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
- Length: 9 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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When Gino Donatelli is accused of a brutal murder, beloved sleuths Sarah and Frank Malloy have to catch a killer who is out to destroy their innocent friend's life in the latest installment of the national best-selling Gaslight mysteries. A victim is found, brutally murdered and the police are certain they've caught the killer. Their only suspect: Gino Donatelli. Frank and Sarah know Gino is innocent, but the police have a one-track mind. Once Frank struck it rich and left their ranks taking Gino with him, there has been a simmering resentment in the department.
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More murder in New York
- By Mrshagrid on 03-19-21
- Murder on Pleasant Avenue
- By: Victoria Thompson
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
Real Life In Old New York
Reviewed: 06-27-20
I just love learning about old NYC. I grew up there ànd a lot of the time the history, from the Dutch to modern times just went in one ear and out the other.
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The Dante Club
- By: Matthew Pearl
- Narrated by: John Siedman
- Length: 14 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1865 Boston, the members of the Dante Club, poets and Harvard professors Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, and James Russell Lowell, along with publisher J. T. Fields, are finishing America's first translation of The Divine Comedy and preparing to unveil Dante's remarkable visions to the New World.
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highbrow suspense
- By Pattio on 02-28-07
- The Dante Club
- By: Matthew Pearl
- Narrated by: John Siedman
Confusing
Reviewed: 08-31-19
A hard listen. Difficult to keep track of the characters. I am very familiar with Dante's Inferno and this was way to convoluted to be enjoyable. Narrator was good; all those Victorian era Boston fussbudgets were well characterized.
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Where the Crawdads Sing
- By: Delia Owens
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 12 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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For years, rumors of the "Marsh Girl" have haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast. So in late 1969, when handsome Chase Andrews is found dead, the locals immediately suspect Kya Clark, the so-called Marsh Girl. But Kya is not what they say. Sensitive and intelligent, she has survived for years alone in the marsh that she calls home, finding friends in the gulls and lessons in the sand.
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Don't listen to the negative reviews.
- By Kyle on 12-03-19
- Where the Crawdads Sing
- By: Delia Owens
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
Peculiar Geography
Reviewed: 07-05-19
Loved the book but hated the trick ending. The marshes of North Carolina are nowhere near Asheville. I would have believed Charlotte for a day trip.
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Beneath a Scarlet Sky
- A Novel
- By: Mark Sullivan
- Narrated by: Will Damron
- Length: 17 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Pino Lella wants nothing to do with the war or the Nazis. He's a normal Italian teenager - obsessed with music, food, and girls - but his days of innocence are numbered. When his family home in Milan is destroyed by Allied bombs, Pino joins an underground railroad helping Jews escape over the Alps, and falls for Anna, a beautiful widow six years his senior. In an attempt to protect him, Pino's parents force him to enlist as a German soldier - a move they think will keep him out of combat.
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The Best Thing? It Really Happened!
- By Chip Atkinson on 08-07-17
- Beneath a Scarlet Sky
- A Novel
- By: Mark Sullivan
- Narrated by: Will Damron
Amazing
Reviewed: 05-22-19
I've read a lot about WWII but never about what happened in Northern Italy. Amazing.
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Origin
- A Novel
- By: Dan Brown
- Narrated by: Paul Michael
- Length: 18 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Robert Langdon, Harvard professor of symbology, arrives at the ultramodern Guggenheim Museum Bilbao to attend the unveiling of a discovery that “will change the face of science forever.” The evening’s host is Edmond Kirsch, a forty-year-old billionaire and futurist, and one of Langdon’s first students. But the meticulously orchestrated evening suddenly erupts into chaos, and Kirsch’s precious discovery teeters on the brink of being lost forever.
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Formula over fiction
- By Evan M Carlson on 11-01-17
- Origin
- A Novel
- By: Dan Brown
- Narrated by: Paul Michael
Intereresting Travelogue
Reviewed: 02-08-18
Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?
I enjoyed the book; mostly because I listened to it in the car and didn't pay attention 100 percent. Dan Brown's novels are formulaic; they seem to involve Langdon at some important event or being summoned by an important person (both in the case of Origin) and a beautiful "damsel" in semi-distress. However, what I enjoy most is his use of various locales. Never having been to Barcelona or Bilbao I immediately started researching the cities with an eye on future vacations. Did not know that much about Gaudi and that also led to research.
Would you recommend Origin to your friends? Why or why not?
I would recommend the book to folks who already enjoy Dan Brown's books but not to those who curl their lips and call him a hack.
Have you listened to any of Paul Michael’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
I do not recollect if I have heard this narrator before. However, I thought he did an admirable job with the different voices and accents.
Do you think Origin needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?
This one does not need a follow up.
Any additional comments?
When I mentioned "travelogue" in the title of this review I remembered taking my then 16-year old niece to Rome for a week. I knew she would not read any guidebooks or have any opinions about what she wanted to see. I handed her a copy of "Angels and Demons" on the plane and she read it cover to cover in two days. We used it as our sightseeing plan and had a wonderful week chasing Bernini all over Rome. She loved it! You might want to use "Inferno" as a guide to Florence, at least for some of the parts where tourists don't often go.
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