Acteon

Interesting story

Revisado: 02-14-23

This short episode in the excellent Joe Stride series I found to be particularly interesting and memorable. Joe Barrett is as always excellent.

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A good thriller

Revisado: 11-05-20

Very good as thrillers go. The narrator Susie Berneis is excellent and contributed to sustaining my interest (obviously I am in complete disagreement with the reviewer who thinks the narrator a bad choice).

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I cannot finish

Revisado: 01-22-20

The descriptions and recommendations seemed so enticing that I bought both The Rescue and The Raid. I started with the first and lost interest quickly, so when a window popped up asking how I was liking the book, I clicked on not and took up the exchange offer. A few days later I decided to give The Raid a try. Unfortunately I had pretty much the same reaction. The characters all seem two dimensional and the writing amateurish, and the reader, though he has a pleasant voice, is emotionally unconvincing (though he is pretty good doing accents). The terribly boring dialogues continuously punctuated by « said Pierce » , « said Harlow » were what clinched it for me. I can’t say you won’t like it, I can only say that it didn’t maintain my interest and that I found listening more irritating than enjoyable. Objectively one star may be a bit too hard, but I have seldom if ever been so put off by a reader or an author. And I have well over 2000 titles in my audible library.

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Thanks to David Thorpe

Revisado: 11-28-19

Sometimes a reader is so good that I get hooked. David Thorpe is a good example. I get a shot of joy just hearing him say "chapter four" (or whatever the number — and Mark Dawson's novels with their short chapters give him ample occasion to display this unique effect.) He says the chapter number in an energetic, invigorating way that immediately takes you out of the drama of the story (as well as your own drama whatever that may be!) and resets your good humour. It is also the perfect transition from one scene to another that is different.

Dawson's novels are entertaining enough, but I might not be quite so impatient for them were I not so hooked on David Thorpe's delightful narration.

Every now and then a reader is so perfectly suited for a particular series that I can hardly imagine another. One such is Dick Hill in Lee Child's Reacher novels: I was greatly dismayed when the last one featured Scott Brick rather than Dick Hill. I just hope no Milton novel will ever appear with another reader than David Thorpe!

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Terrific book

Revisado: 11-14-19

I found this a bracing, stimulating listen. While I can understand some of the complaints of other listeners (too drawn out, too many details), I do not share them. While not every detail in a book of history is necessarily exciting in itself, yet it is the wealth of details upon which the book ultimately rests. A good book of this sort builds up a context that illuminates many things, and it fills up this context with details that bring us in touch with its reality.

This book represents serious research and an original perspective, and so may not be entirely to the taste of listeners who do not start out with some knowledge of the 17th century and prefer a faster flowing narrative. But to me it is worth two credits. It is itself a microscope of sorts that gave me a better look into the 17th century. I came away exhilarated and treasuring every page..

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Dated but still worthwhile

Revisado: 11-14-19

The subject is of enormous interest, and while I am glad I listened to the book for the information it contains, it seems dated and less than satisfying. I started reading books on history in the 1960s and have been struck in recent years by how most books written before about 2000 have become dated even if that doesn't mean they are no longer worth reading. Knowledge and understanding have grown so much in the last two decades that books often need a serious update, and this one is a good example.

The story of sugar since 1985 could well provide material for another book. Recent books such as those by Gary Taubes and Robert Lustig have put sugar in a new perspective. If you've read these, Sweetness and Power is an interesting and useful complement, but even as historic-anthropological analysis, it seems incomplete. For instance, there is not very much on labor relations and what sugar production meant for laborers as production evolved in the course of time.

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Weak Dugoni

Revisado: 07-24-19

It doesn't surprise me that the David Sloan series stops with this book. I could hardly wait for this unconvincing bag of improbabilities to end.

We are in a different world from that of previous Sloan novels -- more Jack Reacher's than Sloan's, and I much prefer the way Reacher deals with such a world. The legal elements here seem forced and almost irrelevant. The premises are contrived, as are the events, characters, and coincidences. I felt this novel to be 'all wrong' in a way I did not with other Sloan novels. What passes in Reacher novels does not in a Sloan one. My impression is that Dugoni had an intriguing idea that he was loath to discard, and ended up exercising his ingenuity in making something unwieldy into a marketable addition to a successful series.

Dan John Miller is as usual excellent.

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Vicarious gratification

Revisado: 07-12-19

As usual, I greatly enjoyed this novel by Forsyth. The vicarious gratification I experienced in the clever destruction of the cocaine cartel was a bonus. I don't know or much care whether this is Forsyth's best: I'd take his second best any day over the vast majority of other novels in the genre.

The ending leaves us with an important question: how far are we willing to sacrifice certain values in order to defend others and their continued existence in our world? At what point do we resort to war (innocent people will then invariably get hurt or killed)? The question will become increasingly relevant with the appearance of ever greater threats.

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Don't heed the negative reviews

Revisado: 07-10-19

This is a very fine, concise series of 18 lectures on an important subject. I recommend it to all interested in history. The lecturer speaks in a clipped way that could annoy, but listening at 1.5 speed mitigated the effect.

Negative comments I've read here seem entirely unjustified, some absurdly so. I bought this at a 2-for1 credit sale, but having listened to it, I would gladly pay a full credit. I might add that I listen to many books on history and own just about every title on history in the Great Courses lecture series.

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Undermined by an unpalatable premise

Revisado: 01-10-19

[Spoiler alert] The problem with this book is its utterly unrealistic premise that memory could be erased through psychotherapeutic means. If it were science fiction (the same effect but created by some form of advanced technology), it would be OK, and in the beginning this was what I took it for. But the idea that a psychotherapist like Francesca could do what she does is absurd and spoils everything.

Certain elements and scenes of the novel however are interesting, and for these I added a star to both the "overall" rating and to "story". There are the makings of a good thriller, but the unpalatable premise spoils it utterly.

Joe Barrett is a wonderful narrator, and even his imitation of mad, eerie voices is perhaps justifiable in the context of this novel that bucks the willing suspension of disbelief. This notwithstanding, I would have preferred not to listen to the shrieks.

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