Bill McCoy

The Pickwick Papers is a Total Joy!

Reviewed: 02-19-24

It's very easy to describe the plot for this delightful tale. There is none, or at least very little. It entails the antics of a loosely knit group, the Pickwick Club, assembled by Samuel Pickwick, a wealthy and kind old gentleman. The loose plot thread is primarily based on the travels of Mr. Pickwick and a select group of "Pickwickians" on trips about England, with the intent of preparing reports to the other members. The results range from amusing to hilarious. Rory Kinnear is a superb narrator and provides distinct voices for the numerous characters. This is my pick as the best introduction to the world of Dickens!

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Loved This Little Story

Reviewed: 09-28-23

I was determined not to like this tale, because I generally have not enjoyed King's journeys into the fairytale world. Big surprise: I loved it! I loved the characters, the story and the setting. At the age of 82, I'm ready for more Gwendy. I think Gwendy's spunk reminds me a bit of my daughter.

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Amazing Transformation of Dickens' David Copperfie

Reviewed: 07-04-23

My wife and I listened to "Demon" on a long road trip, and it made the miles zoom. I was awed by her transformation of Dickens' classic to another world. For purpose of comparison, I listened to the original afterwords to revive sixty-year-old memories, and I much prefer the Kingsolver version. It isn't simply the generational updating that I appreciated; the reduction in melodrama and verbosity make "Demon" much more readable. That being said, Uriah Heep is still a villain for the ages and Kingsolver has no one to match him! Charlie Thurston did an excellent in narration, with a challenging cast of characters.

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Pendergast & a Partner!! What a Gas.

Reviewed: 05-03-23

At last, a Pendergast tale uncontaminated by the annoying Constance and his seemingly unkillable brother, Diogenes. This story had it all: lots of action, terrific suspense, truly interesting characters, and an excellent resolution. Giving Aloysius an FBI partner was a novel and good idea for one novel, but I'm glad it won't be permanent, This adventure was as good as the early Pendergast stories. I was very sorry to learn that this will be the last of this series to be narrated by the inimitable René Auberjonois, who died 😢 following a battle with lung cancer that metastasized to his brain. His silky-voiced portrayal of Pendergast will be sorely missed.

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Brings the Peloponnesian War Alive

Reviewed: 12-29-22

Anyone who believes ancient history has to be dull needs to read this book. The author Victor Davis Hanson and narrator Bob Souer have joined forces to produce a history that sounds at times like an action adventure novel. Long ago, I read several of the classic Greek dramas, so I picked up a bit of Greek history, but the Peloponnesian War was nothing but a blur. (I occasionally confused it with the Punic Wars. I'm definitely not a student of ancient history!) I particularly enjoyed the way Professor Hanson illustrated many points by comparing them to similar events in later periods, such as the Napoleonic Wars, or the world wars of the twentieth century. I have no idea how serious students of the Peloponnesian War period will receive this book, but this amateur loved it!

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Disappointed Fan

Reviewed: 12-28-22

Prior to listening to The Truelove, I listened to the prior fourteen Aubrey-Maturin novels with great enjoyment in almost every instance. Even at the very worst, they were always worth a listen. I am so glad I didn't start with this one, for I would never have listened to or read another of these generally great tales from the age of fighting sail. It's really hard to understand how this novel is supposed to fit into O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin lexicon. It has no sea battles and only one somewhat purposeless bit of land warfare. Most of the prose is spent in discussing the antics of an escaped murdereress, who stows away on the Surprise and spends her time attempting to seduce the crew, disrupting their performance in the process. At least Mr. Tull gave his usual marvelous performance.

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The Not Quite Ended Story

Reviewed: 10-10-22

This was an exciting and interesting story, with changes in geography and plenty of nasty villains to keep the pot boiling. I particularly enjoy stories involving mysterious Norleans and those eerie Louisiana swamps. It was interesting, until it didn't end; it just stopped. It seemed almost as if the authors were allowed only a limited number of words for the book and used them before they were finished. The narration was up to René Aberjonois usual top notch standards. My only quibble is with the pronunciation of New Madrid, which is not like that city in Spain. We Americans like to put our own IDs on things, like Versailles (Versales), Kentucky, Cairo (Caro), Illinois, and Lima (with a long "i"), Ohio.

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Very Good, But Not McKinty's Best

Reviewed: 05-08-22

Gerard Doyle's narration is spot on as usual in this series. McKinty continues to paint amazing portraits of Northern Ireland, during the "troubles". The multi-layered plot revolves around forcibly-retired Detective Sean Duffy being "unretired" by MI5 to find an escaped IRA bomb-making expert and former schoolmate, Dermot McCann. Plot development is rather long and involved, but it did retain my interest. I did feel that, after the long development, the ending was a bit too compressed. The story involved the usual problem of a series, the great escape by a continuing hero from near certain death. That issue aside, Sean Duffy is a great character and I look forward to hearing the next book in the series.

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An Ode to a Lost World

Reviewed: 03-10-22

It's obvious from the first minutes of this work how much respect and even love the author has for the first settlers and explorers of what became known as the Americas. This makes it a mistake to approach Atlas of a Lost World as some kind of textbook about the settling of a new world. I enjoyed the work, once I accepted that it was really a paean to the people of this era and not a technical tome.

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Wonderful Overview of Why We Hurt & Can't See

Reviewed: 03-09-22

I loved this book, which is aimed at the educated but not expert reader. It explained why none of my numerous dogs or cats ever suffered back pain, but most of my friends and I have experienced at least some level of spine trouble. Almost all of us wear glasses and our teeth are a mess from childhood, providing great college educations for the children of dentists and orthodontists. I plan on listening to this gem again. oh, the narration is first, as well.

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