DWD's Reviews

A good, tight story Published in 2009 by Brilliance Audio Read by Robert Crais , the author Duration: 8 hours, 15 minutes. Unabridged. I am a gigantic fan of Crais' Elvis Cole novels, a series that introduced Joe Pike to the world as Cole's enigmatic, tough and very quiet partner with a soft spot for mean old cats. But, I have been reluctant to get into the Joe Pike novels due to a fear that Joe's facade would be burst wide open and mysterious Joe Pike would be laid wide open and no longer be a mystery. Not to worry. We learn more about Joe, but what makes Joe Pike tick is still a mystery. Plus, as a bonus we get a healthy serving of wise-cracking Elvis Cole throun in as a bonus to make the story even more fun.  Robert Crais The First Rule 's title comes from an Eastern European thieves code that demands that no gangster have a family so that their loyalties will never be divided (much like the story of Keyser Soze from the movie The Usual Suspects ). A fr...

Very approachable history Published in 2010 by Thomas Nelson. The Revolutionary Paul Revere is a great history for newbies to the Revolutionary War's history as well as a solid history for those that are more well read. Joel J. Miller begins his history with Paul Revere's father, Apollos Rivoire, a French Huguenot who fled to Boston for religious freedom as an indentured servant. Miller follows the family and weaves into the narrative the complex and often tense relationship between England and its American colonies. Despite the very informal tone of the book, this is a fairly detailed biography of America's most famous messenger, who was also a founding member of the Sons of Liberty and who personally knew John Adams, Sam Adams and John Hancock. Most people know that Revere was a silversmith, participated in the Boston Tea Party and of course the famed "Midnight Ride of Paul Revere." But, what happened after that? For most of us, Paul fades away from the ...

Steve Martini gets better and better (from an occasional reader of Martini) Published in 2009. I'm not the biggest reader of Steve Martini. I'm inclined to discount his work precisely because he is a "name brand" author. Plenty of authors that have made it to the top  start to crank out books like a factory and the quality drops and I always think that Martini will do the same. Guardian of Lies  is my fourth Steve Martini/Paul Madriani novel. I went back and checked my reviews of them. I've enjoyed them all and have been surprised by the fact that I have enjoyed them as well. I was expecting churned out novels and have always been pleasantly surprised. Steve Martini Guardian of Lies is the most ambitious Martini/Madriani novel I've read. We move from a simple courtroom case to international terrorism. Madriani gets swept along in a multi-country chase to find out the truth and to clear his own name. Along the way, he gets stalked, betrayed, nearly b...

A wonderful gift for an owner of Jack Russell Terriers Published in 2004. We just got a Jack Russell Terrier mix from a pet rescue about three weeks ago. My wife found  101 Uses for a Jack Russell  yesterday and the whole family (even the three year old) enjoyed looking through it. Lovely photos and a sense of humor with the captions, such as "#13 - Someone who takes you on a walk". There's also a lot of captions that get the real characteristics of the breed, such as "#79 - Sentry, "41 - Explorer" and "#35 - Hurdler." Enjoyable. Great gift for the Jack Russell lover.   I rated this book 5 stars out of 5. This book can be found on Amazon.com here: 101 Uses for a Jack Russell   Reviewed on July 17, 2009.

Excellent, for what it is Published in 2004 by Arcadia Publishing. The "Images of Sports" series is intended to be a scrapbook history of a team, or in this case of an event. The Indy 500: 1956-1965 is a 127 page book mostly comprised of photographs taken by Ben Lawrence, a photographer for the now-defunct Indianapolis Times from 1956-1965. This book is not a comprehensive history of the Indy 500, but rather a photographic scrapbook, a yearbook, if you will. In a way, it was also a Golden Era for the Speedway with the new (also now defunct) scoring tower and the arrival of mainstays such as A.J. Foyt, Parnelli Jones and the Unsers. There are captions for all pictures and a few introductory paragraphs for each new section. Not only does the reader get pictures from the race but also from the first 500 Festival parades, shots of the fans, candid shots of the drivers, track workers and even celebrities (the Jayne Mansfield shot is something else!). The race is more tha...

A history teacher's review When this first came out on PBS I started watching it and never got into the flow of it. I hated the fact that they used actors to play real people rather than using the tried and true (and fantastic) Ken Burns style. Ironically, I absolutely loved the book Liberty ! : The American Revolution by Thomas Fleming by - it is, hands down, the best single-volume comprehensive history of the American Revolution that I have found. So, I was pretty much bashing the series because it was not something else. So, here I am years later and I decided to give it a second try. I am glad that I did. Liberty! is much better than I remembered. It is not as good as the book but it the best documentary on the American Revolution I have seen. It is as thorough as one can be in the limited time that this format will allow. "The Boston Massacre" by Paul Revere As for the actor thing - this time around I really liked it. The actors are really good and the...

An enjoyable, short read Published by Thomas Nelson in 2010. I had just ended a book and was casting about for something to read in my big pile of books in the closet. I came up with God Came Near more as a "Why not?" choice than anything else. I've seen different versions of this book around for years, but I'd never picked it up. I soon found myself drawn in. Lucado revels in the "God in the small things moments." He also focuses his readers on Jesus the man - not the movie version of Jesus, the untouchable, above it all Holy Man. Instead, as the title of this book reminds the readers, "God Came Near" - Jesus was God becoming one of us - a walking, talking human being with sore feet, who got thirsty, who took naps and who was known almost exclusively by his first name by everyone, and a fairly common first name, at that. He came as nobody special and became the most written about and talked about figure in history. I was especially struck b...

Full of gimmicks, but it still works! Originally published in 2001. Synopsis: Ancient Enemy  is part of a series of novels about Howard Moon Deer, a highly-educated Sioux Indian who is living in Northern Arizona and helping Jack Wilbur, a blind ex-police chief from San Francisco run a detective agency near the Pueblo Indians. By the way, Howard Moon Deer knows absolutely nothing about being a detective. They run across a couple of murders involving the Pueblos and an ancient Anasazi town and human remains that may have the key to their disappearance centuries ago. The title refers to the Navajo name for the Anasazi.  My review: Robert Westbrook Sound gimmicky? Sound like a bad detective show like Jake and the Fat Man or Remington Steele ? Sure it does, but it still works. Mostly it works because Howard Moon Deer is as much of a fish out of water as the reader is. Although he is a Native American, the Sioux are not like the Arizona Indians at all. Plus, he has pret...

Fascinating and depressing look into the "new" Russia Published in 2003. Synopsis: The Kursk was the largest, most-powerful nuclear submarine in the Russian fleet. It was one of only a very few of their premier ships - designed before the Soviet collapse and completed by the Russian government. It was larger than anything in the American fleet. In August of 2000 there was an accident caused by a malfunction in a poorly maintained dummy torpedo during a war games exercise near the Arctic circle. The explosion of the dummy caused the explosion of every non-nuclear piece of ordinance on the sub and it immediately sink to the floor of the ocean 370 feet down. Most of the sailors died right away but about 20 survived in the aft compartments for several days. The book details the poor quality of Russia's underwater rescue teams (their annual budget for 1999 was $14,000 - their leaders joked about using it to buy a car so they could drive to an underwater rescu...

A quick and thought-provoking read Originally published in 2002 by Prima Lifestyles. The thesis of Why the Left Hates America: Exposing the Lies That Have Obscured Our Nation's Greatness , an exceedingly-well footnoted book, is that some on the ultra-left of the American political scene have pet theories that they espouse and that they hate it when facts do not bear out their theories. Among these are what Flynn calls "The Five Big Lies". The Five Big Lies are: 1. American women live under a patriarchy. 2. America is the World's leading threat to the environment. 3. America is a racist nation. 4. The US is an imperial power. 5. The rich get richer, the poor get poorer. Daniel J. Flynn Flynn quotes his opponents extensively and then rebuts their arguments with his own extensive research from a wide variety of sources (he has over 500 end-notes, often with commentary - not a small task). Flynn does not claim that the US is perfect in any of the abo...

Published by HarperAudio in 2007. Narrated by the author, Bernard Goldberg Duration: 7 hours, 27 minutes. Unabridged. Bernard Goldberg , who used to work at CBS news until two opinion pieces that he wrote for the Wall Street Journal nearly 10 years ago made him a persona non grata. What was in these two opinion pieces that caused Dan Rather to say he would never forgive Goldberg and Goldberg's boss to accuse him of "disloyalty"?  He said that CBS and the other major media outlets are biased towards the political left in their reporting. Not the kind of bias that involves meetings and sercret cabals. Instead, it is a sort of groupthink. The sort that never even considers asking the questions that the people with a more conservative worldview would ask. So, most of this bias is from a series of "sins of omission" (to borrow a phrase) rather than an overt plot. As a result, Goldberg wrote his book Bias: A CBS Insider Exposes How the Media Distort the News. In ...

Finally, Margolin is back on his game! Published in 2000. I've read Margolin's books since I came across The Burning Man but I've been sorely disappointed by many one of them since because they have never approached the power or the storytelling of that book. While  Wild Justice  is very much different than The Burning Man , it is a great page turner. I found the story to be inventive, if not twisted. Although, I figured out who the killer was with about 100 pages to go, there were so many plot twists that I doubted my conclusion several times. The ending was tension-filled and full of poetic justice. I'll be reading more. I rate this book 5 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here:  Wild Justice (Amanda Jaffe #1) by Phillip Margolin . Reviewed on October 26, 2004.

Once you get past the first 35 pages, its quite a ride! Originally published in 1994. Desperate Measures begins with newspaper reporter Matt Pittman, the protagonist, who is literally preparing to kill himself with his pistol out of grief for his son that has died from cancer when the phone rings. Pittman decides to answer it because he wants to make sure that he exits this life without owing anything to anyone. It is his best friend and his boss who covered for him innumerable times when his son was sick. He asks for one more favor and Pittman reluctantly goes back on the job for one more story. It was at this point in the book that I was about ready to close it up and start another book because the whole "I'm going to kill myself" angle was getting very, very old. I realize that Morrell was writing out of the pain of losing his own son to cancer, but the book was rapidly losing interest for me. David Morrell Suddenly, the pace of the book changed and Pittman...

Published in 2008 by Graphic Audio. 5 CDs 5 Hours 28 Actors Graphic Audio published the audio version of a DC Comics graphic novel featuring the Justice League of America. Graphic Audio boasts that it is "A Movie In Your Mind" and while that may be a bit of an exaggeration, it is every bit as good as those old radio plays that, if you're lucky, a local radio station may play from time to time. Graphic Audio has 28 actors (if my count was correct as they named them all), music, lots of special effects and they use them all to create a thoroughly engrossing story. There is nothing particularly new in JLA: Exterminators . A wave of new "meta-humans" are popping up all over the globe with one thing in common (besides super powers): they were all in the UK about 10 years previously and were exposed to something that gave them these new powers. The Flash and The Green Lantern become friends with a new meta-human with telekinesis and the audience is given a pe...

Published in 2008 by Ballantine  The Steel Wave is the second book in Shaara's World War II series and is a superior book to the first in almost every way. There is a lot more action (hundreds of pages) and it is intense. The political wrangling that Eisenhower had to endure and master is a theme in every book, but is strongest in this one. The title of the book comes from a comment that Rommel makes about the Allied invasion coming in like a wave of steel into France. Rommel continues on as a major character throughout. It is interesting to note that he was correct to fear an Allied invasion of France (which most of the German high command poo-pooed) but picked the wrong place. Hitler picked the right place, although he doubted it would happen. It is also interesting to note that Rommel thought that D-Day was a feint and failed to respond correctly to it until it was too late. Rommel is still the most interesting "officer" character on either side - he knows that Germ...

Originally published in 2009. No Less Than Victory: A Novel of World War II is the final book in Shaara’s World War II trilogy. It is very similar to the second book, which makes sense since it is a continuation of the same campaign. The Allies continue their quest to push across France and into Germany. Patton looms as a larger and larger character. The part of the noble German soldier, previously played by Rommel is filled by Karl Rudolf Gerd Von Rundstedt, so much so that the reader may not even miss the Rommel character at all. The battle sequences are stirringly told. The “Battle of the Bulge” is told quite well from the point of view of three of the very few soldiers of the 106th  that made it through the battle without being killed or captured (this was Kurt Vonnegut’s unit, by the way, but he does not appear in the book). Eisenhower at Ohrdruf  Shaara spends a lot of time in the book among the inner circle of Hitler’s loyal command, with peo...

An Interesting Study of Male Friendship Published in 2001 by Recorded Books. 4 compact discs 4.5 hours read by Nelson Runger Comrades: Brothers, Fathers, Heroes, Sons, Pals is an exploration into male friendship by renowned historian and author Stephen E. Ambrose (1936-2002). He looks into different kinds of friendship including friendship between brothers, friendship among schoolmates (especially college), friends from among his students, friendship among men who have been in combat together, friendship as young men, friendship as old men and the friendship that can develop between a father and son once his son is an adult. Stephen E. Ambrose (1936-2002) Specific friendships studied include: -The three Ambrose brothers; -Dwight and Milton Eisenhower; -The Custer Brothers, who all died at Little Big Horn; -Crazy Horse and He-Dog; -Eisenhower and Patton - two very different men who respected and valued their differences; -Nixon as the friendless man (tal...

I recommend hearing it as an audiobook Originally published in 1969 in book form. Published by Dh Audio in 1985. Read by Jose Ferrer. Duration: 5 cassette tapes Unabridged. I could add to the volumes of literary criticism that fills the reviews of Slaughterhouse Five , but what's the point of that? Rather, I will recommend that you hear the book as an audiobook - the book's a stream of consciousness, disjointed approach works very well on tape. The reader shifts from one scene to another as easily as Billy Pilgrim does. The version I heard was not the one available here. Mine was narrated by Jose Ferrer and he did a wonderful job. Too bad Ferrer has passed on. So it goes. I rate this book 5 stars out of 5 and it can be found on Amazon.com here: Slaughterhouse Five .  Kurt Vonnegut Reviewed on February 3, 2005 Note: This book has been challenged multiple times over the last 50 years for sexual content, foul language and teaching principles contrary to the Bible. A...

Good, fast-paced roller coaster ride Originally published in 2002. I f the first two opening scenes don't grab you than you had better check your pulse and see if you're still alive! Phillip Margolin Others have reviewed  The Associate   and correctly stated that it is not a pure legal thriller. True enough. There are legal parts to this story, but the case is not resolved through fancy legal footwork. Rather, the thriller becomes a mystery too and we race along with our heroes to see if they can save everyone and expose the villains. Is it great literature? Hardly. But, it's a lot of fun and I tore through it like a starving man at a buffet.   I rate this book 5 stars out of 5 and it can be found on Amazon.com here: The Associate by Phillip Margolin.   Reviewed on February 1, 2005