THE WATCHMAN (Elvis Cole/Joe Pike 11) (audiobook) by Robert Crais

Published in 2008 by Brilliance Audio.
Read by James Daniels.
Duration: 7 hours, 52 minutes.
Unabridged.

Synopsis

Usually, books in the Elvis Cole/Joe Pike series focus on Elvis. Elvis is a private detective with a smart mouth. He catches a case, does some digging and his partner, tough guy Joe Pike, comes in when things get hairy. It's an old formula. You see it in Perry Mason, the Spenser series, and even Magnum, PI because it works. 

The Watchman is different. It starts with Joe Pike. He is on the run with a girl and a hit squad is after them.

Joe Pike is asked to babysit a witness because a Mexican drug lord wants her dead. Multiple hit teams have come after her. What makes it more complicated is that she is very rich and she has makes the newspapers regularly for being a party girl. If you were alive pre-social media, think Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie. 

Joe is using every trick he has and barely escaping. He reaches out to Elvis Cole for some detective and logistical help and what they find doesn't make things any easier...

My Review

The action comes on fast and is mostly maintained throughout. The reader is also treated to some a great deal of Joe Pike's backstory. It does explain a lot and helps the series as a whole, if not this particular story.

The reader is okay. He is good with voices, but I am not a big fan. In the end, he did not add or detract from the story. 

I rate this audiobook 5 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: The Watchman by Robert Crais.

REVENGE of the TIPPING POINT: OVERSTORIES, SUPERSPREADERS, and the RISE of SOCIAL ENGINEERING (audiobook) by Malcom Gladwell

Published in 2024 by Little, Brown, and Company.
Read by the author, Malcolm Gladwell.
Duration: 8 hours, 25 minutes.
Unabridged.

Malcolm Gladwell delivers another immensely entertaining and informative rambling discussion of, well, so many things in Revenge of the Tipping Point.

Ostensibly, this is a look at the opioid epidemic, but Malcolm Gladwell's style always reminds the reader that the world is inter-related and complicated and so very interesting.

I plowed through this 8 hour audiobook in just a couple of days. I listened whenever I could and, honestly, I forgot that this was supposed to be a book about the opioid crisis during the 2nd hour and I did not remember he directly came back to the topic during hte 7th hour. In the meantime we had discussed medicare fraud in Florida, Cheetahs in zoos, the dangers of monocultures, Los Angeles as the country's epicenter of bank robberies, COVID superspreaders, vehicle emmissions, and more.

It was all so interesting and he does tie it all together. Also, we learn about unintended consequences in the last half hour.

This is my 8th review of a Gladwell book and I rated them all as 4 or 5 star books. I always think hard about listening to a new one because I know I am about to be immersed into a complicated, riveting set of stories and that's a commitment.

I rate this audiobook 5 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: REVENGE of the TIPPING POINT: OVERSTORIES, SUPERSPREADERS, and the RISE of SOCIAL ENGINEERING by Malcolm Gladwell.

THE DIRECTOR SHOULD'VE SHOT YOU: MEMOIRS of the FILM TRADE (audiobook) by Alan Dean Foster

Published in 2024 by Tantor Media.
Read by Stephen R. Thorne.
Duration: 7 hours, 1 minute.
Unabridged.

Alan Dean Foster is a prolific sci-fi author. He has written over 50 sc-fi novels, but he is probably most famous for his numerous novelizations of sci-fi movies and TV shows, such as the original Star Wars movie (ghost written for George Lucas), Alien, Star Trek: The Animated Series, Krull, and The Last Starfighter.

The Director Should've Shot You is the story of Foster's experiences as the man who Hollywood turns to to write novelizations of sci-fi movies. He talks about how that system (usually) works, the odd experiences, his interactions with directors, producers, and faceless stuidio executives, and his various thoughts of the strengths and weaknesses of the various projects. 

My experiences with Foster as a young reader start with his two Star Wars books that he wrote when George Lucas  and his team were finishing the original movie.

As I noted, he ghost wrote the novelization of the first movie for George Lucas. He  also wrote the original sequel to the original Star Wars movie - a book called Splinter of the Mind's Eye. George Lucas asked Foster to make Splinter of the Mind's Eye a smaller story when compared to sweeping epic of the original story just in case the first movie turned out to be a bust. Lucas hoped to make a cheaper movie and recycle some of the original props and costumes in order to eke out a little profit. The runaway success of Star Wars made that plan unnecessary. 

We were so starved of Star Wars material back then. I must have read the novelization of the original Star Wars movie more than 10 times. This was back in the days when you could only see Star Wars in the movie theaters. It hadn't been played on TV yet and there were no VHS, DVD, or streaming releases. But, we had the books, the collectable cards, the toys to remind us of the story and it was an endless source of conversation.

I remember reading and discussing Splinter of the Mind's Eye until Lucas released the eventual sequel, The Empire Strikes Back. We were searching for any indication of how the stories might continue and we were trying to figure out how the Star Wars universe worked and all we really had were two little paperback books writen by Alan Dean Foster. That cover was excellent.

I must have read all of his novelizations of the Star Trek animated stories because I read everything Star Trek that I could find when I was in high school.

If you are looking for a complete autobiography of Foster, this isn't it. He offers a decent autobiography up to the point where he starts writing the movie novelizations and then it's pretty much all about those novels. That was fine by me - Foster is a critic and a fan at the same time and it was a fun listen.

The book is almost worth reading just to see what 1970s TV show paid him to write a novelization of a very special two episode story arc. It was certainly out of his normal area of expertise.

Now, I am seriously thinking about re-reading Splinter of the Mind's Eye.

I rate this audiobook 5 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: THE DIRECTOR SHOULDVE SHOT YOU MEMOIRS of the FILM TRADE by Alan Dean Foster.

THE TWO MINUTE RULE (audiobook) by Robert Crais

Originally Published in 2006.
Audiobook edition published in 2008 by Brilliance Audio.
Read by Christopher Graybill
Duration: 9 hours, 23 minutes.
Unabridged.

Named Best Crime Novel of the Year by the London Evening Standard.

Named one of the Top Ten Crime Novels of the Year by The New York Sun and the Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel.

Audiobook version named a finalist for the Audie Award.

Veteran writer Robert Crais is mostly famous for his Elvis Cole/Joe Pike novels. The Two Minute Rule is on of his few stand alone novels. It features a former bank robber named Max Holman. 

Synopsis

Holman has a son that he barely knows because of Holman's life of crime and his subsequent prison term. All he really knows about his son is that he has become a policeman in LAPD - and Holman couldn't be more proud.

That pride turns into sorrow on the day of Holman's release from prison. As he is packing up, he gets a message that tells him his son has died as a result of a shooting along with several other officers.

Holman comes to believe that the police are intentionally botching the investigation and starts his own while trying to restart his life outside of prison...

My Review

There was nothing wrong with this book. It is a good mystery and the steps that were taken to solve it made total sense. But, the story has to be more than the mystery. To me, the whole thing felt forced.

Despite the accolades (see above), I am puzzled as to why this book just did not gel for me. There were great aspects to this story - a strong lead character, a great buddy from the old days, a new partner. All of the parts were there, but just didn't gel together even though there was great potential in this book to become something special and even start a series.

The audiobook was read by Christopher Graybill. He was excellent with any of the dialogue parts - lots of different accents and all delivered well. But, the rest of the text was just read like a bored tour guide who has delivered the same boring speech too many times.

I rate this audiobook 3 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: The Two Minute Rule by Robert Crais.

THE PROVING GROUND (Lincoln Lawyer #8) (audiobook) by Michael Connelly

Published in 2025 by Little, Brown and Company.
Read by Peter Giles.
Duration: 10 hours, 50 minutes.
Unabridged.

Synopsis

The Lincoln Lawyer returns for another case in The Proving Ground. Mickey Haller has moved away from defense work to civil litigation.

In this case, an AI program designed to be a friend substitute to young adults and teens told a teenage boy to get rid of his girlfriend in a way that could easily be interpreted as killing her. So, he took his father's unsecured pistol and shot her in the high school parking lot.

Haller is suing the company for marketing a faulty product towards teens. He is pretty sure he has the goods - bad programming and an unethical marketing team that is more concerned about demonstrating the potential of the AI so the company can be absorbed by a bigger company with deep pockets. They wanted the payoff rather than making it safe.

But, as Haller and his team start to dig, they find they are out of their depth. Tech writer Jack McEvoy comes in to offer his services. Fans of Connelly will recognize McEvoy from his own short series of novels, including the tech thriller Fair Warning.

Soon enough, they all learn what it means to take on a tech company and its multibillionaire backer who have no sense of ethics and a true knowledge of how to manipulate the technology that surrounds us all...

My Review

This is a solid legal thriller. The complicated tech and legal maneuvers are broken down and made easy to understand for the reader. The legal implications of AI really haven't been thought through and the reader can see a few of the big questions that still have to be answered.

Michael Connelly has decided to let his characters age as they stories go forward. Mickey is no longer the brash young lawyer scrounging for defense work and always willing to put himself at physical risk with the law and his clients' criminal friends in order to win the case. He is still fighting, but it is a different sort of fight.

I like the fact that Haller's world is basically our world, so big events like the January 2025 Southern California Wildfires (Pacific Palisades) take place in his universe as well. In this book, that fire has real world implications for characters that lived in those areas according to the previous books.

This is a good book, but not the best of the Lincoln Lawyer collection. It is totally worth reading, but it is simply good, not great.

I rate this audiobook 4 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: The Proving Ground by Michael Connelly.

NIGHTSHADE (a Catalina novel book one)(audiobook) by Michael Connelly

Published by Little, Brown, and Company in 2025

Read by Will Damron.

Duration: 9 hours, 3 minutes.

Unabridged.

Synopsis

Michael Connelly takes a break from his Lincoln Lawyer series, his Harry Bosch series, and his Detective Ballard series to explore something new - Catalina Island.

Los Angeles County has jurisdiction over Catalina, a 75 square mile island a little more than 20 miles from mainland Los Angeles. Almost everyone takes the express ferry to Catalina, a boat ride that takes a little more than an hour. 

The separation means that Catalina is a very different place than Los Angeles. Cars are rare - almost everyone drives golf carts or walks. Less than 5,000 permanent residents live on the 75 square mile island and the pace of life is quite a bit slower.

It is widely believed that the Los Angeles Sheriff Department sends its screw up cops to Catalina for a little more seasoning or to find a safer place to make enough mistakes for the department to boot them out.

Nightshade features Detective Stilwell. He has been moved out to head up the substation on the island because he was not good at managing the intricacies of department politics. He made the wrong people mad. They couldn't really fire him, so they moved him to a place where he would be out of the way and might quit out of boredom and frustration with always being an hour long boat ride from Los Angeles.

Turns out Stillwell likes the pace of island life. He's good at managing the tourists that drink too much, he gets along well with the local government officials, and he has found a girlfriend. 

But, when a body shows up in the harbor near a private club designed for LA's old money families, Catalina shows that it can be just as dangerous as the rest of LA County...

My review

Connelly does a great job of quickly giving the reader the lay of the land on Catalina. I am from Indiana, so Catalina is just a place I had heard of - I knew it was on the ocean, but that was it.

Stillwell is a likeable guy who is just a bit too hard-headed for his own good, much like the other characters Connelly writes about. 

There are three mysteries in this book and Connelly weaves the investigations into one coherent story.

The only problem that I had is *****Spoiler alert***** at one point Stillwell gets suspended and he continues to investigate, including a sting operation that I would think would be invalidated because of the suspension. I am admit that almost all of my legal expertise comes from being an avid watcher of Law and Order, but suspended cops are supposed to suspend their duties as cops - that's why they call it a suspension. I would imagine any public defender could overturn that case in just a few minutes. Imagine what Connelly's Lincoln Lawyer would do.   *****End spoiler*****

I rate this audiobook 4 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: Nightshade by Michael Connelly.

BATMAN - ONE BAD DAY: CLAYFACE (graphic novel) by Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing

Published by DC Comics in 2023.

Written by Collin Keely and Jackson Lanzing.

Art by Xermánico and Romulo Fajardo, Jr.

Synopsis

Clayface has moved away from Gotham City and has gone to Hollywood to be a movie star. The original Clayface character from 1940 comic where he premiered was a B movie actor named Basil Karlo.

Basil Karlo is working as a waiter in Batman - One Bad Day: Clayface while trying to make it big in Hollywood. He's diligent about everything, but he does not have a light comic touch that is called for in romantic comedies. His roommate does, however. When they both read for the same part it becomes a problem when the roommate gets the part and Basil Karlo doesn't.

Being Clayface means you can make yourself look like anyone - at least for a little while. Clayface kills the roommate and then assumes his shape so he can get his big Hollywood break. And then one murder leads to another. And another. And another. And another and so on.

Meanwhile, Bruce Wayne is in town trying to sell a studio on the idea of filming a movie on location in Gotham City...

My Review

Batman in Hollywood was a little ridiculous, but I liked the way the story made a nod to the original roots of Clayface. At one point the story takes on aspects of a dark comedy as Clayface keeps on taking over the lives of more and more people while trying to keep it all hidden.

I also loved the nod to the really well-done episode of Batman: The Animated Series called Beware the Gray Ghost. Bruce Wayne is in town to discuss the filming of this movie because the Gray Ghost was a childhood favorite and one of the inspirations for Batman. 

I rate this graphic novel 4 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: Batman - One Bad Day: Clayface.

FREE FALL (Elvis Cole #4) (audiobook) by Robert Crais

Originally published in book form in 1993.

Published as an audiobook in 2008 by Brilliance Audio.

Read by Mel Foster.

Duration: 8 hours, 13 minutes.

Unabridged.

I found the Elvis Cole novels years ago, but somehow I have been reading them as a I found them rather than trying to trying to read them in chronological order. So, here I am going back more than thirty years to book 4 out of a 20+ book series, depending on how you count some of Crais' other books.

Synopsis

Like all classic detective novels, in Free Fall we find our intrepid main character in his office when a beautiful young lady enters looking for help with a desperate problem. 

This young woman is concerned about her fiance. He is a relatively young member of LAPD and part of a rapid reaction team because he is a promising young officer. When crime pops up in a neighborhood - such as new gang activity or more drug sales or a series of home invasions, this team is sent out to supplement regular officers in the neighborhood.

She is worried that her fiance has changed. He has become secretive and closed off and he never was that way before he joined this rapid reaction team. Elvis agrees to start looking into things and it turns out that the police don't really like it when they are being investigated...

My Review

This is a good story all around. Lots of smart comments from Elvis Cole and we get to learn more about his partner Joe Pike and his background. 

I rate this audiobook 5 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: Free Fall by Robert Crais.

LULLABY TOWN (Elvis Cole #3) (audiobook) by Robert Crais

Book originally published in 1992.

Audiobook published by Brilliance Audio in 2008.

Read by Mel Foster.

Duration: 8 hours, 33 minutes.

Unabridged.

Anthony Award Nominee for Best Novel (1993)

Shamus Award Nominee for Best PI Hardcover (1993)

Synopsis

Elvis Cole is hired by a very successful young Hollywood director in Lullaby Town to find his divorced wife and his son that he hasn't seen since he was an infant. It has been ten years since the divorce. His ex-wife hasn't been kidnapped or gone missing - she just moved away and the director has lost track of her. Now, he'd like to meet his son. 

The director has to be the single most annoying client that Elvis Cole has ever had. He is pushy, obnoxious, and completely self-absorbed. Elvis notes early on that almost every sentence the man utters starts with "I" as in "I think this" and "I did that." It's pretty obvious why the ex-wife left him and just kept on going with no forwarding address.

So, Elvis takes this job and starts searching. When he finally finds her he discovers that she has a lot more problems than a super-annoying ex-husband coming back in her life...

My Review

The first third of this book is a real lesson in the step by step research and follow through of basic detective work. You'd think it would be boring, but it isn't. The last third has a ton of action.

All in all, this is an excellent detective story.

I rate this audiobook 5 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: Lullaby Town by Robert Crais.

BALD-FACED LIAR (kindle) by Victoria Helen Stone

Published in 2025 by Lake Union Publishing.

Synopsis

Elizabeth May has lived a life based on lies ever since she went off to college. As a small child she was caught up in one of those Satanic child abuse day care cases that swept the nation in the 1980s. If you are not aware of this, the cases were almost always built upon an accusation by an angry child followed by leading questions from a series of adults that convinced younger children that they should go along with the accusations. After a while, the smaller children just believed the made up version.

Elizabeth May has ran away from her past - no one in her hometown showed any understanding of how she was also a victim, including her own family. May hides by being a travel nurse - she can move every year or even every few months. She avoids long-term romantic entanglements, she uses every possible variation of her name - Liz, Betty, Beth, etc. 

Elizabeth May has lived in Santa Cruz for about a year. She's got a great job, a cozy condo with a special deal because she keeps on eye the nextdoor vacation rental condos, and she has a network of acquaintances that stand in for actual friends.

Suddenly, her carefully constructed life gets interrupted with a series of online and in real life incidents and Elizabeth May is scrambling to figure out who is a real friend and who is an imposter from the past looking for revenge...

My review: 

The problem with this book is not the tension created from the situation, it's the character of Elizabeth May. She is basically unlikeable. She listens in to her neighbors' arguments and gets joy a thrill out of it. She uses the security cameras to spy on their romantic moments. 

In a book like this, this reader has to root for the target. Elizabeth May is hard to root for, except that you just don't like anybody that's not clearly evil to have their identity stolen and be stalked. 

This book was just off from the beginning and ended up staying off the entire time. I rate this book 2 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: Bald-Faced Liar by Victoria Helen Stone.

THE MONKEY'S RAINCOAT (Elvis Cole #1) (audiobook) by Robert Crais

Winner of the Anthony Award for Best Paperback Original.

Winner of the McAvity Award for Best First Novel.

Originally published in 1987.
Published in 2008 by Brilliance Audio.
Read by Patrick Lawlor.
Duration: 8 hours, 9 minutes.
Unabridged.

I have been reading Robert Crais' Elvis Cole novels for 15 years and I just assumed that I had already read all of the early ones years ago. But, when I checked my blog I found that I had not read 7 of them - that is more than a third of the series! 

The Monkey's Raincoat is the first in this 20 book series. 

Synopsis

Two women come to meet Elvis Cole in his office. Cole is a decorated Vietnam veteran turned private detective. The women want Cole to find the Mort, the husband of one of the women and their son. Mort picked the boy up from school, but they never came home.

Elvis starts to dig around and quickly discovers that Mort's talent agency is in trouble. The more he uncovers, the more it becomes obvious that Mort has been hiding massive losses from his family. Elvis knows that there is deep trouble when contacts with the police let him know that Mort has been found dead in his car - but there was no sign of his son. 

He goes to meet with his client to discuss the situation only to find that she has gone missing as well...

My Review

In book one of a 28 year old detective series all of the pieces are laid out in a great example of efficient world-building. Elvis is a wise-cracking tough guy with a sense of humor and a soft side. He decorates his office with Disney memorabilia. He drives a yellow 1960s Corvette Stingray. His partner, Joe Pike, is never in the office, owns a gun store, and always answers the phone by saying, "Gun shop" in a flat tone. Elvis collects contacts all over town just like he collects Disney gear. Joe Pike collects guns and never smiles.

Some authors feel the need to take the reader all over the new world of their character to meet everyone and see everything that might ever be in a book, but Crais gets it all done in a quick and efficient manner - it's all there in the first 50 pages of the first book and and it has basically stayed the same for nearly 30 years.

Interestingly, the author has chosen to stop aging Elvis Cole and Joe Pike. What has changed is the technology. Elvis looks for pay phones several times and they all have cell phones and GPS in the newer books. Elvis and Joe are like James Bond - same age, new toys.

The mystery itself was good. Elvis got to do some detecting, he called on a lot of contacts and he met new people and charmed him into giving him the information he needed. He also punched people, got shot at, shot at people, and brought in Joe Pike to help when it got too tough for one guy. 

Basically, every Elvis Cole novel follows the plan of the previous paragraph and it has worked for nearly 30 years. 

You may wonder where the weird title comes from. It's from a Japanese poem by Matsuo Bashō which is quoted at the start of the novel: "Winter downpour; Even the monkey needs a raincoat."

I rate this audiobook 5 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: The Monkey's Raincoat by Robert Crais.

EXIT STAGE LEFT: THE SNAGGLEPUSS CHRONICLES (graphic novel) Written by Mark Russell. Illustrated by Mike Feehan

Published by DC Comics in 2018.

Part of the Hannah-Barbera Beyond series.

2019 GLAAD Media Award winner for Outstanding Comic Book

Synopsis:

DC Comics and Hanna-Barbera set out to reimagine some of their late 1950s to 1970s Saturday morning television cartoons, including The Jetsons, The Flintstones, Scooby Doo, Wacky Races, and Space Ghost. Exit Stage Left: The Snagglepuss Chronicles is the last installment of the series.

The graphic novel is set in the Red Scare/McCarthyism era. Congressional subcommittees are looking for Communists in all fields, but they are particularly concerned about Communist entertainers who may be negatively influencing Americans.

Snagglepuss is a very successful New York City playwright. He lives in a world where humans and anthropomorphic animals interact as equals. He moved to New York from Mississippi years ago, but he still speaks in a Southern accent and often uses pithy folksy aphorisms. He is married to an actress, but that is a sham marriage. In reality, Snagglepuss is gay.

Snagglepuss has already appeared before the Congressional sub-committee and he did well. He defended the concept of Freedom of Speech and gave them a verbal tongue lashing that they will never forget. 

But, now the sub-committee is digging deeper into the personal lives of the people it questions, including looking into their sexual preferences. Getting outed could easily destroy the career of any actor, producer, or writer... 

Other Hanna-Barbera characters that appear in this graphic novel include Huckleberry Hound, Quick Draw McGraw, Augie Doggie, Peter Pottamus, and a very creepy-looking Squiddly Diddly.

My Review:

Imagining Snagglepuss as gay and working in the theatre does not take a lot of actual imagination. I had never really thought about it before I ran across this graphic novel, but it tracked pretty well.

There is a great quote in this graphic novel said by Snagglepuss:

"Sometimes we become so preoccupied with the plot of life that we forget - it's only the characters who matter."

The weakness in this graphic novel is that it tries way too hard to incorporate so much of the Cold War into the plot that it just got confusing. There are nuclear tests, Nixon and Kruschev debating, an Iowa farmer throwing ears of corn at Kruschev, and an ongoing debate about national security. 

I am not arguing that these things were not a part of the anti-gay movement in the 1950s, but it distracted from the main plotline too much. It was too far away from the story of Snagglepuss and Huckleberry Hound. To go back to the quote I thought was so great, the graphic novel got so preoccupied with the Cold War tie-in that it forgot about the characters.

If I were part of the discussion with how to make this an effective graphic novel, I would have dealt with more with the "morals" argument and less with the Cold War argument. It would have been more relevant to nowadays with all of the book bans and boycotts over LGBTQ+ issues.

The nice thing about this graphic novel is that it ties in to the actual Hanna-Barbera TV shows that feature these characters and makes sense, as if the readers that remembers those classic shows is a part of Snagglepuss's world.

I rate this graphic novel 4 stars out of 5. Interesting read, thought-provoking, but flawed. It can be found on Amazon.com here: Exit Stage Left: The Snagglepuss Chronicles.

FORGOTTEN TRAIL (National Parks Mystery, Book3) (audiobook) by Claire Kells

Published by Dreamscape Media in 2023.
Read by Cady Zuckerman.
Duration: 9 hours, 26 minutes.
Unabridged.

Synopsis:

Forgotten Trail is the third book featuring Felicity Harland of the Investigative Services Branch. If you are not familiar with the ISB, join the club - I had no idea that it was the "FBI" of the National Parks Service. If the local park can't deal with it, they call in the ISB. That always include murders.

Harland is partners with a park ranger nicknamed Hux. He is a big, strong guy. Harland is a short (but very tough and determined) lady. There is always of undercurrent of romantic attraction between the two, but there is caution about acting on this attraction for fear of messing up their friendship and very strong working relationship. Her dog rounds out the trio.

In this series, ISB is called out to a different park for each book. It lets the reader get a feel for a new park in every book. In this book, a brutal murder has taken place in a room at a brand new (and fictional) luxury hotel in the midst of its grand opening at Pinnacles National Park. Pinnacles only became a National Park in 2013 and its desert location offers a real change of pace from the previous two books.

My review:

 For me, part of the charm of this book series is its locations in and around the unique National Park environments. The reader gets to learn about what makes them unique and vicariously experience the challenges offered by that park's geography and biosphere.

This book was mostly set in the ultra-modern high tech hotel. There was a lot of talk about security cameras and key cards vs. traditional keys vs. app-based room entry system. It was very pedestrian compared to the other two books.

The resolution of the actual mystery was overly contrived in my mind. 

Bottom line - I like the characters a lot, the mystery was so-so. I hope there are more books in the series. I would love to see get around to lots of different parks all over the country.

I rate this audibook 3 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: Forgotten Trails by Claire Kells.

BETTY WHITE: A LIFE from BEGINNING to END (kindle) by Hourly History

Published in 2024 by Hourly History.

Betty White was a staple of the American entertainment scene for literal decades. She was on multiple highly-rated TV shows, was a regular on several classic game shows, guested on dozens of TV shows, and even made one of the most popular Super Bowl commercials of all time. 

This short e-book gives the outline of her nearly 70 year career. It's pretty much a "just the facts" sort of book due to the limitations of this book series. Eech history and biography published by Hourly History is designed to be read in about an hour and the sheer length of Betty White's career means that the depth of this biography is fairly limited. 

Even if it is limited, I still found this biography to be enjoyable. I rate this e-book 4 stars our of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: Betty White: A Life from Beginning to End.

THE BIG EMPTY (Elvis Cole/Joe Pike #20) (audiobook) by Robert Crais

Published by Brilliance Audio in 2025.
Read by Luke Daniels.
Duration: 8 hours, 25 minutes.
Unabridged.

My synopsis:

Elvis Cole is back on the case in The Big Empty. This time around he is working for a social media personality that specializes in making muffins and making people who watch the videos feel included, like they are talking to the girl next door. 

This social media star wants to hire Cole to figure out why her dad went missing about 10 years before. She hired an quality Private Investigations firm earlier, but the results were inconclusive. Her handlers are not enthused about reopening old wounds, but she overrules them.

Cole heads out to the small town (by L.A. standards) where her father disappeared and finds lots of stuff - including people who are determined to keep the secrets of the past buried in the past...

My review:

This was a complicated mystery with an ending that leaves a lot of moral questions about what is best for just a few people vs. what is best for everyone. Also, there is a heckuva plot twist in this one.

Well done. I rate this audiobook 5 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: The Big Empty by Robert Crais.

JOHN DENVER: A LIFE from BEGINNING to END (kindle) by Hourly History

Published in January of 2025 by Hourly History.

Hourly History specializes in biographies and histories that take about an hour to read. 

In this case, Hourly History has a history of a favorite in my household as I grew up - John Denver.

The book gives a good accounting of his early life, his early struggles as a musician, and his impressive drive that just kept pushing him forward until he made it. Once he made it, there was no one bigger than John Denver - He had a series of number one songs, number one albums, multiple awards, and movies and TV show appearances. But, it all seemed to come at the expense of his personal life.

This little biography covers the timeline of his life pretty well, but skimps on any sort of analysis on his uneasy position as a Country Music artist. For example, he won their official awards, but many mainstay country music artists considered him an interloper - a folk artist who was sort of assigned the title of "country artist."

Still, this was an enjoyable read for longtime fan. I rate this e-book 4 stars out of 5.
This book can be found on Amazon.com here: JOHN DENVER: A LIFE from BEGINNING to END by Hourly History.

A PAPER ORCHESTRA (audiobook) by Michael Jamin

Published in 2024 by 3 Girls Jumping.
Read by the author, Michael Jamin.
Duration: 9 hours, 39 minutes.
Unabridged.

Michael Jamin is a professional Hollywood screenplay writer. He works in television, working on comedy shows like King of the Hill, Just Shoot Me, and Tacoma FD.

In the afterword he talked about his desire to write something more than TV shows. He wasn't unhappy with writing screenplays, but he wanted to branch out. 

The stories in A Paper Orchestra are from Jamin's life. Some are funny, some wistful, some very sad. As a group, they all have the feel of NPR's Moth Radio Hour - but instead of having a variety of performers, it is all from the same man.

Jamin read the audiobook. In the afterword, he and his wife talked about how they worked together so that he could perform these stories live on stage. She is an actress and she helped him with presentation style - and I think she was successful at it.

I worked my way through this audiobook rather slowly. At the end of almost every story I stopped and let it marinate a bit rather than going on to the next story. For that reason, I rate this audiobook 5 stars out of 5.

A Paper Orchestra can be found on Amazon.com here.

WELCOME to PAWNEE: STORIES of FRIENDSHIP, WAFFLES, and PARKS and RECREATION (audiobook) by Jim O'Heir

Published by HarperAudio in November of 2024.

Read by Jim O'Heir, George Newbern, Eva Kaminsky, Janina Edwards, Roger Wayne, Jim Meskimen, and Adam Verner.

Duration: 6 hours, 24 minutes.

Unabridged.

Jim O'Heir has been knocking around Hollywood for years as a journeyman actor. He has had roles in dozens and dozens of TV shows and movies - good stuff and bad stuff - but always regular stuff. He was well on his way to becoming one of those character actors that you see so often that you say, "Oh! There's that guy! He was on that one show."

Then in 2009, he showed up on the new NBC show Parks and Recreation playing the bumbling and often befuddled lovable loser Jerry Gergrich. He kept playing this character for all 123 episodes of the show.

This book is a dual biography of sorts. It is the story of Jim O'Heir and how he came to the show, but it's also the story of the show itself. Jim interviews producers, writers, directors, and other actors to give us the story of Parks and Recreation itself. We learn about how it was conceived, how they cast the main characters, what life was like on the set, and more.

Indianapolis is my adopted hometown so I particularly was interested in the field trip episodes that were filmed in Indianapolis. I do have to point out that O'Heir incorrectly claims that the famed St. Elmo Steak House in downtown Indianapolis is not named after the 1985 Rob Lowe movie St. Elmo's Fire. The restaurant first opened in 1902.

I rate this audiobook 4 stars out of 5. It is a must read for fans of Park and Recreation. It can be found on Amazon.com here: Welcome to Pawnee: Stories of Friendship, Waffles, and Parks and Recreation.

THE WAITING (Ballard and Bosch book 6)(audiobook) by Michael Connelly

Published in October of 2024 by Little, Brown, and Company.
Read by Christine Lakin, Titus Welliver, and Madison Lintz.
Duration: 10 hours, 50 minutes.
Unabridged.

LAPD Detective Harry Bosch first showed up in a novel in 1992. The Waiting is the 25th book in the series, but he has appeared in more than 30 books and short stories.

Bosch is aging. He has aged right along with the series. He would be about 74 years old in this book and he is no longer the detective that goes out and finds the bad guys, but he does contribute from time to time.

His protégé Renee Ballard is in charge of the cold case unit of LAPD.  Her unit is almost entirely made up of volunteers and they go through unsolved serious crimes and see if modern technology (like DNA comparison) can help to solve them.

This book is mostly a Ballard novel, but Bosch does play a critical role in one of the three mysteries that are dealt with in this novel. I have a feeling that the "Bosch" in the Ballard and Bosch books will soon switch from Harry Bosch to his daughter, Maddie Bosch. Maddie was involved in two of the three mysteries in this novel

In the first mystery, Ballard's car is broken in to when she is out surfing. Her wallet, her badge, and her gun are stolen...

In the second mystery, the unsolved team gets a genetic hit that shows a familial match to a serial rapist and murderer. 

In the third mystery, new evidence shows up in one of LA's longest-standing unsolved murders.

Three different actors read the parts of Ballard, Bosch, and Bosch's daughter, Maddie.

The mysteries were all compelling, the story moved along briskly, and there is a stunning and dramatic twist at the end.

I rate this audiobook 5 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: The Waiting (Ballard and Bosch book 6) by Michael Connelly.

COST of MALICE by H. Mitchell Caldwell

Published in 2024 by Nine Innings Press.

Cost of Malice is the third novel featuring attorney Jake Clearwater. Jake is an on-again off-again law professor who is often tempted to trade the classroom for the courtroom.  

Clearwater is offered a chance to sit on an informal council of leaders in the prosecutor's office. Cases that may be tough to win are brought to this council and they brainstorm possible strategies and determine if they are even worth the effort.

The book deals with three of these cases. 

Case one is a murder case in which the two primary witnesses are jailhouse snitches.

Case two is a horrific child abuse case in which one spouse literally beat a child to death at the direction of the other spouse. Clearwater wants to convict them both equally despite the fact that one of them literally never laid a finger on the victim.

Case three is a school shooting case modeled heavily on the Oxford, Michigan case that ended in April of 2024.

It feels right that Clearwater goes from one case to another - just like it happens in real life. Also, the three cases are all challenging and controversial in their own ways. 

I rate this book 5 out of 5 stars. It is well-written. This book can be found on Amazon.com here: Cost of Malice by H. Mitchell Caldwell.

The first book of this series can be found here: Cost of Arrogance.

Note: I was sent a free copy of this book by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.