THE TWO HENRYS: THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING COLLECTION (audiobook) by Kevin Allison

Published by Brilliance Audio in 2018.
Read by the author, Kevin Allison.
Duration: 1 hour, 22 minutes.
Unabridged.

Kevin and Ben are best friends and have been since first grade. They are both a little different than the other guys. Both are more interested in singing and acting than in sports. Both have active imaginations, a wide-ranging knowledge of movie and Broadway soundtracks and both have quirky senses of humor.

As they go through school together, they have sleep-overs, they start a theater club and they even write a play together that they perform in front of their Catholic school in Cincinnati.

Ben even teaches Kevin all about the birds and the bees in a three day tutorial on the playground during recess (Surprisingly solid info considering that it was based on what the older neighbor boys told him).

But, on the weekend before the beginning of seventh grade, everything changes when Kevin tells Ben his biggest secret...

This audiobook was brilliantly read by the author. Kevin Allison has a real talent for narration. The big secret is that Kevin is gay and the last half hour of the audiobook deals with the aftermath of that revelation.

My only complaint about this audiobook is that we don't hear more about these two friends as they move on into high school and beyond. I wish there had been a short epilogue - even a paragraph. But, this was still an enjoyable listen.

I rate this audiobook 4 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: THE TWO HENRYS: THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING COLLECTION (audiobook) by Kevin Allison.

APPALOOSA (Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch #1) (audiobook) by Robert B. Parker

A western for grown-ups. It's not about the guns, horses or bullets. It's about friendship, sex and, ultimately, love.

Published by Random House in 2005
Read by Titus Welliver
Duration: 4 hours, 57 minutes
Unabridged

There are four main characters in Appaloosa: Marshal Virgil Cole, Deputy Everett Hitch, Bragg (a rancher/hotel owner) and Mrs. French, a pathetic woman that leeches onto powerful men out of some deep seeded need that we never quite have explained. Suffice it to say, Mrs. French is a survivor because she uses sex to endear herself to the most powerful man in her immediate area. 

Robert B. Parker loves to explore the sometimes complicated psychology of men and women and the way they express friendship and love, both platonic and amorous. His books are full of people (mostly women, but not always) that claim to be in love but really they are psychologically needy and act out sexually in strange, disruptive ways. 

There are four main characters in this story: Marshal Virgil Cole, Deputy Everett Hitch, Bragg (a rancher and later a hotel owner) and Mrs. French, a pathetic woman that leeches onto powerful men out of some deep seeded need that we never quite have explained. Suffice it to say, Mrs. French is a survivor because she uses sex to endear herself to the most powerful man in her immediate area. 

But, the problem is, who is the most powerful man? Is it the Marshal, Bragg or even the Deputy? And, will they even realize they are being manipulated? Does she even know she is doing it? Can the Cole and Hitch's friendship endure this tension?

The audiobook is read by the actor Titus Welliver. I like Welliver's work and his voice is smooth and mellow - just about perfect for Hitch, who tells the story. 

I rate this audiobook 4 stars out of 5.

This audiobook can be found on Amazon here: Appaloosa

Taken (Elvis Cole #15) (Joe Pike #4) by Robert Crais

Published in 2012 by G.P. Putnam's Sons

I've been reading a lot of "assigned" reading lately. By assigned reading I mean books I agreed to review for publishers/authors or books that I read just to shrink my dreaded 4-milk-crates-full "to be read" pile. They were mostly good books, (some were great, even) but when I was at the local purveyor of books I saw this Elvis Cole novel. I had to to read it just for me simply because it was my idea in the first place. Also, I am a big fan of the series.

In Taken Elvis Cole is hired to find a missing college student. A widowed mother has received a call for a few hundred dollar ransom but she believes her daughter has ran off with "that boy" and is trying to scam her for money to go off and get married in Las Vegas.

Sadly, Cole proves her wrong. The girl and "that boy" have been kidnapped by bajadores - bad guys that kidnap illegal aliens coming into the United States in order to squeeze out a small ransom (or multiple small ransoms) from terrified family members who would be afraid to call the police. Sometimes the victims are released, sometimes they are killed when the money dries up.

Cole brings in his partner Joe Pike and soon enough they discover that this is going to get even more complicated and a lot more dangerous before it is over...

Robert Crais

Robert Crais has organized this Elvis Cole book a bit differently. Usually he follows a straightforward timeline, but in this book he flashes back and forth, including characters and talking about events that have happened as though the reader already knows all about it. It was designed to whet the appetite of the reader. For example, on page 39 we find out that Elvis Cole will go missing and Joe Pike and a friend are searching for him in Pike's typical thorough and abrupt (and violent) manner. I didn't have a problem with this way of organizing the book, but if that kind of thing bugs you, then you will absolutely hate this book.

There is an ongoing theme in this book about Joe and Elvis and what they mean to one another. There are precious few words spoken on the topic, but there is something there. At one point Joe is looking for help to find Elvis and he calls a special forces-type associate. His friend insults Cole and then asks, "Why do you waste your time with that guy?"

Joe ignores the insult and the question and secures the help and does everything he can to rescue his friend. Elvis knows Joe will be coming, but will it be in time? The absolute faith in one another and the devotion to one another are clear but what does Joe Pike, who is like an island onto himself, get out of it?

I am of the opinion that Elvis Cole is Pike's link to the real world, such as it is. Cole is tough like Pike but he is different. Cole's world is a world with a pet cat (sort of), cartoon characters and a dirty car (because absolutely everything does not have to be stowed away perfectly. Really, it doesn't) and that difference is salve for Pike's soul in some sort of way.

This is not the best of the Elvis Cole novels (I would put L.A. Requiem and Hostage on that particular pedestal) , but I feel like I should grade them on a curve because there isn't a dud in the bunch that I have read so far.. This one is not an A+, merely an A. An excellent read.

I rate this book 5 stars out of 5.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: Taken by Robert Crais.

Reviewed on July 17, 2013

Appaloosa DVD

A western for grown-ups. It's not about the guns, horses or bullets. It's about friendship, sex and, ultimately, love.

Movie released in theaters in 2008.

Be warned right now - this movie review is mostly one giant spoiler. Here's the non-spoiler parts right up front. This is a movie that strives to look authentic. The two main characters have known each other for years and have no need for a lot of dialogue - they know each other well, they know each other's habits and their conversations are spare.

Many reviewers have missed the whole point of Appaloosa. It was not about two buddies/lawmen bringing peace to a town, although that does happen (mostly) and the gun fights are quick, brutal and ugly. The movie is about what happens when such a partnership is disrupted by a woman. Look at the DVD cover art and you can see it symbolically represented - there is Renee Zellweger standing between Mortensen and Harris.

****Spoiler alert****The rest of the review is just full of spoilers******

In this case, the woman is a pathetic, despicable thing. The movie comes from a Robert B. Parker book and his books are full of people (mostly women, but not always) that claim to be in love but really they are psychologically needy and act out sexually in strange, disruptive ways.

There are four main characters in this story: Marshal Virgil Cole, Deputy Everett Hitch, Bragg (a rancher/hotel owner) and Mrs. French, a pathetic woman that leeches onto powerful men out of some deep seeded need that we never quite have explained. Suffice it to say, Mrs. French is a survivor because she uses sex to endear herself to the most powerful man in her immediate area.

Many other reviewers have misinterpreted (in my opinion, anyway) the "big" fight scene at the end. Here's my take:

Hitch kills Bragg, but not to defend the honor of Zelweger character, Mrs. French, because she has none to defend. Instead, it is to restore Cole to his rightful place - top dog. Cole won't do anything about it because he loves Mrs. French. She's the first woman he's ever actually talked to about anything except food, sex or meaningless pleasantries - and he loves her despite her messed up, trampy ways. That is his fatal flaw.

Hitch, out of love as Cole's friend, cannot stand to see Cole shamed by Bragg so he defends Cole. Hitch kills Bragg, but in doing so he is now the top dog, rather than Bragg or Cole. In order for Cole to stay in town with the woman he loves and for that relationship to even exist, Hitch has to leave town. If he stays, Mrs. French will just try to seduce him and the Cole/Mrs. French relationship will end. Also, the Hitch/Cole relationship will end.

So, out of friendship, Cole kills Bragg so that Cole has the chance of keeping the woman he loves, even though it ends the Cole/Hitch relationship. Deputy Hitch sacrifices the friendship in order to give his friend a chance at happiness with Mrs. French. Truly, a beautiful moment, although subtly played.

I rate this movie 5 stars out of 5 stars and it can be found on Amazon.com here: Appaloosa.

Reviewed on November 21, 2009.