CAIN at GETTYSBURG (audiobook) by Ralph Peters

There is a problem with a book about Gettysburg in which George Meade is the most likable character...

Published by Blackstone Audio in 2012
Narrated by Peter Berkrot
Duration: 15 hours, 20 minutes
Unabridged

It is easy to give a simple shorthand review of Cain at Gettysburg as an attempt to re-make the magic of Michael Shaara's classic Pulitzer Prize-winning The Killer Angels from the Union point of view. To be fair, I will give more than a simple shorthand review, but I will be comparing the two books quite often.

The title Cain at Gettysburg is a biblical reference to the story of Cain and Abel - the story of when one brother killed another. It is the first of many religious references throughout the book.

Like the Shaara book, Cain at Gettysburg goes back and forth between the two armies as they draw together for the fateful Battle of Gettysburg in July of 1863. While The Killer Angels focuses on the senior Confederate officers, this novel focuses on the senior Union officers. The Confederate officers are probably the more interesting characters but Ralph Peters' strongest points in Cain at Gettysburg are when he focuses on the never-ending political rivalries at the top of the Union command. The constant strivings and squabbles of both sets of officers are readily apparent.  

Cain at Gettysburg comes up short in two key areas when compared to The Killer Angels. 

1) It fails to convey the larger overview of the battle to the reader. However, its battle details are much more gritty and it does include street fighting in Gettysburg itself, something that is often overlooked. 

Union General George Meade
(1815-1872)

2) It fails to create a character that the reader can really root for, with the exception of Meade. Peters manages to do something just short of miraculous in this book. He makes Union General George Meade the single most likable and sympathetic character in a book filled with characters of all backgrounds and ranks. Meade was, by all accounts, one of the most gruff and difficult officers in the entire Union army. He was nicknamed "Old Snapping Turtle", but in this book he comes off as a likable curmudgeon (Meade always gets the short shrift, so this was an interesting change of pace.) In contrast, Lee comes off as an uncaring megalomaniac. 

But, there is a problem with a book about Gettysburg in which George Meade is the most likable character - it means that there is really no one to root for as you read (or listen, in my case). There were a whole slew of regular Confederate soldiers as characters with complex back stories that all led to the same conclusion - religious faith is a fool's game at best. There were a similar number of Union soldiers from a German unit based out of Wisconsin. They were often funny and interesting but I found myself not really caring about them so much as wishing they would finally get the recognition that they deserved.

A rather long section of the book is all about the political stratagems of Union General Daniel Sickles. It is wearisome, at best.

A very big positive to the audiobook is the performance of the narrator Peter Berkrot. He is brilliant. He creates a number of accents (his German accent is fantastic!) and literally yells, whispers and growls his way through the book.

I rate this audiobook 3 stars out of 5.

This audiobook can be found on Amazon.com here: Cain at Gettysburg by Ralph Peters.

SILENCE by Shusaku Endo

Originally published in 1966.
Translated by William Johnston.

Rodrigues is a Jesuit missionary from Portugal who has volunteered to travel to Japan. The leaders of Japan have recently turned against almost all foreign contact and have cracked down on Christianity. Stories have come back to the Vatican of Japanese Christians being brutally tortured and priests renouncing their faith. 

Rodrigues is determined to face this challenge. He is genuinely concerned about the believers who are left without a priest and he is also sure that he will not fail if his own faith is challenged. He and a partner make their way into Japan and set up in a small fishing village. The local Christians are thrilled but, soon enough, the priests are discovered and Rodrigues finds out that his presence threatens the lives of his new flock and that his own compassion can be used as a tool against his own faith and that even the strongest believer can be pushed too far...

Shusaku Endo (1923-1996)

This is an absorbing work of historical fiction. The reader sees most of the action from the perspective of Rodrigues, so there is not a lot of historical background about Japan and its internal politics. Mostly, this is a look at one man's struggle with his view of God and why God allows the persecution of the people that profess to believe in Him. This is the "silence" referred to in the title. Some readers have struggled with the Rodrigues' conclusions (in truth, Rodrigues does, as well) but I found his internal debate to be a strong one. 

I am giving this book a rating of 4 out of 5 stars only because of the ending. It was not that I did not disapproved of Rodrigues and how he finally resolved his problem, it's that it was done so quickly and I felt suddenly cut off from the ebb and flow of his thoughts. 

William Johnston translated this novel. As a Spanish teacher, I recognize how hard translation can be and Johnston deserves to be recognized for maintaining a consistent feel and flow to this book. His notes at the beginning of the book are also excellent.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: Silence by Shusaku Endo.

ECHOES of WAR DRUMS: THE CIVIL WAR in MOUNTAIN MARYLAND by James Rada, Jr.

Published in November of 2013 Legacy Publishing

Echoes of War Drums: The Civil War in Mountain Maryland is a collection of newspaper and magazine articles written by the author. This sort of collection is, like most things, a good thing and a bad thing. What's good about it is the short format makes it an easy to book to pick up and read for a few minutes with the knowledge that you can walk away for a while and not have to remember any important people or plot points. But, there is a lot of overlap among the articles so the book can be repetitive if you are reading it straight through.

I am not a native of Maryland. In fact, I'm pretty sure that I've never been to the region of Maryland that is featured in this book. But, I am an avid student of the Civil War so I read it to find out about an area of the country that had a front-row seat to many of the major battles of the Eastern Theater.

It turns out this area had more value than just proximity. It was also a major source of coal and contained vital railroad and canal routes that were a constant target of Confederate raiders.

My favorite story by far was "A Pair of Generals Give the Confederates an Ace in the Hole". This tells the story of how two Union generals were kidnapped by Confederate rangers. I have read this story in just about every history of the Eastern Theater but never in this detail. I had no idea how audacious this plan was until you see it spelled out step-by-step.

"Teenage Rebellion, Civil War Style" the story of a female teenage spy who was caught delivering messages to Confederate forces gives the reader the feel for how fluid the border between the North and the South really was and how family connections often crisscrossed that border.

Union General Benjamin F. Kelley (1807-1891).
He features prominently in many of the stories in 
this collection, including the story of how he was
kidnapped by Confederate rangers in a daring raid.

"Who is 'Genl. Scofield'?" is the touching story of a family that has adopted the grave marker of this unknown soldier. I say that he is unknown because there were only two generals named Scofield in the war and neither died anywhere near western Maryland and they have no connection to the area so this grave is unlikely to be theirs.

Collections like this one fill local book shops across the country and are a great source of additional information that remind the reader that the Civil War is more than the Emancipation Proclamation, Pickett's Charge and memorable lines like, "Damn the Torpedoes! Full Speed Ahead!" It is also about an almost infinite number of smaller events like nuns traveling across Ohio to tend to the wounded for weeks and months in a strange town and families being forced out of their homes for failing to sign a loyalty oath and soldiers guarding a railroad track in a small fort they helped build a long way from home.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: Echoes of War Drums by James Rada, Jr.

Note: I was sent a free review copy of this book by the author in exchange for an honest review. I have not met the author and received nothing except for a copy of the book, which I was not obligated to review.

THE FINAL DAY (audiobook) by William R. Forstchen

A Review of the Audiobook

Published in January of 2017 by Blackstone Audio
Read by Bronson Pinchot
Duration: 12 hours, 11 minutes
Unabridged

The conclusion of the John Matherson trilogy*** does not bring a fairy tale ending to his story of post-EMP America, but it does answer an important question from both of the previous novels - just who has taken over the reins of what remains of the Federal Government?

For those who don't know, an EMP is short for Electro-Magnetic Pulse. Nuclear weapons generate this pulse when they explode and these weapons can be fine-tuned to generate an pulse that will cover a large part of North America. The pulse completely fries modern electronics and in this book series the United States is thrown 100 years back into the past in terms of technology.

John Matherson continues to lead his North Carolina community and they are having some success in re-establishing some of the technology that existed before the attack. They are slowly adding new communities into the fold and are now calling themselves the State of Carolina.

But, this is interrupted by the arrival of a message from Matherson's old commanding officer from his Army days. The Federal government has not forgiven Matherson's community for their attack on a poorly-trained Federal army made up of draftees last year and they are demanding that his community submit to their authority or be invaded by regular Army troops with tons of air support. Matherson is torn - he wants to trust his old friend and mentor but he knows he cannot trust this group that claims to be the reconstituted Federal government...

Unfortunately, this book continues in the trend of the second book in this series instead of the first.  There are plot holes, forgotten characters and lots and lots of repetitive long lectures from characters. So many characters don't have conversations - they deliver speeches. And, some don't just deliver them once, they deliver them again and again. This audiobook could have been edited down by 2 or 3 hours and it would have been a much better experience.

Forstchen has a lot of cursing which does not bother me - soldiers curse and people curse when they get shot at and these things happen plenty throughout the series. I grew up in a family that brought cursing up to the level of art. The cursing in this book oftentimes sounds so inauthentic that it was like it was inserted to butch up the story some. Bronson Pinchot's attempt to read the curses and the random yelling like the book described just served to reinforce how clunky so much of this dialogue really is (how many times can you look out the window and curse the people that attacked America in just one book? How many characters can make the same curse in the same book?)  I was reminded of Harrison Ford's comment about George Lucas's dialogue in Star Wars: "George, you can type this $#!+, but you sure can't say it!"

Also, while I was glad to finally see who was behind this re-constituted Federal government, I did not buy the backstory. It was a let-down.

I rate this audiobook 3 stars out of 5.

This audiobook can be found on Amazon.com here: The Final Day by William R. Forstchen.

***NOTE: a fourth book was added to the series in 2023. I am not going to look into it. 

DEAD LIKE ME (Detective Kate Springer #1) (audiobook) by Kelly Miller

A Review of the Audiobook

Audiobook published in February of 2017 by Kelly Miller.

Originally published as a book in 2013.

Read by Angel Clark.

Duration: 7 hours, 34 minutes

Unabridged

Dead Like Me features Detective Kate Springer. Springer is not a perfect cop - and she's not the movie stereotype "rogue cop who doesn't play by the rules." She's a solid detective in Tampa, Florida with her own personal struggles.

She and her partner are assigned a murder case in which a young lady is found strangled to death in the back yard of an abandoned house. Springer is struck by how much this young victim looks like she did at her age. The case triggers a flood of memories of her own difficult childhood in which she was sexually abused for years by an older neighbor who was her babysitter.

As the case unfolds her the similarities between this case and her own experiences seem to get stronger and stronger, but is increasingly unsure if this is because they really are that similar or if she has just lost the proper perspective.

And then she gets the shock of her life...

Too many detective novels end up having the detective taking on a massive conspiracy such as an entire drug cartel, a terrorist organization or a plot to take down the government. This novel does the opposite - the detective takes on a case and ends up confronting the demons within. In the end, I found this to be a much more interesting take.

The audiobook was read by Angel Clark. Clark's choice to read her internal monologue with a much different voice than her speaking voice was jarring. I especially did not care for her internal voice - it sounded like a parody of the stereotypical NPR reading voice. This back and forth between the two voices made up the greater part of the story and I never got used to it.

I rate this audiobook 4 stars out of 5,

This audiobook can be found on Amazon.com here: Dead Like Me by Kelly Miller. 

WITHOUT FAIL (Jack Reacher #6) (audiobook) by Lee Child

Originally released in 2007 by Brilliance Audio.
Read by Dick Hill
Duration: 16 hours, 34 minutes
Unabridged

Jack Reacher is back in Without Fail. He is tracked down by his deceased brother's former colleague in the Secret Service (and ex-girlfriend) because she wants him to take a run at the security around the Vice President-elect in order to test it.

It turns out there is a serious plot to kill the Vice President-elect and Reacher and a partner he has brought in to help join in to hunt for the plotters.

This is a typical Reacher book - lots of snide comments, fistfights and even gunplay. The part where he is brought in by the Secret Service is a stretch, but Lee Child makes it palatable.

The audiobook is read by veteran reader Dick Hill. He gives Reacher a strong voice and I think he really gets the character.

I rate this audiobook 4 stars out of 5.

This audiobook can be found on Amazon.com here: Without Fail by Lee Child.

THE FORT: A NOVEL by Bernard Cornwell

Not Cornwell's Best Effort.

Published in 2010 by HarperCollins

Set in 1779 Massachusetts, Bernard Cornwell's The Fort tells the story of the Penobscot Expedition - a small scale invasion by British forces of a bay in what is now Maine.

The government of Massachusetts is determined to repel this invasion without help from the Continental Army. It calls up its militia and its fledgling navy. It does accept help from the American national Navy and its contingent of Marines. By far, the most famous American in this campaign is the commander of the Massachusetts' artillery unit, Lt. Colonel Paul Revere.

Cornwell does a decent job of developing the British officers as characters.  A young officer named John Moore gets his first taste of battle here. In the Napoleonic Wars, Moore was one of the architects of Napoleon's eventual defeat.

Cornwell's battle scenes are, as always, excellently described. He switches from naval battles to land battles with ease. I felt absolutely confident that I had a reasonable grasp of the strategy and tactics of the battle and the successes and failures of the various officers that led to the outcome of the battle.

But, this book has glaring weaknesses.

Paul Revere (1734-1818)

Cornwell never makes it clear as to why Massachusetts refuses to even ask for help from the Continental Army until it is much too late. My opinion is that Massachusetts was very interested in asserting its independence - not just from England but even from the Continental Congress. But, I am basing that on previous knowledge, not from anything that Cornwell provided.

Paul Revere is a star of the book even though he is actually a fairly minor character in the book when it comes to dialogue. He is not even in most of the scenes that refer to him - there are a lot of references to him not being present at locations where he certainly should be present because he is sleeping on a ship or he is waiting for his cook to prepare his breakfast somewhere. The reader just knows that he is a diva but there is no explanation as to why.

The reasons for the British invasion of this particular bay is also not even made clear. This is a fairly lengthy book, but if I were the editor I would have suggested the addition of a few more pages to make the historical context of the story a lot more clearer and make the importance of what is happening here give the story even more drama.

I rate this novel 3 stars out of 5.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: The Fort by Bernard Cornwell. 

READY PLAYER ONE (audiobook) by Ernest Cline

Published in 2011 by Random House Audio.
Read by Wil Wheaton.
Duration: 15 hours, 46 minutes
Unabridged

Ready Player One is a dystopian novel set in 2044 America. Things are not going well - there is an energy crisis, mega-corporations run everything and most of the country lives in poverty. Cities aren't particularly safe and the countryside between the cities resembles Mad Max more than Green Acres. The only relief comes in the form of The OASIS - a free virtual world that allows its users to avoid their depressing real lives and be part of something bright, shiny and new. You can become who you want to be and people of relatively modest means in the real world can become someone quite important online.

The book revolves around Wade Watts and his online persona Parzival. He, along with millions of others, is in the midst of an online treasure hunt for clues to a fortune. He is a "gunter", which is a contraction of "egg hunter", as in the Easter Eggs -hidden references to other movies or pop culture that are sometimes hidden within a movie. 

The creator of The OASIS was a Howard Hughes-type billionaire - brilliant but extremely eccentric. He has promised that the person who found found three keys and successfully opened three gates will win his real-life fortune and his shares in the massive video game corporation that administers The OASIS.

He loved the 1980s and geek culture. It is widely assumed that the keys are hidden in places that combine both. So, these "gunters" study the 1980s with an all-consuming passion. They know all of the movies, the video games, the music and especially role-playing games like Dungeons and Dragons.

Wade Watts is a true "gunter" - he knows that his only real chance of making it out of the desperate poverty of his real life is to find these keys. If only he can find a clue...

...and then one day he finds a clue and everything changes, both in The OASIS and in the real world.

The reader, Wil Wheaton.
Photo by Genevieve.

Wil Wheaton read this homage to All Things Eighties and did a great job of creating different voices and pacing for characters. There is a lot of description and narration (as opposed to dialogue) in this book and he kept it lively and interesting.

At first, I loved this book as it was a trip down memory lane for me. The references to John Hughes movies, Monty Python, the music, the video game arcades and Dungeons and Dragons reminded me of my own teen years.

But, it was also depressing. It was sad seeing that the culture of the 2040s was consumed by its fascination with the 1980s and had no cultural innovations of their own - just technological innovations that enable people to experience The OASIS better. Everything was an homage to the 1980s or to The OASIS. 

Was this a great story? No, but it was fun and I was certainly entertained for nearly 16 hours listening to it so I can't complain.

I rate this audiobook 4 stars out of 5.

This audiobook can be found on Amazon.com here: READY PLAYER ONE.

Note: this book was tagged with my MAGA Censorship List tag because a Florida school district permanently removed it from their district's shelves in 2023 after an activist parent turned in a list of hundreds of books. He had not read most of them. A school district in Michigan also had a problem with this book being a part of a book club.

In 2025 there was a challenge to this book in Gibson County, Indiana - my state. To their credit, the parents of Gibson County pushed back and spoke at the school board meeting where the board was going to vote take a vote about the book. 24 parents spoke in favor of keeping the book, 2 wanted to ban it. The board voted 4-1 to keep the book.

GO SET a WATCHMAN (audiobook) by Harper Lee

Published in 2015 by HarperAudio in 2015
Read by Reese Witherspoon.
Duration: 6 hours, 57 minutes
Unabridged

I waited for a while to take a chance with Go Set a Watchman. The blowback when it was released was formidable, so I decided to let it sit for a while and in the meantime stop reading the reviews.

Warning: spoilers ahead.

This book is set about 20 years after the events of To Kill a Mockingbird, in the 1950s. Jean Louise Finch (Scout) has come home to Maycomb, Alabama from New York City for a long visit. 

When she first arrives she falls into the familiar rhythms of a small town where she seems to know most everyone. She rekindles a romance with her father's young protege and soon enough returns to scandalizing her aunt with her forward ways. Atticus Finch has become a physically frailer man, but his mind is still spry.

Harper Lee (1926-2016)

Everything about the trip seems to be going well until Jean Louise discovers a racist pamphlet among some papers of Atticus. She decides that she simply must sneak into a meeting of the Citizens' Council - a group of white men who are concerned about the NAACP and the burgeoning Civil Rights movement.

The meeting is in the same courtroom where Atticus Finch defended Tom Robinson and Jean Louise sneaks into the balcony to watch her father, just like she did in To Kill a Mockingbird. In that novel she saw her father do his best to defend a black man in a town that already knew his client was guilty.

In Go Set a Watchman, she sees her father and her serious boyfriend colluding with men who spout racist nonsense. She sees the hero fall - and fall hard.

Jean Louise's reaction was amazingly similar to my own as I listened to an icon of American literature debase himself - shock and disbelief. In my case, I knew it was coming, but I still hoped that maybe it had been exaggerated.

Everything seems to be falling apart around Jean Louise. She flees to her childhood home only to find it has been torn down and replaced by an ice cream stand. Calpurnia, the only mother figure she has ever known, rejects her. Her childhood is gone, her hero is gone and she is totally alone.

Clearly, there is a large bit of autobiography in this book - every bit as much as there was in To Kill a Mockingbird. One can easily imagine a young Harper Lee taking a similar trip back to Alabama and struggling with two versions of her hometown - the idealized version that she remembered from her childhood and the reality that falls short once she looks upon it with the eyes of an outsider.

Despite it all, I found myself enjoying this book. It is, in many ways, a more mature book than To Kill a Mockingbird. That being said, it is certainly not a stand-alone novel. You must read To Kill a Mockingbird before you read this book.

Reese Witherspoon read this audiobook and her lovely voice was an excellent choice.

I rate this audiobook 4 stars out of 5.

See my review of To Kill a Mockingbird here.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee.

ONE YEAR AFTER (John Matherson #2) (audiobook) by William Forstchen

The Story Continues...

Published in Blackstone Audio in 2015
Read by Bronson Pinchot
Duration: 9 hours, 51 minutes
Unabridged

In this sequel to the bestseller One Second After, Forstchen continues to tell the story of what happens to a North Carolina community called Black Mountain after the United States is attacked by multiple EMP attacks from nuclear weapons. All of the modern technology is fried (computers, modern cars, the electrical grid, anything with a circuit board) and America reverts back to a pre-industrial technology level.

*********SPOILER ALERT*************

An Apache helicopter

This book starts one year after the ending of the first book which ended one year after the attack. The main thrust of One Year After is that the federal government has returned in the guise of an appointed administrator working out of Asheville, NC. It is unclear exactly who is in control of the federal government, but they are drafting most of the able-bodied soldiers of the communities that survived the chaos after the EMP attack. The largest cities, like Chicago and New York City, are in complete chaos. A leader of a cult has taken over giant areas of Chicago and has successfully resisted a federal invasion led by largely untrained troops. So, the idea is to recruit local militias into a million man army to re-take America - an army led, in part, by John Matherson, who would be promoted to General.

A main theme is a burgeoning federal vs. local conflict symbolized by this demand for most of Black Mountain's local militia. If the militia joins the national army the town of Black Mountain is left defenseless The federal administrator is a cardboard cut-out of a toady bureaucrat who does not really know how to lead people but uses his connections to bully them instead. He has the superior military hardware in the form of Apache helicopters, but no particular skill in using his advantage. In opposition we have John Matherson who has become his town's patriarch and is willing to have his town destroyed rather than submit.

The series of fights throughout the second half of the book were interesting but rather pointless. Why would this federal administrator want to destroy one of the few places that can actually feed and defend itself? His style is all wrong for a brown-nosing toady - those guys know how to manipulate people and this guy does not. Most of the conflict in this book could have been solved with two or three short-wave radio conversations that included John Matherson from Asheville to the new federal government location outside of Washington, D.C.

***********End Spoilers************

Bronson Pinchot read the book and, for the most part, he did a good job. However, the accent he created for the bad guy federal administrator kept going in and out and sounded at various times like he was from the midwest or the south. But, the character said he was from Boston. I don't know if it was a really clever intentional thing - something to emphasize the guy was a liar about everything, including his accent, or if it was just a series of mistakes.

In short, there is a large drop-off in quality from book #1 in this series to book #2. I will finish the series but I am expecting a lot less of the third installment. 

I rate this audiobook 3 stars out of 5.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: One Year After. 

ONE SECOND AFTER (John Matherson #1) (audiobook) by William R. Forstchen

A Review of the Audiobook

Published in 2009 by Blackstone Audio
Read by Joe Barrett
Duration: 13 hours, 21 minutes

Foreword by Newt Gingrich
Unabridged

When One Second After was first published, it made a sensation of sorts, which is pretty tough to do if you are a science fiction book. As the book's promoters are proud to point out, excerpts from this book were even read into the Congressional Record from the floor of the House of Representatives as a warning about the dangers of an Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) weapon to the United States.

An EMP happens as a by-product of the explosion of a nuclear weapon. In short, a nuclear weapon detonated high in the atmosphere can generate this pulse and fry almost all modern electronic circuits by overwhelming them much like a lightning strike will due when it hits someone's home. The pulse can be generated from high enough in the atmosphere that the bomb itself does not cause an explosion on the planet's surface or even cause a radiation danger. In this book, no characters saw the nuclear weapons explode, all they certainly felt the effects of the EMP.

In this book, three weapons disable almost every piece of electronics in the United States. The book demonstrates that America is remarkably vulnerable to such an attack. Almost none of our facilities are "hardened" to survive such an attack. In fact, almost none of our military facilities and vehicles are hardened to survive EMP attacks - the exception being the few bits of machinery that were survivors from the Reagan Administration. Sadly, the Reagan Administration was the last administration to take EMP seriously enough to take steps to survive it.

So, all vehicles from the mid-1970s forward are rendered inoperable due to their electronic controls. Power plants are wiped out. The phone companies are gone. Cell towers, television, computers, printers - all gone. Everything stops in its tracks right where it was all over the country. Planes crash. Trains stop. Cars stop all over the country right where they are.

America reverts back to its pre-electricity days and America is totally unprepared.

The strength of this book is the detailing of how America would fall apart after such attack but not its actual prose. There are lots of repetitive phrases and way too much detail about the nearby college (which also happens to be the where the author teaches). Lots of the story is told by way of discussion in the town council. The local doctor tells the council how horrible things will be once modern medicines are used up, etc. and then the narration goes on to say that it happened just like the doctor had predicted. It gets the story moving forward but it is not particularly compelling. Sometimes the book is just hamfisted and clunky in its approach.

But, I found myself intrigued by the story and I totally bought into the premise. I found myself listening whenever I could because I simply had to know what happened next. And, that is the mark of a good book, despite its faults. I was so intrigued that I immediately picked up its sequel.

The book was read by veteran reader Joe Barrett who does a solid job with a variety of accents. He did an especially good job with retired Army sergeant Washington Parker.

I rate this book 4 stars out of 5.

This audiobook can be found on Amazon.com here: One Second After by William R. Forstchen.

THE PRINCESS DIARIST (audiobook) by Carrie Fisher

A Review of the Audiobook

Published in November of 2016 by Penguin Audio
Read by Carrie Fisher and Billie Lourd
Duration: 5 hours, 10 minutes
Unabridged

Published just a few weeks before her death, Carrie Fisher's The Princess Diarist continues in her well-known tradition of tell-all books. This is my first Carrie Fisher book. If you have not read a book of hers before, be prepared for a frank and open discussion of just about anything that pops into her head. Every family has that older relative who means well but makes comments in front of the children that you just know will necessitate a subsequent discussion ("Why did Uncle Bob say...?). Carrie Fisher served that role in the world of Hollywood for many years.

The first half of the book is mostly devoted to the making of the original Star Wars movie, now known as Episode IV. There were a lot of factoids I had already heard or read before, but it was enjoyable listening to Carrie Fisher literally tell them again as she read her audiobook. She is frank about her family's struggles as she grew up and as I listened I was amazed.

A large part of the book is devoted to her on-set romance with the then-married Harrison Ford. She is kind to him and puts a lot of blame on herself being "the other woman" when her own childhood home was torn apart by a similar "other woman" scenario. 

She describes how this was her first real physical relationship and she took it much more seriously than Ford. Then, for reasons that I do not understand, she re-tells this story with an extensive series of poetry readings from her diaries that she wrote while on set with Ford 40 years ago. The poems aren't bad and you can easily follow along with her allusions because she had already so clearly described the relationship in prose just a few minutes earlier. But, I quickly lost interest in the poems because I had just listened to Fisher herself explain everything without all of the rhymes. In the audiobook version these poems are read by Fisher's daughter Billie Lourd.

The last section of the book is the most touching, especially considering Fisher's recent death. It is a tribute to all of the fans that come to see her at all of the conventions. She discusses how she really didn't want to do the conventions at first and then she moves on to talk about the fans. It starts out as commentary about some of the rather unique people you meet at conventions and moves on to becomes a long tribute to the importance of this film series to its fans. It is sad, warm and often very funny with lots of great accents. It is Carrie Fisher at her very best.

I rate this audiobook 4 stars out of 5.

This audiobook can be found on Amazon.com here: The Princess Diarist.

DRIVERLESS: INTELLIGENT CARS and the ROAD AHEAD (audiobook) by Hod Lipson and Melba Kurman

Published in 2016 by Blackstone Audio
Read by George Newbern
Duration: 9 hours, 57 minutes
Unabridged

Driverless cars have been the goal of engineers for decades, but the technology has simply not been there. Lipson and Kurman take the reader (or listener, in my case) through a history of driverless cars, artificial intelligence and make the case that driverless cars will be a common thing much sooner than most of us think.

Positives: 

Driverless: Intelligent Cars and the Road Ahead is written in mostly non-technical terms and simply explains the technical terms that it does use before using them.

The writers are very enthusiastic about their topic.

Negatives:

The writers are very enthusiastic about their topic - and sometimes they go into waaay too much detail. For example, they go into a long discussion of a intelligent road scheme that General Motors worked on for years that was a dead end. It could have been edited down by half. 

But, on the whole this was a very informative book that gives the layman a solid handle on why driverless cars will come and how our society is likely to adapt to them.

I rate this audiobook 4 stars out of 5.

This audiobook can be found on Amazon.com here: Driverless: Intelligent Cars and the Road Ahead.

ONE PERFECT SHOT: A Bill Gastner Mystery (audiobook) by Steven F. Havill

When Bill met Estelle...

Published in 2012 by Blackstone Audio
Read by Ray Porter
Duration: 10 hours, 31 minutes
Unabridged

In this prequel to the series, Bill Gastner is investigating the death of a road grader operator. He is found dead in the cab of the grader with a bullet in his brain, having been shot by a single shot straight through the front windshield. There are no witnesses so Bill starts to dig through the victim's past to find out if there are any potential enemies that might have wanted to hurt him.

As he starts to investigate the sheriff department's new hire, Estelle Reyes, a rookie straight out of college, goes along for the ride while Gastner tries to familiarize her with the department's procedures. And, of course, the more they dig the more they find secrets that most people would just prefer stay buried...

One Perfect Shot is a solid mystery - I sort of had it figured out about 2/3 of the way through but for all of the wrong reasons. But, the most interesting thing is the fact that we get to meet Estelle Reyes for the first time. The rich detail of the local community of Posadas County, New Mexico is explored in detail and I think that this only makes the story better.

I enjoyed it thoroughly.

I rate this audiobook 5 stars out of 5.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: One Perfect Shot by Steven F. Havill.

FINDING JESUS: FAITH. FACT. FORGERY: SIX HOLY OBJECTS that TELL the REMARKABLE STORY of the GOSPELS by David Gibson and Michael McKinley

Published in 2015 by MacMillan Audio.
Read by Peter Larkin.
Duration: 7 hours, 55 minutes.
Unabridged.

Finding Jesus is not a deep book theologically, but it does take a balanced look at 6 things that are associated with Jesus and a few related topics and is respectful of the faithful while doing its exploration. If you are expecting a book that is out to burst religious bubbles, this is not your book.

The topics are:

1) John the Baptist. Who was he? Is he in the historical record? Are the relics of John the Baptist in scattered across Europe actually him?

The James Ossuary.

2) James, the brother of Jesus. Who was he? Was he Jesus' half brother through Mary or a step-brother from a previous marriage of Joseph? Is the James Ossuary (a casket to hold bones) that was discovered a few years ago real?

3) Mary Magdalene. Who was she? Was she a disciple or simply a follower of Jesus? Why is she not mentioned after the four gospels? Was she the wife of Jesus? Was she really a reformed prostitute? Was she written out of the New Testament?

4) Judas Iscariot. Who was he? Why would an all-knowing Jesus pick a man to be one his disciples when he knew he would betray him? Was Judas actually a hero because he led Jesus to his death so that he would sacrifice himself for everyone? What about the gnostic Book of Judas? This section includes an excellent discussion of gnosticism.

5) The True Cross. There are dozens of dozens of artifacts that purport to be the true cross, but are any of them really that one cross? For me, this was the most boring of all of the topics.

6) The Shroud of Turin. This one was surprisingly interesting to me. Even if you doubt if the shroud is the actual shroud that Jesus was buried in (I know that I doubt that it is real) the discussion of crucifixion and the history of relics like the shroud were very strong.

This is a great audiobook. The reader, Peter Larkin, does a great job of keeping the text lively. A very enjoyable and informative listen.

I rate this audiobook 5 stars out of 5.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: FINDING JESUS: FAITH. FACT. FORGERY: SIX HOLY OBJECTS that TELL the REMARKABLE STORY of the GOSPELS.

ALL STAR SUPERMAN by Grant Morrison. Illustrated by Frank Quitely.

Published in 2011 by DC Comics.
320 pages.

I am a fan of Superman. Actually, he's my favorite superhero. All Star Superman started out as an intriguing take on the Man of Steel but it ended being a mish-mash of a mess.

This is a collection of multiple original comics and follows a story arc that is based on a dying Superman. In the first episode, he saves a scientific mission to the sun and ends up overloading his cells with the power of our yellow sun. There is no recovering and the overdose takes several months to kill him.

******Warning****** Spoilers*******

Superman responds by getting more serious about his relationship with Lois Lane and gives her a medication that gives her powers like his own for one day. This would have been a wonderfully interesting story line except for the arrival of two strong men from history that are now time traveling seeking adventure: Samson and Atlas. They decide they like Lois Lane, flirt with her incessantly and challenge Superman for her hand - like Lois has no say in the matter. The normally vocal and highly independent Lois just takes this. Who are these guys? Just two sexist creeps that sort of advance the plot, but mostly just make it seem like someone stole the plot of a 1930s movie.

It goes on that way throughout the book. Superman goes rogue when exposed to some bad Kryptonite, Superman travels through time to meet his father and the stories just don't seem to have enough heft to make me care too much. Too much bizarre stuff, not enough story.

Superman goes to Bizarro world and meets a sort of half-and-half Bizarro Superman who is doomed to stay on the planet - the only creature who can actually think straight. He was by far the most interesting thing in that entire story line, but only gets a few panels and, strangely, left behind by the real Superman.

I liked the Lex Luthor story line, but it makes no sense for a man of Luthor's talents to be given access to anything while waiting on death row, let alone technology to make superweapons. Nonetheless, it was the strongest part of the graphic novel.

******End Spoilers*********

Too many missed opportunities, too many convoluted story plots that don't hold up. I rate this collection 2 stars out of 5.

This graphic novel can be found on Amazon.com here:
All Star Superman.

THE FORGOTTEN FOUNDING FATHER: NOAH WEBSTER'S OBSESSION and the CREATION of an AMERICAN CULTURE (audiobook) by Joshua Kendall

Published by Penguin Audio in 2011
Read by Arthur Morey
Duration: 12 hours, 45 minutes
Unabridged

Referring to Noah Webster (1753-1848), the creator of the famed Webster Dictionary, as a Founding Father is generous, to say the least. He did live serve in the Connecticut militia, even deploying at one point, but he never saw much action. He did know many of the Founding Fathers and actually stayed in the homes of George Washington and Benjamin Franklin, but they had frequent guests so it would not be fair to characterize those friendships as particularly close friendships. He did advocate strongly for the adoption of the Constitution and for a short time was actively involved in partisan politics as a newspaper editor in New York City. But, when people think Founding Father they are usually referring to far brighter lights than Noah Webster.

A 1958 stamp featuring Noah Webster

If I were naming this book I would have dropped the Forgotten Founding Father angle and kept the rest of the title "Noah Webster's Obsession and the Creation of an American Culture." The impression left by this biography is that Webster was an obsessive and difficult man who often retreated to making lists when life became difficult. He had list of the numbers of homes in towns, distances between towns, how people died in cities - you name and he loved to categorize it, rank it, alphabetize it, write it down and stick it in a book, newspaper or magazine. In a way, his dictionary project became his ultimate list because it literally covered everything.

The Forgotten Founding Father: Noah Webster's Obsession and the Creation of an American Culture is frustrating for two reasons. The first is the subject himself. It is clear that Webster was a difficult man and this book reflects that. His letters, speeches and comments are often biting, even to his own friends and family. He creates detractors and even outright enemies throughout the book because of his obtuse ways. 

The second reason is the style of the book itself. It often dwells on obscure details and is written in a style designed drive people away from the book. Don't get me wrong, I had no problem following the book, but when you use to the word "impost" instead of tax, I'm not sure what your goal is, except to demonstrate the command of a large vocabulary. I hate to make this a jeremiad against the author, but then again he did use the word jeremiad many, many times throughout the book and I started to wonder if the author even had access to a thesaurus. According to the modern website of Webster's dictionary, he could have used much more common words like rant, tirade and harangue and made his point all the more clear to a greater part of the population. If a point could be made on one or two sentences, the author seemed bent to say it in 5 or 6 sentences instead. It was very easy to drift away from this audiobook for a minute or two and not worry about having missed much.

On a positive note, the book is well-researched and thorough. I don't regret having listened to it, but as I listened I was reminded of the David McCullough quote, "No harm's done to history by making it something someone would want to read." The obtuse nature of the book was a lot like Webster himself and perhaps that is most appropriate.

I enjoyed Arthur Morey's reading of the The Forgotten Founding Father. He added a nice touch by reading quotes from Webster and other recurring people with different voices.

I rate this audiobook 3 stars out of 5.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: The Forgotten Founding Father.

PROLONGED EXPOSURE (Undersheriff Bill Gastner #6) (audiobook) by Steven F. Havill

Originally published in 1998.
Published in 2008 by Books in Motion. 
Read by Rusty Nelson.
Duration: 9 hours, 46 minutes.
Unabridged.

I have been reading the Bill Gastner series off and on again for nearly 10 years. This is one of those series that never really took off and became bestsellers, but it certainly should have. If you enjoy Tony Hillerman's Leaphorn and Chee novels then you should give this series a try.

Prolonged Exposure is book #6 in a series that depends on the reader having some at least some prior knowledge of the characters. I have read some of the earlier books and some of the later books so that I wasn't lost when it came to the non-mystery part of the story.

Bill Gastner is a cranky old undersheriff, which is an office in New Mexico. Basically, the sheriff of a county is an elected position and is designed to be held by someone who is not a member of law enforcement. An undersheriff is a professional who works with the sheriff and makes sure that things operate they way they are supposed to. He works in a fictional county along the border with Mexico.

In this novel there are two main story lines. The first one involves Bill Gastner's property. While he was out of state recovering from a surgery with his daughter his elderly neighbor dug a marked grave for his wife and buried her on the edge of Gastner's land. At first, he is tolerant and looks upon it sympathetically but once he starts to look into it, it starts to look weird, even by the standards of his small town.

The second is the story of a three year old boy who goes missing during a family camping trip. A manhunt ensues and the whole department starts to become suspicious that things may not be quite what they seem.

Rusty Nelson's reading of this audiobook was excellent. He created different voices for every character and even managed a series of pretty decent Mexican accents.

I rate this audiobook 5 stars out of 5.

This audiobook can be found on Amazon.com here: Prolonged Exposure by Steven F. Havill.

HILLBILLY ELEGY: A MEMOIR of a FAMILY and CULTURE in CRISIS (audiobook) by J.D. Vance

Published in 2016 by HarperAudio.
Read by the author, J.D. Vance.
Duration: 6 hours, 49 minutes.
Unabridged.

Sometimes, I find it hard to write a review of an audiobook, especially an audiobook like this one. I find it hard - not because it is a bad book but because it is so good and I don't know how to convey my thoughts without giving a blow-by-blow book report of the book.

So, in short, J.D. Vance tells the story of his upbringing in Hillbilly Elegy. He calls his family hillbillies but also calls that same group rednecks or poor white trash. When I was a kid in southern Indiana, we called them poor white trash. His family came from eastern Kentucky (as did part of my own a hundred years ago) and was part of an exodus from the area in the 1950s. These hillbillies brought their culture with them and Vance spends the rest of the book telling a dual story - the story of his family and the story of how this Appalachian culture is struggling in modern America.

The title of the book tells you that this is often a somber book since an elegy is a sad poem or song to praise and express sorrow for the dead. Vance's family history is not a particularly happy one, but it is far from universally tragic. I think that Vance is expressing sorrow for working class whites as a whole. Their culture is leaving them poorly equipped for the America they are born into.

Vance touches on this at one point, but as a teacher in an urban school system, I found that a lot of what he was talking about applied to what I see every day at school. What he talks about in this book can certainly be extrapolated out to apply to other cultures. In this case, what is more important is not race but poverty. It reminded me of the little bit of training I have had with Dr. Ruby Payne and her insights into generational poverty and its own unique culture. 

What works best with this book is Vance's technique of telling his own story and using it to illustrate larger insights into his own culture of generational poverty. You learn precisely because you start to care for people like his profane and loving grandmother - a woman that should not have been the impetus for Vance's success based on her track record with family relationships but ended up being the one person that made all of the difference.

This audiobook was read by the author. That can be tricky, especially if the author is not particularly a good reader. Vance is hardly a professional reader but his accent and tone make it better than a professional reader really could have.

I rate this audiobook an enthusiastic 5 stars out of 5.

This audiobook can be found on Amazon.com here: Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J.D. Vance.

Note: I wrote this review 7 years before Vance became the MAGA Republican Vice Presidential candidate. Despite enjoying the book, I am profoundly disappointed in his politics since I am a Never Trump Republican, like Vance used to be. Why did he change? I can only refer you to this short book about another Republican politician: The Corruption of Lindsey Graham.

THE WRONG SIDE of GOODBYE(Harry Bosch #19) (audiobook) by Michael Connelly

Published by Little, Brown and Company in November of 2016.
Read by Titus Welliver
Duration: 10 hours, 21 minutes
Unabridged.

In The Wrong Side of Goodbye Harry Bosch is now completely separated from the LAPD and is keeping himself busy with a little detective work and volunteering as a reserve officer for the small city of San Fernando. San Fernando has less than 25,000 residents, covers less than 2 square miles and is completely surrounded by Los Angeles. But, they are cash-strapped and can use the help and Bosch needs to keep fighting crime - it just who he is.

Bosch has been digging around on a serial rapist case and has finally started to shake some things loose and the case is starting to break wide open. Out of the blue he gets a call from a former boss at LAPD who now works private security. A reclusive billionaire wants Harry to look for a possible heir from a former girlfriend that he was forced to break up with more than sixty years ago. He has no other heirs and the sharks from his corporation are already circling around in anticipation that he will die soon. Harry gets sucked in by this tragic story and starts to feel a real connection.

Harry tries to balance his commitment to this private investigation with his commitment to the San Fernando Police Department when things start to get very dangerous with both cases...

For fans of Mickey Haller (The Lincoln Lawyer), he makes several brief appearances.

This was an excellent audiobook. Titus Welliver reads this audiobook and he has an excellent feel for Harry Bosch. He ought to since he plays him on Amazon's television adaption of the series. He delivers the feel of urgency to catch the criminal and the patience that all hunters must display. I blew right through this audiobook, listening to it at every opportunity.

I rate this audiobook 5 stars out of 5.

This audiobook can be found on Amazon.com here: The Wrong Side of Goodbye.