A Beautiful Mind: The Life of Mathematical Genius and Nobel Laureate John Nash [Abridged] (audiobook) by Sylvia Nasar

Published by Simon and Schuster Audio in 2001
Read by Edward Herrmann
Duration: 5 hours, 55 minutes
Abridged

I freely admit that I am one of the few people that did not see the movie A Beautiful Mind. So, I decided to give the audiobook a try. Turns out, I have discovered after a little research,  the book and the movie have little in common. Fair enough.

The plot in short is that John Nash was identified as a mathematical genius in college and brought into several special programs to develop that genius. He specialized in what laymen might call "pure" mathematics but he also was intrigued by economics. In 1959, he was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and he spent time in and out of several mental hospitals. Eventually, he was released from those hospitals and he lived in and around the Princeton campus as a shadowy figure who left mathematical equations on the chalkboards when no one was around. After more than 25 years, Nash finally began to emerge from his illness. He groundbreaking work in the 1950's in economics was recognized in 1994 when he received the Nobel Prize for Economics.

I listened to the almost 6 hour long abridged version read by veteran actor and spokesman Edward Herrmann, not the 18 hour unabridged version read by Anna Fields. Keeping in mind that readers read at different paces, it is still quite obvious that a lot of the original book was cut out of my edition.

Sadly, I cannot say that I am sorry that I missed a lot of this book. The best parts of the book describe the community he worked in and his relationships with other people. Unfortunately, there are long descriptions of the very very high level mathematics he worked on. If I were reading these passages in a text, I would skim them, but it is quite difficult to skim with an audiobook in the car CD player. Instead, I endured mind-numbingly confusing descriptions of geometric concepts and game theory.

Even worse, the portrayal of John Nash in the book makes it hard to have any human sympathy for the man when "he slipped into madness" as the blurb on the back of the audiobook describes it. He was cruel to the women in his life, he was cruel to his students, he was indifferent to almost everyone else except for those few that he would obsess over to a level that we would describe as stalking nowadays. What I was struck by was a sense of his being an utter sociopath.

When his illness overtook him I felt less for the loss of a human being and more for the loss of his mathematical genius. I felt the loss of his utility to humanity as a whole and not the loss of his own humanity. He expressed so little human decency before he became so ill that he could not help but feel that his illness was a sort of cosmic Karma punishing him. I am sure that was not the intention of the author (and that these were all symptoms of his mental illness in its early forms), but I was struck by it as I listened and I did not enjoy it. I am sure that is why the movie is so different.

I rate this audiobook 3 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: A Beautiful Mind: The Life of Mathematical Genius and Nobel Laureate John Nash [Abridged]

Reviewed on December 27, 2012

It Worked for Me: In Life and Leadership by Colin Powell with Tony Koltz

Published in 2012 by Harper

Colin Powell updates his 2003 memoir My American Journey with It Worked For Me: In Life and Leadership. The book is really two books. The first part is an expansion on an article that was written about him for Parade magazine in 1989. In that article he listed 13 rules he had for life:

1. It ain't as bad as you think. It will look better in the morning.
2. Get mad, then get over it.
3. Avoid having your ego so close to your position that when your position falls, your ego goes with it.
4. It can be done!
5. Be careful what you choose. You may get it.
6. Don't let adverse facts stand in the way of a good decision.
7. You can't make someone else's choices. You shouldn't let someone else make yours.
8. Check small things.
9. Share credit.
10. Remain calm. Be kind.
11. Have a vision. Be demanding.
12. Don't take counsel of your fears or naysayers.
13. Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier.

Colin Powell speaking
at the United Nations

Powell then expands on each of these rules, often throwing in interesting real life anecdotes that illustrate the points, including details about his life as a child of immigrants in New York City, his educational career and plenty of stories about his military career at all levels.

The second half of the book is an expansion of his memoir, as noted above. He talks about his life as a professional speaker and other things he has learned over the years (the importance of delegating so you can stay focused on your job, for example, he learned from Ronald Reagan). 

The most interesting part was his descriptions of his time as Secretary of State and his (in)famous speech at the United Nations in which he laid out the details of Iraq's presumed program of building weapons of mass destruction. He uses it to illustrate a larger point that goes with the delegating responsibility lesson I mentioned in the previous paragraph. Clearly he is not happy with the information he was given but he comes short of blaming the Bush Administration of setting him up or of pulling a "bait and switch" operation, which will disappoint some.

I rate this book 5 stars out 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: It Worked for Me: In Life and Leadership by Colin Powell with Tony Koltz.

Reviewed on December 24, 2012.

The Last Man (Mitch Rapp #13) (audiobook) by Vince Flynn

Published by Simon and Schuster in 2012
Read by Armand Schultz
Duration: Approximately 6 hours
Abridged

In The Last Man, Vince Flynn takes a break from the Mitch Rapp prequels and puts Mitch right in the thick of the American withdrawal from Afghanistan. He is brought in to investigate the disappearance (a presumed home invasion kidnapping) of Joe Rickman, the head of the CIA's clandestine operations in Afghanistan. In fact, he's been involved in so many clandestine operations that he could singlehandedly gut the intelligence agency's efforts in multiple countries around the world.

But, as Rapp and his team start to investigate they find that all of the pieces don't quite fit together. Add to that an FBI agent that believes that Rapp and Rickman have pocketed millions of dollars intended for intelligence efforts in Afghanistan and the reappearance of a deadly man from Rapp's past and you have the basis for a good story.

While the action is solid, there is too much posturing by Rapp and probably too much taken out of this abridged edition of the book. It is 6 hours compared to 12 hours in the unabridged version and the story most likely suffers a lot. The abridged version gets the highlights (Rapp shoots, fights, glowers, curses and throws righteous anger tantrums all over Afghanistan and Washington, D.C.).

There is much that is ridiculous in this book. I am assuming that the abridgement of the book took out all of the important non-action stuff that makes the book makes sense. For example, the bad guy is so blatantly cruel that you have to wonder who would ever want to work with him (at one point he determines that he will have to kill a woman simply because she is ugly - not because she knows too much, but because she knows too much and she is too ugly). Another time, Rapp is badly injured in the story but he recovers so quickly that I wondered why the injury was even worked into the story line in the first place.

So, my recommendation: spend a few more bucks and get the unabridged version of the audiobook. It will most likely be a better experience.

I rate this audiobook 3 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: The Last Man by Vince Flynn. 

Reviewed on December 22, 2012. Edited on January 19, 2025.

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

Killing Kennedy: The End of Camelot (audiobook) by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard

Published in 2012 by MacMillan Audio
Duration: 8 hours, 25 minutes
Unabridged
Read by the author, Bill O'Reilly

I was a little reluctant to listen to this audiobook because of the author. Not Martin Dugard. This is the third book I have read or listened to that he has written or co-written and I know he can really tell a story. No, it's Mr. "No Spin Zone" that I cannot stand. Our politics are similar but I just find O'Reilly difficult to stomach.

That being said, I enjoyed this audiobook quite a lot.

John Fitzgerald Kennedy
(1917-1963)

O'Reilly narrates Killing Kennedy, which means it's a mixed bag for me. He speaks for a living so he reads it well and knows what phrases and words he wanted to emphasize but, like I said above, a little O'Reilly goes a long way for me. Also, his frequent use of dramatically read foreshadowing that alludes to the date of JFK's assassination got very old very fast.

But, the positives are the way the book is presented. O'Reilly tells the story of JFK from PT 109 forward and gives the reader of the man Kennedy was becoming. JFK's family life, his relationship with his brothers, LBJ and Jackie are explored in great detail and presented in an interesting fashion and really expose Kennedy's good points as well as his considerable failings.

As they tell the story of the Kennedy Administration, O'Reilly and Dugard lay out all of the parties that have been blamed for the assassination: the Cubans, the CIA, the FBI, the Mafia, anti-civil rights crazies and Lee Harvey Oswald. O'Reilly and Dugard acknowledge that these other groups had a grudge against Kennedy but they go with the traditional explanation of Lee Harvey Oswald.

Perhaps the best piece of the book is how well they tell the story of Jackie Kennedy on the day of the assassination. It is a fine piece of writing that brought tears to my eyes at one point (please note, I have not been a particular fan of JFK or of O'Reilly so the fact that a bit of writing read by O'Reilly about JFK brought tears to my eyes speaks volumes about its power).

Well done.

I rate this audiobook 5 stars out of 5.

Reviewed on December 22, 2012

Note: I was provided a copy of this audiobook by the publisher in the hopes of receiving an honest review.

This audiobook can be found on Amazon.com here: Killing Kennedy.

The Sheriff of Sorrow (#1 in the series) (audiobook) by Jack Bates

Published in 2012 by Mind Wings Audio

Read by Joe Barrett
Duration: 1 hour, 6 minutes

Technically, The Sheriff of Sorrow is not a western because it takes place in northern Michigan. However, the story has all of the traditional pieces of a Western: a wild town, miners, rich guys manipulating the town, card games, people accused of cheating at card games, saloons, prostitutes, gun play and a new sheriff in town. Let's face it, in the days of the Old West, most of the rest of the country was not particularly settled, either.

This short story serves as the introduction to a new series about Sorrow, Michigan. Cal Haskell has been brought to town to be the new sheriff. The short story introduces most of the characters, give the listener a feel for the situation and establishes the new sheriff as a no-nonsense tough and smart guy that takes his job seriously - no matter who is involved.

The reader is Joe Barrett. I like Barrett's folksy midwestern voice. He does a good job with the voices of these stock Western characters (old prospector types, tough guys, slick gamblers, naive farm boys, etc.) without drifting into characterture.

This should be a strong series. I look forward to listening to more.

I rate this audiobook 4 stars out of 5.

The kindle version of this book can be found on Amazon.com here: Sheriff of Sorrow.

Reviewed on December 20, 2012.

Note: I received a free download of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Here is the link to my review of audiobook #2 in the series: Trouble Comes to Sorrow.

10 Days That Unexpectedly Changed America (audiobook) by Steven M. Gillon

Published in June of 2006 by Random House Audio
Read by Stephen Hoye.
Unabridged
Duration: 8 hours, 51 minutes.

The book and audiobook for 10 Days That Unexpectedly Changed America are companion works for a History Channel series of the same name. They cover the same ten days but are independently researched and written. These dates are not the super-obvious ones like July 4, 1776 and December 7, 1941. One could quibble with the choices (it is part of the fun of a project like this one) but his choices are good ones.

Here are the ten days and a few comments:

1) May 26, 1637

The date of a Puritan massacre of Indians at Mystic. He argues that King Philip's War is the model of American/Indian relations for the next 250+ years.

2) January 25, 1787

Shay's Rebellion and its influence on the Constitution. Emphasized the need for a more centralized government.

3) January 24, 1848

California Gold Rush. Focused on environmental degradation and not so much on the effect of all that gold on the American economy. It was a rather depressing entry.

4) September 17, 1862

The Battle of Antietam and the Emancipation Proclamation

5) July 6, 1892

The Homestead Strike against Carnegie Steel. The date of the battle against the Pinkerton agents. I was struck that the author noted in a single sentence that Carnegie (who comes off very poorly in this whole affair, no matter who is writing it) gave some money to charities. Carnegie gave away 90% of his immense fortune, well over $4 billion dollars in 2010 dollars, to charities across the globe, including having a hand in building nearly half of the public libraries in America (1,689 in total).

Carnegie was a complex man, he gets a one dimensional treatment in this entry.

Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919)

6) September 6, 1901

The assassination of William McKinley and the subsequent Roosevelt Administration. The rise of activist government.

7) July of 1925

The Scopes Monkey Trial as a harbinger of future culture wars. Interestingly, it was started as a publicity stunt to attract tourists and is almost nothing like the play "Inherit the Wind."

8) August 2, 1939

Albert Einstein's letter to FDR about the possibility of the creation of an atomic bomb. This entry has some poor linkage to the Civil Rights movement and the creation of the Internet (I know it was created to communicate in the event of a nuclear war but this is still a stretch).

9) September 9, 1956

Elvis Presley on the Ed Sullivan Show. Focuses on the rise of teen culture, ending racial divisions and loosening sexual mores. This was an exceptionally long and interesting entry.

10) June 21, 1964

"Freedom Summer"

In a lot of ways, this entry was really and addendum to the points made in date number 9. It is a powerful entry and exceptionally well-read by the narrator, Stephen Hoye, who includes very good Southern accents when reading quotes by Southerners.

This will be an interesting listen for any history buff. Be prepared that the author's comments tend to drift to the political left. Nonetheless, it is well worth your time.

This audiobook can be found on Amazon.com here: 10 Days That Unexpectedly Changed America (History Channel Presents)

I rate this audiobook 4 stars out of 5.

Reviewed on December 18, 2012.

Deadly Appearances (Joanne Kilbourn #1) (audiobook) by Gail Bowen

Published by Post Hypnotic Press in 2012
Originally Published in 1990
Read by Lisa Bunting
Unabridged
Duration: 8 hours, 43 minutes

There are a dozen or so Joanne Kilbourn mysteries. They are set in Regina, Saskatchewan in Canada. Kilbourn is a middle-aged political party worker. She works behind the scenes helping to craft policy positions, write speeches, plan campaigns and the like.

Deadly Appearances literally starts with the murder of Andy Boychuck, a successful politician. Kilbourn has worked with him for years and he is suddenly dead from a poisoned glass of water he drank from as he began a celebratory speech.

As the book proceeds there is another murder and only Joanne has the key to solving the mystery as she struggles to put together her shattered professional life and deal with her own issues as a recent widow (her own husband died a couple of years earlier).

Lisa Bunting does a great job with the narration. She delivers on all of the emotions of Kilbourn – the frailty, the anger, the tenderness towards her own family. As a plus, Bunting’s accents are excellent.

But, quality narration does not overcome plot holes, the highly telegraphed ending and the poor pacing.

This mystery does not really get started until the book gets halfway done. The first half of the book is spent dealing with the emotions generated by the death of Boychuck and an incredibly long description of his funeral. The book is endlessly descriptive (clothes, hair colors, the weather, furniture, yards, food, drinks) but just fails to generate any sort of steam that propels it forward.

*******Spoiler Alert********

Most unforgivable is the treatment of the minister who is involved in a homosexual love triangle with a married man (the other man is married and involved with two different men at the same time). While it is true that some denominations accept openly gay ministers (and his seems unlikely to be one of those since they are referred to as Fundamentalist and consistently treated as simpletons who have fled the real world by the author), they are not forgiving of ministers who are involved with married men. That is clearly the sin of adultery. In a book that is all about exploring the dimensions of a tragic relationship, this book completely ignores this minister’s flock’s reaction to his choices.

*******End Spoiler Alert*******

Having read a little about this author, the consensus is that this first book is the roughest. I can believe it. If the other books maintain her high quality of development of realistic characters but eliminate the problems mentioned above this series could really be something special.

I rate it 3 out of 5 stars.

Reviewed on December 18, 2012.

Note: I received this audiobook from the publisher at no charge in exchange for an honest review. This book can be found on Amazon.com here: Deadly Appearances (Kilbourn series) 

Ugly Christmas Sweater Party Book: The Definitive Guide to Getting Your Ugly On by Brian Miller, Adam Paulson and Kevin Wool

Published in 2011 by Abrams Image

Miller, Paulson and Wool (better known as Team Ugly) maintain the website uglychristmassweaterparty.com which is a re-seller of Christmas sweaters - the gaudier and more covered with Christmas bling, the better. This book tells the reader how to organize an Ugly Christmas Sweater Party, including ideas on how to turn it into a charity event, special adult beverages, games, ideas for gift exchanges and decorations.

But, the bulk of the book is "The Ugly Christmas Hall of Fame." There are nearly 100 pages of pictures of Ugly Christmas Sweaters that are named and delightfully described with a snarky paragraph or two. This is really more of a holiday coffee table book than a serious read. This is something to pick up and read for a couple of minutes and then move on. But, those few minutes will be amusing, the pictures of those atrocious sweaters are high quality and you'll find yourself wondering if you should pick one of these things sweaters up for yourself.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: Ugly Christmas Sweater Party Book.

I rate this book 4 stars out of 5.

Reviewed on December 15, 2012.

Conqueror: A Novel of Kublai Khan by Conn Iggulden

Published in 2011 by Delacorte Press

Conn Iggulden continues his historical fiction series about the Mongols with Conqueror: A Novel of Kublai Khan. This is the fifth book in the series, but you can easily jump in here, like I did, and not be lost so long as you have a rudimentary idea about the Mongols and their lifestyle.

Iggulden comments that he was interested in writing another trilogy focusing on Kublai Khan but decided against it when he realized that while Kublai's life and reign were interesting (Marco Polo, attempted invasions of Japan, etc. ), they were not nearly as dramatic as his early life and would be rather anti-climactic in comparison.

Kublai Khan (1215-1294) 
as a young man

Kublai is a grandson of Genghis Khan and he comes of age in a time of great political turmoil. The Mongols are undoubtedly the most dominant military force in Europe, Asia and the Middle East but they have no clear leader. Various relatives of Genghis Khan have a claim to the throne and the political give-and-take can be quite deadly.

Eventually, Kublai's oldest brother becomes the Great Khan. One of his little brothers is sent to the Middle East and Kublai is sent to northern China to subdue it. The bulk of the book is about this campaign and the ongoing political struggles in the Mongol Empire. For me, it was striking to realize how the Mongols were truly a bridge between Europe, the Middle East and China. It was interesting to note that Kublai was familiar with Islam, Buddhism, Judaism and Christianity as well as his own native Mongol beliefs.

The action is first rate and the political intrigues are simplified and explained well enough that readers will not have a problem. Iggulden has sacrificed strict historical accuracy for the sake of a better story. At times you can tell that Iggulden intended to write a much larger story - characters are fleshed out in detail and then abruptly dropped with little explanation. But, the story is still a good one and worthy of your time.

I rate this book 4 stars out of 5.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: Conqueror: A Novel of Kublai Khan.

Reviewed on December 12, 2012.

The Girl Who Ran Off With Daddy (Stewart Hoag & Lulu #7) (audiobook) by David Handler

Published in 1996 by Sunset Productions
Read by Gene Corbin
Duration: Approximately 3 hours (abridged).

Stewart "Hoagy" Hoag is a retired novelist and semi-retired ghost writer who, like the novelist Jessica  Fletcher in the old TV show Murder She Wrote, has a remarkable ability to be around when someone gets killed.

In The Girl Who Ran Off With Daddy we find Stewart and his on again / off again relationship with his celebrity ex-wife in an on again phase. They have a baby and Hoagy is still adjusting to this reality. His basset hound Lulu is not happy having been removed from her position as the de facto child of the couple to being merely the family dog.

But, this small family's routine is thrown into an uproar when Hoagy's old literary mentor Thor Gibbs arrives on his motorcycle with his 18 year old stepdaughter on the back. Thor Gibbs is a an Ernest Hemingway-type  character that is really into the mythopoetic men's movement-type stuff, except his version of it requires a whole lot more drinking and fighting and a lot less formal ceremony. The 71 year-old Thor Gibbs has become notorious for leaving his ultra-feminist wife and running off with his 18 year old stepdaughter, Clethra. They claim to be in love and they want Hoagy to ghost write Clethra's tell-all version of the story.

Of course, someone ends up dead and Hoagy has to scramble to put together all of the clues before the killer strikes again. Hoagy's wry comments provide a bit of comedic sanity throughout.

Gene Corbin read this abridged version of the novel. The abridgment was skillfully done and Corbin does a very good job of creating voices for each character, especially the over-the-top Thor Gibbs. Each scene transitions with (usually) appropriate music.

I rate this audiobook 4 stars out of 5.

This audiobook can be found on Amazon.com here: The Girl Who Ran Off with Daddy.

Reviewed on November 30, 2012.

The Templar Chronicles: This Cleansing Fire (audiobook) by Joseph Nassise

Published December 2011 by GraphicAudio
Multicast Performance
Length: 52 minutes.
Unabridged.

This short audiobook was originally a short story in a larger collection but author Joseph Nassise has expanded on this story with several other books. GraphicAudio has adapted it to a radio drama format with multiple cast members and plenty of special effects.

The Templar Chronicles: This Cleansing Fire features Captain Cade Williams, a member of the hidden Catholic order the Knights Templar. They are charged with fighting supernatural forces. One would think they might be a bunch of priests, but they are an elite commando unit carrying modern combat weapons and special swords.

In this story, the team is sent out to find and destroy a group of Asian vampires. They are not Asians, per se, but this type of vampire originated in Asia. Another team was already sent in but they are not reporting back and Captain Williams and his team fear the worst.

GraphicAudio's high production qualities make short stories like this one a lot of fun. Lots of slam bam action is supported by high quality special effects and actors that make the action pop.

This audiobook is available on Amazon.com here: The Templar Chronicles: This Cleansing Fire by Joseph Nassise.

I rate this audiobook 4 stars out of 5.

Reviewed on November 24, 2012.

The Efficiency Expert by Edgar Rice Burroughs

Written in 1919 and first published in All-Story Weekly magazine in 1921, The Efficiency Expert is a rare non-science fiction book for Edgar Rice Burroughs, the creator of Tarzan and John Carter of Mars. I read it on my kindle but if it were a paper book it is estimated to have been about 130 pages.

The Efficiency Expert features Jimmy Torrance, a talented young college student who is a great athlete and natural leader and all around great guy to have at a party but  does not take his studies seriously. When he is almost tossed out of college during his senior year for having no apparent hope of completing the curriculum in four years, Torrance buckles down and somehow passes.

Edgar Rice Burroughs (1875-1950)

Having turned over a new leaf, he turns down the opportunity to manage the family factory and decides that he will move to Chicago and make it on his own.

Jimmy's expectation that the world will come knocking at his door because he has a college degree is humorous and a reminder that times have always been tough for those trying to break into business. Jimmy's money quickly dries up and he is forced to accept a series of entry-level jobs that require no education at all. While at the bottom he meets a pick-pocket/safe-cracker and befriends a young prostitute (they have a platonic relationship) who help him climb his way into a factory management position, foil a white collar criminal, and meet the love of his life.

While this is certainly not great literature, it was a very enjoyable read. Burroughs has the ability to take his reader into the darkest jungles, distant planets and into post-World War I Chicago with a clear, vivid style. Memorable, likable characters more than make up for a highly unlikely set of coincidences.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: The Efficiency Expert

I rate this book 4 stars out of 5.

Reviewed on November 23, 2012.

Adam by Ted Dekker

Published in 2008 by Thomas Nelson

Ted Dekker is a stalwart member of the Christian publishing world. He usually offers up a large helping of action, mystery and suspense with a Christian flavor. Dekker's strengths are maintaining a quick pace and the creation and development of interesting characters.

In Adam an FBI psychology expert named Daniel Clark is on the trail of a serial killer nicknamed "Eve" (he writes "Eve" on the walls above each of his victims) who kills twenty-something women every dark of the moon. He leaves no clues behind except that he drives a stolen white van, eats candy bars, drinks cherry Cokes, kidnaps his victims with an ether-like medicine that knocks them out. he kills with a form of meningitis and his rituals have strong religious overtones. He always leaves those clues and no others.

Clark is obsessed by this case and it has wrecked his marriage and threatens his career.

One night his team almost catches "Eve" but instead gets shot at point-blank range. The bullet grazes his skull, knocking him out and throwing him into shock, causing his heart to stop. After 20 long minutes of CPR and application of defibrillator paddles , Daniel Clark is revived, much to the shock of his doctors.

But, Daniel sees things differently now. He feels a connection to "Eve" that he just doesn't understand and he is driven more than ever to explore that connection and stop him from killing again.

There is a large paranormal flair to this book, especially with the last 100 pages or so.  Be prepared for that because it does change the feel of the book but goes a long way to explaining other things that happened in the beginning.

The book is interrupted about every 20 pages or so with an installment from a nine-part retelling of the case taken from a true crime magazine. The installments provide a lot of the background of the story as it moves along, cleverly taking the place of an omniscient narrator.

Relentless pacing combined with strong characters overcome some of the unbelievable aspects of the story making this a solid 4 star out of 5 book.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: Adam

Reviewed on November 22, 2012.

Empire (Book 1 of 2 in the Empire series) by Orson Scott Card

Published in 2006 by Tor.

Danger: Spoilers follow.

I am torn when it comes to this book. It starts out with a clever premise: What if the super-heated political debate of the last few years was actually being created by a third party that was trying to get red-staters and blue-staters to start fighting. Once the bullets start flying a seemingly disinterested third party might be able to step in and assume the powers of government in the form of a dictatorship that promises to stop the insanity.

So, when the President, Vice-President and most of the cabinet are killed by commando terrorists of unknown origin the country gets very unstable very fast as the finger pointing and the political spin machines start to crank up.

Great premise. Strong start.

But, when the mechanized walking tanks and the hoverbikes, led by a George Soros-type character (who has unlimited funds, apparently) start to attack New York City the action is first-rate and gripping but the believability factor drops through the floor. Plus, everything slows down at about the two-thirds point and gets more and more unbelievable as vastly outnumbered commandos take on the plotters on their home turf in a secret base (yes, just like in an episode of the old G.I. Joe cartoon).

Great idea, poor execution.

This book has a sequel. I will not be reading it.

3 stars out of 5.

This book can be found on Amazon at this location: Empire

Reviewed on November 20, 2012.

Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln (abridged) by Doris Kearns Goodwin

Published by Simon and Schuster in 2005
Read by Richard Thomas
Duration: 9 hours, 29 minutes
Abridged

This is technically a re-read of Team of Rivals for me. I read the original 944 page hardcover book (see my review by clicking here) and I have marveled when I have seen the 41+ hour unabridged version at the library. I love audiobooks but that is a commitment that I am not prepared to make.

But, this abridgment is a very reasonable length and gives the listener a solid grasp of the political talents of Lincoln and some of what he faced. While the book does not cover all of his difficulties, it does a solid job of  presenting the relationship between William Seward and Lincoln, George McClellan and Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant and Lincoln and Salmon P. Chase and Lincoln. Those were his most important relationships in the cabinet and they were all very different. Two became great allies (one after a bit of a struggle, one not) and two became political enemies (one was sidelined, one was moved into a different position where he could do less harm). His family life is covered as well.

William Seward (1801-1872),
Abraham Lincoln's
Secretary of State

About one-fifth of the book deals with Lincoln's life before he was president and the way his team worked the 1860 Republican convention to get him the nomination At first I thought this seemed excessive but it also served to introduce his cabinet members since he invited his main rivals for the convention in his cabinet. This book does demonstrate, even in its abridged form, that Abraham Lincoln was a gifted politician with an uncanny ability to read people and convince them to work with him, adopt his plans and somehow come away thinking that they had bested the president.

Richard Thomas (the actor best known as John Boy on the TV show The Waltons ) read this audiobook. His performance was neither good nor bad. This was not entirely his fault. Goodwin's text is informative but is more academically oriented and was not intended for an oral presentation.

I rate this audiobook 5 stars out of 5.

This abridged audiobook can be found here at Amazon.com: Team of Rivals (abridged audiobook)

Reviewed on November 15, 2012.

Thirst: A Novel by Mary Donnarumma Sharnick

Published by Fireship Press in 2012

Set in 1613 Venice, Thirst: A Novel is a story of family secrets, racial purity, religion and raw power. This is the first novel for the author, Mary Donnarumma Sharnick. As a first novel goes, this one has potential, but also has issues, which is not uncommon. 

The scenes throughout the book are very vivid and easy to imagine with fully fleshed out characters (which is usually the hard part for first-time novelists) but there just needs to be more detail to tie the scenes together to make the story flow, more explanation of Venetian society and the way it worked so that the story moves more smoothly and the reader can fully appreciate what everyone is doing, why it matters and the risks that certain characters take when challenging the powers-that-be.

This is a very female oriented work with lots of details about menstruation, fears of first-time sex, rape, child rape and a very detailed childbirth scene with lots of details about blood and excrement flowing out along with the baby and the placenta being fed to a dog. I think every male character was a rapist, got raped or was cheating on his spouse with a prostitute with the exception of a priest who was asexual and acted as a surrogate mom for an orphan was was born because of a rape. As such, I felt that the book was talking past me more often than it was speaking to me.

I rate this book 3 stars out of 5.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: Thirst: A Novel

Reviewed on November 11, 2012

The Impeachment of Abraham Lincoln by Stephen L. Carter

I Expected So Much...

Published by Alfred A. Knopf in July of 2012

I love Stephen L. Carter - the essayist. He writes brilliant essays. He makes me think and I learn a lot. I have now determined that I just don't care much for Stephen L. Carter the novelist and I will stick to the essays.

When I saw the topic of this book I was thrilled. Carter is a law professor so he knows all of the legal angles. I am an enthusiastic student of the Civil War so I was already very familiar with all of the politics, legal issues and personalities that would have been involved with an impeachment of Lincoln.

The premise of the story is that Lincoln was not killed by John Wilkes Booth, although he was gravely injured. Vice President Andrew Johnson was killed and Secretary of State William Seward was injured so badly that he has not been seen publicly since the attempt on his life.

Secretary of War Edwin Stanton (1814-1869)
plays a key role in this alternate history novel.

In real life, Vice President Andrew Johnson was the first president to be impeached because he was unable to successfully navigate the rough political waters of post-Civil War America. Lincoln is caught in these same currents and is impeached on a host of different charges. Lincoln's lawyers include a young black woman who has recently graduated from Oberlin College named Abigail Canner. She is learning how to be a lawyer, like an intern. The book is mostly told from her point of view.

As the case against Lincoln moves from the House to the Senate the situation is clouded by multiple murders,  mysterious messages that come and go and witnesses disappearing. Canner and another young "intern" named Jonathan Hilliman team up to follow leads that no one else seems interested in. All the while the impeachment case moves forward.

The book is filled with great characters, the topic is interesting and his portrayal of Lincoln and other historical personages is dead on when compared to everything else I have read. But, this book is slow. The plot is byzantine in nature - so intricate, so many plotters out to get Lincoln and so many anti-plotters out to protect him that I just lost interest and the book just dragged. I found that I was forcing myself to finish a book that I should have been enjoying.

I rate this book 2 stars out of 5.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: The Impeachment of Abraham Lincoln

Reviewed on November 11, 2012.

Frozen Heat (Nikki Heat #4) (audiobook) by Richard Castle

Performed by Johnny Heller
Duration: 11 hours, 6 minutes
Published 2012 by Hyperion Audio

Last winter I listened to audiobook #3 in this series, Heat Rises, and I was initially struck by the absurdity of a book written by a fictional author in a television show. I thought it would be a joke. We have a book written by a writer who was created by a television show writer. You would think that this would be a recipe for disaster - a mere cheap marketing ploy to generate some publicity for a television show.

However, if you thought that, you would be wrong.

Whoever is in charge of the "Richard Castle" franchise at Hyperion books has taken this quite seriously. Frozen Heat is a great police thriller. The story is about a murder case that homicide detective Nikki Heat's squad is investigating. Evidence points to a connection with the murder of Heat's mother 10 years earlier. As they investigate this connection, Heat and her writer boyfriend Jameson Rook travel to Boston and Paris in a search for answers and find that everything that Nikki Heat knew about her mother may have been wrong.

If you watch the television show Castle  then you will recognize several of the characters from the show have moved on to the books. In my first listen I was mostly unaware of this since I had only seen the show once or twice. Since then, I have watched the show semi-regularly and appreciate the fact that these two fictional worlds overlap so much. Also, it was a bit weird watching the television show and seeing Castle autograph the hardcover copy of this audiobook when I had just got my copy in the mail that day!

Actor Nathan Fillion as fictional author Richard Castle

Frozen Heat was performed magnificently by Johnny Heller. He covers male and female voices and a wide variety of accents flawlessly as well as getting the comic timing of Rook's smart comments down perfectly.

I always know when an audiobook is a great one - I start dragging it out of the car and into the house and to work so I can look for chances to listen. This was one of those experiences.

I rate this audiobook 5 stars out of 5.

Reviewed on November10, 2012

This audiobook can be found on Amazon.com here: Frozen Heat


FTC Full Disclosure - this work was sent to me by the publisher so that I could review it. The review, however, is my honest opinion and was not influenced by being sent a free copy.