STAR TREK: THE LOST YEARS (Lost Years #1) by J. M. Dillard

Published in 1989 by Pocket Books (Simon and Schuster)

The idea behind Star Trek: The Lost Years is interesting: What happened to the characters from the original Star Trek series between the end of their original five year mission and the events of the movie Star Trek: The Motion Picture?

But, the follow-through is quite weak.

The characters feel like cardboard cut-outs of themselves, especially McCoy. Kirk's decision to become an admiral makes sense. but McCoy's outlandish, petulant, even childish response to Kirk's decision was simply not believable to me. Even worse, the new characters are, at best, one-note wonders.

McCoy and Natira, 

McCoy quits Star Fleet to find Natira, a former love interest from the TV episode "For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky." She is the leader of a group of refugees who live inside a giant spaceship that they thought was a planet. They had a romantic spark but when McCoy returns to visit her he finds that she has made a political marriage because her people need her more than McCoy did. McCoy responds by consuming lots and lots of alcohol.

The book would have been so much better if it had just went with the Spock/Vulcan story line. It was by far the most interesting and had real possibilities. But, it was skimped on to make room for the other parts - and all of those parts come together in a rather unconvincing manner - in a series of galactic-sized coincidences.

There is simply too much going on in this book - too many new characters, too many plot lines and too many romances. The overall quality of the book suffers as a consequence.

I rate this book 2 stars out of 5.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: Star Trek: The Lost Years.

Reviewed on September 21, 2013.

KENOBI by John Jackson Miller

What does Ben Kenobi do for all of those years while he's waiting for Luke to grow up?

Published by LucasBooks in August of 2013.

Between the two Star Wars trilogies there is an empty space. What happens in the 20 years or so between the birth of Luke and Leia and the events of Episode IV: A New Hope. Fans know, of course, that Leia was sent off to Alderaan and raised as part of the royal family - hidden in plain sight. Luke, on the other hand was taken to Tatooine and secretly raised by his grandmother's relatives in a place as far away from the Emperor as possible. As Luke famously describes his home planet in Episode IV, "Well, if there's a bright center to the universe, you're on the planet that it's farthest from."

So, what does Ben Kenobi do for all of those years? This book gives the reader an idea about the first few months and leaves the possibility for more books.

Kenobi is much more like a Western than the typical science fiction book. A typical Western has a mysterious stranger arrive in a troubled town. Typically, a widow is struggling with a farm or business and a local banker/rancher/rich guy is pressuring her in some way. Sometimes, there are interactions with Native Americans.

In Kenobi, Ben Kenobi is the stranger, the widow is running a store and her deceased husband's best friend, the area's biggest moisture farmer, is pressuring her, both personally and professionally (although mostly professionally). The Tusken Raiders (Sand People) take the role of the Native Americans in this space western.

Ben tries his best to stay out of the lives of the people of this frontier because he is supposed to be secretly watching over Luke. He  chooses to live as a hermit in the midst of some of the most dangerously wild areas. But, Ben's do-gooder ways keep him involved. Plus, the widow lady is quite fetching to this old cowpoke ... er, Jedi.

The most interesting aspect of the book for me was the up close look at Tusken Raider society. Miller creates a plausible reason for farmer/Tusken hostilities. The story itself was solid, but not a particularly great Star Wars story (or Western, for that matter).  The supporting characters were pretty much one-dimensional, although sometimes quite amusing. The ending was all tied up in a much-too-neat package. That being said, I was glad to have read it just for the additional insight to Tatooine and the Sand People and would like to read further adventures of Ben Kenobi on Tatooine.

Note: I received an e-book copy of this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I rate this book 3 stars out of 5. 

This book can be found on Amazon.com here:  Kenobi (Star Wars - Legends)
                                                       
Reviewed on September 13, 2013.

SUNSET EXPRESS (Elvis Cole #6) (Audiobook) by Robert Crais

Book originally published in 1996.
Audiobook published in 2004.
Read by William Roberts.

Unabridged.

Lots of the reviews here give this one 3 or 4 stars. Perhaps it was the format, perhaps it was the end of the school year rush for me and the welcome respite this book provided. Perhaps I just liked it better. Nevertheless, it was a good story, despite the fact that problems with Elvis and Joe's case are telegraphed from miles away.

In Sunset Express a celebrity restaurateur's wife is killed and her body is dumped in a ravine near their very swanky neighborhood. The police detectives stop by the home of this restaurateur to inform him of his wife's demise and they find a bloody hammer in the bushes by the front door of their mansion. But, there is a problem: the detective (Angela Rossi) that found the weapon has been accused of planting evidence in the past and the defense lawyers seize on that fact. Elvis Cole is hired to look into the accusations against Rossi and see if they have any merit. But, as he investigates he finds more and more leads and soon enough he and his partner Joe Pike are up to their necks in trouble with Cole making smart-aleck comments all the way.

My 2004 audio version was read by William Roberts, a solid narrator who has done multiple tours as a reader for Robert B. Parker's Spenser novels and a narrator who understands how to deliver a wisecrack well. So, the listener is naturally drawn to make comparisons between Elvis Cole/Joe Pike/Lucy and Spenser/Hawk/Susan. Readers familiar with them both can see the analogies already. "Sunset Express" is probably the most Spenser-like of the Cole novels I've read or listened to so far, and that is fine by me - I like the action, I like the wisecracks and I like the process of how they do their investigation. Lots of relationship discussion (for Cole anyway, a little less than average for Spenser).

Crais goes out of his way in Sunset Express to give a little local L.A. flavor, including a street person who has a discussion with Cole about timing and how events unfold (since Cole has rousted him out of his perch under the local public pay phone). The homeless guy ends his conversation with the comment: "To possess great wisdom obliges one to share it. Enjoy."

I give this one 5 stars out of 5 and it can be found on Amazon.com here: Sunset Express.

Reviewed on May 18, 2007.

COLD WIND (Joe Pickett #11) by C. J. Box

Bad news: Your father-in-law has been murdered. Worse news: Your mother-in-law is suspect #1

Published in 2011 by G.P. Putnam's Sons

A person who left a comment on one of my Amazon reviews told me about C.J. Box and gave me the title to his first book featuring Joe Pickett. I found it at the library and I was hooked. If you like Michael Connelly or Robert Crais you will love C.J. Box. If you like Tony Hillerman, you will enjoy Box's descriptions of the local landscape and the people of Wyoming.

Cold Wind features Joe Pickett, a Wyoming game warden. Joe loves the great outdoors, loves being a game warden, loves his wife, loves his family, hates bureaucracy and hates his mother-in-law. His mother-in-law is a real piece of work and is almost universally despised. She has clawed and married her way to a fortune and has no problem using people and tricks of divorce law to take more money. 

Joe Pickett's current father-in-law. Earl Alden, is one of Wyoming's biggest ranchers. He is not really a rancher, but he owns one of the biggest ranches in the state and he is installing a gigantic giant windmill wind farm on it in order to receive federal grants that came with the famed 2009 "stimulus package". Earl is found dead on his own property, hanging from one of the giant windmills and Joe's  mother-in-law is immediately arrested. Joe suspects that she is being framed but he has no idea who is doing it or why.

A Wyoming windmill

One of the things that I like about this series is that C.J. Box is more than willing to demonstrate how misguided federal policies mess with the real world. In this case, the windmills ruin a neighbor's domestic life with their constant whining (at least that it while they are turning), cost much more than the energy they produce, have to be backed up by conventional power plants (for times when they are not turning) and may not have even produced new jobs at all since these particular windmills were used, rehabilitated windmills relocated from Texas.

Nate Romanowski makes an appearance in this book, but it is not integral to the main story. Unfortunately, I am reading the books all out of order so the character of Nate is more of a distraction for me than a real character of interest. His character could have been edited completely out of the story and made it about 70 pages shorter and a much tighter novel overall.

I rate this book 4 stars out of 5.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: Cold Wind by C.J. Box.

Reviewed on September 7, 2013.

CAR TALK CLASSICS: FOUR PERFECTLY GOOD HOURS (audiobook) by Tom and Ray Magliozzi

Published by HighBridge Audio in 2007
Duration: Approximately 4 hours

The hosts of NPR's Car Talk, Tom and Ray Magliozzi, offer highlights from their radio show with the theme of motherhood. If you are not familiar with the show, well it is unique. Two brothers who aren't really mechanics (but do have a lot of experience fixing cars) take calls about cars and car repair. They laugh and mercilessly kid one another and sometimes actually get around to offering advice on how to fix a car.

This a a 4 CD set featuring four entire hour-long episodes, which is different than many of their collections that are composed of a series of edited segments. While this is mostly highly entertaining, especially the segment with Martha Stewart (to me, Stewart can seem stuffy and stiff on her show. She rolls with these two jokesters and their enjoyable, sophomoric antics and holds her own and exhibits a quick wit) there are segments that I could only characterize as wearisome, such as the childhood letters home from summer camp from a staff member of the show, John "Bugsy" Lawlor. Thankfully, it is fairly short and the brothers get back to taking phone calls.

The calls in this one are interesting, including an Aussie who wants the recommendation of a good car to drive in Colorado, a woman who went behind the back of her regular mechanic and took her car someone else and my favorite, the man who has a faulty dashboard indicator that keeps telling him that his engine is out of oil. The only way he can get it to stop is to pound on his dashboard, a technique that causes the brothers to nearly fall out of their chairs as they envision him driving and angrily pounding away.

The third CD in this set is a Mother's Day tribute featuring their mother. Most if not all of this material is on another CD that I recently listened to and reviewed, CAR TALK: MATERNAL COMBUSTION. 

I rate this audiobook 4 stars out of 5.It can be found on Amazon.com here: Car Talk Classics: Four Perfectly Good Hours.

Reviewed on September 1, 2013.

SUSPECT by Robert Crais

SUSPECT May Be the Best Book That Crais Has Written

Published by G.P. Putnam's Sons in 2013

Robert Crais is best known for his long-running Elvis Cole series, but he has consistently produced high-quality "stand-alone" novels as well (however, I just learned that the characters from this book will be part of the next Elvis Cole book). Suspect continues that tradition in a big way.

Scott James is a fairly young member of LAPD who is on the mend from a frightful shooting that resulted in injuries so severe that he was offered a chance to retire. While his physical injuries are real, they are not as profound as his psychological trauma. He was an up-and-coming officer, now he second guesses himself and, more importantly, cannot shake the feeling that he failed his partner who was killed in the incident. He is working the case on his own even as he trains to be a K-9 officer while he is recovering.

Robert Crais

Maggie is a retired German Shepherd who was trained to be a Marine and find Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs). She was shot by a sniper while she was protecting her handler. Maggie is lost without her handler - he was her world. They formed a "pack" with just two members and she literally would die for him. But, when the sniper attacked she did not protect her "pack" well enough and her handler died.

Somehow, Maggie ended up in the LAPD K-9 training unit and she and Scott James get paired together - two gun-shy deeply injured souls who begin to open up their damaged little worlds to each other...

Crais' grasp of dog psychology makes this book work. You know how the book will end as soon as these two match up (Of course these two team up and work to redeem themselves to get the bad guys) but it is still a great story - the telling of the story is just as important as how it ends and Crais does a masterful job..

I rate this novel an enthusiastic 5 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: SUSPECT by Robert Crais.

Reviewed on September 1, 2013.

HEART of the HUNTER (audiobook) by Deon Meyer

Originally published in 2002.

English Audiobook version published in 2013 by HighBridge Audio

Read by Simon Vance

Duration: Approximately 11.5 hours

Deon Meyer's novel Heart of the Hunter features a very large black South African man named Thobela "Tiny" Mpayipheli who used to be part of the armed resistance movement to the South Africa's Apartheid government which collapsed in 1994. He was trained by the East German secret police and was part of multiple assassinations. He had a talent for violence. When the Apartheid regime ended he suddenly found himself on the outside, an anachronism. His skills were no longer needed and it would be better for the leadership if he just went away. So, he took his skill set to a drug lord but he soon realized there was no large sense of purpose, no lofty ideals in organized crime.

At that point Mpayipheli decided to bank his money, go straight and retire completely in South Africa. He met a woman with a young son, moved in and devoted himself to this new family they created. He took a job at a motorcycle repair place and everything seemed to be just about as perfect as anyone could make it.

That is until he gets word that a trusted old friend from the old days will die unless a hard drive is delivered to Lusaka, Zambia. He decides he has to go even though his wife begs him not to. When government officials stop him from boarding a plane to Zambia his old training kicks in and he escapes and goes on the run while trying to work his way to Zambia. He borrows a high-powered BMW motorcycle and finds that he is being pursued by government officials, the police and even a special forces unit. Meanwhile, South African officials want to know what is on the hard drive and everyone is scrambling to catch him and cover everything up before the truth gets out because someone has leaked the story to the media and now everyone is wondering who the mysterious big man on the BMW is and why he is running.

Deon Meyer. Photo by Krimidoedel

Deon Meyer is a South African writer who writes in the South African language Afrikaans. I only mention it because sometimes translated works are clunky, but this book is not. But, if you are not familiar with South Africa's Apartheid history and how South Africa's role in the larger Cold War between the U.S.S.R and NATO then I would imagine this book would be quite confusing.

The audiobook was read by the incomparable Simon Vance who covered a multitude of accents, male and female characters, children and old people (the old man who writes folk songs was particularly memorable) with ease. If Simon Vance were to read my grocery list it would sound important. When he reads (performs is a more accurate term) a book it is an experience.

While this was a good book, it was not a great one. The ending was too drawn out. Too many of the different threads of the story that were meticulously laid out in the first couple of hours never did really come together (the biker clubs that are sympathetic to the mysterious rider on the BMW are a great example. They are mentioned many times because they want to express some sort of biker solidarity but when they finally appear it is only for a few seconds and they just fade away).

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

HEART of the HUNTER (audiobook) by Deon Meyer.

Reviewed on August 28, 2013

Note: I received a copy of this audiobook from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

SLEDGE (short story) by Ernie Lindsey

Published by Amazon Digital Services in 2013 as an e-book.
Estimated length is 35 printed pages.

Mary Walker is a private detective these days. Five years ago she was a police officer who confronted the serial killer known as "Sledge." He earned that name by killing three police officers with a sledge hammer. Mary was the only one to survive a confrontation with Sledge. He smashed her thigh bone with the hammer and then let the head of the hammer rest on her throat. She choked until she passed out and then, inexplicably, he left her there.

Walker quit the force and when the story starts she is a struggling private detective staking out the loading dock of a furniture factory when she discovers that Sledge is back and he has unfinished business with her...

I rate this short story 4 out of 5 stars. Walker is an interesting character, the action is solid, a mood of foreboding and dread is created and there is a bit of a twist at the end.

This short story can be found on Amazon.com here: Sledge by Ernie Lindsey.

Reviewed on August 24, 2013.

BACK of BEYOND (Cody Hoyt #1) by C.J. Box

Published in 2011 by Minotaur Books

A person who left a comment on one of my Amazon reviews told me about C.J. Box and gave me the title to his first book featuring Joe Pickett. I found it at the library and I was hooked. If you like Michael Connelly or Robert Crais you will love C.J. Box. If you like Tony Hillerman, you will enjoy Box's descriptions of the local landscape and the people of Wyoming and Montana.

Back of Beyond is the beginning of a new series, not a part of the outstanding Joe Pickett series. It features Cody Hoyt, a broken-down alcoholic of a cop who drank himself out of a job as a big city cop in Colorado and is now in Montana, in danger of losing his last chance job as a cop.  The story starts out with as strong of an opening as I have ever read: "The night before Cody Hoyt shot the county coroner, he was driving without purpose in this county Ford Expedition as he often did these days. He was agitated and restless, chain-smoking cigarettes until his throat was raw and sore."

So, that's pretty much Cody Hoyt the whole book through. He is talented, headstrong and pathetic. The only good thing he sees about life is his high school-aged son who lives with his ex-wife back in Colorado. But, there's a good cop underneath all of the junk that comes with his troubles. When his Alcoholics Anonymous sponsor is found dead in a remote cabin he knows it was not the drunken suicide of a man that has fallen off the wagon. He goes against his bosses and investigates on his own and gets himself suspended (after he shoots the coroner during his investigation).

Hoyt continues to search and the sparse clues he finds point to a larger conspiracy involving a wilderness outfitter that leads tours into the rugged back country of Yellowstone National Park. The problem is that his son is on that same trip (yes, it's a giant coincidence, but I went with it). Hoyt has to catch them (he lives in Montana but he is hardly a woodsman), figure out who the murderer is and stop him or her before anyone else gets killed, especially his son.

Hoyt never becomes a likable character, but there is a bit of redemption in his actions as the book progresses. The supporting characters, like the retired wilderness guide Bull Mitchell and his partner Larry make the book work.

I rate this book 5 stars out of 5.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: Back of Beyond by C.J. Box.

Reviewed on August 17, 2013.

CAR TALK: MATERNAL COMBUSTION: CALLS ABOUT MOMS and CARS (audiobook) by Tom and Ray Magliozzi

Published by HighBridge Audio in 2005
Duration: 1 hour, 11 minutes

The hosts of NPR's Car Talk, Tom and Ray Magliozzi, offer highlights from their radio show with the theme
of motherhood. If you are not familiar with the show, well it is unique. Two brothers who aren't really mechanics (but do have a lot of experience fixing cars) take calls about cars and car repair. They laugh and mercilessly kid one another and sometimes actually get around to offering advice on how to fix a car.

Some of the highlights feature their own mother as an in-studio guest, the rest are from callers. Topics include a mom who does not want to break down and buy a mini-van, a mom who wants her sixteen-year-old to buy a sports car and my favorite - the older mom who plans to drive her 1977 Datsun 510 station wagon from Houston to Massachusetts that prompts a hilarious side bet between the brothers.

I rate this audiobook 4 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: Car Talk: Maternal Combustion: Calls About Moms and Cars.
Reviewed on August 15, 2013.

DON'T GO (audiobook) by Lisa Scottoline

Published by MacMillan Audio in 2013

Read by Jeremy Davidson
Duration: 11 hours, 25 minutes

Unabridged

Lisa Scottoline breaks new ground in Don't Go. For years, she has written courtroom dramas and legal thrillers. This time, Scottoline tries to tie together two distinct stories featuring Dr. Mike Scanlon, a podiatrist from Philadelphia.

One is the story of an Army doctor doctor serving in Afghanistan and the other is a murder mystery.

 Scanlon is a member of the National Guard and when the story starts he has been called up and is serving in Afghanistan. Podiatric surgeons are in high demand because of the common use of IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices) that explode under military vehicles and damage the feet of the passengers.

Mike has left a wife and an infant child back in Philadelphia. His wife dies from a household accident and his wife's sister and her husband care for the child as he rushes back home to make funeral arrangements. They agree to care for her for the duration of his tour in Afghanistan and when he decides to serve another year because they are in such desperate need of doctors with his special skills.

Lisa Scottoline

The problem with Don't Go is that these two stories do not mesh particularly well. The smaller, but much stronger story is the one in Afghanistan. Scottoline has done some research here and she tells it in a compelling and moving way. The characters have real zing.

On the other hand, the Philadelphia characters are very two dimensional and Scanlon's sister-in-law has an obsessive need to keep the baby on its nap schedule (and the never-ending conversations about the nap schedule) that borders on mental illness. When a father returns home from more than a year in Afghanistan with a horrible injury and wants to see the baby you immediately let him see the baby and throw the @$&%! nap schedule out the window for the day!

Scottoline throws in a murder mystery that just does not fit, but it does little to liven up the home front part of the story. However, the investigation by Scanlon is so haphazard and so full of gut feelings that it felt contrived - like a separate story was grafted to the main story just to add length and a little punch. Major family confrontations flare up and are solved so quickly that it seemed clear that Scottoline was trying to pad the story or really had no sense of how she wanted to end it. For what it's worth, I would have been very happy to have had the entire book just about the adventures of  Dr. Scanlon in Afghanistan.

Jeremy Davidson read the book and he did a solid, if not exciting job. He did a good job with the French accents of Scanlon's wife and his sister-in-law. Oddly, it is never really explained how Scanlon meets and marries this French lady (or, if it is mentioned, it was glossed over quickly and I missed it). One of the characters is mentioned as having a North Philly accent. I am admittedly no expert on Philadelphia, but to me it sounded like a combination of California surfer dude and Australian.

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

I rate this audiobook 3 out of 5 stars. This book can be found on Amazon.com here: DON'T GO by Lisa Scottoline.

Reviewed on August 14, 2103.

THE DOG WHO KNEW TOO MUCH (Chet and Bernie #4) by Spencer Quinn

Published in 2011 by Atria Books

Chet and Bernie are private detectives. Well, Bernie is a private detective. Chet is his dog - a police dog (almost!) that failed to make it all of the way through his training. The story is told completely told from the perspective of Chet, the dog who pretty much understands human society, at least enough to tell the story. What he does know for sure is that he and Bernie are inseparable partners and they always have each others' back.

In The Dog Who Knew Too Much Bernie is hard up for money again (Bernie can generate income but he likes to speculate in questionable investments) and he accepts what should be a simple job - pretend to be a woman's boyfriend while she goes to pick up her son at a summer camp in the mountains so that her ex-husband will finally understand that their romantic relationship is over. He quickly determines that this ex-husband has a violent past and is involved in shady business involving lots of money and makes a mental note that this case may be more than his client has described.

Spencer Quinn

It turns out that there is more to this case, but it is not what he expected. When they arrive his client's son has gone missing - he disappeared during the night on an overnight hike with his bunk mates and his counselor. Bernie and Chet begin the search for the boy but he immediately finds an abandoned gold mine, rumors of meth labs and plenty of corrupt local officials. That's when things start to get interesting...

For those of us who live with a dog, this series rings true. Spencer Quinn should be commended for capturing a dog's take on human society, his go-go-go enthusiasm (including the many times Chet hears a dog barking and suddenly realizes that he is the one doing the barking) and his good and loyal nature. I liked the story, not so much for the mystery but, instead, for the characters. Chet and Bernie are like old friends to me and it was good to catch up a little bit.

I rate this book 4 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: The Dog Who Knew Too Much.

Reviewed on July 25, 2013

TEST of FIRE (audiobook) by Ben Bova

Read by Dean Sluyter

Duration: 10 hours, 46 minutes

Published by Blackstone Audio in 2013

Unabridged

Sci-fi legend Ben Bova’s 1982 book Test of Fire is a look at a near-future Earth struck by a giant solar flare that literally destroys all life in Europe, Asia and Africa because that half of the planet that was facing the sun at the time. North America is partially devastated by a limited strike of nuclear missiles from Soviet Union. Central America and South America do not figure in the story.

The near future Earth has a lunar base (for mining) and a fleet of space shuttles that regularly take off and land on earth from very long runways. The lunar base survived the solar flare unscathed but faces the difficult challenge of how to provide for all of its needs with little or no support from Earth.

The lunar base is led by a council and that council is led by Daniel Morgan and his scheming wife. Morgan leads an expedition to Cape Canaveral for supplies and to look for survivors. He returns with both but is struck by the pitiful condition of the people he left behind. Civilization has all but ended for them and he wants to make sure that thousands of years of art, philosophy and science are not lost. He wants to work with the people on Earth but is overruled by the council due to the behind the scenes machinations of his wife. They want to write off the Earth and focus on keeping the lunar base alive.

While Morgan’s wife schemes and sleeps with powerful members of the council to get her way and betray her husband, Morgan decides to return to Earth on a mission to retrieve fissionable fuel to power the base’s nuclear plants (the moon lacks those elements). Morgan retrieves the fuel and refuses to return to the moon, even though his wife is pregnant. He is considered a traitor and for twenty years his son, Alec, is taught that his father betrayed the base.

Photo by Gregory H. Revera

Alec is trained to lead a mission to Earth to retrieve the fuel and to get even with his father who is believed to have set up a kingdom among the “barbarians,” as the survivors are called.  Alec brings superior technology, including laser cannons, but far inferior numbers, including a member of the council who may want to kill him and marry his mother. Even though the earth soldiers are at a disadvantage when it comes to weapons, they have the advantage when it comes earth’s gravity, heat, humidity and viruses.

While this book is based on a tremendous premise and is filled with characters that feel as though they belong in a Greek or even a Shakespearean tragedy, it never lives up to its promise, which is odd considering that the book is basically a revision of a book he wrote in the early 1970s called When the Sky Burned, making this the second draft of the same story. Despite the revision, too many characters, such as Alec’s mother (who dominates the first half of the book), just disappear from the story as it goes along. Also, very few of the characters are even likable. Daniel Morgan is presumed honorable, but he is inscrutable. His wife is plain evil. At first Alec is a sympathetic character, but early on in the book he rapes a female doctor while on a dinner date in her apartment. Personally, I found it hard to root for rapists. In the end, I just listened to see how Bova was going to end the book all the while wondering what David Weber would have done with it.

Dean Sluyter’s reading of Test of Fire certainly did not help my enjoyment of the book. It is not that Sluyter has a poor reading voice – to the contrary, he has excellent diction and a nice deep tone. But, he reads slowly and tends to get a little William Shatner-esque in long passages with odd pauses and breaks. There was not much differentiation between the male and female characters and most of the male characters sounded very similar. It may be that his reading style is better suited for non-fiction rather than fiction where listeners (at least this one listener) place a premium on a more dramatic reading performance.

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

I rate this audiobook 2 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: TEST of FIRE by Ben Bova.

Reviewed on July 24, 2013.

HISTORY of ROCK and ROLL 101: The TextVook by Dr. Vook, Ph.D and the Charles River Editors

Really Skimpy

Published in 2011 by Vook

This tiny e-book comes in at 28 regular book pages according to Amazon. Let's face it, that is too small to really cover the history of rock and roll. The facts that are here are good and the book is written in a fairly interesting manner. I read the whole thing on my smart phone using my kindle app while waiting in line for a rental car. It's good for that sort of reading, but if you need anything comprehensive about the history of rock and roll this book is not what you need. In my opinion, it serves as little more than a general introduction with some broad concepts outlined and a few sentences about examples of each of these concepts.

I would recommend skipping this book and just cruising Wikipedia and taking advantage of their hyperlinks and perusing topics that interest you about rock and roll.

I rate this book 2 stars out of 5.

This e-book can be found on Amazon.com here: History of Rock and Roll.

Reviewed on July 22, 2013.

The Force is Middling in this One: And Other Ruminations from the Outskirts of the Empire by Robert Kroese

Published by CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform in 2010.

Entirely composed of a "best of" compilation of blog posts from the author's blog and tied together with quotes and thoughts from the Star Wars movies, The Force is Middling In This One is a fun bit of reading designed to be read exactly as it was written: in small doses. This book is perfectly constructed for reading while standing in line (which I did with my smart phone and my kindle app) or any other time when you just have about 5 minutes to read.

The topics are all over the place, covering topics such as Star Wars, motorcycle riding on the freeway, the author's brain and its lack of focus, the construction of an addition to his house, his life in the least livable city in the United States (Modesto, CA - and yes, it was named that by a survey), Home Improvement Store employees, why gophers are literally evil and a whole lot more. Nearly every posting is interrupted by a totally different very short thought called "From the Sock Drawer." 

Very few postings are political - he explains early on that he used to have a political blog but he literally alienated almost of his readers to the point that he stopped posting them. An exception to that is a posting called "Burn, Baby Burn!" about the folly of some environmentalists that was so on the point and explains why some programs will never work in a logical economics-based manner that I was ashamed that I hadn't thought of explaining things in this way before - i am a licensed econ teacher, after all.

I rate this collection 4 stars out of 5. 

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: 
The Force is Middling in this One: And Other Ruminations from the Outskirts of the Empire


Reviewed on July 22, 2013. 

A Portrait of Jesus by Joseph F. Girzone

First published in 1999.

Retired Catholic priest Joseph F. Girzone is most famous for his 1983 book Joshua (which also became a movie) which features Jesus coming to a modern-day American small town and the influence he has just be being himself - no great announcements, just Jesus being Jesus.

A Portrait of Jesus builds on that same idea but it looks at what the New Testament records about the life of Jesus and how he related to everyone around him. Girzone writes movingly about how Jesus preached compassion above all and he demonstrates it again and again in this book. His description of Jesus and his emphasis on relationships over law and the descriptions of how that worked then and how it can work now were profound when I first read them 10 years ago. I re-read the book after doing a deep cleaning of the book shelves. I was considering selling it to a used book store but I decided that the book was so powerful that I would keep it on the shelf and re-read it again in 10 years or so.

I rate this book 5 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: A Portrait of Jesus by Joseph F. Girzone.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Robert Crais

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

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

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

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

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

I rate this book 5 stars out of 5.

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

Reviewed on July 17, 2013

Odd Jobs by Ben Lieberman

Starts Out Strong But Changes As The Book Goes Along

Published by Thomas and Mercer in 2013.

Odd Jobs is the story of Kevin Davenport, a financially struggling college student who is working any job he can to pay for college. This summer he is working at Kosher World Meat Factory - it's a nasty job but it pays very well and it will only last a few weeks, right?

Kevin has to struggle because his family life was shattered years ago when his little sister and his father, a prosecutor, were ran over in a hit and run accident that was never solved. His mom never really recovered from the shock and Kevin is hustling to pay for college. But, he gets a bigger shock when he finds out that one of his connections at Kosher World helped kill his father. The more he digs the more he decides he will get his revenge no matter what.

*******Warning: SPOILER ALERT!********

At this point the book completely changes its tone. Rather than being a book about a scrappy lovable loser with some athletic talent and a funny personality, it becomes a dark revenge book in which the lovable loser sells his soul. He needs cash to get revenge so he sells drugs, he operates a sports betting operation (he becomes a bookie), hires guys to offer fake advice to milk gambling addicts with a sports betting service to get even more money. At this point, I wondered what his prosecutor father would have thought about his son breaking the laws and becoming like the organized crime figures that his father was killed for investigating. Way too much detail about dealing drugs and even more detail with lots of slang about the sports betting. I love sports but don't care anything about the betting scene.

So, if you believe a college student, his two stoner friends and his spunky girlfriend can engineer the fall of a mafia kingpin in just a few months, this is your book.

**************End of Spoilers*****************

Note: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review through the Amazon Vine program.

I rate this book 1 star out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: Odd Jobs. 

Reviewed on July 17, 2013.

Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!: The Best of "Not My Job" (audiobook) by NPR

Published by HighBridge Audio in 2009.
Performed by the guests and cast of Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!
Duration: Approximately 2 hours and 15 minutes.

If you have not discovered NPR's weekly radio show Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me! , then I pity you. This clever show is truly one of the funniest shows on radio or television or just about anywhere. This collection has 12 of the best visits from celebrity visits from 2001-2006.

Most of these are funny or at least interesting. Then Senator Barack Obama starts off the collection with possibly the funniest visit of the bunch (and I am not a fan of Mr. Obama, but funny is funny). Tom Hanks (Saving Private Ryan) and Tom and Ray Magliozzi (NPR's Car Talk) are also funny throughout their segments. 

This audiobook focuses on a part of the show - the "Not my job" segment. In this segment a celebrity is asked 3 questions about a topic about which they may not have any particular expertise  and if they get 2 of the 3 correct they win a prize for a listener. For example, Ken Jennings, most famous for winning the record number of games in a row on TV's Jeopardy but also known as a squeaky clean quiet guy, was asked about one night stands (since he was there for so many nights in a row on Jeopardy). Famous Hollywood nice guy Tom Hanks was asked questions about deceased Hollywood bad boys.

Solid listening entertainment even if the quality of the guests is a bit uneven.

This audiobook can be found of Amazon.com here: Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me The Best of "Not My Job".

I rate this audiobook 4 out of 5 stars.
Reviewed on July 17, 2013.