Sleight of Hand: A Novel of Suspense (Dana Cutler #4) (audiobook) by Phillip Margolin

Fantastic Narration by Jonathan Davis

Published by Harper Audio in April of 2013.
Performed by Jonathan Davis.
Duration: 8 hours, 10 minutes.

Unabridged.

I have been a fan of Phillip Margolin for years but I have been disappointed with some of his newer books. Sleight of Hand started out fairly weak but the second half was much stronger.

There are two plots at work in this novel. Dana Cutler, appearing in her fourth novel is hired for a bizarre cross country case involving a 500-year-old scepter from the Ottoman Empire. The other story involves fashionable couple Horace and Carrie Blair. Horace Blair is a multi-millionaire international businessman and Carrie is much younger and is a career-focused prosecutor. When Carrie disappears, Horace is charged with her murder and eventually these two stories come together with a true sociopath and that's when the book starts to move.

The best part of this audiobook was the performance of the reader, Jonathan Davis. He told the story (the narration part) with a variety voices, sometimes ironic, sometimes earnest, sometimes neutral. His character voices were excellent. He covered a wide variety of characters - Hispanic, African American, Russian, old, young, male and female - with a great deal of skill. It was like having a whole crew of actors reading the book.

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

This book can be purchased on Amazon here: Sleight of Hand (Dana Cutler).

I rate this audiobook 4 stars out of 5.

Reviewed on June 10, 2013.

Umbrella Mike: The True Story of the Chicago Gangster Behind the Indy 500 by Brock Yates

Incorrectly Named and a Rather Disjointed Effort

Published by Thunder's Mouth Press in 2006

Full disclosure: I am a huge fan of the Indy 500. I have been to every 500 since 1986 and I live within earshot of the track. I have whiled away many a day at the track watching qualifications, practice or just going through the gift shop during the winter when the track is silent.

I was dimly aware that a Chicago gangster had fielded an entry in the Indy 500 in the 1930's so I hoped that this book would tell that story. And it does, but the title of the book makes it sound like Umbrella Mike (Mike Boyle, the crooked boss of Chicago's International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers) somehow saved the race or even financed the construction of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

He did not.

What he did was use his race teams to launder some of his illegally obtained cash and financed several race teams at the Indy 500, eventually winning it three times, including the back-to-back wins in 1939 and 1940 by racing legend Wilbur Shaw.

The title also gives the impression that the book is primarily about Umbrella Mike while I would argue that the book is really about the Indy 500 and auto racing in general in the 1930's, especially the late 1930's. That was fine with me, I mostly enjoyed the digressions away from Umbrella Mike. I especially was amazed with the story of the American-born woman living in France who so desperately wanted to field an Indy 500 team that she smuggled a Maserati race car out of Fascist Italy, across embattled France and into Fascist Spain to be smuggled out to America. Then, she got a driver released from his duties in the French Army and got him out to America as well.

Wilbur Shaw in 1939 in one of the Boyle Maseratis.
He won the 1939 Indy 500 in this car.
Photo courtesy of the Indiana Historical Society

Mostly, though, this book was a chore to read because of its herky-jerky nature such as switched topics with no segues, super-clumsy attempts to tie in what was happening in World War II and American politics.

Even worse, was Yates' insistence on repeating himself. Often he would say something and than say it again. He would write about it and then write about it again . Then, he would write about it again. At times, he would mention something and then at other times he would mention it all over again like it was the first time.

If the preceding paragraph was annoying, imagine a whole book full of it and you can see why I am rating this book 3 stars out of 5.

This book can be found on Amazon here: 
Umbrella Mike: The True Story of the Chicago Gangster Behind the Indy 500
 
Reviewed on June 7, 2013

Called By A Panther (Albert Samson #7) by Michael Z. Lewin

Published by Mysterious Press in 1991

Michael Z. Lewin's interestingly named Called By A Panther gets its name from a piece of Ogden Nash verse: "If called by a panther / don't anther."

Private detective Albert Samson is contacted by a group of eco-terrorists called the Scum Front. The Scum Front specializes in placing fully functional bombs in prominent buildings around Indianapolis.

The bombs are functional except for a little piece is left unconnected along with a note that indicates that they are completely aware how to make the bomb operational. Then, they call a local cable TV station and get lots of publicity for their cause. The police are at a loss, but they are really irritated when they get a call about a bomb and there is no bomb.

But, when the eco-terrorists come to Albert Samson wearing animal masks and wanting his help to find their lost bomb, it is just starting to get strange...

I have lived in Indianapolis for the last twenty years and it was a real joy to read a book where I knew all of the places being discussed (Lewin grew up in Indianapolis). Not only that, but this story was quirky enough to be a great change of pace from the usual detective story.

I rate this book 4 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: Called by a Panther.

Reviewed on June 5, 2013.

Rendezvous (audiobook) by Nelson DeMille

Published by HighBridge Audio in May of 2013
Read by Scott Brick
Duration: 1 hour, 2 minutes

Nelson DeMille's gripping short story Rendezvous is set in the Vietnam War and made more authentic by DeMille's own real-life experiences during the war.

A group of 10 American soldiers are on patrol in a no-man's land near the Vietnam-Laotian border. They are supposed to be make contact with the enemy, radio in what they find and move on to one of three rendezvous locations where they will be evacuated by helicopter. Everyone on the patrol is a little more than 30 days from being rotated out of Vietnam. This is important because the group has lots of experience but everyone has a sense of foreboding because this is their last patrol (there is a tradition of not sending guys out with less than one month to go).

While on patrol they encounter a female sniper who shoots the radio man and both radios. As the patrol decides to head out for the first of three pre-determined rendezvous locations with the helicopters the sniper takes out the patrol one person at a time. Usually, the officers and non-commissioned officers would be the first targets, but they are mysteriously left un-harmed.

The worst thing about this story is its length. This story is an hour long and it had me involved he entire hour. I would have welcomed a longer story.

Narrator Scott Brick does a great job of conveying the world-weary fatigue of a man with a horrible story to tell and the story rolls along with no slow spots. The ending was totally appropriate but a little anti-climactic. Still, this is a solid hour of audiobook listening.

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

Reviewed on June 3, 2013

The Forgotten Conservative: Re-Discovering Grover Cleveland by John M. Pafford

Published by Regnery History in May of 2013

Grover Cleveland. Quick! Name me any fact about Grover Cleveland that you can think of!

Was he the one that was so fat that he got stuck in the bathtub? No, that was Taft.

Is he on the Mount Rushmore? No, those are Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and T. Roosevelt.

Was he a famous Civil War general that became president?

No, that was Grant, Garfield, Hayes and Harrison.

Grover Cleveland,
the 22nd and 24th President
(1837-1908)

Was he the president who was elected, got beat running for his second term but ran again and then won so that you have to learn his name twice if your teacher makes you learn the presidents? Yes. That's him.

But, as John M. Pafford demonstrates in The Forgotten Conservative, Grover Cleveland was a man  of contradictions. He was a uniquely principled man who was also mired in a sex scandal (the famous taunt went: "Ma, Ma, where's my Pa?"  "Gone to the White House, ha ha ha!"). His presidency is tucked in among all sorts of men who made their reputations in Civil War while he paid for a substitute because he was the breadwinner for his family. While the Progressive movement led by William Jennings Bryan was sweeping over the Democrat Party, Cleveland stood firm to his beliefs about sound money and the proper role of government and was the last Democrat who was also a true Conservative.  He also vetoed more than twice as many bills as all of the presidents that preceded him combined because he took his political principles seriously.

This biography is an overview of his life. If you are looking for an exhaustive re-telling of his life, this is not your book. But, let's face it, how many people want to read a thousand page tome about Cleveland? For me, this filled a relatively empty spot in my knowledge of American history and did a solid job of telling the story of his life, his presidency and explaining  the political movements that made him the last of the Conservative Democrats.

This biography also includes several full color political cartoons. Displaying them as they were meant to be seen is a nice touch.

Note: This book was sent to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I rate this biography 4 out of 5 stars.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: The Forgotten Conservative: Rediscovering Grover Cleveland

Reviewed on June 2, 2013

A Dream So Big: Our Unlikely Journey to End the Tears of Hunger by Steve Peifer with Gregg Lewis

A Very Moving True Story

Published in April of 2013 by Zondervan

The hardest book reviews to write are for the books that truly touch you. A Dream So Big had me spellbound from the first and I cannot even attempt to write a proper review.

If you have ever had the scary meeting with a "genetic counselor" at the OBGYN office than you can feel for the Peifer family. In my family's case, the meeting was unnecessary - our daughter was born with no complications. For the Peifer family, this was not the case. Their son was born with severe disabilities and only lived a few days.

Peifer describes the devastation to his family and how he and his family come to join the faculty at a boarding school for the children of missionary families. He describes how a one year gig has become a mission to feed and educate as many Kenyan children as possible.

Peifer's good humor is visible throughout the book and he is a natural self-deprecating storyteller. He balances his tales of the larger mission with lots of stories about the school and his family.

I have included a video so that you can see what he is trying to do in his own words:



If you are moved to help (and he emphasizes that a little bit really does go along way in Kenya), here is the website for Peifer's organization: http://kenyakidscan.org/how-you-can-help/

Note: This book was sent to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

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

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: A Dream So Big: Our Unlikely Journey to End the Tears of Hunger

Reviewed on June 1, 2013.

Coolidge (audiobook) by Amity Shlaes

Book Marred By The Author's Insistence On Including Everything and Analyzing Nothing

Published by Harper Audio in February of 2013
Read by Terence Aselford
Duration: 21 hours, 8 minutes

Amity Shlaes' previous book was a history of the Great Depression called The Forgotten Man. In his own way Calvin Coolidge is also a forgotten man. He sits midway between two presidential giants (Wilson and FDR) who vigorously expanded the power of the federal government and the executive branch. His term was not marked by wars, but rather by a general rise in America's prosperity. Coolidge is not remembered as a great president but as an oddity - Silent Cal who took naps every afternoon.

Calvin Coolidge (1872-1933), 
president from 1923-1929

This is unfortunate. While hardly a perfect president, Coolidge has some important lessons to offer. I feel that I have to offer some bona fides at this point. I am not a fan of this book but I do find Coolidge interesting, On my blog you will find 2 Calvin Coolidge quotes. I am a big fan of his "economizing" and thought his interesting experiment in cutting taxes to increase revenue to be an wonderful confirmation of the Laffer Curve. He had things he was short-sighted on but this book largely ignored them or explained them poorly, such as the Billy Mitchell air power vs. sea power controversy and the damage his support of tariffs caused in the long term.

In fact, that is the crux of the problem that I have with Amity Shlaes' Coolidge. It tells the story of his life thoroughly but offers no analysis. 

What Shlaes does in this self-described  "mammoth project" is line up every possible fact she could find and lay them all out in chronological order with almost no discussion or analysis at all. It makes for a fact-filled but not very informative book.  Billy Mitchell, the "economizing" and Coolidge's attempts to "outlaw" war by way of multi-lateral peace treaties deserve more than the mention as they go by on the timeline. They deserve discussion

Shlaes thrills to include little details from Coolidge's life and this book was an almost un-ending stream of factoids. We hear about Coolidge's college life, including an almost week-by-week look at his first semester, including his living quarters, how much rent he paid and lots of quotes from letters about his indecision about joining a fraternity. This book quotes Coolidge's letters frequently, which can be a nice touch. Oftentimes these quotes are used to illustrate a point that was already made and add nothing new. Or, they are rather pointless altogether like his letter to a tenant farmer on his land with unsolicited and unremarkable advice about farming (save some seed back in case of drought).

There are multiple ongoing touchstones in this book that serve as themes - emblems of ongoing important ideas in Coolidge's life. For example, the book continues to look at Amherst College as it tells the story of Calvin Coolidge. We hear about the ongoing struggles and successes of professors and fellow alumni and their reactions to changing times as a way of talking about how the philosophy he learned at Amherst served him throughout his life. She does the same with the limekiln plot back home in Vermont. This was a piece of hardscrabble farmland that symbolized his New England roots. Unfortunately, these touches were done rather clumsily and so often that I grew weary of them.

The official White House
portrait of Grace Coolidge
(1879-1957)

The discussion of Coolidge's family life was quite well done and stands out throughout the book. Shlaes does a good job of incorporating his family life in with the rest of the story. The reader (or, in my case, the listener) gets a strong feel for his father, his step-mother and his wife, Grace.

There are also long discussions of Charles Lindbergh and Gutzon Borglum (the designer and carver of Mount Rushmore) that were intended to add a little flavor of the times to the biography but mostly succeeded in dragging out this already overly long book even longer.

This audiobook tips the scales at 21 hours and 8 minutes. I think it would be safe to say that editing out a full one-fifth of this book would do nothing but make it better. It is full of extraneous details such as the cancellation of a state dinner by the leader of Cuba costing the White House $32 fill the book (he cancelled because of a controversy that is mentioned once and never mentioned again - apparently it was brought into the biography discuss the $32 charge to the kitchen in a time of economizing). Or, how about the story of Coolidge paying the property taxes on the limekiln plot and how he included a self-addressed stamped envelope for the receipt.  It is not noteworthy that Calvin Coolidge of all men paid his property taxes.Of course he paid them that is exactly the kind of man he was.

Part of the problem I had was that this was an audiobook. It is difficult to skim an audiobook. It is divided into 10-12 minute sections that are not separated by topic. So, I was forced to listen to stuff that I would have just skimmed right over in a print book. My frustrations with the audiobook do not include the reader Terence Aselford. His voice was just about  a perfect voice for a book about Calvin Coolidge. I especially liked that he created a voice for Coolidge that he used when he read from his letter, columns and speeches.

So, for a book that is about a man who was famous for being succinct and was nicknamed Silent Cal, this book was way too wordy. Throw in an almost complete lack of analysis of Coolidge's decisions and policies and you end up with a rating of 2 stars out of 5. for this audiobook.

This audiobook was sent to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. It can be found on Amazon.com here: Coolidge by Amity Shlaes.

Reviewed on May 31, 2013.