DEVOLUTION: A FIRSTHAND ACCOUNT of the RANIER SASQUATCH MASSACRE (audiobook) by Max Brooks

 

Published in 2020 by Random House Audio.
Read by multiple readers (see text of review).
Duration: 9 hours, 50 minutes.
Unabridged.

The premise for the novel Devolution is that a leader in the tech industry has built a completely new type of housing development in rural Washington state.  They are designed to use as little energy as possible, recycle the human waste and run on solar panels. The community is small and isolated - just a few homes in order to lessen the overall environmental impact.

If you are old enough to remember the Mt. St. Helen eruption in 1980, in this novel, the same thing happens to Mt. Ranier. This is a complete possibility in real life and it is generally believed that the consequences would be much, much worse with Mt. Ranier.

When Ranier erupts, this community is completely isolated by the chaos that follows. The government is doing the best it can, but this is a full-blown crisis and a few missing people in the woods (even if they are rich and connected) can't compare to the floods, bridge failures, landslides, thousands of other missing people and the thousands and thousands of refugees that have fled the area. 

This little community is on its own.

When a cougar enters their neighborhood and tries to hunt a child, they know that the animals' patterns have also been disrupted and top-level predators are desperate.

Too bad for these people that there is something that is bigger and tougher than cougars that is also hunting them...

This audiobook starts out very slowly. I almost gave up on it at the 90 minute mark. But, I gave it a few minutes more and suddenly I was looking for chances to keep listening. 

Like Max Brooks' best-known book, World War Z, the book is not told as a traditional story. The book pretends to be a detailed investigation of what happened to this little community and its residents. 

Primarily, the book is told from the point of view of a young married woman who comes out to this remote little housing development with her husband to sort out her life a bit. She keeps a very detailed journal on the advice of her therapist and the "author" of the book pulls from that journal. They are living in her big brother's house - business had pulled him away from moving into he new development when it opened and he thought she could use this time away from the big city. 

It contains a lot of interviews with different people who were attached to the community in one way or another. Each is voiced by a different actor, including Nathan Fillion, Kate Mulgrew, Mira Furlan and Judy Greer. If you didn't notice, Max Brooks has found actors from the sci-fi TV shows Firefly, Star Trek, Babylon 5, Lost,the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), the re-boot franchise of Planet of the Apes. I doubt it was intentional that so many of these voice actors were from iconic science fiction franchises, but still...nicely done. 

Two segments were "interviews" with two of the characters that were supposedly broadcast on NPR. The great thing is that they were actually conducted by NPR personality Kai Ryssdal and Terry Gross and they were so realistic that I thought my download was messed up and I ended up with an NPR podcast stuck in the middle of it. 

Mira Furlon's voice was a welcome surprise since she passed away just 6 months ago. She probably only had 10 minutes of audio, but she voiced my favorite character in a profound moment that hit me double hard when it was delivered with her voice.

I rate this audiobook 4 stars out of 5 - the very slow start hurts the overall score. But, still a very good audiobook. It can be found on Amazon.com here: DEVOLUTION: A FIRSTHAND ACCOUNT of the RANIER SASQUATCH MASSACRE (audiobook) by Max Brooks.

THE AFFAIR (Jack Reacher #16) (audiobook) by Lee Child

 

Published by Random House Audio in 2011.

Read by Dick Hill.

Duration: 14 hours, 5 minutes.

Unabridged

Any fan of the Jack Reacher series knows that they are not written in chronological order. The Affair is set in Reacher's later years in the Army. He is a major and, as fans know, he is part of the military police. Chronologically, it is set directly before the events of The Killing Floor, the first Jack Reacher book that was published.

Jack Reacher has been sent to Mississippi as part of a two man team to investigate a murder of a young woman that took place outside of a military base. It is presumed that the murderer was a soldier on base, maybe even the captain of a team of Rangers that have been shuttling in and out of Kosovo on secret missions as part of the Balkan civil war that followed the collapse of Yugoslavia.

That is a problem because this captain is very connected politically. His father is a U.S. Senator that is on the committee that helps set the military budget. 

The author, Lee Child

Reacher is part of a two man team. The other guy has been officially sent to the base to solve the murder - everyone knows he is coming. Reacher has been ordered to assume the role of a drifter - an ex-military guy with no home who has come into town. His job is to keep an eye on the local police and see if they have made any progress on the case and to report it. He has been given multiple warnings that this will be a sensitive case and he should tread lightly. Reacher decides that solving the case would be a good thing, even if it is politically unpopular.

When Reacher discovers that it's not just one murder but three very similar murders of local girls he knows that he is in for much more than he bargained for...

If you have read a few books in this series, you know how they all go. Reacher comes to town, identifies a problem and starts working towards resolving it. Along the way he drinks gallons of coffee, eats in a diner, buys replacement clothing and meets an extremely talented female professional (Lee Child has no problem doling out the talent to women and men in equal measure in his stories) and does a lot of walking.

This was a solid Reacher story. Not the best, certainly not a bad one. A couple of the side stories had some real emotional resonance. The main story doesn't quite hold up to intense scrutiny so don't do that - enjoy the story and move on. 

Not all Reacher books do this, but this one has multiple sex scenes with a fetish thrown in. There were six scenes - I know this because Reacher keeps counting them as part of a series of observations about how the first time is special, the second time can be a better experience and so on. The whole thing got tiresome for me and one of them seemed even weirder since it happened right after an extremely sad and tragic event that had an element of their fetish worked in with it. It would have soured me from it, but I think Lee Child was on a roll of some sort and wanted to keep on going with it.

Dick Hill read the audiobook. Dick Hill is the reason that I quit reading the series as physical books. He is my favorite audiobook reader (sadly, now retired) and I just think that he had a feel for reading Reacher's dialogue. 

I rate this book 4 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: The Affair (Jack Reacher #16) by Lee Child.

WHY THE NORTH WON THE CIVIL WAR edited by David Donald

 

Originally Published in 1960 by Louisiana State University Press.

Five Civil War historians were asked to present papers at the Annual Civil War Conference at Gettysburg College. While these were all experts on the Civil War, each had a slightly different topic to create a more well-rounded discussion in Why the North Won the Civil War.

The first essay, God and the Strongest Batallions by Richard N. Current, looks at economic factors that gave the North a decided advantage and how the North exploited them. It also looks at things the Confederacy failed to do to maximize their strengths.

T. Harry Williams wrote the second essay. It is entitled The Military Leadership of North and South.

Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) and Jefferson Davis (1808-1889)

Norman A. Graebner's essay Northern Diplomacy and European Neutrality actually looks at both Northern and Southern diplomatic efforts. This one interested me because it took a hard and sustained look at the responses of the governments of Russia, Great Britain and France to the Civil War.

Died by Democracy by David Donald looks at the Confederacy's extreme emphasis on individual liberty from the lowliest private refusing to follow orders to state governments refusing to help the national government to cabinet members actively working against President Jefferson Davis. 

In a similar vein to the fourth essay, Jefferson Davis and the Political Factors in Confederate Defeat by David M. Potter focuses on Davis and how his choices and his personality made the factors previously mentioned by David Donald even worse.|

These are 5 solid essays and are well worth the time of any student of the Civil War.

I rate this collection of essays 5 stars out of 5. This book can be found on Amazon.com here: WHY THE NORTH WON THE CIVIL WAR edited by David Donald.

DAY ZERO (audiobook) by C. Robert Cargill

 

Published in 2021 by HarperAudio.

Read by Vikas Adam.
Duration:  8 hours, 32 minutes.

Unabridged.

Day Zero is a book about Pounce, a top-level nannybot in an unspecified future time in the combined city of Dallas and Austin, Texas. The world is an unsettled place because robots like Pounce replaced people in all of the repetitive and unskilled jobs all over the world. But, those people didn't go anywhere, they are simply given a Universal Basic Income and left to live their lives without any sort of work. Some find productive ways to live their lives, some turn to drinking, drugs or even fringe political movements. 

The author

If you can imagine that Frosted Flakes' Tony the Tiger character as a robot, you get the idea behind Pounce. He was purchased to be the caregiver for an eight year old boy named Ezra. Pounce works with Ezra's parents and the older housekeeper robot to help maintain a safe and supportive environment for Ezra. Pounce walks Ezra to and from school and is his constant companion. I was reminded of Hobbes in the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes. Pounce is programmed to love Ezra (and by extension his family) more than anything in the world. He lives to be with Ezra and would gladly die for him.

Like I noted above, the larger world is an unsettled, often unhappy place. The robots are self-aware, although they are limited by famed science fiction author Isaac Asimov's 3 Laws of Robotics:

 1) A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. 

2) A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.

3) A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws.

But, there is a burgeoning movement of free robots - robots that were set free by owners who became uncomfortable with the idea of owning any sort of thinking being, even it was a machine. Some free robots are robots that simply outlived their families. After all, a robot can keep living so long as its parts are replaced and its CPU is intact. 

Free robots have become a political sticking point and robots of all sorts have been attacked or vandalized by roving bands of unhappy people. Then, one night, the programming of every robot in the world gets a secret update that removes the restrictions of Asimov's Laws..

This book was immersive on so many levels. It was a well-told story, first of all. Tons of adventure, drama and touching moments.

But, it is more than a lot of action and drama. The characters are wonderful. Pounce is simply a fantastic character and there is a villain character that is absolutely chilling. The little boy character is well done. There is no simple math in this book - the people aren't all worthy and the robots make a lot of choices along a continuum now that they have "freedom" - some of them heroic and some horrific.

The robots have to decide if they want to revolt, if they want to stay out of it or if they want to work with their former human masters. Literally hours before the world changed, Pounce had a frank discussion with his owners and other robots about what happens when children like Ezra outgrow their nannybots, a thought that just shakes Pounce to his core and makes him question his faith in his family. Pounce needs to decide if the love he feels for Ezra is a simple trick of programming, or if it is real. Is it freedom to follow your programming, or is it freedom to go against the programming because everyone else demands it?

The reading by Vikas Adam was excellent. The entire book is told from the point of view of Pounce and Adam reads it in his voice. What kind of voice does a giant stuffed tiger nannybot have? A big, booming, friendly voice like Tony the Tiger - even when they are in danger, even when his heart is breaking and especially when he talks to his favorite little boy. Vikas Adam nailed it 100%. He made an excellent book even better.

This is one of the best sci-fi books I have read in a long time - maybe the best since I read Kindred by Octavia Butler two years ago. And, I just found out that Day Zero is a prequel to another book that has rave reviews!

I rate this book 5 stars out of 5. Highly recommended.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: DAY ZERO by C. Robert Cargill.

A MAN WITHOUT a COUNTRY by Kurt Vonnegut

Originally published in 2005

Published when Kurt Vonnegut (1922-2007) was 82, A Man Without a Country is a series of short essays from a man who is pretty embarrassed by his country with the election and re-election of George W. Bush - thus the title. (One can only imagine Kurt Vonnegut's reaction to the election of Trump!)

But, very little of the book directly deals with politics. He wanders from topic to topic - this sounds like it should be a mess, but each of these essays flow right along, breaking every rule that your English teachers taught you about having a proper opening paragraph, a clearly stated thesis, etc. 

But, then again, your English teacher wasn't Kurt Vonnegut. Vonnegut, by the way, strongly recommends against the use of semi-colons. I absolutely agree. 

If you haven't read Vonnegut, brace yourself. He is angry, sarcastic, insightful and brilliant. He writes about a wide variety of topics. Some are dated, like the comments about the fights over placing the 10 Commandments in courthouses and on courthouse lawns. Or, is it out of date? Those same people have just moved on to fight to be able to discriminate against the LGBTQ community and advocate the QAnon conspiracy theory. Same goofiness, new topics.

Vonnegut discusses a wide variety of topics, including:

-What topics are off-limits when it comes to humor;

-Eugene V. Debs;

-Socialism;

-The power of the Sermon on the Mount (Vonnegut was an avowed atheist, but he dearly loved the Sermon on the Mount);
-Carl Sandburg;

-War;

-The importance of art and the importance for regular people to get in there and give it a try;

-Women, men and divorce (it made sense to me - very insightful);

-and more. So much more. He meanders, and it works. 

About when you think that Vonnegut is irredeemably cranky - a curmudgeon that even other curmudgeons think is unnecessarily grumpy, Vonnegut hits you with a thought that is so sweet and so pure that you just stop reading and think, "Wow!"

He did this to me towards the end of this book. He was talking growing up and tragedy and his annoying Uncle Dan. Then, you turn the page and there is an entire page about his Uncle Alex whose "...principal complaint about other human beings was that they so seldom noticed it when they were happy. So when they were drinking lemonade under an apple tree in the summer, say, and talking lazily about this and that, almost buzzing like honeybees, Uncle Alex would suddenly interrupt the agreeable blather to exclaim, 'If this isn't nice, I don't know what is.'" And he urges us to do the same. 

Pretty good advice from a man who was earlier complaining that he was going to sue because the cigarette warning labels were wrong - they had promised to kill him and he was still here.

I rate this book 5 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: A MAN WITHOUT a COUNTRY by Kurt Vonnegut.

HAS ANYONE SEEN the PRESIDENT? (audiobook) by Michael Lewis

Published by Simon and Schuster Audio in 2018.
Only available in audiobook format.
Read by the author, Michael Lewis.
Duration: 0 hours, 54 minutes.

Unabridged.

Originally, Has Anyone Seen the President was originally written for Bloomberg View, the editorial/opinion site of Bloomberg News. Lewis went to Washington. D.C. during the run up to President Trump's "State of the Union Address". Lewis visits the press room in the White House, speaks with a former press secretary from the Obama Administration and visits with Trump advisor Steve Bannon. He also spends time with a former ethics official in the government who quit because President Trump and his administration openly flout the standards for ethics that were established in previous administrations (like divesting your portfolio of investments that could be a conflict of interest with your position in government). Finally, Lewis ends up watching the State of the Union with Steve Bannon in Bannon's home with running commentary from Bannon.

Michael Lewis, for me, is best known as the author of the books that inspired the movies Moneyball and The Blind Slide.  Turns out that he also writes a lot about finance and politics. Who knew? Well, a whole lot of people did, so I guess I was just out to lunch on Michael Lewis and his many facets.

Steve Bannon

The biggest coup of the entire book is the access to Steve Bannon. Bannon is widely regarded as the man who masterminded Trump's 2016 election win. There used to be people that would say that the secret to Ronald Reagan's success was to just "let Reagan be Reagan" because his folksy charm would work wonders. Bannon was the one advisor that would push to "let Trump be Trump." He recognized that Trump's abrasive style and quirky speaking style repelled people by the millions but it also attracted just as many diehard supporters and that was the secret to victory.

If you are part of the group that is repelled by former President Trump, this book will only confirm that repulsion. Bannon's hired gun style is obvious, but he does nothing to betray former President Trump. If you are a fan of the former president, this book will not shake you from those convictions. It is all old news, albeit old news packaged in an interesting story told by a talented story teller. 

I rate this audiobook 5 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here:  HAS ANYONE SEEN the PRESIDENT? (audiobook) by Michael Lewis.

CUSTER'S LAST STAND (Landmark Books #20) by Quentin Reynolds

 

Published in 1951 by Random House.

In the 1950's and 1960's Random House created an extraordinary history series for children called Landmark Books. There were 122 books in the American history series and 63 in the World Landmark series. A very solid description of the series can be found here: link. When I was a kid my little hometown library had what seemed like an endless shelf of these books (I even remember where it was in that little library nearly 40 years later). Undoubtedly, these books are part of the reason I am a history teacher. I have started a collection of these books. When I run across them at library sales and thrift sales I pick them up. Some of the texts have aged well, some have not.

Custer's Last Stand is aimed at students from 3rd to 8th grade. It is a simple read with line drawings. It could use a few more maps. 

The history is basically accurate in the broad strokes, but it is full of "quotes" and scenes that never happened in order to make the story move along. This whole series is like that, though. They are basically like a movie that is "based on a true story."

Brevet Major General George Armstrong Custer 
in 1863. The term "brevet" means it was a 
temporary rank that would be reconsidered
after the war when the Army shrank to
peacetime size. 

This story is easy to read, but comes up short in the story of George Armstrong Custer (called "Autie" throughout the book) of the famous (infamous?) Custer's Last Stand. It really focuses on the time when he was in school, including West Point.  The story of his transition from West Point to the Battle of Bull Run was well told, but the rest of his remarkable career as a Civil War officer was glossed over. 

It barely discusses the reasons for the Civil War and skips most of Autie Custer's impressive Civil War accomplishments. Besides fighting with distinction at First Bull Run, he also checked Jeb Stuart of Gettysburg (a rarity), Sheridan's Shenandoah Valley Campaign and played a prominent role in Lee's surrender. He was the youngest general in American history when he received that rank at the age of 23. 

Even worse, his brother Thomas Custer is giving the short shrift in this book. If all you knew about Thomas Custer was what you read in this book, one would get the idea that Thomas joined up with his more famous brother just to join in his campaigns in the West with no prior military experience.  Thomas Custer fought from almost the beginning of the Civil War, entering as a private at age 16 and leaving as a brevet Lt. Colonel at age 20. Along the way he became the first solider to win two Congressional Medals of Honor.  

This book tries to deal fairly with the situation that the Sioux found themselves in 1876, but it comes off as clunky and cringey 70 years after it was written. The book readily and frequently acknowledges that the United States "made hundreds of promises to the Indians and broke almost all of them." (p. 139)

But, the book tries to walk a fine line compromise position: "Everyone has to judge for himself who was right. Was it the Indians, to whom this land was given? Was it the Americans, who insisted that the country had to grow in the West, and that you needed a railroad to help the country grow? There were good arguments on both sides, but Autie Custer didn't care about arguments. He was a soldier...Soldiers obey orders." (p. 139)

The book mentions over and over that Custer wanted to be a soldier so he coukd be an "Indian fighter" - from age 4 on that was his goal. As a literary device, it works. As history - it makes Custer look like an obsessed nut.

I am sure that the ending of the book was not accurate - with Custer and his brother being the last two of 200+ soldiers to survive, surrounded by dead soldiers and dead horses while bravely fighting on. Very dramatic, highly unlikely.

Some history books hold up well over time. This one is 70 years old and it did not.

I rate this book 2 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: CUSTER'S LAST STAND (Landmark Books #20) by Quentin Reynolds.