DWD's Reviews

Published by HighBridge in March of 1999. Performed by an ensemble cast. Duration: 2 hours. Abridged I have not read the graphic novel so the audiobook is my only experience with this story about a member of the Emperor Palpatine's elite Imperial Guard. I think this is important to note since it has to be difficult to convert a graphic novel, with its emphasis on visuals to move the storyline, to a completely audio format. Audiobooks from regular novels don't have this issue. This point is important - the audiobook depends rather heavily on sound effects to cover up for this visual to audio conversion. Sometimes it works quite well while at other times it becomes a jumbled mess of various punching sound effects that the listener has to wade through until the story picks up again. In general though the sound effects, the use of multiple actors (like an old-fashioned radio play) and the inclusion of snippets of Star Wars music from the movie soundtracks is...

Published in 2002 by Random House Audio Read by Keith Carradine Duration: Approximately 3 hours. Abridged. There are 11 stories in the original printed book version of this book but this audio version contains only three unabridged stories from the book: "With These Hands", "Dream Fighter" and "Voyage to Tobalai". These re-reprinted short stories (originally they appeared in pulp fiction magazines) are read by veteran actor Keith Carradine who does a great job, especially with "Dream Fighter" - the best in this collection and also the introductory story for Kip Morgan who L'amour uses in other boxing and later detective stories. Carradine creates a unique old-style boxing trainer voice that perfectly fits the 1940s-style slang used in the text. Louis L'Amour (1908-1988) "With These Hands" is the story of an oil company executive that survives a plane crash in Alaska in the winter and his efforts to survi...

  First Edition published May of 2001 by Metropolitan Books I've had this book read for nearly a month now and I just haven't had the faintest idea about what I should say about it. It is remarkably good and remarkably bad all at the same time. The idea behind the book is simple - in 1998 a reporter goes "undercover" to explore the world of the $5 - $7 job market. She becomes a waitress, a house cleaner and an employee at Wal-Mart. So, let's start with the positives: -This is a well-written and entertaining book. -The workload at her different jobs is accurately described, especially the work at Wal-Mart (I know since I worked at one of their national competitors stocking shelves, unloading trucks and working the 'back room' for 5 years as a second job when my wife lost her white-collar job and the bills started to pile up). -I give Ms. Ehrenreich credit for going out there and trying the jobs rather than studying them like a sociol...

Originally Published in 2001. Is this great literature? No. Is it a great piece of escapism? Absolutely! Yes! Grippando is on my short list of authors to keep an eye out for. Almost always he delivers some legal thrills, a bit of injustice that drags the reader in and some twists and turns to make the ride interesting. James Grippando In this book, a young up-and-coming lawyer's father is kidnapped in Colombia. As Nick Rey tries to free his father (Matthew Rey) his professional life, his personal life and his family's secrets all get shaken up. In a nice play on words, "rey" is Spanish for "king" - the book is about getting the ransom for Matthew Rey's release. I give this one 5 stars out of 5. This book can be found on Amazon.com here: A King's Ransom by James Grippando . Reviewed on December 29, 2007. <br /> <img src="http://wms.assoc-amazon.com/20070822/US/img/noscript.gif?tag=dwsre...

A harder edge to Batman tales than most are used to Published 2009 by GraphicAudio Performed by a cast of 30+ actors Duration: Approximately 6 hours Set early in Batman's career, Batman: Dead White features Batman versus a group of militia-based racists who are planning an Al-Qaeda inspired terror campaign designed to start a race war. The plan is reminiscent of Charles Manson's Helter Skelter race war except that the lunatic in charge of this group is much more organized and has hundreds and hundreds of followers. The Bavarian Brotherhood are led by White Eyes, a gigantic white man who speaks the standard lines of racial purity, Aryan superiority and various plots by different Jewish groups to control everything. The difference is that he has  a workable plan to de-stabilize the United States government, lots of money and access to a whole series of new and dangerous weapons that even impress Batman. Bruce Wayne has been "Batman" for about 18 months so he ...

A compelling look into one of America's (misunderstood?) icons Published in October 2011 by Macmillan Audio Read by Daniel Oreskes Duration: 11 hours, 9 minutes John Brown is one of those well-known yet elusive figures in history. He is literally in all of the American history books, but most people know almost nothing about him except for a few headline snippets like "Bleeding Kansas" and "Harper's Ferry" and "Slave Revolt." More knowledgeable readers may remember he used a sword to kill pro-slavery settlers in Kansas and worked with several prominent anti-slavery figures before his raid into Harpers Ferry , including Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman and that his raid on the Federal armory at Harpers Ferry was an utter failure and undoubtedly proved that he was insane. Or, was he? And, was the raid really a failure? Tony Horwitz's Midnight Rising is an excellent biography of John Brown as well a well-rounded look at the poli...

This sci-fi book by Louis L'Amour could have been so much more. Yes, that's right. Louis L'Amour, author of more than 100 westerns wrote a sci-fi book. It is set in familiar territory for him, the American Southwest and it concerns the disappearance of the Anasazi Indians more than 600 years ago. If you are unfamiliar with the Anasazi, they are the builders of the adobe brick cliff dwellings that are scattered across the Southwestern desert. Their most famous site is at Mesa Verde National Monument. Louis L'Amour (1908-1988) The premise of the book is that the Anasazi were able to travel back and forth to another dimension, the third world mentioned in Hopi and Mayan legends. They traveled through their ceremonial kivas and one of their kivas is re-opened by a reclusive billionaire who is building a home in the desert. The book itself is typical Louis L'Amour style - sparse writing, tough guys, pretty women and little exploration into the mot...