Audible Plus – Page 2 – Carol's Notebook

Travel by Bullet by John Scalzi

March 16, 2023March 16, 2023 by CarolNo Comments

The Dispatcher series is set in an alternative present world, except for unknown reasons starting a few years prior 99.9% of murder victims come back to life, their bodies reset to a few hours earlier, reappearing somewhere (usually their home) where they feel safe. Dispatchers are licensed to murder (dispatch) critically injured, dying people to save their lives. This time around by saving a friend's life, Tony ends up in a mess, as always. This time it revolves around shady cryptocurrency and a few ethically questionable billionaires. It's a fun story, with a fast pace, snappy dialogue, and well-used humor. There were a couple of twists and turn I should have seen coming and Tony is very lucky to be on good terms with useful people. Travel by Bullet does take place in post-pandemic Chicago which adds an interesting layer. With most books, I'd rather the pandemic be left out, but here Scalzi uses it well, both as it affects the...

Fadeout by Joseph Hansen

March 3, 2023March 3, 2023 by CarolNo Comments

Dave Brandstetter, insurance investigator, is looking into the death of local radio star and mayoral candidate Fox Olson, who crashed his car through a bridge railing on a rainy night. Fox's body has not yet been found, and Brandstetter finds more than one reason to be suspicious. As Dave spends time interviewing the Olson family members and gathering evidence, he comes to the conclusion that Fox is still alive. Brandstetter is a tough, smart detective. He's openly gay and mourning the loss of his long-time partner to cancer. He's a good character, with strengths and flaws. The story moves along quickly and we get several unlikeable suspects and a bit of local politics. The writing is spare but the author does a fabulous job at painting pictures and describing characters with few words. Fadeout is not a fun book with its underlying sadness, but it is engrossing. I will probably listen to more in the series. It doesn't hurt that they're...

Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift

February 8, 2023February 8, 2023 by Carol3 Comments

While I'm sure Gulliver's Travels is a masterpiece and has much to say about human society, politics, racism, what have you, I didn't enjoy it. It was a bit boring and I found myself not really caring what Swift was trying to say. Our narrator is Lemuel Gulliver, a ship's surgeon who ends up going on four fantastical journeys. The first Gulliver adventure is the most famous one, in the land of Lilliputians where the people 15.24 centimeters tall. Here Swift highlights the human tendency to consider themselves the most important creatures despite their small size, being unaware of their insignificance in the universe. He also shows their absurd justice system and their obsession with rules. On the next adventure, Gulliver visits the land of Brobdingnag, a land of giants. So, an individual's dominance is a relative concept, as where Gulliver was powerful in Lilliput, here he is vulnerable and almost insignificant. The king and queen treat Gulliver as a kind of toy,...

Sherlock Holmes & the Christmas Demon by James Lovegrove

December 22, 2022December 22, 2022 by Carol2 Comments

I've enjoyed a lot of "new" Holmes stories, and I don't need Holmes to necessarily be Doyle's Holmes, but Lovegrove's does come pretty doggone close. Eve Allerthorpe, daughter of a wealthy Yorkshire family, enlists the help of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson because she believes her family home is being haunted by the Black Thurrick, a kind of anti-Father Christmas. She has found bundles of birch twigs at the castle and seen the Black Thurrick walking across the frozen lake at night. Also, one of the wings of the castle is supposedly haunted. Holmes, of course, is skeptical, but he does suspect that something criminal is afoot. And his suspicion is justified when, soon after he and Watson arrive at Felscar Keep, a member of staff is found dead, pushed from an upper window. The setting is perfect, a secluded Gothic castle surrounded by frozen water and a snowy forest, a place where you could believe in ghosts and demons. The...

The Big Lie by John Mankiewicz

September 14, 2022September 13, 2022 by Carol2 Comments

The Big Lie centers around the filming of "Salt of the Earth" in 1954 in New Mexico. The FBI wants it shut down, believing it to be nothing more than Communist propaganda. The performances are solid and the sound effects evoke the period well. The story itself is a bit predictable, but since it's based on a true incident, that's probably not surprising. It turns out the world isn't as black and white as FBI Special Agent Bergin would like to believe....

The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim

February 17, 2022February 17, 2022 by Carol4 Comments

The Enchanted April is a charming novel, light and breezy and sweet. It's about love and life and being oneself. It's funny and perceptive. The writing is descriptive and witty. Four women, more or less strangers, are escaping dreary London and their dreary lives to spend April in a castle in Italy. They are each unhappy and lonely in their own way, dissatisfied with their lives. Lottie and Rose are in unhappy marriages. Lady Caroline is tired of being fawned over and surrounded by people clamoring for her attention. Mrs. Fisher is a grumpy older woman, a widow who relies on a cane. She, by the way, has some of the funniest moments in the book. Then San Salvatore works its magic on them, first one then more slowly the others. They come out of their shells and relax. They begin to realize what is actually important. They enjoy the beauty around them and in general become more happy, more loving...