AudioMysteries.Net

Title: Double Cross
Author: James Patterson
Readers: Peter J. Fernandez & Michael Stuhlbarg
Audiobook: 2007
Unabridged
Length: 7 hours

Ears: 3

Rent: audiomysteries.com

The national obsession with serial killers is beginning to wear a bit thin for me. There are countless authors who have gotten rich off of the blood and gore from a homicidal maniac. Television shows such as the very dark and brutal Criminal Minds continue the trend. In fairness to James Patterson, he’s been at the serial killer genre for quite awhile. Some of his earlier works in the Alex Cross series are really very good.

Double Cross has its moments the killer who will become known as DCAK (I’m not going to tell you what that means) is rather interesting and original. The good news, if there is any, is that DCAK is not your overdone serial rapist and torturer of women. So the early part of the book keeps you guessing. The bad news is, as typical for a Patterson novel, one plot is certainly not enough.

The second story involves the reemergence of “The Mastermind”, FBI agent turned serial killer Kyle Craig who has been rotting in a maximum security prison for four years. He has had time to get very angry and hatch a rather preposterous plot to wreck vengeance on those who wronged him, most specifically retired Alex Cross. Craig has appeared in several earlier Alex Cross stories, but you can get a good idea about his ego and capabilities from the overwrought dialog.

Part of the fun of these thrillers is that bad things happen – often and without regard to much logic or coherence. Patterson piles on improbabilities at a rapid rate while keeping the action moving.

I’m not sure which of the readers voiced each part. I’m guessing one reader does Cross and the other our killers. I felt the reading of Cross was a bit to bright and cheerful. But perhaps that is because I recently saw the movie Along Came A Spider which features Morgan Freeman as Cross, a much more restrained version. The reading of the killers involved several accents that helped mask their identities.

Spoiler Alert: [You may not want to read this paragraph – it gives away a minor although obvious plot point.] There’s nothing wrong with a good thriller, and I certainly was kept entertained by this one. I knocked off an ear because Patterson just will not end a book with a good final scene. I’m tired of various bad guys rising to rampage in the future. Come on, put them down once and for all and write something new!

Reviewed on 9/3/2008 by Robert W. Karp

Title: Web of Evil
Author: J.A. Jance
Reader: Karen Ziembas
Audiobook: 2007
Unabridged
Length: 6 hours

Ears: 3

Rent:  AudioMysteries.com

J.A. Jance must have decided to expand her repertoire from police-based type of detective mysteries into a more contemporary style of dynamic career women who incidentally gets involved in various unsavory events (think Patterson’s Women’s Murder Club). This new series features Ali Reynolds an ex-reporter, who finds herself thrust into murder and mayhem.

Web of Evil is the second in the series, I missed the first, decided to take a listen to this title. I’m a huge fan of Jance and you can read my five ears review of to see just how much I like her. This book is very different than her Joanna Brady and J.P. Beaumont mysteries. The author has included some up-to-date aspects including Ali’s internet blog cutloose.com that features heavily in the plot line. I’m not sure that it works, hearing various emails read and answered isn’t all that exciting and Jance might have missed an opportunity to tie the blog into the story in a more interesting way. Perhaps she’s waiting for a later work in the series.

The story involves the death of Ali’s about-to-be ex-husband, affectionately known as fang on her blog. Unfortunately Ali turns out to be a suspect in the death due to a series of rather contrived circumstances that probably wouldn’t hold up in real life. This leads to her husband’s very pregnant girlfriend, mother and a several other characters.

There is much to enjoy in Web of Evil. While the plot creaks a bit and seems dumbed down for a less discerning audience, there are some wonderful characters including Ali’s mom who gets herself way too involved in her daughter’s dilemma. Karen Ziemba reads with what I think is a little too much upbeat intonation. I sometimes found myself thinking that Ali shouldn’t be all that bright and cheerful even when she was being grilled by the police on more than one occasion.

For those of you who want the more traditional mystery with tight plots, and protagonists who have character and depth I hardily recommend Jance’s other two series featuring Joanna Brady and J.P. Beaumont. But there is a place for these “lighter” works and this series may mature with time.

Reviewed on 7/14/08 by Robert W. Karp

Title: Turning Angel
Author: Greg Iles
Reader: Dick Hill
Audiobook: 2004
Unabridged
Length: 16 hours

Ears: 4

Rent: audiomysteries.com

Greg Iles is another author that has been writing for a long time that I am now getting around to during my summer reading and listening “vacation.” I had a difficult time picking a category for this book, indeed it has elements of a standard mystery/crime novel as well as a legal thriller, and a police procedural. I will leave it up to you as to which it is and it really doesn’t matter since it succeeds on all levels.

Lawyer Penn Gage makes a repeat appearance in Turning Angel a story of love, betrayal, drugs, crime, politics and race. Iles paints a vivid picture of life in Natchez, Mississippi, a town struggling to stay alive as the South changes. Gage, who had a heroic turn in The Quiet Game is faced with a quandary when a childhood friend, Drew Elliott, comes to him for help when a high school girl is brutally murdered. Once the girl’s body is discovered the political, racial and social conflicts that run deep in Natchez test Penn Gage’s standing in the tight-knit community as he stands by Elliott.

Iles has an eye for detail, bringing Natchez to life with vivid descriptions of the town, its inhabitants, and their daily interactions. The politics of crime from the rivalry between the Chief of Police and Sheriff to petty politics of the judicial system all come in for vigorous examination. Parents will feel a sense of familiarity about the complex social structure that teenagers build to survive the rigors of life in high school. Indeed you might be shocked as is Gage about just what really goes on when parents aren’t around. And that turns out to be very important.

The plot is fairly straight-forward leading through several twists and red herrings. Nothing wrong with that, the best writers have done it. However, I found a couple of situations rather far-fetched and the destination is a bit of a copout, picking the one person as the killer who perhaps is the least interesting.

Dick Hill is probably the most prolific audiobook reader around. His performance in Turning Angel shows why publishers and authors demand his service. He has just the right tone, pacing and ability through voice control to portray a wide range of characters giving each a distinct personality. This story requires him to provide voices to a teenage girl, grown men, a teenage boy from Serbia and a several African-American gang members. Hill never falters and never stoops to stereotypical portrayal.

The Turning Angel of the title refers to a statue in the town cemetery that seems to follow the viewer as they drive by. It’s another one of the author’s details that gives this story the depth that makes this an enjoyable 16 hours.

Reviewed on 6/26/08 by Robert W. Karp

Title: The Whole Truth
Author: David Baldacci
Reader: Ron McLarty
Audiobook: 2008
Unabridged

Length: 13 hours

Ears 5

Dick Pender is a former employee of the White House press office and he is considered an expert in what is known as perception management. His personal and business motto is simple: "Why waste any time by trying to discover the truth, when the truth can be so easily created?"

In The Whole Truth, written by David Baldacci, some highly placed and influential people pay Pender a lot of cash to bury their inconvenient secrets and then manipulate public opinion.

Reading the audio book is Ron McLarty, a talented actor and author, he stands out as one of the best book narrators of this day and age. McLarty reads the book with Baldacci's voice, perfectly conveying all meaning and tension from the pages of "The Whole Truth."

Through McLarty's clear and concise diction and his low resonant tone that easily shifts from tender to tough, we root for a mysterious character called A. Shaw and a female journalist who try to stop Creel in his tracks.

Baldacci provides thriller after thriller with his smart and political novels. He is clearly a leader in his niche and wants nothing more than to entertain. From his first novel Absolute Power to one of his latest books Stone Cold, Baldacci takes us on more political theories and conspiracies.

For a tale full of twists, turns and suspense, "The Whole Truth" by David Baldacci is one political rollercoaster you will not regret joining.

Reviewed on 5/26/08 by S Folly

Title: The Appeal
Author: John Grisham
Reader: Michael Beck
Audiobook: 2008
Unabridged
Length: 12 hours

Ears: 3

Rent: audiomysteries.com

The Appeal by John Grisham, read by Michael Beck, is not a challenging work of fiction but the novel marks Grisham's long-awaited return to both the American South and legal drama. The book begins with a verdict after a lengthy trial between the cancer-stricken citizens of a small Mississippi town and the chemical company accused of poisoning their water supply. The real drama is only starting and Wall Street heavyweight Carl Trudeau is determined to reverse the decision against his company through an appeal to the Mississippi Supreme Court. Dirty politics abound and the plot to plant a corrupt justice to reverse the verdict is underway.

Though the book is filled with stereotypes, the narrator gives each character a unique and convincing voice. His pacing and soft, natural Southern accent make for an easy listen, inviting you to stick it out even when the plot does not. Grisham is obviously cynical of the elections process and is perhaps strategic in releasing such a critical work during a presidential election year, but vanishing subplots dull his message with distraction.

Despite not his being his best - Grisham's earlier work, titles like The Firm or A Time to Kill, deserves more attention - The Appeal makes for an entertaining audio book, thanks to its delivery. I rate it 3 ears.

Reviewed on 05/14/08 by Jen Dixon