Review: Danger Beneath The Surface

Danger Beneath The Surface by Jon Sniderman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Book: ***
Performance: ***

A Short Trip Down Memory Lane

I wanted to give this a listen based almost entirely on a bit of nostalgia … and on that point it delivers. Of all the places I have lived, AK was the best experience that I have had. It is a short vignette that, as near as I can recall, is more or less solid on location and science, so props for that. However, the story itself was pretty slow … a simple mystery plot that might have been a science thriller in a longer format, but there was not really a lot of suspense (most of this was just confirming details on why animals were getting sick and dying … and given the science theme was reasonably predictable). Still … the narration was decent and I enjoyed the trip down memory lane.

I was given this free advance review/listener copy (ARC) audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

#DangerBeneathTheSurface #FreeAudiobkFacebkGrp

View all my reviews

Review: WILDCAT: A Novel of the West

WILDCAT: A Novel of the West by Stephen L. Brooks
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Book: **
Performance: **

A Simple Western

How many times do I need to be reminded that Kat’s pa wanted a boy? I didn’t care for it the first time and it got old fast. I didn’t particularly enjoy the “folksy” language either (doesn’t really add as much authenticity as might otherwise be expected when narrator struggles to differentiate the character voices) … and there is a LOT of dialog to wade through. All of that said … as far as Westerns go, this is pretty average … all the expected elements are there within a straight up, wholesome western plot that would be at home in a Zane Grey novel (although not quite the same quality). The drama can be down right silly and over the top at times. There are a few production quality issues as well … such as an odd skip just prior to chapter 9 (that’s worth subtracting a point on its own).

I was given this free advance review/listener copy (ARC) audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

#Wildcat #FreeAudiobkFacebkGrp

View all my reviews

Review: Elodia's Knife: Book One of the Visigoth Saga

Elodia's Knife: Book One of the Visigoth Saga by Robert S. Phillips
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Book: *
Performance: ***

There Is So Much Wrong Here

To start … it is poorly written in passive voice with way too much descriptive text making it nearly impossible to actually put yourself into the story. Instead, the reader remains on the outside looking in, reading/listening to the third person narrative describing what happened, broken up by extremely awkward/unnatural dialog.
.
There are zero sympathetic characters in this story. I uniformly disliked them all, not finding any of them to be even remotely believable. I don’t think there was a single relationships that was not extremely dysfunctional

There is way too much detail that doesn’t advance the plot … probably because the plot is MIA making this something of a rape fantasy that for some reason over uses the euphemism “bumping” as if that makes it all okay. This is even more aggravating because most of the historical details are just wrong … the roman military didn’t work like that, roman river patrol boats didn’t work like that, roman weapons and armor didn’t work like that, roman disciple and law didn’t work like that, roman christianity didn’t work like that … and all of these weird anachronisms might be hidden for most readers because the overarching history (the conflict between Rome and the Goths on the Danube) is at least correct in broad strokes. I found the poor research so ubiquitous that it was hard to ignore and I almost DNF.

I was given this free advance review/listener copy (ARC) audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

#ElodiasKnife #VisigothSaga #FreeAudiobkFacebkGrp #KindleUnlimited

View all my reviews

Review: The Edith Wharton Collection

The Edith Wharton Collection by Edith Wharton
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Book: ***
Performance: ****

A Nice Way to Enjoy a Classic

First off … this is not my typical fare; in fact, I don’t usually care for relationship drama, but I am on a bit of a classics kick and this seemed like an easy way to move outside my comfort zone … and for the most part that is true. The Narration on this collection was great and made it all very enjoyable. In “The Age of Innocence,” we get a Hallmark love triangle set in the NYC socialite scene that now has a bit of a nostalgic feel to it. I am not sure why “The House of Mirth” was not first, but they are remarkably similar stories to my mind, with perhaps a more stinging critique of social expectations and obligations of the time found here. Enough to make me happy to not be living then (while every age has its issues, I would like to believe that there is more freedom and opportunity today for many folks that traditionally had little or none). Granted this is all first world issues … but is still progress. The last piece, “Ethan Frome,” is the weakest of the three and explores an even darker side of human social relationships. All in all, it was worth the effort, but such stories remain a bit of a struggle for me to enjoy much.

The chapters and sections in this work are:

“The Age of Innocence”
Book 1 (5:47)
Book 2 (5:45)

“The House of Mirth”
Book 1 (6:41)
Book 2 5:32)

“Ethan Frome” (3:14)

I was given this free advance review/listener copy (ARC) audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

#EdithWharton #FreeAudiobookCodes

View all my reviews