An excellently written dark, gritty crime novel set in Dublin. The author is a former journalist and the characters and situations reek of authenticity.
Alisha Barba, who had a supporting role in the author's previous book Lost, takes over as the main character in this very tense suspense yarn. The plot takes her from London to Amsterdam and while it skirted the edge of being too melodramatic the various twists kept my attention throughout. I listened to the audio version which was capably read by Clare Corbett.
Another fine entry in this police procedural series set in Istanbul. The plot, which blended the Arabesk music scene with a lesser known religion found in the far east of Turkey, was serviceable. The real draw of this series though is the authentic seeming atmosphere and the characters who run the gamut of Turkey's various ethnic and religious groups.
This was the first published book in the best-selling Dirk Pitt series. Lots of adventure, romance, and evildoers to overcome though perhaps a bit dated. Listened the audio version reliably read by Michael Prichard.
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Blackmail, diamonds, a kidnapping, and the Liberian Civil War all mix together in this complexly plotted though enjoyable suspense tale set in West Africa.
The author's highly opinionated take on the greatest players in NBA history etc. Like most of his work, far too long with many juvenile rambling asides. I did enjoy his views on the players and their place in the history of hoops though and thought his pyramid scheme for rating them was quite well thought out.
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I have enjoyed Hiaasen's work in the past but this book did not do much for me. The humor seemed forced and I did not much care about the whole plastic surgery or investigative TV angles. One bright spot was the narration which was done by George Wilson who is one of my favorites.
An excellent dark and gritty character driven crime drama. All of the criminal jobs depicted in the book seemed feasible, the Charlestown setting added to the realism of the story, and the ending of the book was particularly well done.
I thought this was much better than the first book in this series though the plotting of the actual mystery was still the main negative. I decided to listen to this on audio since the narrator,Hillary Huber, has the kind of cynical world weary though snarky voice that really fit the main character.
While the plot was perhaps a bit on the thin side the characters, first person voice, and Maine seacoast locales made this another enjoyable read by this author.
This science fiction novel had so much going on that, at times, it was hard to know what was happening. It mixed Sumerian language, religion, computers, and a number of other things (some of which I sure I did not catch). The two lead characters though were quite well drawn and the narration of this audio by Jonathan Davis highlighted the humor and kept the plot moving at a brisk pace.
While this is considered a classic of the spy genre and I have enjoyed the author's work before (especially Epitaph for a Spy) I had a hard time finishing this book. The writing style, which was pretty much flashbacks and info dumping, just did not engage me. I did think the overall plot was interesting and found the details of criminal activity in Europe between the wars fascinating though so the book was not a total loss.
A light, fun read featuring a mediocre mystery writer and his interfering agent that was both humorous and well plotted.
A very satisfying entry in this series. Harry is back with the LAPD in the Open-Unsolved unit and doing what he was meant to do, clearing cases, though he is a bit rusty which adds tension to the storyline.
An entertaining adventure featuring a movie star who agrees to travel to South Africa to investigate a friend's string of horses which, for some reason, have not been running up to expectations. Listened to the audio which was narrated by Geoffrey Howard.
Larry and Magic give their accounts of their rivalry and how they ultimately became friends. A good overview of both of their careers but not a whole lot of new info. I received a signed copy of this book by Larry Bird from the Pacers for renewing my season tickets back in 2010 when the Pacers were coming off a 32-50 record.