AudioAddict

I was skeptcial when I purchased this book. It's a classic, which is definitely not my favorite genre, and it's also very long. My fears ended with the first scene as I was transported to another time and place, when the story immediately grabbed me and wouldn't let me go. I became so wrapped up in the characters and mysteries that I didn't want to stop listening. The truth which is revealed at the end is very emotional -- shocking, gut-wrenching, sad, heartwarming and beautiful.

I cannot say enough about the narrator, Carolyn Lee. Her voices and accents were perfect for the story, and her performace was emotional and flawless. I cannot say enough about The Forgotten Garden. It's wonderful.

STORY (Detective) - This is probably one of my top 10-20 favorite books, and I've listened to 366 as of this writing. The imagery, the characters, the plot -- OMG, the plot! I just can't say enough about this book. The setting is Yellowstone Park, sometime in the era of phone booths and before cell phones. You will hear descriptions and interesting facts about park wildlife, Old Faithful, etc., that will make you want to go to Yellowstone. I learned for the first time about the ultra-powerful Steamboat Geyser, which coincidentally erupted for the first time in four years as I was listening to this book. Such a refreshing change from listening to books set in a big city.

Joe Pickett, the main character, is a game warden. He always manages to get in the middle of trouble, and in this case he investigates the murder of four park visitors who are killed in the "zone of death," an area in the park that doesn't fall into any legal jurisdiction for the murderer to be prosecuted, thus he was set free. There is lots going on in this book, and it is wonderful from the beginning to the end.

PERFORMANCE - Great job. Chandler is the perfect voice for Joe Pickett, and he puts forth a lot of extra effort towards distinguishing between the different characters.

OVERALL - I would recommend this for almost anyone except younger children who wouldn't appreciate the complexities of the story. There are a couple very brief mentions of lovemaking between Joe and his wife, and there are a few utterances of the F word by certain characters. There is killing, but it's not overly violent IMHO. This series is probably best listened to in order so that you can follow the character development, however I have listened to it piecemeal and each book stands alone. Hear. This. Book. You won't regret it.

STORY (fiction) - The first few minutes of the book were painful. I thought the narrator sounded way too young and perky, and the two timelines were confusing. Once I settled in to what was going on, I became absorbed in the story and felt the narrator was doing a good job. She is reading the story of two young girls, after all.

Anyway, the main characters are Molly and Vivian, who are both orphans. At the time of the story, their lives become entwined as Molly gets the job of helping Vivian, now a lonely old woman, clean her attic. Molly is a teenaged orphan and has problems of her own. She and Vivian bond as they go through items in the attic, which remind Vivian of her life bit by bit. Vivian had been one of thousands of young riders on an orphan train, which is a part of our American History that I was completely unaware of. Children were put on a train which traveled from town to town, and they were given to basically any family that would take them -- for whatever reason. Many of the children were taken basically to perform hard work and were mistreated.

PERFORMANCE - You might want to hear a preview of the narrator before purchasing. Sometimes she sounds like she's talking baby talk, and I had a hard time listening to her at first. She does a pretty good job, however, and she excels at performing Vivian's voice as an older woman.

OVERALL - This story is engrossing, though it is sad to hear about the orphan train and to be reminded of the plight of orphans even in today's America. There is a small amount of cursing and a short instance of sexual child abuse. I would recommend this story mainly for older girls and mature women, though I think men who are interested in the topic would enjoy it too. You will be glad Vivian and Molly found each other and are able to share their common experiences, so there is a "feel good" component to what would otherwise be a sad story.

STORY (Espionage) - You will love this book and will not want to stop listening! Dominika, the main character, is a beautiful young Russian woman who is trained to be a spy. She is also sent to what some call "whore school," where she learns seduction skills to better allow her to spy on unsuspecting men. Despite her training, she doesn't use sexual entrapment often, although I suspect the movie with Jennifer Lawrence is full of it, but I digress.

This book is full of everything you'd expect -- surveillance, motives, counter-motives, double-cross -- and you can really get into the heads of the players and become absorbed in their thinking. There is also a small touch of romance. This book is not about chase scenes and shoot-em-up action. It's more cerebral about who is doing what and why. There is nonstop entertainment with twists and turns that you probably won't see coming till, bam, there it is. There is also an added touch of Russian cooking recipes. They are short and added at the end of each chapter, and they are of something a character has just eaten. They are short (about 30 seconds) and don't detract from the flow of the story, but I caught myself paying attention to whatever the characters ate and anticipating the recipe.

PERFORMANCE - Jeremy Bobb does a good job with this book, especially pronouncing the many Russian words that are thrown in here and there. But I give him a mediocre 3 rating because he doesn't use different voices to distinguish characters and I've come to anticipate that from Audible narrators.

OVERALL - There are some F-bombs and cursing, but not a lot. There are also a few sex scenes that are neither long nor overly explicit. This is book one of a trilogy so the story will continue, but this one comes to a tidy conclusion if you choose not to continue the series. I would 100% recommend this book to any listener who enjoys espionage!

Sorry, Linda, I lost interest in this one..."
STORY (romance) - This story is set in Louisiana sometime before we had cell phones, as I continuously noticed things like the use of paper maps, phone books, answering machines and the lack of text messages, etc. I normally like Linda Howard stories, but this book fell woefully short IMHO. Faith, the main character, is hopefully infatuated with a man (Grey) who treats her like absolute shit, though she continues to love him. Yes, there are some mitigating circumstances, but I just couldn't get into their relationship due to what I viewed as her weakness and his being an A-hole.

The characters in the story are overly stereotypical, which was another turnoff, and women in the book all seem to be weak and put up with the men. Further, I got sick and tired of certain emotions or conditions being repeated over and over and over again. OMG, I got it the first five times!!! And then there are conclusions which are reached that don't seem like they should be. I actually contemplated not finishing the book but resorted to listening at 2X speed, slowing down occasionally when something important was happening (and, no, it wasn't the sex scenes!)

Complaints aside, I was interested enough in the story to finish the book. I wanted to see how the relationship between the main characters could possibly end in a romance and also in how the missing person mystery was going to resolve itself. The ending is actually pretty good, although it was difficult for me to endure and get there.

PERFORMANCE - The characters were from Louisiana, and Ms. Ross did a good job of portraying their accents. At least to this Texas girl, I got the feeling that I was listening to Cajuns. She also did a good job of distinguishing between male and female characters.

OVERALL - This book is highly rated, but I don't recommend it. I'm definitely in the minority here. But if you're still interested, please be aware that there is a small amount of cursing (F-words, etc), and there is a sprinkling of sex acts. They aren't overly explicit, but they're not for the easily offended, either.

STORY (sci-fi) - Yes, this is an alien space battle series. I'm a female and don't usually like macho action stuff, but this series keeps me fully engaged, guessing and anxious for more. For one thing, it's fleet battles against alien ships, not bloody man-to-man fighting. Second, I really admire Captain John Geary, the main character and hero of the Alliance. Third, there's a lot more going on than just fighting Syndic fleets. Captain Geary also must juggle tense internal politics, saboteurs and other mysterious aliens who appear to be manipulating both the Syndics and the Alliance so their war will continue. Geary also has to keep peace between a female officer and a female politician, who both have feelings for him and are jealous of each other. At any rate, I enjoy this series so much that when it finishes, I plan to continue to the follow-up series as well.

PERFORMANCE - Christian Rummel is awesome. I've said that about every book I've heard him narrate. I don't know how someone with such a low sexy voice can portray women's voices convincingly -- and even two distinct women's voices!

OVERALL - I don't recall any cursing in this book, and there are no sexual situations. While men would be naturally drawn to this type of series, I highly recommend it for women, too. Listen to the series in order, as each book builds on the one previous, but each book can stand on its own as well. Go for it. This is good stuff!

STORY (mystery) - In this story, Georgie and the gang take a cruise ship to America, and there is a robbery/murder for them to solve. It always surprises me the quality of the mysteries created in this light-hearted series. I can never guess whodunnit, although this time I got it half right!

PERFORMANCE - Awesome! I can't believe Katherine Kellgren died. Such a loss! In this book she not only tackles male/female voices with multiple accents - Spanish, Irish, English, Cockney, American -- but she does a convincing Spanish male with a lisp! As a narrator, she is irreplaceable.

OVERALL - I love this series, and I can always count on it to be a fun mood picker-upper. This book delivers, as have all the previous ones. Each book stands alone, but best to listen to them in order so you don't miss any character development. No cursing or sex, so it's a good "clean" listen for the whole family. Recommended especially for females due to the girly humor, but I think men might enjoy it as well.

STORY - Ever thought about doing a Spartan race? Well, this book will give you an idea of what to expect on race day and many good reasons why you should go for it. The author discusses his own fitness journey and that of others. Supposedly, if you train for and complete a Spartan race, you will experience a life-changing confidence in yourself and a new life perspective where you will no longer tolerate laziness or mediocrity.

Personally, I am on the fence about doing a Spartan, and this book has not gotten me off that fence. However, it is well-done, informative and enjoyable. It does a great job of explaining (and selling) the Spartan lifestyle and code of ethics.

PERFORMANCE - Christian Rummel is one of my favorite narrators. He does a great job and - bonus - has a very low, sexy voice!

OVERALL - There is some cursing (mainly F-bombs) but not a lot. Otherwise, the book is pretty much for any audience. Recommended for anyone thinking about running a Spartan or making positive changes in their level of fitness and their life.

STORY - The main character, Sarah, is a female bodyguard/butler who is caring for a retired judge who she cares deeply for. She is featured on TV due to her beauty and the novelty of her profession. Well...someone sees that broadcast who decides he is obsessed with Sarah, and the plot thickens. Then we have the detective who works the case, finds Sarah beautiful and strong...you get it. Who did it, why, and how can he be stopped, and how can the romance grow with everything else going on? Well, listen to this good book and find out!

PERFORMANCE - i have always loved Susan Erickson, and she delivers a great performance here as usual. The only reason I gave her four stars is because the material didn't properly showcase all of her talent. (Gotta save five stars for those!)

OVERALL - Some steamy sex and some cursing, but shouldn't be ultra-offensive to anyone but the super-sensitive. If you like mystery/romance books, I'd highly recommend this one.

STORY (sexy romance) - I love the whole series, and this short book delivers! Sexy, romantic and clever, it has it all.

PERFORMANCE - Sebastian York makes me drool.

OVERALL - Sexy with quite a bit of cursing. Recommended, especially for those who want to check out the series before investing time in a longer audiobook.

STORY (fiction) - So I enjoyed this book, even though I saw the movie perhaps a year ago. The characters are deliciously twisted and complicated, and you will be on a roller-coaster ride the whole time you're trying to figure them out. The plot unfolds bit by bit, and the ending is -- despite complaints from others -- perfect..

PERFORMANCE - There is a male reading the part of Nick and a female reading for Amy. Both deliver great performances.

OVERALL - Quite a bit of cursing. My only real complaint about the book is that it was too long for my taste. Not to say it was boring, just needed to be shorter. If it had been 13-14 hours, I would have given it five stars. 19 hours...three stars.