Traci

This is the story of a boy born in South Sudan that overcomes many obstacles through life. He endures kidnapping, a refugee camp, and is blessed to end up in the US. Running is a major part of his life, but his faith in God is truly the one thing that keeps him focused. He believes God has placed every person in his life and every situation there for a reason.

The book does not have any graphic scenes, but situations are described in a way that you get the point. Lopez does a wonderful job explaining everything from his childhood, his experience in coming to the US, learning about very basic things that we take for granted (such as a light switch), and his road to achieving his goals.

The narrator grew on me. At first I felt like he made the story feel somewhat 'simple.' But not long into the book I realized Lopez was young and mostly uneducated while in Africa (and when he first came to the US), so I grew an appreciation for the narrator.

I highly recommend this book. I didn't have a favorite part of the book, because the entire book is so good

The book inspired me to evaluate what I'm doing (and not doing) in my life, and to appreciate things like being able to flip a switch to turn off the lights.

In the first book, Presumed Innocent, Rusty Sabich is a lawyer working for the PA office and is accused of killing a coworker with whom he had an affair. Excellent book and movie. While reading Presumed Innocent is not necessary, I would recommend doing so. It's a wonderful book and gives the reader/listener better insight as to what happened previously.

Now it is 20 years later, Rusty is a judge and his wife dies of what appears to be heart related issues (which runs in the family). Soon Rusty is accused of killing his wife. He uses the same incredible defense attorney, Sandy Stern, who now has a daughter as part of his firm. Tommy Molto charged Rusty both times with murder. This is an opportunity for either Rusty to make Tommy look bad (again), or for Tommy to show everyone that Rusty is a killer and got away with it the first time. There are a lot of emotions - Rusty and Tommy, Rusty and his son Nat, Sandy Stern's health, and Rusty's wife's history.

The story is not told in first person by one character, but by four, which makes it more interesting because the listener knows the thought process of each character.

I appreciated the female narrator for the character of Anna.

Sequels are not always as good as the first, but this will not disappoint (maybe it was because Scott Turow waited so long to write the sequel?).

I wasn't sure what to expect with this listen. It turned out to be excellent! The author, Chevy Stevens, gives enough detail about the conditions that Annie endures while held captive for a year without crossing the line of too much detail (there are many writers who go too far and lose me as a result).

Stevens was creative by having Annie tell her story in therapy sessions.

The narrator was good for this particular book.

This story line was good until one point in the book where Harry was detained. After that I was disappointed. The story line had potential but was a let down in the end.

I liked that Connelly included Harry's relationships as part of the book (his daughter Maddie, Irvin Irving, and Hannah, a love interest from The Drop).

The narrator was ok, but not the same caliber as Len Cariou.

This is not a good book for a first time Connelly/Bosch listen.

It was nice to listen to a book with the lead character being a reporter as opposed to a detective or FBI agent. Michael Connelly does a good job of slowly unfolding how everything is connected. The story line kept my attention and the narrator was good for this character.

I listened to The Scarecrow first, which is also about Jack McEvoy and enjoyed that listen as well.

This is my first listen of Scott Turow, and I'm looking forward to another.

The narrator was an excellent choice, and I am very picky about narrators. I don't believe I've listened to Edward Hermann before, but he was very good.

It's very important to listen to the details in the first couple of hours because this information is important later in the book. Also, if you're not paying attention (I listen while driving to work) the scenes change.

The story line and characters are wonderful. The best legal thriller I've listened to in a while. You won't be disappointed.

My first listen in this series was Rain Fall, Book 1.

The narrator is okay, but I prefer the narrator from Rain Fall, Brian Nishii. I appreciate his accent and the authenticity he brought to the character. John Rain is an assassin who is Asian-American. Nishii's accent was not American and his pace of narrating was slower (which is good for some books, such as the Rain series).

Barry Eisler does a good job with the assassin concept. John Rain has to think about things in great depth but also be able to respond to unexpected situations. The story line is interesting, although Rain Fall was much better.

I'm looking forward to additional books in this series.

I have been reading the books for this series (which I have enjoyed) and this is my first listen. Disappointment is a good description for this book.

The narrator Carolyn McCormick did not help bring the characters to life at all - she didn't have a good range for the number of characters and, actually, she was kind of monotone.

The story line was not up to par.

Perhaps James Patterson should consider retiring, because his books seem to be going downhill.

I read The Lion's Game and loved the book. While parts of The Lion are predictable, it was still an enjoyable listen. Nelson Demille is a very good writer, but I would have enjoyed the book more if there was less gore. There is a way to get the point across without going too far, and he crosses that line in a few scenes.

The Narrator Scott Brick is not my favorite. This is my first listen with him and I did not care for his tone. He was actually pretty annoying.

Aside from the negatives listed above, I think the book is worth a listen.

This is an enjoyable book. I like Connelly's other books (E.G. the Bosch and Haller series) and have not listened to The Poet yet. I appreciate that this book is about a reporter as opposed to a detective.

Jack McEvoy, a reporter being laid off due to budget, starts researching a case about a young man convicted of murder. His goal is that his last story will be huge. During his research he realizes this young man is innocent and sets out to provide the proof to set him free. Each time he thinks he has something figured out there's a twist, something he didn't see. He doesn't realize the real killer knows every move Jack makes, and will be coming after him.

I enjoy a book or movie that requires me to pay attention, thus taking me away from everything for a period of time. I'm not concerned about reality, as long as it's a good read and fun story line. The Racketeer is one of those books.

It is evident John Grisham must have had fun writing this book. As another listener mentions Grisham allowed his imagination to help him write. It was a nice change of pace to have the book begin with a lawyer, Mal Bannister, who is in prison. Mal is very likeable and believable. The FBI put him away for something he didn't do (as they all say), and now is his chance for payback. They have no suspects in a federal judge's murder, but he knows just who they should investigate. Of course he has expectations for this information, and they don't have much choice but to cooperate with Mal. He takes them on quite a ride after they arrest the person he points to and he (Mal) gets released into Witness Protection.

The narrator was very good. The pace was fairly slow, which is understandable considering this is about a man with a plot that requires a lot of time and planning.

At at the end of the book Grisham admits many things (including laws) were not researched and pretty much everything was fiction (I have to admit I had not considered whether anything was true, I just enjoyed the book).