Michael

I am a great fan of both Michael Connelly and Dick Hill. Connelly moves the story along with just the right amount of character introspection. I just recently saw the movie again and wanted to see how the book and movie track each other. Thankfully, all the basics of the book made it to the movie. There are, however, sufficient differences to make both enjoyable in their own right, whether enjoying the book or movie alone, or enjoying both.

I usually like to see the movie first because, out of necessity, there are usually things in the book that are left out of the movie and it easier to accept new facts, characters and information than it is to look in vain for them. Also, having seen actors populate the characters, I have a visual reference for the characters when reading the book. Clearly, I think that Terry McCaleb is much younger than Clint Eastwood, but there was still a face to the character.

Most of Connelly's novels occupy the same universe with characters freely moving between them. Therefore, if you are Harry Bosch fan, you might want to read this before reading 'A Darkness More than Night' as Terry McCaleb figures prominently in that story.

I thoroughly enjoy Dick Hill's narrations across a number series that I follow. I get a little disappointed when I listen to one of a series' books narrated by another no matter how accomplished they may be. I am just getting into the Jack Reacher series and am pleased to see that he has narrated many of them also. Keep up the Good Work.

The Ice Man was an incredible amalgamation of physicality, cruelty and remorselessness. Almost unbelievable that such a person even existed. If you are a fan of the Jack Reacher, this guy, Richard Kukinski, was actually bigger, tougher and stronger than the fictional character. A great read. I don't know if the print copy has any pictures, but that would be the only thing missing from the audio version. Reads almost like a suspense movie rather than a biography.

I haven't laughed out loud reading a book in a long time. I had read Bank Shot, the second in the Dortmunder series, long ago but had forgotten just how funny and talented a writer Donald Westlake was. I especially appreciated the conversations where the long suffering Dortmunder has to deal with his cronies taking all too literally what he is saying. I can just see Dortmunder shaking his head in disbelief at some of the responses he gets to simple queries. And when you thought the story should be over, there is nothing more to settle, things take a turn for the worse and the gang has to saddle up yet again. I will definitely complete the Dortmunder series and then explore other Westlake offerings.

Certainly. Harry Bosch is a must read. I read most of the Bosch and Haller series and Michael Connelly does write a captivating story.

Always, Harry. Even though he tends to run it alone when he should keep his partner apprised of what is going on, Harry digs up the answers. While this is not good for real life crime fighting, it does make for good fiction crime fighting.

This was the only weak point. While the narrator did a solid job, he doesn't seem up to the task of narrating character driven novels. There was little distinction between the characters' voices or suspense in the narration. I will listen to him again but because I want to listen to the book not the narrator.

I'm not going to give away what my headline "until now?" means. Listen to the book and discover for yourself.

Once again, Stephen King proves that he knows how to tell a story. The nostalgia of the late 50s and early 60s brought back so many memories of growing up in that era myself; things I had forgotten. And I do remember exactly where I was when I first heard that President Kennedy had been shot. Small Spoiler Alert! The only issue I have is with the overall story, not Mr. King's skill. I thought it would be more the aftermath, after preventing the assassination. However, the actual attempt doesn't come until almost the end, with only a brief summary of what might happen if the president survived. That being said, I highly recommend this tour of the early 60s. So, enjoy!

Previously, I thoroughly enjoyed the Camel Club series as well as the A. Shaw books. This is the first King and Maxwell book I have consumed. It lives up to Mr. Baldacci's reputation. The novel is well written. While the story is a little fanciful it is fun to try to figure out where things are going. I will surely have to get the remaining books in this series.

I do recommend this fascinating look into our history. It is a thorough examination of the background leading up to the Lincoln assassination as well as the subsequent events. I learned that much of what I thought I knew about this tragedy, especially the aftermath, was just plain wrong, or at least incomplete.

I've not heard Mr. O'Reilly read before. He did a credible job reading this type of docudrama. I would be fine with him reading this type of book in the future.

Yes it did. There was lots of action, but it was not overwhelming. While a certain amount of disbelief has to be suspended in action fiction, Flynn provided the appropriate balance between reality and what could happen. There were enough interludes for the reader to learn some about the major characters.

This is the first time that I have listened to Nick Sullivan. Frankly, I pick books based on the author or others recommendations, not the narrators. I enjoyed the narration and look forward to hearing Mr. Sullivan again. I will be following the Mitch Rapp series in the future.

White House Down

This was the first time I tried Ms. Highsmith. I bought the book for Strangers on a Train because of the movie. The underlying story was fine but I had difficulty staying interested because of the extensive time spent in the protagonist's mind and not pursuing the story. I did listen to all of Strangers because I wanted to see how it ended. I tried one or two of the short stories but could not develop any interest in them. Then, the Price of Salt bored me to tears. I quit within 20 minutes of starting Salt as the story itself had gone nowhere. While she may be considered an accomplished writer, I could not get interested in the characters or story.

I only gave Stranger on a Train three stars for story. What I did listen to beyond that got zero stars for story.