Timothy

Mr. Larsson was a master. Of the modern authors, Stieg Larsson may have been the best at creating entirely believable characters, their history and understanding to their thinking ...just marvelous.
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest is the third and final installment to some memorable characters with twists, direction and detail ...such detail. I loved the entire series and was actually saddened at the end because there will be no more from this excellent author. The audiobooks are narrated by Simon Vance who gave an amazing performance with each character. Thank you, Mr. Vance, for bringing these characters to life so very well.

The Author; Laura Hillenbrand has captured an incredible story with great care so as to not allow personal opinion, nor modern interpretations, interfere with the atrocities of WWII. Her style of writing is clear--precise--and almost rhythmic in nature ...leaving me with anticipation for the next beat. She is excellent.

The Narrator; Edward Herrmann is the perfect voice for the story. A good actor, and he is, has the ability to get the most out of a good line ...and he does. A perfect voice.

The Man; Louis Zamperini is a living example of American manhood from the 'Greatest Generation'. His story is more than 'awe inspiring', more than 'incredible', and more than we, today, can fully appreciate. His life story is an accomplishment of unyielding perseverance in which the '7th' worst war criminal of the Japanese military could not break. Unbearable thirst, hunger, disease, sharks, bullets and bombs only served to strengthen his will to see another day. Sir ...I salute you.

It so pleases me when idea, effort and talent sing together in exquisite harmony, whatever the harmonic achievment. Obviously, many will marvel at the brilliance of the achievment, or the beauty of it, or even the lasting impression created, but I say ...indeed, yet, consider the rarity. Night Fall by Nelson DeMille, and read by Scott Brick, is one such achievment. This extraordinarily well written book kept my butt moving closer and closer to the edge of my 'expensive' captain's chair for 866 miles with only two, and very quick, food, gas and potty breaks. Seriously. Mr. DeMille's writing style truly is captivating. I know this because my bladder told me so. Mr. Scott Brick, as one would expect, has performed with precision-like inflection, intonation and believability. Thank you, Mr. Brick ...and thank you Mr. Demille.

Cronin's attempt at "epic" is missing ...no, is too detail-heavy ...no no, at times, tedious ...no, painfully tedious(that's it) ...no, insultingly tedious(aww, yes, much better). What Cronin and publisher is selling here is 36 hours of fishing with incredibly boring detail which, for some inexplicable reason, is deemed "epic" ...I suppose for it's length. "Epic" is not multitudes of descriptive narrative stacked one upon another, rather, it is story evolution. 36 hours of my time wasted by what is the most insulting, abrupt ending I've ever experienced. The sad thing is ...there is a story here. A good story, which deserves better treatment. This book is completely formulaic with only one intent ...sell the sequel. Sorry, but this writer is one fish that is swimming away.

Few things I disdain more than Geo/Political energy price fixing, however, intellectual laziness masked as "thought-provoking" really troubles me because of the duping of the masses by the intellectual elite. This book, the only one (and last one) I've purchased by Dan Brown is entirely predictable, low character developement and, conveniently, mis-representative of too many known facts. Tell me, Mr. Brown, are you really intellectually lazy ...or just dishonest?