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Stephen King has never been a favorite author of mine but I have never heard a better speech, book, short story or whatever on firearms. It is neither a conservative apology for guns; or a liberal screed against all guns. As a gun owner who disagrees vehemently with the NRA. I see this as a common sense approach to gun ownership and regulation. I applaud King for this article. The narration done by Christian Rummel is first rate as well. An absolutely fantastic buy for the price.

Taking a lot of tired cliches and wrapping them around a lesbian character doesn't make the cliches any fresher. That being said there are moments of semi-brilliance when the author is able to bring the characters to life. Unfortunately these moments are interspersed with a predictable plot line and some dialogue worthy of network television. The overall book has it's moments and the information on the criminal aspects of the plot are good. Hopefully in the future there will be a time when her main characters actually appear three dimensional. As for the reader; the same applies to her. She has a good overall pacing and at times, the right tone. Other times she seems to think her audience is a class of fifth graders.

As a veteran of crisis mental health centers substance abuse treatment locations and Psyche ER's myself; I found myself nodding and acknowledging Dr. Hollands words about fifty times during the reading.
The adrenalized reaction in response to a confrontation. The words and reactions of the patients. A plethora of sad stories from patients on a regular basis. The "shelter" seekers; drug seekers; and the homeless addicts seeking "three hots and a cot" individuals.
Equally familiar was the hardness, cynicism, and burnout. The helplessness of their situations and the helplessness you feel about changing any of it. The widening distance between the needs of the patients and the lack of care most states are providing the mentally ill. The author's time at Bellevue ended in 05 and the situation has only become worse in the last eight years. The lack of available treatment; particularly in rural areas now is pathetic. Oops, I'm about to get off on a rant.
I was pleasantly surprised at the excellent narration of the author. In many cases this is enough to turn a well written manuscript into an unlistenable disaster. So it was with more than a little trepidation that I used a credit for this selection. As it turned out; Julie Holland was an excellent reader and did a lot to heighten the enjoyment of the audiobook. All-in-all this is one of the best non-fiction selections I've had with Audible.

As an ex-mental health professional this book fascinated me. A gay fat girl who had lost an overachieving sister in Iraq; sounds like a layered complex, contextual read.. Unfortunately too many incidents of attack by the mean girl in school. Too many incidents of monumental insensitivity from her mother; too many incidents of Angie moaning about these two things as if she couldn't understand how either of these could happen. It makes it incredible that KC; for no apparent reason immediately falls for her. Then after being spurned by Angie is instantly willing to give her another chance.
Then there is the matter of the physical beatings Angie endures at the hands of Melanie Ann Sloan. Angie is a center; Melanie Ann is a point guard. I was a high school center; I know the size difference between the two of those positions. It is possible, but not likely that the smaller girl could so completely physically dominate the larger one. Plus on one occasion when she does fight back she decks the smaller girl, then thereafter refuses to defend herself. Again a highly unlikely scenario.
I gave this selection a second listen hoping to regain the fascination I'd felt with the first few hours of the book. I enjoyed it even less the second time around. Perhaps it's just a case of my being an adult male, well into middle age; but I can't recommend this that any adult purchase this program.

Okay; I understand that Brandman isn't Robert Parker. Much of the wit is missing and for the second time he has turned Molly into a sitcom character. Still I enjoyed both this book as well as it's predecessor. As always Jesse's humanity shines through all the less than stellar writing of the replacement sent into the game for the fallen star. His relationship with the teenagers who he reaches is the highlight of this work; as it was in his previous closing of a Jesse Stone novel began by Parker. Though I didn't think as highly of this selection as his previous work, I still recommend it.

Once again a promising start of an audible selection fades into an uneven; sometimes excellent piece of literature. But at other times her dialogue is often reminiscent of a predictable network crime show. Ragan's third person writing is the strength of this work and is at times very good. Unfortunately all too often she falls back on cliches; particularly in regards to her dialogue. This is a selection that I recommend with reservations. There are enough positive aspects in this book that i'm willing to purchase her next work. Ms. Ragan is a talented writer and hopefully her future works will reflect the natural growth of most writers.

As a native of Appalachia who has returned home I bought this selection with high hopes. They weren't realized. There were moments of inspiration in between long periods where I lost contact with the story. The narrator didn't help the story much; his monotone style furthered my lack of interest. It is my opinion that this book isn't worthy of a credit.

Timothy Egan does a complete job in describing what occurs when a confluence of events brings about the worst case scenario for a region. The story; often told in the words of the individuals who lived through the events as children describes the scenes they witnessed. In many cases the children suffered from the disabling illnesses created by breathing in acres of dust. They describe relatives lost in dust storms; siblings or parents lost to lung diseases. They also describe the life changes brought about by the "dust bowl." Of the farms lost; of the parents forever changed by the helplessness of not being able to feed their families. The dramatic high point is the occurrence of "Black Sunday." I'll the leave the definition of this event for the narrator to describe. If the history of the plains states in the 1930's is of any interest to you; this a must read; and or listen. If one or both of them is of interest to you may want to watch the movie documentary "Black Blizzard" as well.

Though the book did not reach the level of humor for me that it for the reviewers I read prior to purchasing the selection; it was one of the funniest audiobooks I've listened to. I never had the feeling that the author was falling back on cliches to get through a situation. I'm hoping that Ms. Harper plans on writing more fiction. This is one of the better audiobooks I've listened to.

After reading the reviews my expectations for this book were high. At times it delivered. I had several problems with the story however. First I have never read a book about today's world where police officers had the amount of power Sam and her colleagues did. Second an investigating officer sleeping with someone involved in an investigation? The level of romance in his book seemed to be preponderantly heavy vis a vis the amount of police work. though the book had it's moments it isn't one I can recommend.

Written in 2001; not long after the shootings at Columbine H.S. this book tells the story of a school shooting with a twist. As usual the author has done her research on the criminal and psychological aspects of the story. And as usual she throws more twists and turns into the movement of the story than necessary as well.
Rainie Connor is a fully drawn character with memories of a harsh childhood and substance abuse issues. She has been long suspected of the murder of her mother; an abusive alcoholic with a propensity for violent unstable boyfriends. Along with the chance to solve the school shooting that is not as 'open and shut' as the entire town wants to believe. Rainie will also the get the opportunity to resolve the case of her mother's death. Not as difficult for the sensitive as the majority of the Lisa Gardner FBI series, i rate this as a good listen.