Mark C Walker

This is one of those audio rare books that has exceptionally good narration, writing and story. The characters are complex and believable, the story itself is interesting and unpredictable - and the writing had me laughing out loud in parts, and later in parts it was extremely intense. I had never read a book by Peter Clines nor had I listened to one narrated by Ray Porter before this one - I intend to consider both for future picks with my credits. The narration, by Ray Porter, was one of the best I have listened to in a long time. Well worth the credit.

If you enjoy reading history books then I would imagine you would enjoy this book. The title is somewhat misleading in my opinion - as Mr. Roberts' points out as many negative aspects of western civilization as he does positive ones. There was nothing in the book that I found to be unique or thought provoking. It is simply a no frills history book. Narration was good. I would however recommend "A History of Europe" by JM Roberts more than I do this one, it is much more comprehensive in detailing a lot of the same historical events.

I stumbled on to Jonathan Mayberry when I read "14", which was excellent. I liked the narrator (Ray Porter) so well in that one that I decided to take a chance on this genre of fiction. While I am not really a fan of Zombie fiction, I was pleasantly surprised by this one as it was more like cross between an X-files story and a modern terrorism type thriller. Ray Porter is a first rate narrator and Mayberry is a gifted writer. Characters are well defined and the book was interlaced with humor to go along with the suspense. If you enjoyed the x-files you might want to take a chance on this one - it is actually a very interesting story.

I had read Kihn's other book and found it to be hilarious. I bought this one figuring that it would be similar. While there were moments that were funny, the overall tone in Bad Dog is more somber. If you love pets you will probably appreciate aspects of this one. Mr Kihn is a gifted writer and I would recommend his other book on Audible more than this one.

At the beginning of the book, David Servan-Schrieber is looking at charts on Cancer survival curves and looking for actions he could take to extend his life expectancy following his diagnosis. What he ends up doing in the process is leaving a treasure trove of actions and lifestyle changes that people should consider that might help them avoid getting cancer. The PDF that comes with the book includes many of his reference charts related to dietary recommendations. The book is very poignant and sincere and leaves the listener with a deep appreciation for gift he has left.

This is a fascinating and informative book on one of the most complicated and complex individuals of the founding fathers of the United States. You get a real picture of the immense talents and shortcomings of not only Jefferson but many of the other founding fathers such as Adams, Madison and Hamilton – they seemed to be the perfect counterbalance to each other at a time when had either the Federalist or the Anti-Federalist factions been exclusively in power this country might never had survived to become the country that it is today. Washington must have truly been an amazing leader to have been able to marshal the talents of Jefferson, Hamilton and Adams in one cabinet during the most critical time in the fledgling countries development, especially since they all were fundamentally opposed to each other’s vision and philosophy of Government. Jefferson’s steadfast opposition to Monarchy certainly was a factor in ensuring that this country did not eventually drift back towards the British model during some of the challenging periods of the post revolutionary period. Mr Meacham does an excellent job in presenting a realistic portrait of Jefferson, flaws and strengths. Ed Herman is one of the better narrators for bios and he does an outstanding job in this one. I would strongly recommend this book if you enjoy American History.

This book was decent, and to an extent informative. The title is a little bit misleading in that the vast preponderance of the information was related to ancient Anatolia, only the final ten minutes of the book was related to Constantinople. The other shortcoming in my opinion was the total lack of discussion on the critical role this area played in the early Christian Church.

The narration was good, although it is in the form of a lecture rather than a narration.

The Great Siege - Malta 1565 is an awesome book - well written. I had no idea of the leadership, courage and determination that the defenders displayed during siege. The ruthlessness of the combatants was a reflection of the understanding of both sides that this was an all or nothing endeavor. No quarter was given or expected. Before reading this I did not appreciate the ramifications of the outcome - Europe undoubtedly would look a lot different had the siege succeeded. Simon Vance is one of the Aces of the Audion Book narrators and he does a wonderful job in this book. If you enjoy European History I highly recommend this book

the safe man is a thoroughly enjoyable short story. I would recommend it, although I would not use one of my credits as it is simply too short. Narration was above average. Honestly, I was pleasantly surprised by this as the genre is a different one for Connelly.

Harry Bosch with Len Cariou narrating is probably my favorite series of audio books. Alarm bells started going off when I noticed that there was a new narrator for Black Box – but I began to listen with an open mind. One thing I liked about the Cariou reads was that Cariou seemed to be aging with the Bosch character in his reads. I am sure the narrator, Michael McConnohie, in other audio book genres would be OK but it simply did not work for this. Sadly, the Bosch image I kept conjuring up in this book was more like Barnaby Jones – a far cry from the Harry Bosch of the past. None of the funny situations worked in this book – it was like someone with no talent for telling jokes simply restating a joke in a monotone fashion. The actual story was decent, it was simply too difficult to get past the lame narration. I wondered why they made the change and did a search on Amazon and found that Cariou actually is the narrator for this book but only on a pre-loaded digital audio player – shame on Connelly for leaving his audience in a lurch and putting out an inferior product. I think that is a cop out. Audible – please work to have the Cariou rendition made available to all of the loyal listeners.

The Panther was an OK book, parts of the book are hysterically funny, even though the book itself seemed to be a little too long. This book, and its predecessor "the Lion", both seem to have a strange timeline. DeMille seemed to lose track of time in parts of the book, making it confusing. Supposedly this takes place a couple of years after the Cole was attacked, which would seem to have this taking place sometime in 2002 or 2003. Another thing that makes this one a little confusing is that he is attributing the Cole to a fictitious villain when actual people have been identified and charged. I almost wonder if DeMille wrote this book and the Lion shortly after 9-11 and released them nearly a decade or more later. If you enjoy other Jon Cory novels you will probably like this one too.