Flavius

Having read "The Passage," the first installment in this trilogy (which, although it's by no means necessary for your enjoyment of "The Twelve," you should, of course, read first), I had high expectations for the follow-up, and "The Twelve" delivered admirably.

"The Twelve" spans the century since Zero Year, and author Justin Cronin does an excellent job of creating a plausible (given the whole "vampire earth" thing, I mean), readable and consistent history for his world, which begins to be realized in this book.

Cronin's characters gain much depth in this installment. There is heroism and good in this book, but they are tempered by human frailties and shades of grey. I enjoyed "The Passage" immensely, but this is a more mature work.

Unlike the first book, which functions well as a single novel, this book feels incomplete. This is not a negative by any means, but leaves the reader aching to continue the stories of these characters with whose fates we have become entwined.

Compared to many of my friends, I didn't even watch MTV that much growing up, but as an adult so many years later, I'm constantly reminded of the network's influence on my life. In a way, this warts and all oral history is like becoming reacquainted with an old friend as an adult, and understanding that person in an entirely new way.

There's a lot of fun behind-the-scenes stuff--excess, decadence and lots of embarrassing hair.This book kept my interest throughout. I was impressed with the wide array of industry figures (including quite a few artists) cited in this book. I also appreciated the wide variety of opinions the authors chose to illustrate controversial (or at least contentious) subjects.

The narration is great, and perhaps most satisfying, the question "Why doesn't MTV play videos any more?" is examined with care.

This well-written, well-researched book could be of interest to anyone who is a fan of pop culture. But to a child of the 80s, this is very close to being a "must-listen."

Readers should first check out Tregellis' "Bitter Seeds," the first installment in this series.

'The Coldest War' is everything a reader could hope for in the second book in a series--it answers some questions while posing a great many more, and leaves the reader emotionally aching and desperate for resolution.

These first two books are woven together nicely. So intricate are their connections, in fact, that I'm thinking of re-listening to the first book, so that I can appreciate it with a taste of foreknowledge. The Coldest War seems much darker than Bitter Seeds, and in many ways more mature,

If you enjoyed Bitter Seeds, The Coldest War will be a winner.

I am not a regular mystery reader, and picked this up on sale based on the strength of the recommendations. I'm very glad I did.

I usually enjoy George Guidall's narration, and he seems especially well-suited to this book. I thought his Native American accents were distinct and recognizable, but subtle enough not to be intrusive or hokey.

There's a good mystery in this story, but it was really secondary to me in my enjoyment of the book. I found the diverse cast of characters to be refreshing--deeply flawed in many cases, but inherently understandable. Johnson (and many of his characters) often seems able to see people in a unique, and almost non-judgmental way. It evokes a surprising sympathy for his characters, and allows the reader to understand them in ways that simple lines of exposition could never do.

Also, I like books with a well-defined sense of place. Johnson's mythical county is absolutely believable, and can be roughly located on a map. Imaginary or not, it is a rich and real world full of wonderful characters. I'll definitely get around to reading more in this series.

I picked up Island 731 expecting an action-packed B-Movie that would keep me coming back for more. That's exactly what I got.

I enjoyed this book. The narration is great and well-paced. As some other reviewers have pointed out, the characters aren't especially well-developed, but I wasn't expecting some moving treatise on the human condition--I was looking for thrills & chills. This book has them.

I think if you're someone who read the synopsis of this book and thought, "This sounds interesting," then it's a pretty safe bet Island 731 is for you.

I was hesitant to buy this book based on the tepid reviews I'd read. When I finally did listen to it, I wondered what took me so long. I really enjoyed this book, and the varying takes on modern vampires.

This book is skillfully rendered, and despite the many voices and authors, manages to remain thematically consistent throughout. V Wars avoids the typical "good-guy/bad-guy" dynamic, and raises a number of thought-provoking issues.

What I liked about this book was what I found lacking in books like World War Z--character. This book is first and foremost about people surviving in a difficult time, not about monsters. One of the best genre books I've read in some time. Give it a try.

At times this book was tough to listen to, but it was never uninteresting. Written by a journalist who spent a year with an army unit based in some of Baghdad's toughest neighborhoods, this is a mostly first-hand account of the US "Surge" in the Iraq War. Because it is so personal, what we see of the Surge is not the "big picture" we're so used to seeing, but rather, we see the storm from its eye. It is a sobering view.

Boyett's narration is great. Finkel is a very gifted writer, but he sometimes can't resist a clever turn of phrase or overly poetic language (not by any means poorly done, but somehow distracting here) which can occasionally be a disservice to his book.

Of course, there is no book or work of art that can fully convey the horror and heroism of armed conflict, but "The Good Soldiers" does an excellent job. Finkel is unsentimental and unflinching, but still manages to convey a bit of his own humanity.

I love a good, scary ghost story. The problem is that so few of them are downright scary. I've been burned time and time again by stories that hint at the creepy or take you right up to the edge of something scary, but can't pull the trigger. "The Haunted" remained in my Wish List for some time because of this.

You can imagine my delight, then, that when I finally took the plunge and downloaded the book, I found "The Haunted" fulfilled its scary promise. In addition to being scary, Bentley Little gives us characters we can relate to and root for. A haunted house story (and believe me, that's not a spoiler) means very little if we can't be bothered to care for its victims. We care a great deal for these victims, as Little has made them real people, with real pain and real joy.

Although I found the conclusion a little unsatisfying, this was largely offset by the powerful emotional reaction the author is able to elicit. "The Haunted" is not perfect, but it is very, very good. A must-read for those who, like me, are always on the hunt for a good, scary ghost story.

I didn't know what to expect from GSTQ: I bought it on the strength of its rating and the reviews. I'm happy to say those positive reviews are warranted.

There is a strong romantic element to this story, and while I am not by any means a fan of romance novels, I have to admit I enjoyed experiencing the protagonist's budding romance with another major character.

I particularly liked the main character, who although strong and tough, is somewhat naive and rather bigoted. I particularly appreciated this aspect of the character, because her (anti-human, anti-Goblin) bigotry is a big part of her character, but is handled with delicacy. Moreover, like real-life prejudices, hers are not erased in the blink of an eye.

The speculative history is fun, and the author's note at the beginning helps straighten things out before the story even starts. However, I found the appendix at the end to be dry and more information than I wanted or needed. Still, it's short, and in no way detracts from the work as a whole.

The narrator adds a sophisticated and very listenable element to the story.

This is a marvelous novel and a wonderful audiobook. Tam Dean Burn manages to capture Welsh's multifaceted characters nicely, and easily navigates some tricky dialects.

As the book is written in dialect, it can be a challenging read. I first read the novel, which includes a glossary of terms, and was very helpful. Before long, I had absorbed the language. I might suggest at least looking at a copy of the book first to get a better idea of Welsh's use of language.

For those readers who make the effort, however, Trainspotting is well worth it. Less of a novel and more of a series of interrelated stories which combine to make a very satisfying whole.

I was surprised at how much I liked this book. It is a dark, grim and gritty story of a girl and her family in the depths of the Ozarks. Although the story is set in modern America, this raw portrait of a proud and secretive people makes Appalachia seem as remote as the furthest reaches of the globe.

The writing is beautiful and unsentimental, but still manages to capture life's joys along with its many woes. What begins as a bleak portrait of desperation effortlessly transforms itself into a riveting story of human courage and determination, and in facing the unthinkable because no other choice exists.

The narrator is well-suited to the material.