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Marsha

Hyattsville, MD, United States

ratings

REVIEWS

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HELPFUL VOTES

Beloved

UNABRIDGED
- by Toni Morrison
- Narrated by Toni Morrison
Beloved

UNABRIDGED (12 hrs and 6 mins)

By Toni Morrison

Narrated By Toni Morrison

Whispersync for Voice-ready

Overall
(350)
Performance
(127)
Story
(126)

Staring unflinchingly into the abyss of slavery, this spellbinding novel transforms history into a story as powerful as Exodus and as intimate as a lullaby. Sethe, its protagonist, was born a slave and escaped to Ohio, but 18 years later she is still not free. She has too many memories of Sweet Home, the beautiful farm where so many hideous things happened. And Sethe's new home is haunted by the ghost of her baby, who died nameless and whose tombstone is engraved with a single word: Beloved.
John R Williford says: "Author-read Books"
"Spellbinding"

Overall
Performance
Story

While I found a few of the internal monologues over-long, I belive my time was well-spent reading this book. About the author as reader - as a life-long listener of talking books for the blind, I had no difficulty following Ms. Morrison's rendition of her work, tracking the characters, and the shifts in the story. In particular, she read with sufficient range and emotion to keep me interested in the book and her reading did not interfere with my ability to freely interpret the story for myself. I find that amateur readers often over dramatize. In the case of this powerful story, I imagine Ms. Morrison understood that the story was weighty enough without added emotion.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful
Dead or Alive

UNABRIDGED
- by Tom Clancy , Grant Blackwood
- Narrated by Lou Diamond Phillips
Dead or Alive

UNABRIDGED (20 hrs and 39 mins)

By Tom Clancy, Grant Blackwood

Narrated By Lou Diamond Phillips

Whispersync for Voice-ready

Overall
(3984)
Performance
(1843)
Story
(1845)

Jack Ryan, the former president of the United States, is out of office, but not out of the loop about his brainchild, the “Campus” - a highly effective, counter-terrorism organization that operates outside the Washington hierarchy. But what Ryan doesn’t know is that his son, Jack Ryan, Jr., has joined his cousins, Brian and Dominic Caruso, at the shadowy Campus. While a highly effective analyst, young Ryan hungers for the action of a field agent.
Robert says: "Same great Clancey - Great narration"
"Who Are These People and Why Should I Care?"

Overall
Performance
Story

What disappointed you about Dead or Alive?

After 8+ hours, I still didn't have a feeling for the characters or the story. Clancey gave me no reason to care about any of them.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful
The Bordeaux Betrayal: A Wine Country Mystery

UNABRIDGED
- by Ellen Crosby
- Narrated by Christine Marshall
The Bordeaux Betrayal: A Wine Country Mystery

UNABRIDGED (9 hrs and 19 mins)

By Ellen Crosby

Narrated By Christine Marshall

Overall
(50)
Performance
(8)
Story
(8)

When Valerie Beauvais, author of a book on Thomas Jefferson's travels through the wine regions of France and Italy, turns up dead near Lucie Montgomery's Virginia vineyard, Lucie is certain Valerie's murder has something to do with the authenticity of a 200-year-old bottle of Bordeaux Jefferson may once have purchased for his good friend George Washington.
Elizabeth says: "Narrator awful"
"Beverly Hillbillies Meet the Hunt Club Crowd"

Overall
Performance
Story

Virginians from the wine country don't sound like that. And, neither does anyone else in America! The reader's fake Virgina drawl sounded something like Deputy Dawg's little cartoon pal "Muskey". Her male voices sounded like a little girl mimicking her daddy. The real mystery here is why on earth, the publisher used this reader. The book wasn't so hot to start with but that reader killed off any possible enjoyment.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful
Bright Shiny Morning

UNABRIDGED
- by James Frey
- Narrated by Ben Foster
Bright Shiny Morning

UNABRIDGED (13 hrs and 37 mins)

By James Frey

Narrated By Ben Foster

Overall
(127)
Performance
(25)
Story
(25)

One of the most celebrated and controversial authors in America delivers his first novel - a sweeping chronicle of contemporary Los Angeles that is bold, exhilarating, and utterly original. Dozens of characters pass across the reader's sight lines - some never to be seen again - but James Frey lingers on a handful of LA's lost souls and captures the dramatic narrative of their lives.
Anastasia says: "Brillaintly written, brilliantly narrated"
"So What if Frey Hates LA?"

Overall
Performance
Story

I am so sorry I wasted my credits on this book - I think I was taken-in by the publisher's hype. Anyway, this is an endless disconnected diatribe dwelling on the inequities among the residents of the City of Los Angeles and highlighting the moral depravity of the age. Oh, nothing very interesting, just meanness, homosexuality and crime all without passion or motivation. The book is interspersed with historical "fun facts" about the city which bear no apparent relationship to rest of the book. Maybe these are provided to make-up for the lack of a real plot. Most of the time, the reader's voice contains a cynical lilt which sounds very much like my teenage son trying to be cool. Occasionally however, the reader slips into a frenzy and screams at the listener. In case you didn't get it the first time, the author repeats some lines - a literary gimmick which he overuses. Oh, and beware of the musical interludes which are jarring, discordant and engineered to have breaks in the middle. Thanks to the music and the reader, this book wasn't even an effective sleep aid.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful
False Memory

UNABRIDGED
- by Dean Koontz
- Narrated by Stephen Lang
False Memory

UNABRIDGED (21 hrs and 18 mins)

By Dean Koontz

Narrated By Stephen Lang

Overall
(739)
Performance
(168)
Story
(164)

It's a fear more paralyzing than falling. More terrifying than absolute darkness. More horrifying than anything you can imagine. It's the one fear you cannot escape, no matter where you run...no matter where you hide. It's the fear of yourself. It's real. It can happen to you. And facing it can be deadly.
Dohna says: "Koontz did it again......."
"No Oddness Here"

Overall
Performance
Story

This is one book I think would have been much better as an abridgement. Often, the author catches-up the reader with little synopses of what just happened in recent pages - in case your attention wandered, I guess. And indeed the book did not hold my attention very well; the plot was simple, predictable and gimmicky. The characters were drawn with broad strokes. I had difficulty believing that the same author wrote this book and the “Odd” series.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful
Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance

ABRIDGED
- by Barack Obama
- Narrated by Barack Obama
Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance

ABRIDGED (7 hrs and 13 mins)

By Barack Obama

Narrated By Barack Obama

Overall
(1542)
Performance
(304)
Story
(305)

In this lyrical, unsentimental, and compelling memoir, the son of a black African father and a white American mother searches for a workable meaning to his life as a black American. It begins in New York, where Barack Obama learns that his father, a figure he knows more as a myth than as a man, has been killed in a car accident.
Marcelaine says: "I laughed and cried, what a great listen!"
"Worthwhile Reading"

Overall
Performance
Story

Long after the 2008 elections "Dreams From My Father" will still be a superb book written by a young man with the courage to frankly expose his deepest thoughts regarding racial identity and its impact on the American family and our social fabric. Whether you believe you can support Mr. Obama's bid for the Presidency or not, reading his book will provide a deeper understanding of the man who could become our first African American President.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful
Joplin's Ghost

UNABRIDGED
- by Tananarive Due
- Narrated by Lizan Mitchell
Joplin's Ghost

UNABRIDGED (21 hrs and 27 mins)

By Tananarive Due

Narrated By Lizan Mitchell

Overall
(79)
Performance
(23)
Story
(23)

Bram Stoker Award finalist Tananarive Due crafts chilling tales of suspense.
In Joplin's Ghost, 24-year-old R&B phenomenon Phoenix Smalls is on the cusp of fame and fortune. But she is haunted by the spirit of Jazz legend Scott Joplin. After a series of sultry, erotic encounters with the ghost, and with the pressures of stardom closing in on her, Phoenix begins to fear for her life and career.
Audrey says: "Sweeping--a fabulous read"
"Dead Guys Can't Sue Bad Authors"

Overall
Performance
Story

Ugh! Read on, if you like the idea of rapacious sex with a dead man. But, be prepared to never again enjoy Scott Joplin’s beautiful music without visions of him humping his way into eternity. Sadly, this dime store novel tarnishes Mr. Joplin's legacy by magnifying his human frailties solely to provide a vehicle for an otherwise dull story. This book left me wondering why it warranted even a passing mention in Ear to the Ground.

2 of 13 people found this review helpful
Anansi Boys

UNABRIDGED
- by Neil Gaiman
- Narrated by Lenny Henry
Anansi Boys

UNABRIDGED (10 hrs and 8 mins)

By Neil Gaiman

Narrated By Lenny Henry

Whispersync for Voice-ready

Overall
(3110)
Performance
(1014)
Story
(1021)

Returning to the territory he so brilliantly explored in his masterful New York Times best seller American Gods, the incomparable Neil Gaiman offers up a work of dazzling ingenuity, a kaleidoscopic journey deep into myth that is at once startling, terrifying, exhilarating, and fiercely funny, a true wonder of a novel that confirms Stephen King's glowing assessment of the author as "a treasure house of story, and we are lucky to have him."
A. Hawley says: "Beautifully narrated"
"Tell me another story, please. . ."

Overall
Performance
Story

Unlike American Gods, Anansi Boys is a bedtime story, a fable for adults. Most likely, the audiobook is an improvement over the printed version because this book was meant to be read and sung aloud. Gaiman delivers his message with wit and humor that doesn't blunt its power. Anansi Boys left me searching for another audiobook by Neil Gaiman (and sadly disappointed). Anansi Boys is a beautifully produced book. Gaiman is fortunate that Lenny Henry was available to provide his work its voice; I cannot imagine another reader doing it justice. Still hungering for more, I searched for another audiobook read by Lenny Henry; and again, I was disappointed. It is hard to believe that such a gifted reader has produced only one audiobook for Audible. Anansi Boys also includes some of the most delightful music I've heard on a recorded book and the book is precisely edited with exacting timing. Altogether, it is a work of art that is a delight to hear (or read through the ears).

2 of 2 people found this review helpful
The Lake House

UNABRIDGED
- by James Patterson
- Narrated by Hope Davis , Stephen Lang
The Lake House

UNABRIDGED (7 hrs and 35 mins)

By James Patterson

Narrated By Hope Davis, Stephen Lang

Whispersync for Voice-ready

Overall
(406)
Performance
(29)
Story
(30)

Six children have escaped government experiments, and a frightening brush with death. Living out in the world for the first time, they yearn to be reunited with Kit and Frannie, the couple who saved their lives, and to return to the cabin known as the Lake House. But before they can get there, they will face a horrifying evil, for one man has survived the laboratory that bred the flying children, and he is obsessed with reclaiming them for a new round of experiments - with an even more deadly outcome.
Shannon says: "The Lake House, by James Patterson"
"Patterson's Bird Children Lay An Egg"

Overall
Performance
Story

Do not waste valuable time or credits on this work. The plot is childish, the characters one-dimensional, and the story-line entirely predicable. The uninspired dialog seems written almost entirely without the benefit of adjectives. The reader is forced to wheedle her way through the simplistic narrative with little opportunity to demonstrate her vocal range due to the characters? flattened affect. I would say that the book was written for preteens, except that the bird children indulge in sexual escapades that are inappropriate for adolescent readers and embarrassing for a more mature audience due to the author's artless presentation.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful