Linda Lou

I can be a bit verbose with my reviews but I write what I want to see when I read the reviews of others. However the three-letter heading really sums it up! But, if you insist.....

While I know that forensics didn't begin recently, there has been a huge gap on books about criminal investigation in the decades between Victorian-era Sherlock Holmes and present day "CSI: Miami". And both of these accounts are largely science fiction - my long-time Sr. Crime Scene Investigator boyfriend doesn't drive a Hummer, conduct highly technical forensic and chemical tests, arrest perps, or interrogate suspects! He mainly "bags it 'n' tags it", i.e., collects evidence like bullet casings, weapons, blood, drugs, etc., dusts for fingerprints, and thoroughly documents the crime scene with schematics, photos, and video, assuring that everything is logged in which begins the critical chain of custody for trial.

This book gives credit to 2 brilliant dedicated scientists who created, formally organized, and set the current standard for catching murderers and/or exonerating innocent people of the most elusive and complicated manner of death - poisoning. Before there were mass chromatograph spectrometers, there was chief medical examiner Charles Norris and toxicologist Alexander Gettler, scientists who dedicated their time and, often, their own money to convince the corrupt NYC legal system that forensics had a much- needed place in criminal investigation. And they did it with glass tubes, petri dishes, and Bunsen burners in the 1920s! They could keep working in a blackout while today's forensic labs would have to close up until the computers had power!

My only complaint is the narrator. While she can spit out long hard-to-pronounce chemical names without batting an eye, for some strange reason she had Dr. Gettler sounding like Tony Soprano! Totally unnecessary and often distracting. This is not a book which requires gimmicky accents. The subject matter stands on its own. AMAZING!!

Everything about an audiobook which makes it not worth buying has gathered here for a perfect storm. First, WHY is this even an interesting subject matter? Anthony Trollope obviously has issues with women or why write such a nonsensical story? I've read and enjoyed other books by this author. But this one is a waste of time! No self-respecting female author would have wasted her time writing this mess. Why? Because it is science fiction!! Seven and a half hours about a neurotic woman ruminating about a jilted romance. Trollope wants us to believe that a town has come to a full stop while speculating, gossiping, lying, back-stabbing, and being outraged just because a woman decides not to marry a cold, cruel-hearted older man? Are we to believe also that this woman is now "ruined" as if she slept with every man in Europe when the most scandalous thing she shared with a man is a chaste kiss on the cheek. That no other man would have her due to this "indiscretion"? That, by not taking out a front-page advertisement about her broken engagement, she is now guilty of "premeditated fraud"? What a small-minded bunch of people, with nothing else to do except pass stories and, even worse, pass judgment against a young woman who made the step to control her own life. No wonder the British got nothing done back then! REEE-DICK-A-LUSS!!!!

To compound this stupid tale is probably the worst narrator in Audible history - i should know, since I own over 425 audiobooks. Did anyone LISTEN to this book after the recording session. Jill Masters never changes the inflection in her voice for 7 hours. She just drones on and on and on! After 4 hours I felt like I was in the middle of a long hard labor with a stillborn baby!!! Painful for the mere fact of being in pain. Then to make all of the above worse, the audio quality is very poor, as if the book was recorded in an all porcelain bathroom. That "reverb" effect is great when one is singing in the shower but is extremely irritating in an audiobook.

I've listened to many books where the story is too simple or too dark or too inconsequential, yet a good narrator using innovative voice effects makes the ride worthwhile. Not so here. This narrator totally ruined a ruined a book which is hanging on a very thin literary thread. Jill Masters sounds as if she is bored to death and, in turn, she bores the listener. Try as I might, I couldn't finish this one. Anthony Trollope, Jill Masters, Jimcin Recordings and Audible.com are co-conspirators in an coup d'??tat of aural pain!

Alison Weir seems to be losing her edge. I've always been a fan of her writing but, recently, her books are coming off like romance novels. I love Eleanor of Aquitaine - I know she was a ***ch sometimes but, hey, she was a woman in a man's world! In this book, she is portrayed as flighty and slutty, rather than the woman with a purpose who lived her life like a man. I've purchased every Weir audio book available here but this one just might be my last!

I have NEVER heard anyone from Botswana drag the "M" in names and words like this narrator! Everything sounds like "Mmmmmother mmmmmmakes mmmmmuch mmmmmmoney! IRRITATING! And it makes what could be a pleasing story drag along. I guess I got used to Jill Scott's expert acting as Precious Ramotswe in the HBO series. No one in the series went around drawling out "Mma" like "Mmmmmmmmmma". Hearing this over and over again, several times in one sentence hurts my ears! ! Lisette Lecat may be South African-born but not BLACK SOUTH AFRICAN! I'm tired of white narrators thinking that they know how we talk. Guess what? YOU DON'T!!!!

This is the only one of many reviews that I've written here where I have nothing to say about the story because the narration is the worst in over 300 Audible.com I've purchased. Glad I got this book on sale but it's not even worth the sales price! Does Audible even listen to these books when the narration is completed? Obviously not! I know there must be black, African-American, and African narrators out there to do justice to our voices. Find some, Audible! I'm getting weary of listening to us sound like minstrels or just plain ridiculous as in this book! A MEERKAT could have done better than LECAT!

I have to admit that I bought this book almost 2 years ago but couldn't get through it. Even my favorite narrator, Nadia May, couldn't make me understand what the hell was going on. But I recently watched the British mini-series "Mapp & Lucia" on Netflix and I finally got it! I was shocked considering 99% of the time I prefer the book to the movie. I went back and tried it again and I absolutely loved this book! I even bought Benson's "Miss Mapp" as soon as I finished this one. Lucia, Georgie, Miss Mapp, Quaint Irene and all the other characters come alive with May's masterful narration. This is a great story of small time snobs in a teeny-tiny village who absolutely thrive on cliquish, gossipy behavior, and "up womanship". "La Lucia" and her rival Miss Mapp are hilarious trying to outdo each other trying to be big fish in a very small town, knowing that they could never survive in a big city like London during the reign of King George V. Mink coats and "Royces" here are like millennium hip-hop artists with their "bling-bling"! If at first you don't succeed in listening to this book, please try, try again. It's well worth the price of admission! (And there's always Netflix for a primer!)

Although I am a voracious reader, going through an average of 5 books a week, I never really cared for this genre of writing. However, I ended up buying Connelly's "Brass Verdict" several months ago only because it was on sale. I read it after it ended up sitting in My Library for about 3 months, only because I had nothing else. I was immediately addicted and next purchased "The Lincoln Lawyer" and "The Reversal", along with ALL of the Harry Bosch books, for a grand total of EIGHTEEN books in ONE MONTH! As soon as Connelly's latest book came out last week, I bought that one too! Attorney Mickey Haller is a well-rounded character who gets himself in all sorts of trouble but manages to prevail in the end. That's quite a feat for a lawyer with no office, working out of the back of his Lincoln. He's the guy that you always want to win, even when his clients are despicable! Here he's partnered with Connelly's other hero, LAPD Detective Harry Bosch. He's also switched sides, working as a prosecutor instead of defense, which makes an interesting turn of events. As usual, there's lots of twists and turns which keep the reader interested and wanting more. I hope Michael Connelly appreciates the fact that, singlehandedly, I probably paid his November 2011 electric bill! LOL (NOTE: If you read any other of the Mickey Haller books, you will basically see this same review. I can't think of 19 different reviews for books which basically use the same general format. Only the narrators really stand out, making one book better than another, especially in his Bosch series. The 4 Mickey Haller books are really the best in his entire body of work.)

Although I am a voracious reader, going through an average of 5 books a week, I never really cared for this genre of writing. However, I ended up buying Connelly's "Brass Verdict" several months ago only because it was on sale. I read it after it ended up sitting in My Library for about 3 months, only because I had nothing else. I was immediately addicted and next purchased "The Lincoln Lawyer" and "The Reversal", and "The Reveral", along with ALL of the Harry Bosch books, for a grand total of EIGHTEEN books in ONE MONTH! As soon as Connelly's latest book came out last week, I bought that one too! Attorney Mickey Haller is a well-rounded character who gets himself in all sorts of trouble but manages to prevail in the end. That's quite a feat for a lawyer with no office, working out of the back of his Lincoln. He's the guy that you always want to win, even when his clients are despicable! I hope Michael Connelly appreciates the fact that, singlehandedly, I probably paid his November 2011 electric bill! LOL (NOTE: If you read any other of the Mickey Haller books, you will basically see this same review. I can't think of 19 different reviews for books which basically use the same general format. Only the narrators really stand out, making one book better than another, especially in his Bosch series. The 4 Mickey Haller books are really the best in his entire body of work.)

Although I am a voracious reader, going through an average of 5 books a week, I never really cared for this genre of writing. However, I ended up buying Connelly's "Brass Verdict" several months ago only because it was on sale. I read it after it ended up sitting in My Library for about 3 months, only because I had nothing else. I was immediately addicted and next purchased this book, and the other 2 in the Mickey Haller series, along with ALL of the Harry Bosch books, for a grand total of EIGHTEEN books in ONE MONTH! As soon as Connelly's latest book came out last week, I bought that one too! Attorney Mickey Haller is a well-rounded character who gets himself in all sorts of trouble but manages to prevail in the end. That's quite a feat for a lawyer with no office, working out of the back of his Lincoln. He's the guy that you always want to win, even when his clients are despicable! I hope Michael Connelly appreciates the fact that, singlehandedly, I probably paid his November 2011 electric bill! LOL (NOTE: If you read any other of the Mickey Haller books, you will see this same review. I can't think of 19 different reviews for books which basically use the same general format. Only the narrators really stand out, making one book better than another, especially in his Bosch series. The 4 "Lincoln Lawyer" books are really the best in his entire body of work.)

This was a surprise for me, since I don't care for fiction crime books. I think I bought this months ago in a $4.95 sale and only listened to it because I had nothing else in my library. But I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this book and I have to rank this as above average in the almost 300 audio books that I've purchased in the past few years.

The overall storyline had riveting twists and turns which kept me on the edge of my seat. This was the first of NINETEEN books that I ended up buying by this author - back to back! I loved the main character, Mickey Haller. I hadn't seen the movie

Since this was my first Connelly audiobook, I thought Giles was pretty good. But compared to the narrators in the Harry Bosch novels, Len Cariou and Dick Hill, this narrator was a close third behind Hill.

This is the worst book I've ever read by Gregory. Did she write it grade school?! I enjoy novels based on historical fact, even those where a lot of "literary license" has been used. But this book is a hot mess. No where in history has Lady Margaret Beaufort ever been depicted as a whiny, vain, selfish, spiteful, narcissistic, hateful, self-righteous, delusional, bi-polar, homicidal maniac. Gregory sets the tone that Beaufort is inspired by the martyr Joan of Arc. This makes no sense because it's apparent that Margaret knows very little about the saint's life and struggles. The only difficult thing Margaret did her entire life is have a baby. All she does is "playa-hates" on the beautiful Elizabeth Woodville, calling her a slut and power-hungry whore, yet SHE's the one who is guilty of doing whatever she can to advance the son she barely even knows. She plots the downfall of others to put him on English throne, even the murder of two children, stating that it's OK "because God sanctioned it". She claims that God speaks to her personally and can't understand why she nor her son, the future King Henry VII, aren't treated like celebs since she's basically His BFF. Her hatred against and obsession with Elizabeth is pathological. Vanity, hate, and spite don't get you a sainthood, Margie! The writing is repetitive - the author will tell you the same thing 10 times as if it were the first time she said it. Gregory took what could have been a very interesting plot twist about a minor historical figure and turned it into something that's nonsensical and painful to listen to with all of the hateful whining. The narrator's delivery of this "cow patty" adds nothing positive since she sounds like she's about to burst into tears any moment. You can get a better perspective of the beginning of the Tudor dynasty from Wikipedia! Save your credit/money!