Mike

Timeline is a fast-paced science fiction novel which incorporates time travel, historical conflicts during the dark ages (France, 1357) and a group of current day historians and students who are caught dangerously in the middle.

Although slightly “cinematic”, Crichton provides just enough character development, time travel technology and historical reference to keep this book “lightweight” and enjoyable throughout. I especially enjoyed the portrayal of Europe in the 1300s as compared (or actually contrasted) to our current lifestyles. Political affairs, personal interests and greed seem familiar but everyday survival and personal success take on an entirely different meaning. I found it hard to put down towards the finish.

The narration and sound quality were good.

Absolutely no spoilers…

Broken Harbor was a solid, psychological, murder mystery written from the perspective of a veteran detective, Michael Kennedy. It possessed captivating and dynamic character development and delivered highly enjoyable work and personal interactions.

Early into the book, I found myself become engrossed to the setting’s very current and relative economic/social tone. The plot was quite engaging, and I found it hard to put down about half way through. Although I am, at times, disappointed by fictitious, unrealistic methods and instruments of investigation which many “crime” mysteries seem to employ, Tana French obviously did her homework by staying with real, but very intriguing, investigatory techniques, all while keeping it “light weight”.

The narration and sound quality were good.

I highly recommend this (4.5 star) novel.

As a police sergeant in a suburb of a large city, I approached this book like I find myself with most murder mysteries, quite tentative but hoping for a complicated, clever storyline with good character development. This read easily met those criteria but really hit home with a well done pre-apocalyptic setting.

The Last Policeman is written from the perspective of a very realistic main character, Detective Hank Palace, a “down to earth” police officer who still cares to do an already thankless job in the worst of times.

The author did an excellent job of adjusting the readers mindset to new and different types of motives, drives, ways of being and thought processes which had an effect on, not only each character within the story, but all of society. The setting of “impending doom” was only a backdrop to the overall story and, refreshingly, never took off as the actual problem to solve. Interpersonal and work relationships were very entertaining and emotionally engaging as well.

The audio quality was good and the narration was done well.