Without Due Process: J. P. Beaumont Series, Book 10

This is my tenth out of fourteen in the J.P. Beaumont series. It did not disappoint. It had everythingI look for in light reading entertainment-a tight, well thought out story line- witty and intelligent fun- without the gore of some detective series. Gene Engene is a gifted narrator. I love his deep, pleasant voice. I look so forward to each book in this series. I will be very sad to say goodbye to J.P. Beaumont, and all the other characters I have learned to love since reading my first J.P. Beaumont book. Thanks J.A. Jance for a wonderful series!

This was a pretty good listen and I personally enjoyed it enough to stay with it through to the end. The characters are engaging enough so that I can see how Jance has kept this series going all these years. The story line is interesting but not riveting. I would definitely recommend this for listening to especially for folks who might find Connolly or Sandford novels a little rough. Gene Engene does a nice job of reading, his style fits the characters well. The voices are a little contrived and it's kind of like listening to ten hours of a Wilfred Brimley oatmeal or life insurance commercial. If you like that style, you'll really enjoy Engene' reading. For me personally I would choose the Davenport or Bosch novels over this series. I have listened to many of those and their plots really crackle along in comparison to Beaumont's. Due partially to Engene's reading style and partially to Jance's writing, Beaumont comes off as kind of a geezer - even though at one point in the book he talks about his "oncoming middle age". He makes many more references, though, the the bone spurs in his feet and how much pain he's in. Another point to mention about this book: this particular episode is getting a little long in the tooth. Here we have "newfangled" cell phones and a fax machine as an example of the latest technology. The fact that the story is interesting at all is testament to Jance's solid characters and Engene's interesting reading style. There is a little bit of graphic description of the murder scene in the beginning of the book, and a few mild swear words throughout - nothing like the Connolly or Sandford books in this regard. Some folks might find this appealing but for me personally it kind of lent to the overall "geezer-lit" feel and made the police drama seem a little less realistic. Overall: not great, not bad, might recommend starting with one of the newer books in this series though if you were going to give it a try