Welcome to our archive of March 2001 audiobook reviews. A good
audiobook is very much like the old time radio programs (which are fun to download) because they put on a stage
performance entirely with sound. We can't get enough of them, and now they're available on both cassette and CD, and
many websites now allow you to download audiobooks (as well as e-books) for iPods and other MP3 players. Whether you like to
call it a book on tape, an audiobook, or even a podcast, we present our audiobook reviews for your enjoyment.
Superstition tells you that if ever a theater is empty and dark a ghost will move in. To prevent this, a single light is left on called a "ghost light". This is a story about Frank Rich, who during his miserable childhood discovered the joys of the theater and musicals. He got a job as a ticket-taker, finding his new home to be in the theater with the welcoming actors.
Following his love of the theater Rich became a critic and gained fame with the New York Times, where he was the chief drama critic from 1980 to 1993. This is his memoir about his life and a childhood that was transformed by a new love, the theater.
It seems a shame to abridge this charming tale about a Little Prince who is literally out-of-this-world. Richard Gere is excellent portraying the pilot whose plane has crashed in the Sahara. As the pilot is trying to repair his plane, he is interrupted by this Littler Prince with a request that he draw a picture of a sheep. The whole fable points out that is much less complicated through the eyes of the young. It's always been a touching fable and this version will bring a tug or two to the heart of the listener.
Meanwhile, back at the home of Dr. Kay Scarpetta where she is still pretty traumatized by the events of her previous books, Kay opens her door to the viscious Frenchman known as the Werewolf. To save her own life, she doused the killer with a jar of chemicals she had brought home. Now she is distraught, and to add to her problems, she is being investigated for a murder of a previous nasty boss and also for corruption.
Kay spends a lot of time with her therapist in the hope of surviving her problems at the same time she is trying to solve all the mysteries with her usual group of buddies and her niece who is frankly a drag. In fact, this is a much better listen, abridged as it is, than trying to plod through a book that is too long and too maudlin.
The time is 1994. The place is Las Vegas. Viola, the family matriarch introduces the family. Husband Cecil and their four adult kids are giving Viola a lot of trouble with their problems. Paris, a daughter, is divorced and mother to a teenage son. Paris is a successful businesswoman and is the rock who helps out the needy in the family. Lewis keeps landing in jail. Charlotte thinks she has nothing in common with her parents and siblings. Janelle is the baby of the family and is very defensive about her lifestyle and the man she has recently married. Janelle is facing a new crisis now.
A dysfunctional family that might remind us of people we know or hear about. It is Terry McMillan's writing that always brings to life the people and their lives in her plots. Among the other actors heard on this audio is the talented (and gorgeous! - ed.) actress Alfrie Woodard. A very well done presentation.
Stone Barrington, the attorney/investigator, finds himself caught between two attractive women. One of them was left at the altar and the other is a murder suspect. Stone is about to marry his girlfriend, Dolce, who is the daughter of a retired New York Mafia figure. One of the women who calls on Stone for help is a former lover who is about to be tried for murdering her husband, a famous film star. Her name is Arrington, and Stone finds that he is not entirely over being attracted by her. For her part Arrington does not remember a thing about the night of the murder. There is a lot evidence against her as Stone tries to find out the truth he finds a new danger. With his partner, Dino, at his side, Stone digs though a lot of Hollywood dirt that they must sift through to find the truth.
This is a very complicated plot that is much better unabridged in order to get all of the details. The story revolves around a boy named Bartholomew. At the same time a girl is born in San Francisco, a result of a rape. Her mother dies. She is raised by her aunt. We move on to the villain who is truly evil from the first time he is introduced. He very suddenly murders his wife, and we find out that he kills without warning and what seems to be without reason. Our villain is looking for Bartholomew because he believes that this boy is a result of a rape he committed and he wants to destroy him. He is mistaken, but he does not learn that until very late in the book after he has killed cruelly several times.
In the meantime, Bartholomew loses his sight, but gains some mysterious powers. He shares some of these powers with the baby girl born in San Francisco. This is their story and about how they use the powers to protect themselves and the family of friends that have rallied around them.
Kellerman introduces us to "Dr. Death," who is a euthanasia champion and responsible for scores of assisted suicides. Now someone has chosen to kill the doctor by hooking him up to his own equipment and adding a touch of butchering of his own design. Milo Sturges, the Los Angeles Police Department homicide detective, calls on his friend Dr. Alex Delaware for assistance in catching the killer. Working this case bring Delaware into a conflict of interest problem. Delaware and Sturges disagree a lot here, and the conflict almost destroys their relationship. Meantime, one of the suspects in the murder is Dr. Death's own son. Another suspect is a psychopathic killer who relishes the geometry of death.
This is the usual good tale we expect from the reliable Jonathan Kellerman.
A story of four women and a killer this adventure takes place in San Francisco. The four women are friends. They are after a killer who has been stalking newlyweds in the city. Lidsay Boxer is a homicide inspector in the SFPD. Claire Washburn is a medical examiner. Jill Bernhardt is an assistant D.A., and Cindy Thomas has just started a job working the crime desk of the San Francisco Chronicle. These friends form a "Women's Murder Club" so that they can collaborate and share their information. They are working outside of the usual procedures, but the usual procedures have not been working. So they decide to sidestep their bosses and proceed on their own.
Look for a very fast-paced listen that will entertain you with some very fine reading and plot twists.
Ludlum is a great writer to listen to, and when it is as well read as it is by Muller you can look for hours of interest. This story is about Nicholas Bryson who was a top deep-cover operative for a branch of the CIA. He retired to become a college professor with a new identity. Now it is five years later, and the CIA want his help to shut down the special branch which has turned out to have used Bryson against his own country.
Bryson's skills are rusty and he no longer knows who to trust from his old days. He doesn't even know why someone is trying to assassinate him. Ties to the worldwide increase of terrorism are a possible angle of this plot that takes the reader to the Mideast, Europe, Russia and China into the heart of a world of murder where nothing is what it seems. Even Bryson's wife is suspect.
Cannell once again weaves us a delicious tale to enjoy. L.A. Police detective Shane Scully is under investigation by the Internal Affairs Sqaud, who are known as "The Tin Collectors'. Scully has killed his ex-partner who was one of the mayor's bodyguards. He has resigned his job for the time being, but he remains under the watchful eye of the Police Department. Scully learns that more than his badge is at stake when he is set up to take the rap in a deadly plot of corruption that reaches the highest levels of LAPD.
Be sure to visit us again next month when we'll
review more great audiobooks! Our
audiobook reviews are written by our Editor, Richard L. Trethewey.
Rainbo Electronic Reviews' audiobook reviews are published monthly. Back issues of our
reviews are available from the Rainbo Reviews Backissues Archive.
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