June 2003 Audiobook Reviews

Naked Prey
by John Sandford

Putnam Berkley Audio

ISBN# 0-399-15067-6
Suggested Retail Price: $29.95 or as low as $2.69 from Amazon.com!

This newest in John Sanford's chilling "Prey" series involves Lucas Davenport as his life goes through some major changes. The boss, Rose Marie Roux, is a special troubleshooter - a new job for cases that are too dangerous and complicated for anyone else to handle. Lucas is now married and a new father. He is nervous that his life is too good and that one has to pay for happiness. The case he gets very complicated when two people are found hanging from a tree in the woods of Northern Minnesota. The dead couple are a black man and a white woman, and they are naked. There is danger and excitement in this well-written novel. This audiobook will keep you on the edge of your car seat throughout the chilling mystery.

Dirty Work
by Stuart Woods, Tony Roberts

Putnam Berkley Audio

ISBN# 0-399-14994-5
Suggested Retail Price: $25.95 or as low as $2.69 from Amazon.com!

Tony Roberts is one of my favorite readers and he is perfect for this very sexy story. We all have met Steve Barrington, the cop who is now a lawyer, in earlier Woods works. For this adventure Barrington has arrived in Manhattan to look for a woman - a very dangerous woman. He is investigating what really happened to a very dead and very rich husband. It all becomes a bizarre challenge to solve that takes both Barrington and his former NYPD partner to solve.

Woods is always a good listen, and also an easy read. He never fails to take his fans on an interesting adventure, as he proves once again here with this work.

No Second Chance
by Harlan Coben

Penguin Audio

ISBN# 0-14-280017-1
Suggested Retail Price: $29.95 or as low as $11.99 from Amazon.com!

The award-winning author Harlan Coben weaves an adrenaline-filled tale for us. I don't know why there are two different readers in the abridged and unabridged editions, but in any case, whichever format you find best, you will be in for a treat.

The story starts out as Mark Sedman wakes up to finds himself in the hospital Intensive Care Unit. Mark knows the scene well because he is a surgeon himself. He learns that he has been shot, his wife was murdered, and his baby daughter, Tara, has vanished. Who did the shooting and why is the question?

When Mark gets a ransom note, he finds some new hope that his daughter is still alive. This is what I call a "white-knuckle thriller." The story will play on your heartstrings as loyal friends help Mark to answer his questions.

Back Story
by Robert B. Parker, Joe Mantegna

Random House Audio

ISBN# 0-7393-0259-0
Suggested Retail Price: $29.95 or as low as $4.00 from Amazon.com!

Spenser is getting older, but he has not really slowed down. This time he sets out to solve a thirty-year-old murder. He is doing this as a favor to an old friend. The plot concerns a group that was active during 70's. They called themselves The Dread Scott Brigade. The group held up a bank and during the robbery a woman was shot and killed. With no clues and the fact that the FBI report about this group is missing, Spenser sets out on another exciting mystery. He does it with the style that only an old Spenser fan can appreciate.

What? You aren't familiar with this detective? Start now and you will be hooked and can enjoy a wealth of old stories in which Spenser is the hero. Avoid the old television series starring the late Robert Urich. While it had popular appeal, it didn't do justice to the exciting series of detecive mystery books.

From my point of view Spenser and his black cohort really do overdo the hip talk this time out. Actor Joe Mantegna is a fine reader for any Spencer story, having portrayed the detective himself in a short-lived series of TV movies, and he does this one very well. I hope that Parker can tone the fast talking pair down a shade when they return.

The Coffee Trader
by David Liss, Graeme Malcolm

Random House Audio

ISBN# 0-7393-0206-X
Suggested Retail Price: $29.95 or as low as $14.81 from Amazon.com!

David Liss won an Edgar Award for his debut novel "A Conspiracy of Paper." So all of his new fans have been waiting for this new work. The plot takes place in 1659. This is a crucial moment in history. Amsterdam is the city and we enter the mysterious world of international trade. Here there is no shortage of schemes and rogues for whom deception is the rule. This is the home of the world's first commodity exchange and Miguel Lienzo has been a very bright trader. Now Miguel has lost his shirt because of a sudden shift in the sugar markets. He meets a Dutch woman and she offers him a new chance for success in a plot to corner the new commodity called coffee. Miguel risks everything and must use all of his guile to fight an enemy who will stop at nothing to ruin him again.

Intelligent and exciting, this is a mystery that educates and excites.

The Firm
by John Grisham, D.W. Moffett

RH Audio Price-less

ISBN# 0-7393-0375-9
Suggested Retail Price: $14.99 or as low as $6.97 from Amazon.com!

It's bargain time! Random House Audio is re-releasing some of their best audio at this new lower price. Let's start off with the famous John Grisham who writes such engaging legal thrillers.

This is the story of Mitch McDeere who has pulled himself up out of the coal mines to graduate from Harvard Law School. He decides to go to work for a Memphis law firm that has offered him a lot of money. As he and his new wife settle into his job, he begins to have some questions about the firm. Eventually he discovers that the firm is owned by a crime family from Chicago, and that he is in danger because the bosses know he wants out and their "employees" never just quit.

This gripping tale was a terrific film, in spite of the stone-faced acting of Tom Cruise. This is a luxurious listening experience, and the price is an incredible bargain.

Silent Partner
by Jonathan Kellerman, John Rubinstein

RH Audio Price-less

ISBN# 0-7393-0376-7
Suggested Retail Price: $14.99 or as low as $7.99 from Amazon.com!

This story features Dr. Alex Delaware who runs into a former lover at a party. Her name is Sharon and she says she needs help. The good doctor avoids her and then later finds out that she has died. Now his conscience bothers him and he plunges into the maze of Sharon's life. As he moves through the rich homes and dark secrets of California's wealthy. The clues he finds lead him into an unsafe area and his own life is in danger.

Any Dr. Cross mystery is well worth listening to, and at this price you simply can't go wrong!

Don't Know Much About History - Updated and Revised Edition
by Kenneth C. Davis, Jeff Woodman

Random House Audio

ISBN# 0-7393-1771-7
Suggested Retail Price: $49.95 or as low as $32.92 from Amazon.com!

Complete and newly revised, this was a best-selling classic book that will teach you everything you need to know about history, but never learned. History is taught with humor, great stories and an easy conversational style in this new experience. Here you get a fresh take on history. You will also find that you don't really hate history, it was they way it was rammed into your head in school.

Now this gem of a book has been brought up to date and revised for audio. You wouldn't want to miss being well-educated about historical affairs so that you can appreciate world events with an informed perspective. For history buffs this is a delightful listen, and for someone who just never understood or enjoyed history, this is for you, too!

Where There's a Will
by Rex Stout, Michael Prichard

Audio Partners

ISBN# 1-57270-096-3
Suggested Retail Price: $29.95 or as low as $16.95 from Amazon.com!

This Nero Wolfe mystery is about the very esteemed and very wealthy Mr. Noel Hawthorne who had died at the age of 49. In his will he left his mistress some seven million dollars. He left his very upset sister zero, nada, zilch, niente, not a farthing. Well, he left the rest of his relatives a piece of fruit. When Wolfe is brought into the picture he and his chief investigator Archie Goodwin, stumble into what appears to be a legacy of murder.

Of course, it's a ripping good yarn. There is no mystery writer any finer than Rex Stout. He died in 1975 and left us a legacy of 73 mysteries. All of his works have been enormously entertaining, and the mystery world is enchanted by his rotund, orchid-growing gourmand, Nero Wolfe. Michael Prichard, who now has some 300 audio books to his credit, reads this one with his usual perfection. I am hooked on Nero Wolfe, or have I mentioned that before?

The Gods of Mars
by Edgar Rice Burroughs

Tantor Media

ISBN# 1-4001-0020-8
Suggested Retail Price: $39.00 or as low as $39.00 from Amazon.com!

The nice people from Tantor have brought out another tale of John Carter who has his adventures on Mars. The author of Tarzan wrote many more tales than just those of the Jungle King, and this rich heritage is now available to all of us who appreciate this writer.

John Carter has returned to Mars ten years later. After the death of his Martian wife, and in order to search for the Princess Thoris. He meets old comrades and makes new friends. The combat with the hostile enemies that are new to the people of Barsoon are exciting and now the listener learns the truth about Mars.

I was a teenager when I found these Burroughs books, having already devoured the Tarzan series at a younger age. What a delight it was and perhaps my earliest introduction to Science Fiction. I became a fan of both Burroughs and Science Fiction at an early age and have never outgrown it.

The Beasts of Tarzan
by Edgar Rice Burroughs

Tantor Media

ISBN# 1-4001-0004-6
Suggested Retail Price: $36.00 or as low as $36.00 from Amazon.com!

I admit it. I love Tarzan, too. I liked Disney's Tarzan and all of the silly old Johnny Weismuller films with famous swimmer that are so dated as to be comical to see now. Here we have another of the tales of the Jungle Lord, and it is really a pleasure to find them once again.

The story takes up after Tarzan has given up Jane to another man. Tarzan is sent on special assignment to North Africa. There he has to escape from an evil Russian enemy. He discovers Opar, The City Of Gold. Opar is buried in the middle of the jungle. Lots of brutal men and savage women enter his life. It is also here that he meets the priestess of the Flaming God.

Yeah, it gets far out, but never mind. Tarzan escapes death and becomes the leader of a primitive tribe as he escapes through ancient crypts. It's a good adventure for young or old. What the heck, Tarzan is a part of our lives now and we were all fans once. So share this with a teen who would enjoy the tale and the excitement, too.

And note that these audiobooks are also available in MP-3 format CDs, so you can transfer them to your computer or portable music player.

The Guardian
by Nicholas Sparks, Anne Twomey

Warner Adult

ISBN# 1-5862-1393-8
Suggested Retail Price: $26.98 or as low as $2.80 from Amazon.com!

Julie Barenson is a young widow. It has been four years since her husband's tragic death, and she is now ready to risk a new love. Richard Franklin is handsome and sophisticated. He treats Julie like a queen. Mike Harris, who is Julie's best friend, is on her list as well. So it is time for Julie to make a doeskin. Instead of looking forward to a new and happy alliance, suddenly Julie is fighting for her life. She is involved in a nightmare where her life is in danger. It's an enjoyable tale.

Don't Know Much About American History
by Kenneth C. Davis, Oliver Wyman, Jonathan Davis, John Beach,

Listening Library

ISBN# 0-8072-1625-9
Suggested Retail Price: $26.00 or as low as $12.45 from Amazon.com!

Here is another in this series of fun and informative audiobooks that will enlighten the listeners to the real history of America. OK? First of, the question is answered about whether Columbus was the first European in the Americas. Later you can learn which sport became most popular after the Civil War and many other burning questions that you might enjoy knowing about.

Don't you feel embarassed when there's a discussion of The Federalist Papers, or Aaron Burr, or even Bennedict Arnold and while you recognize the names, you really don't know the facts. I know I do. Here is your chance to really learn about your own country's heritage.

The set is full of facts that are delivered in a question and answer format. The author will introduce you to our ancestors who settled the East and expanded the West. You'll also learn who was living here all along - no, not them. You'll just have to buy the tapes!