Welcome to our archive of September 2005 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.
This is a weird and wonderfully different read. This is also Spignesi’s debut and I look forward to much more from this unique writer. It’s a good thriller. The plot takes place in an animal shelter where they also “put animals down.” That is a delicate term for killing the pets.
The person who is in charge of the program and is responsible for killing a group of the animals every week is Victoria Troy. She a tiny person. She is a lover of animals. One day she just flips and kills six of her coworkers in the same way she kills the pets. The mystery is why? The court hires a shrink to probe what could have possibly happened to make Victoria a cold-blooded killer.
The author takes the reader along on the sessions between Victoria with the psychiatrist. His notes are an insight into the killer along with the notes of her lawyer and her mother that are sent to the judge. It's like peeking into the private notes of skilled specialists who are balancing the guilt of Victoria and what was in her past that brought her to this future.
I am a devoted fan of the “Monkey Wrench Gang” and this time they did not let me down. The group uses that name to peddle their computer skills and their fighting abilities. Two of the Monkey Wrench Gang are the founders, Grace and Annie. Along with Deputy Sharon Mueller this group is driving to a new assignment. A new serial killer is just emerging and this group hopes to find him. On the way their car breaks down and they get lost in the northern woods. Their cell phones don’t work here as they try to call for help. They abandon the car and all of their equipment and start to walk toward a town called, “Four Corners” where they find nothing and no one. What is going on?
The women are well trained to take care of themselves, which is good because they run into some serious trouble when they enter a deadly area where people have been killed just for intruding.
The rest of the Monkey Wrench gang takes off to find the women in an exciting and intelligent chase and rescue where they uncover a diabolical plan. It’s a clever and exciting plot to read. This is an intelligent tale as well as a chilling plot.
You may want to rent this one from Blackstone but if your are so inclined to own it you won’t be disappointed. The whole story of the best-known entertainment company in the world is a very dramatic listen. This is the inside tale about the internal wars that has brought the company to its knees and the top executive to resigning this year.
James B. Stewart used to be an editor at the Wall Street Journal and has won a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting. He has written two former books, “Blind Eye” and “Blood Sport.” For this interesting insider's tale, Stewart had access to both Michael Eisner and Roy Disney. There were other executives that shared information and board members who revealed information also. Stewart studied many documents and letters to understand and write this look at the Disney Empire.
Patric Lawlor has been wining awards for his readings and has had much experience in the world of Hollywood.
Here is the tell-all book of the problems of the Disney story. You will learn about the creative process that drives Disney to success in all of the corners of the Studio. It’s a true story of this powerful company and about the people who control it and the fight to overthrow them.
Take a long trip and listen to a long and very good mystery. Linda Palmer returns us to the life of Morgan Tyler. Morgan is the head writer for a television soap opera. She is always turning out scripts that keep the fans of this soap tuning in to this daytime show. Suddenly fiction becomes more deadly that the soap Morgan must has got to marshal all of her own five senses to save her own life.
Now Morgan Tyler is promoted to the job the co-executive producer of the soap with a lot more responsibility. Her new job is to be responsible for everything. So she is on the job when one of her cast members, an actress, is murdered. She must hustle to find the truth before she loses more cast members and maybe her own life.
Author Palmer used to be a wildlife photographer in Africa. Now she is a writer and a teacher UCLA.
Blackstone turns out a classy audio book. They are on the expensive side, but they're always valuable investments.
Edgar Rice Burroughs gave the world Tarzan who is still fascinating the public in all his appearances. Burroughs wrote many more scifi tales both in book form and for pulp magazine. He was a genius with an imagination that went beyond earth. In the “Pelucidar” series Burroughs takes his readers inside the earth for an adventure that thrills. The center of the earth is the setting and it boggles the mind to think that there is a whole different world thriving in this inner world of Earth.
There is a lot to learn from a trip to Pelucidar, and this is the second tale of this inner land. You will want to track down the first tale in this series and we thank Tantor again for make that audio book available too.
Once again, we owe these producers a round of applause for delving into the classics that we all want to read and remember, and for presenting them to us in their original unabridged form.
Tantor Media
Audio
ISBN# 1-4001-0069-0
Suggested Retail Price: $28.00
Here is a spooky story that was the first in a series of more invisibility on the movie screen and in books. I enjoyed most of the tales of invisibily and the fun and the handicaps. Here we have the original story and it’s the complete story,
A brilliant scientist has had success with his efforts to make himself invisible. He covers himself with clothes and a bulky coat. His hat comes down over his face so that he can hide his unseen features. Problems begin to plague the scientist, as he becomes weirder and stranger. He can now do anything he wants but he is gradually losing his mind as he drops into a moral decline.
This one is a gem and you can hear the complete story from the master of early science fiction, H. G. Wells. Its a spooky story that was the first in a series of more invisibility on the movie screen and in books. I enjoyed most of the tales of invisibily and the fun and the handicaps. Here we have the original story and it’s the complete story,
A brilliant scientist has had success with his efforts to make himself invisible. He covers himself with clothes and a bulky coat. His hat comes down over his face so that he can hide his unseen features.
Problems begin to plague the scientist, as he becomes weirder and stranger. He can now do anything he wants but he is gradually losing his mind as he drops into a moral decline.
This one is a gem, and you can hear the complete story from one of the first science fiction masters, H. G. Wells.
I read this book many years ago. It was my introduction to Alaska and special dogs. I loved it. Now it is available on audio and I am grateful to the Tantor folks for presenting their series called simply “Classic”.
Enjoy the tale of a young wolf puppy that gets separated from his blind mother. Baree has to learn how to survive in the wilderness by himself. The puppy and his adventures take place in a Canadian wilderness.
The tale has dangers and many tender moments and well as a lot of terror for the dog. You will fall in love with Baree, and how brave and heroic he is.
Talent does run in families…look at the Brontes. Charlotte. Sister to Emily wrote this enduring love tale. Jane Eyre is orphaned in when very young. She survives an awful childhood that did not manage to break her spirit. Jane becomes a governess at Thornfield Hall. Her employer is one Mr. Rochester who has a terrible secret which Jane uncovers.
It is ironic that both Bronte sisters wrote love stories that would intrigue generations to come. Charlotte wrote three other stories but this is the one that has endured.
All of these wonderful classic tales that are being brought to us from Penguin Audio are always better to read in my judgement. If you absolute can’t find the time to read, at least hear the story told to you by very hypnotic voices
A famous tale is retold here by a couple of excellent readers. The story takes place on the bleak Yorkshire moors. Forced to take shelter one stormy night a person named Lockwood stays in Wuthering Heights. While there he discovers the history and the erie events that took place years earlier. He learns of the love between Kathy and Heathcliff. Cathy betrays Heathcliff and he vows revenge even to the next generation of the innocent heirs. This is the dark tale of love and the struggle to avoid a legacy of fear.
This is the famous story Baron Frankenstein and the monster he created in his castle. It’s a well known tale about how he collected parts of dead people and then shocked them with electricity from lightning and brought a monster to life. In this telling of the Shelley tale, no one is very happy with the botched up walking nightmare. The monster just wants some human companionship. In anger, the monster sets out to destroy his creator in this chilling gothic tale.
Mary Shelly was only eighteen when she conceived with Percy Shelley the story of this monster created by Dr. Frankenstein. Her tale has became one of the most famous horror story in the 1800’s and still is considered a classic. I liked the book and the films, and every time they drag this monster out in some new format. So I enjoyed this telling of the tale….even if it is abridged.
Every year, National Public Radio’s hit program “A Prairie Home Companion” with Garrison Keillor holds their Annual Joke Show. This is tape of one of show. One joke after another will put you in a doubled –up and prone position. This is surprisingly funny, full of new jokes as well as relying heavily on old jokes you heard in the schoolyard so many times. Roy Blount Jr. is one of the guests and he's got that slow, sly Southern drawl that makes him funny even when he's not trying. Paula Poundstone is also a guest, and her fans know how good she is.
Old jokes, new jokes, joke subjects, children’s jokes are well told here. The wonderful thing about this tape is that I laugh myself silly and then forget the jokes so I can listen to the tapes many times and laugh each time through.
This is a great tape to take on a trip.
This is a fun tale about Mr. Tony Valentine who makes his living now as a cop in Atlantic City. He is also an expert on exposing game cheaters at the big casinos. The major case here involves a man named Ricky Smith who has taken a major casino for some big bucks. Tony is hired to find out if Ricky is just really luck at every game he plays or is he a cheater.
Ricky lives in a small town and Valentine is investigating his past and his friends. Ricky claims he is just Mr. Lucky and proves it by showing that he can win at any kind of game or lottery he tries. With his winnings Mr. Lucky helps the locals residents to go into business and generally lead better lives.
He sounds good but Valentine isn’t convinced and so he moves into a small house near Mr. Lucky so that he can keep an eye on him. Suddenly there are two murders and the cops are suspicious of Valentine. The plot heats up but is always a bit of tongue in cheat while we try to figure out if this Mr. Lucky is really lucky or if he is a cheater how he does it.
Good tale.
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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