Month: August 2020

Audiobook Reviews: 4/5 Stars Davenport House 2: A New Chapter

Julie Gilbert Audiobooks, historical ,

Narrated by Allyson Voller

Run Time: 5 hrs and 11 mins

Summary:

Mary, Clara, Ethan, and the crew are back. Following the events of the first book pretty tightly, Mary’s mourning her father’s loss. Cecelia is still scheming. Even Nellie’s back, sort of.

Additional Comments:

  • The main characters are interesting. It’s kind of amazing how much drama the “does he love me/does he not love me” thing can conjure.
  • More money. More problems. Though it’s probably more accurate to say the rich people still have problems, just different problems than normal folk.
  • I don’t listen to a lot of historical fiction, so this might be the first series I’m experiencing set in that era, at least that isn’t a Western or WWI story. Here the war’s a rumor of things happening elsewhere. (It’s 1915, so a few years before the US joined.)
  • Side characters are okay, but you don’t really know much about them. So, they remain in the stock category. I liked Fiona even though she just falls under the category of “competent, hard-working servant”
  • Warning: a few threads of story are wrapped up, but the book might as well end To Be Continued … so, if you want standalone, go elsewhere.

Conclusion:

If you’re coming off the first book and intend to go right to whatever book 3 is, then you’ll be fine.

Audiobook Promotions:

33 of my 34 audible titles are listed on Audiobooks Unleashed.
Whether you’re looking for mystery or suspense or fantasy, I’ve got a title for you. Never Again (mystery, suspense) and Reshner’s Royal Ranger (epic sci-fi) just made it there.
Note: Filter by US if you’re looking for those codes as many titles are out.
Ones I think may still have US codes: Reshner’s Royal Ranger, Never Again, Innova, The Golden City Captives, The Holy War, Reclaim the Darklands, Eagle Eyes, Treachery Makes it Tense, Ashlynn’s Dreams Shorts, The Dark Side of Science, Ashlynn’s Dreams, Nadia’s Tears, Malia’s Miracles, and Varick’s Quest

Devya’s Children Series Links:

Ashlynn’s Dreams Shorts – short stories featuring Jillian.
The Dark Side of Science – official prequel to Devya’s Children; Genetically altered kids fight for the right to live.
Ashlynn’s Dreams – Genetically altered Dream Shaper learns her gift.
Nadia’s Tears – Jillian tries to awaken her sister, Nadia, from a coma.
Malia’s Miracles – Jillian and her siblings try to save a friend’s mother.
Varick’s Quest – Jillian and Danielle get kidnapped. Nadia’s also in trouble.

Audiobook Reviews: 4/5 Stars The Smoke by Lars D. H. Hedbor

Julie Gilbert Audiobooks, historical ,

Narrated by Shamaan Casey

Run Time 4 hrs and 54 mins

Summary:

A young native American and a young Colonial man get caught up in the devastating parts of the Revolutionary War.

Additional Comments:

  • Not sure what the title has to do with the book, but it’s a good series.
  • Shamaan Casey has a nice, rich, deep voice that suits the series well. He has enough variation to separate a few male voices and the main female voice.
  • Though historical fiction, the story is realistic enough.
  • Clean read.
  • I like how the series doesn’t always go for the happily ever after ending.

Conclusion:

Strong entry in a good historical fiction series.

Audiobook Promotions:

33 of my 34 audible titles are listed on Audiobooks Unleashed.
Whether you’re looking for mystery or suspense or fantasy, I’ve got a title for you. Never Again (mystery, suspense) and Reshner’s Royal Ranger (epic sci-fi) just made it there.
Note: Filter by US if you’re looking for those codes as many titles are out.
Ones I think may still have US codes: Reshner’s Royal Ranger, Never Again, Innova, The Golden City Captives, The Holy War, Reclaim the Darklands, Eagle Eyes, Treachery Makes it Tense, Ashlynn’s Dreams Shorts, The Dark Side of Science, Ashlynn’s Dreams, Nadia’s Tears, Malia’s Miracles, and Varick’s Quest

Devya’s Children Series Links:

Ashlynn’s Dreams Shorts – short stories featuring Jillian.
The Dark Side of Science – official prequel to Devya’s Children; Genetically altered kids fight for the right to live.
Ashlynn’s Dreams – Genetically altered Dream Shaper learns her gift.
Nadia’s Tears – Jillian tries to awaken her sister, Nadia, from a coma.
Malia’s Miracles – Jillian and her siblings try to save a friend’s mother.
Varick’s Quest – Jillian and Danielle get kidnapped. Nadia’s also in trouble.

Audiobook Reviews: 4/5 Stars Case File by Bill Pronzini

Julie Gilbert Audiobooks, mystery, short stories ,

Short Stories starring the Nameless Detective

Narrated by Nick Sullivan

Run Time: 7 hrs and 45 mins

Summary:

A series of short stories featuring a nameless detective around the 1970’s (I think).

Additional Comments:

  • Not naming the MC is kinda lazy, but that’s the hill the author decided to defend. Whatever. At least there’s an attempt at an explanation in the beginning.
  • It’s interesting to have something set in the relatively recent past. This isn’t Victorian England or the Wild West, it’s late 20th century but before cell phones and the internet. Computers are just starting to be a thing. That features heavily in one case.
  • Like any old school Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys story, if you listen to enough of these you can probably start predicting the outcomes. The author manages a few surprises, but not many.
  • Clean reads.
  • There isn’t that much character development, but that’s because short stories don’t necessarily lend themselves to knowing everything there is to know about a character.

Conclusion:

Good enough to make me want to seek out more by the author.

Audiobook Promotions:

33 of my 34 audible titles are listed on Audiobooks Unleashed.
Whether you’re looking for mystery or suspense or fantasy, I’ve got a title for you. Never Again (mystery, suspense) and Reshner’s Royal Ranger (epic sci-fi) just made it there.
Note: Filter by US if you’re looking for those codes as many titles are out.
Ones I think may still have US codes: Reshner’s Royal Ranger, Never Again, Innova, The Golden City Captives, The Holy War, Reclaim the Darklands, Eagle Eyes, Treachery Makes it Tense, Ashlynn’s Dreams Shorts, The Dark Side of Science, Ashlynn’s Dreams, Nadia’s Tears, Malia’s Miracles, and Varick’s Quest

Devya’s Children Series Links:

Ashlynn’s Dreams Shorts – short stories featuring Jillian.
The Dark Side of Science – official prequel to Devya’s Children; Genetically altered kids fight for the right to live.
Ashlynn’s Dreams – Genetically altered Dream Shaper learns her gift.
Nadia’s Tears – Jillian tries to awaken her sister, Nadia, from a coma.
Malia’s Miracles – Jillian and her siblings try to save a friend’s mother.
Varick’s Quest – Jillian and Danielle get kidnapped. Nadia’s also in trouble.

Audiobook Reviews: 3.5/5 Stars Revelation by Kevin Hardman

Julie Gilbert Action Adventure, Audiobooks, scifi, superhero , ,

Narrated by Mikael Naramore

Kid Sensation Series book 4

Run Time: 10 hrs and 14 mins

Summary:

Jim’s father is missing, so his uncle seeks him out to see fi they can solve the mini-mystery. And the world’s about to end.

Additional Comments:

  • Overall, a solid entry in the Kid Sensation series. It started very strong, kept my interest for about 4-ish hours then lagged for about 3 hours before becoming interesting again
  • Although a book and series about superheroes, this entry kind of bumps it more into the science fiction realm. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. I enjoyed the switch because I like scifi a lot better than the superhero subgenre.
  • Fights and whatnot are a tad more tedious when there are no consequences (because everybody’s pretty much invulnerable).
  • Some of the language Jim uses makes it very apparent that an adult is writing the book, even though it’s first person narration style. The word usage is too sophisticated for a teenager, even a superhero teenager. But that’s a small complaint.
  • Even for scifi, some of the science is shady (viruses aren’t alive)
  • Jim’s a pretty awesome character. I like that he has flaws despite being given nearly every superhero power (flight, teleportation, fazing, etc).
  • Performance was fine. Mikael Naramore is a competent narrator. He’s not my favorite, but he can handle the performance well.
  • Closure – This episode ended, but as usual, there was a very distinct lead into the next book.

Conclusion:

Very good entry in a great series. Highly recommended for people of all ages. It’s one of those rare series that would entertain a middle grade or teenage boy.

Audiobook Promotions:

33 of my 34 audible titles are listed on Audiobooks Unleashed.
Whether you’re looking for mystery or suspense or fantasy, I’ve got a title for you. Never Again (mystery, suspense) and Reshner’s Royal Ranger (epic sci-fi) just made it there.
Note: Filter by US if you’re looking for those codes as many titles are out.
Ones I think may still have US codes: Reshner’s Royal Ranger, Never Again, Innova, The Golden City Captives, The Holy War, Reclaim the Darklands, Eagle Eyes, Treachery Makes it Tense, Ashlynn’s Dreams Shorts, The Dark Side of Science, Ashlynn’s Dreams, Nadia’s Tears, Malia’s Miracles, and Varick’s Quest

Devya’s Children Series Links:

Ashlynn’s Dreams Shorts – short stories featuring Jillian.
The Dark Side of Science – official prequel to Devya’s Children; Genetically altered kids fight for the right to live.
Ashlynn’s Dreams – Genetically altered Dream Shaper learns her gift.
Nadia’s Tears – Jillian tries to awaken her sister, Nadia, from a coma.
Malia’s Miracles – Jillian and her siblings try to save a friend’s mother.
Varick’s Quest – Jillian and Danielle get kidnapped. Nadia’s also in trouble.