Here are some audiobooks that I’ve listened to in the last couple of months, and I really don’t have much to say about them—all are worth the time to listen to (or read, if you prefer), I just don’t have enough to say to make up a typical post.
Hard Reboot
by Django Wexler, Morgan Hallett (Narrator)
DETAILS: Publisher: Recorded Books Publication Date: May 24, 2021 Format: Unabridged Audiobook Length: 3 hrs., 57 min. Read Date: March 14-15, 2022
(the official blurb)
This just seemed like a lot of fun when it was published last year, so when I saw it on the library site, I had to jump on it. And it was fun.
But it was a bit too short—I know that’s by design, but it felt too abrupt. You got fighting robots on the cover, I want more than two major fights. Sure, the fights we get are pretty cool, but I wanted more.
If this was 20 percent longer, I’d have been happy. As it was? I was satisfied.
Demon Magic and a Martini
by Annette Marie, Cris Dukehart (Narrator)
DETAILS: Series: The Guild Codex: Spellbound Series, #4 Publisher: Tantor Audio Publication Date: April 22, 2019 Format: Unabridged Audiobook Length: 7 hrs., 15 min. Read Date: March 9-10, 2022
(the official blurb)
So, um…yeah. This was okay.
For the second book in a row, we get to peel back the mysterious backstory of one of Tori’s new best friends while they’re battling a new magical threat. This time it’s demons—and rival guilds. One of which is pretty ethically challenged.
It was a bit too similar to the previous book for me. But it delivered the same kind of quippy UF action that characterizes the series. It’s entertaining enough to keep going with the series—and to recommend them—I just want to see a little more out of them.
Finlay Donovan Knocks ‘Em Dead
by Elle Cosimano, Angela Dawe (Narration)
DETAILS: Series: Finlay Donovan, #2 Publisher: Macmillan Audio Publication Date: January 31, 2022 Format: Unabridged Audiobook Length: 9 hr., 20 min. Read Date: February 25-28, 2022
(the official blurb)
I was a little worried how the premise would carry over to a sequel, and I clearly shouldn’t have—largely because Cosimano didn’t just repeat the way the first book went. It was very much an “okay, so now with that finished, what comes next?”—assuming that Finlay and Vero don’t just wholly abandon their new revenue stream.
We get some important new information about Vero—making a lot of what she did in the first book make sense. Finlay makes some smart romantic moves—and there’s some decent movement on the divorce front.
All in all, a solid sequel that shows that this can be a series with legs, not just a quirky one-off.
Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law
by Mary Roach
DETAILS: Publisher: Brilliance Publishing Publication Date: September 13, 2021 Format: Unabridged Audiobook Length: 9 hrs., 17 min. Read Date: January 31-February 1, 2022
(the official blurb)
So this is about what happens when animals and humans have a hard time co-existing—which basically means when animals being animals inconvenience (or worse) humans. Was that hiker killed by an animal, or did they die of other causes and become food for an animal? What happens when we put a building where an animal expected to be able to be?
I don’t think it was as amusing as Roach tried to make it. It was interesting, but it went on too long and therefore became less-interesting the longer it went on. I don’t remember anything more specific than that—which says something about the book. It just didn’t hold my attention for long.
This is my first Mary Roach book—and maybe would’ve been my last if I hadn’t run into a couple of other bloggers who are Roach fans that were as tepid as I was about the book. Still, I’m going to get a bit more distance between this book and my next.
Murder Under Her Skin
by Stephen Spotswood, Kirsten Potter
DETAILS: Series: A Pentecost and Parker Mystery, #2 Publisher: Random House Audio Publication Date: December 6, 2021 Format: Unabridged Audiobook Length: 9 hrs., 40 min. hrs and 40 mins Read Date: March 28-29, 2022
(the official blurb)
The circus that Will used to be in is in trouble—one of their performers has been killed and another has been arrested. Will’s mentor, to be specific. So she and Lillian Pentecost head down south to see what they can do.
It’s a culture clash (both the South and the circus) for the duo—Will learns the hard way that maybe she’s been gone too long—as well as a fish out of water kind of thing for Pentecost. Although not as much as Will and the reader might expect.
I enjoyed this one a lot more than the predecessor—it’s still a bit too much about Will and her current love interest than it is about Pentecost and the case they’re supposed to be working on. The mystery was clever, the character arcs were solid and Will’s narrative voice is strong enough to keep the reader/listener locked in.
Free Billy
by Don Winslow, Ed Harris (Narrator)
DETAILS:
Series: The Dawn Patrol
Publisher: Audible Originals
Publication Date: 2022
Format: Audiobook
Length:1 hr., 6 min.
Read Date: March 30, 2022
(the official blurb)
This is a silly, fun, and sweet story in the world of The Dawn Patrol (one of my top 5 All-Time books), all our favorites get a quick appearance and we’re introduced to a couple of new characters.
Despite being in the same world as the crime novels that introduced Winslow to me, there’s no crime to be found here.
Which is fine—it’s not needed in this short story. It’s just a fun story about one of Boone’s friends. I laughed audibly more than once, and just enjoyed the story as a whole—I just wish it was longer so I could spend more time in this world. The story didn’t require it.
Ed Harris gives exactly what you’d expect from him in an audiobook narration—near perfection. I thought his stuff was great.
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