Audiobooks Books - Page 3

World Without End

Ken Follett

Amazon Price: $37.77 List Price: $59.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Penguin Audio Amazon Marketplace: 52 new & used starting at $21.90

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 428 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Lives up to the promise of his first medieval novel 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I had greatly enjoyed Ken Follett's Pillars of the Earth, and so I was looking forward to World Without End. While not exactly a sequel, his second medieval novel picks up in the same town of Kingsbridge two and a half centuries later, so that his first novel is the local history and its characters the ancestors of the characters of his second novel. It completely lived up to my expectations, and held me rapt. Once again he has woven a fascinating tale of love, ambition (both lofty and venial), and intrigue around an engaging set of characters, and enriched with a depth of historical context. While engrossed in the struggles of an independent-minded woman, an excellent architect with a poor start in life, a brutish knight, and a scheming prior, I inadvertently learned a heap of history, such as the economic development of medieval English boroughs, the wars of King Edward III in France, and the principles of medieval medicine. It was fascinating to me to learn things like how the wool trade gave way to the cloth trade, how feudal lords lost control of their tenant laborers, what the experience of the Plague was like, and how brutal the English invaders were in France. (That last item gives me a new appreciation for the famous Rodin sculpture The Burghers of Calais.) These historical details are not the least bit pedantic, but are vividly described, forming integral background to the rich tapestry of Follett's gripping characters and story. Through a span of a generation, the story explores, among other themes, the interesting question of what options were available for a smart, independent woman in the mid-14th century. I thoroughly enjoyed this fascinating historical tale.

Editorial Review:

Ken Follett has 90 million readers worldwide. The Pillars of the Earth is his bestselling book of all time. Now, eighteen years after the publication of The Pillars of the Earth, Ken Follett has written the most anticipated sequel of the year-World Without End.

Unabridged edition read by John Lee

Arctic Drift (Dirk Pitt)

Clive Cussler, Dirk Cussler

Amazon Price: $26.37 List Price: $39.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Penguin Audio Amazon Marketplace: 23 new & used starting at $22.38

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 20 Average rating: 2.5 of 5

Don't Blame CUSSLER for KINDLE! 5 out of 5 stars.
7 of 8 people found this review helpful.

Please stop putting bad reviews of Kindle on the Arctic Drift page! If you are dissatisfied with your Kindle deal, then give the Kindle a bad review. Your Kindle issues have nothing to do with the quality of Cussler's writing.
Cussler has long been my favorite author, and I was shocked to see such a bad rating on Amazon for this book. I'm glad I took the time to read the reviews, and see that your dissatisfaction is not with Arctic Drift. (Personally, I think even 9.99 is too much to pay for an electronic book you can't read at the beach or share with a friend!) But it's well worth the $16.77 to have the latest Dirk Pitt novel in hand!

Buy Arctic Drift in Hard Cover and Enjoy a Fine Sea-Going Tale 4 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

Arctic Drift has a lot to recommend it (if you don't get jammed up with Kindle pricing). The plot is an imaginative one about the potential risks to peace and economic stability with the world running out of energy while the ice caps are being melted down by global warming as a greedy billionaire seeks to manipulate the situation to his own advantage (much as Enron did during the electricity shortage in the West a few years ago). Dirk gets out and under the sea to have some unusual adventures which include a most unusual battle. There is a great series of cliff hangers as men's lives are at risk in perilous conditions. Dirk, Jr. and Summer also have some exciting adventures. The story also features a merciless killer who likes to make things go pop. You'll also read an intriguing historical mystery that connects to today's problems and technology. My only complaint is that the story could have used more of Dirk and Al in action.

The book opens on a doomed expedition that is captured in the Arctic ice after trying unsuccessfully to navigate the Northwest Passage through Canada from Europe to Asia. The officers can't keep order as the men seem to be going mad, somehow connected to silvery rocks they have come into contact with.

Moving into the future, the year is 2011 and a mysterious phenomenon called the Devil's Breath is causing mysterious deaths at sea along the Inside Passage in British Columbia. Summer and Dirk, Jr. are taking water samples when they come across a derelict ship that has come into contact with the Breath. In the process, Summer makes friends with a dead fisherman's brother and the three investigate what might be causing large changes in the acid level in the sea.

Further south, a pro-environmentalist Canadian M.P. is murdered in a way to make it look like an accident. In the Arctic, a Canadian research station is destroyed by what looks like a U.S. Navy vessel creating international tensions.

In Washington, D.C., a rare element turns out to have unusual properties, and the finding triggers a race to find more of the element and to seize control of the secret. Now the race is on to solve the energy crisis.

I liked the plot very much. It goes well beyond the "we are running out of . . . ." story lines and the "we are going to die from global warming" story lines to come up with an original intersection of the two problems constructed in a way that seems realistic in light of the economic events earlier in 2008 as gasoline prices in the United States spiked above $4.00 a gallon and seemed headed higher until a global recession pricked the balloon.

The story has nice balance as well. There are a lot of characters and several interesting threads. If anything, Arctic Drift is a little too balanced. I could have used more of Dirk and Al at sea and in battle. The new plots where Dirk, Jr. and Summer engage in the ocean-going events aren't nearly as interesting as the more dangerous situations that Dirk and Al used to get themselves into and out of.

There's less swagger here . . . and more intellect. That's okay, but it's not quite as good as the over the top swagger that this series once featured. But I think you'll enjoy your voyage with NUMA and company.

Editorial Review:

Unabridged CDs • 14 CDs, 16 hours

Dirk Pitt returns, in the extraordinary new novel from the grand master of adventure.

Dead Until Dark (Southern Vampire Mysteries, Book 1)

Charlaine Harris

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 393 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

The books and the show go together! 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 2 people found this review helpful.

I love the books and the HBO show. I buy two copies of every one, one for myself and one for my husband. We read them so fast we'd never be able to share. We're not vampire fans at all but I like the characters and I don't know why he reads them. He never reads usually. That goes to show that they are pretty exceptional books.

Great Series 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 2 people found this review helpful.

I love the southern vampire mysteries. Charlaine Harris has created a wonderful cast of characters.

If she was a lit major, im a brain surgeon! 2 out of 5 stars.
0 of 4 people found this review helpful.

I guess the story of the book is entertaining enough. Im a pretty bog fan of the hbo show Tre Blood and decided to read the 1st book after wtaching a good chunk of the season. Although the show is enetertaing but definitly has its cheesy parts, the books is just as bad. I think the thing that really gets me is this author really is an extremely horrible writer.

Editorial Review:

Anthony Award winner Charlaine Harris New York Times and USA Today best-selling Sookie Stackhouse novels entice countless fans with an irresistible mixture of vampire romance, beguiling mystery, and old-fashioned Southern charm. Vampires have officially come out of the coffin, and Miss Sookie cant wait for one to come her way.

From Dead to Worse

Charlaine Harris

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 190 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

All good things must have an end 3 out of 5 stars.
3 of 4 people found this review helpful.

I'm concerned and enthralled. I'm sadden that her love life keeps falling apart. I want her to be with Bill. How many times in life are we left without closure. I love the books so much that I was happy that i got sick and had to stay home from work. I read all the books in 4 days. It just cannot keep going on with her meeting the next guy. Bill loves her in a way that Eric (who i adore) cannot. Bill should be the one. I feel terrible even writing it, but he won me over when he was standing outside her door declaring "I Love You" which had not been done until then.

Where is that one great love of our life that movies and novels keep giving us? Why do we yearn for it so heavily? Bill should be with Sookie. But that's just my vote. PS this is account is listed under my husband :)

Editorial Review:

New in the “addicting” New York Times bestselling series featuring Sookie Stackhouse.

After the natural disaster of Hurricane Katrina and the manmade explosion at the vampire summit, everyone—human and otherwise—is stressed, including Louisiana cocktail waitress Sookie Stackhouse, who is trying to cope with the fact that her boyfriend Quinn has gone missing.

It’s clear that things are changing—whether the weres and vamps of her corner of Louisiana like it or not. And Sookie—Friend to the Pack and blood-bonded to Eric Northman, leader of the local vampire community—is caught up in the changes.

In the ensuing battles, Sookie faces danger, death, and once more, betrayal by someone she loves. And when the fur has finished flying and the cold blood finished flowing, her world will be forever altered.

Scarpetta

Patricia Cornwell

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 19 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Phenomenal!! 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

This is one Cornwell's best! You will definitely not be disappointed. Many questions were answered and so much more was learned about the characters. If you are looking for a page turner from a great author this is the book for you. Great read!

One of Patricia's Best Yet! 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I thought this book was one of the best books in the Scarpetta series. I don't want to give any of the details away, but let's just say you will be shocked and surprised at the end. Having an I.T. background I especially appreciated how the latest technology was cleverly and accurately intertwined in the book. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in both technology and forensics!

Best Scarpetta Yet 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

A great read and impressive addition to the Scarpetta series. I am awed by how Cornwell can continue to generate such suspense and mystery in the Scarpetta lineup. It is fascinating to see Scarpetta and her old friends continue to develop through the mind's eye of Cornwell. I loved how clues are interwoven into each page in this layered Scarpetta adventure. In true Cornwell fashion the forensic detail was impeccable and the book the best yet.

Editorial Review:

Abridged CDs • 5 CDs, 6 hours

From America’s #1 bestselling crime writer comes the extraordinary new Kay Scarpetta novel.

Your Heart Belongs to Me

Dean Koontz

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 15 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

At thirty-four, Internet entrepreneur Ryan Perry seemed to have the world in his pocket – until the first troubling symptoms appeared out of nowhere. Within days, he’s diagnosed with incurable cardiomyopathy and finds himself on the waiting list for a heart transplant; it’s his only hope, and it’s dwindling fast. Ryan is about to lose it all…his health, his girlfriend Samantha, and his life.
One year later, Ryan has never felt better. Business is good and he hopes to renew his relationship with Samantha. Then the unmarked gifts begin to appear – a box of Valentine candy hearts, a heart pendant. Most disturbing of all, a graphic heart surgery video and the chilling message: Your heart belongs to me.

In a heartbeat, the medical miracle that gave Ryan a second chance at life is about to become a curse worse than death. For Ryan is being stalked by a mysterious woman who feels entitled to everything he has. She’s the spitting image of the twenty-six-year-old donor of the heart beating steadily in Ryan’s own chest.

And she’s come to take it back.

Water for Elephants

Sara Gruen

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1519 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Hard to put this book down... 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

This is an incredibly moving book on so many levels. I laughed, cried and loved every moment. Water for Elephants is a book that should be read by anyone who values life, love and wisdom.

Magical 4 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

What a great story. The book is very beautifully written with words that make you feel like your there. It is engaging at every turn of the page. Each character is interesting and well developed. This is a fairly quick read and you will be so engaged in the most spectacular show you wont want to put it down.

Editorial Review:

Nonagenarian Jacob Jankowski reflects back on his wild and wondrous days with a circus. It’s the Depression Era and Jacob, finding himself parentless and penniless, joins the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. There he meets the freaks, grifters, and misfits that populate this world. He introduces us to Marlena, beautiful star of the equestrian act; to August, her charismatic but twisted husband (and the circus’s animal trainer); and to Rosie, the seemingly untrainable elephant Jacob cares for. Beautifully written, with a luminous sense of time and place, Water for Elephants tells of love in a world in which love’s a luxury few can afford.

The Appeal (CD Reissue)

John Grisham

Amazon Price: $10.19 List Price: $14.99 Not yet published By: Random House Audio

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 462 Average rating: 3.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

In a crowded courtroom in Mississippi, a jury returns a shocking verdict against a chemical company accused of dumping toxic waste into a small town’s water supply, causing the worst “cancer cluster” in history. The company appeals to the Mississippi Supreme Court, whose nine justices will one day either approve the verdict or reverse it.

Who are the nine? How will they vote? Can one be replaced before the case is ultimately decided?

The chemical company is owned by a Wall Street predator named Carl Trudeau, and Mr. Trudeau is convinced the Court is not friendly enough. With judicial elections looming, he decides to try to purchase himself a seat on the Court. The cost is a few million dollars, a drop in the bucket for a billionaire like Mr. Trudeau. Through an intricate web of conspiracy and deceit, his political operatives recruit a young, unsuspecting candidate. They finance him, manipulate him, market him, and mold him into a potential Supreme Court justice. Their Supreme Court justice.

The Appeal is a powerful, timely, and shocking story of political and legal intrigue, a story that will leave listeners unable to think about our electoral process or judicial system in quite the same way ever again.

The Secret Life of Bees

Sue Monk Kidd

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1449 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Shouldn't this be in the "young adults" section??? 2 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

It was cute, I'll give it that. And being a true southerner, I did enjoy some of the cultural references, but I have a really hard time believing this book was written for an adult audience. I think it would really appeal to a girl the same age as (or a little younger than) the first-person narrator, a girl of 15. But as a thirty-something-year-old woman, it left me intellectually and emotionally hungry. The style of writing is pleasant (reminiscent of The Heart is a Lonely Hunter) but the content is lacking. The ideas are there, but the execution is too juvenile to make it believable. If you're old enough to drive, skip the book and just see the movie and save yourself several hours. I wish I had.

Editorial Review:

Sue Monk Kidd's ravishing debut novel has stolen the hearts of reviewers and readers alike with its strong, assured voice. Set in South Carolina in 1964, The Secret Life of Bees tells the story of Lily Owens, whose life has been shaped around the blurred memory of the afternoon her mother was killed. When Lily's fierce-hearted "stand-in mother," Rosaleen, insults three of the town's fiercest racists, Lily decides they should both escape to Tiburon, South Carolina--a town that holds the secret to her mother's past. There they are taken in by an eccentric trio of black beekeeping sisters who introduce Lily to a mesmerizing world of bees, honey, and the Black Madonna who presides over their household. This is a remarkable story about divine female power and the transforming power of love--a story that women will share and pass on to their daughters for years to come.

Loving Frank

Nancy Horan

List Price: $38.95 By: Brilliance Audio on CD Unabridged Amazon Marketplace: 20 new & used starting at $30.32

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 195 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

I have been standing on the side of life, watching it float by. I want to
swim in the river. I want to feel the current.

So writes Mamah Borthwick Cheney in her diary as she struggles to justify her clandestine love affair with Frank Lloyd Wright. Four years earlier, in 1903, Mamah and her husband, Edwin, had commissioned the renowned architect to design a new home for them. During the construction of the house, a powerful attraction developed between Mamah and Frank, and in time the lovers, each married with children, embarked on a course that would shock Chicago society and forever change their lives.

In this groundbreaking historical novel, fact and fiction blend together brilliantly. While scholars have largely relegated Mamah to a footnote in the life of America’s greatest architect, author Nancy Horan gives full weight to their dramatic love story and illuminates Mamah’s profound influence on Wright.

Drawing on years of research, Horan weaves little-known facts into a compelling narrative, vividly portraying the conflicts and struggles of a woman forced to choose between the roles of mother, wife, lover, and intellectual. Horan’s Mamah is a woman seeking to find her own place, her own creative calling in the world, and her unforgettable journey, marked by choices that reshape her notions of love and responsibility, leads inexorably to this novel’s stunning conclusion.