Never thought I would ever say this.......

but I had a Susan Stoker book that disappointed. YUP! I was floored too!

 

Protecting Tex

The book was supposed to be the story of Tex needing help for a change, instead of doing the helping. I had high hopes..... It didn't pan out that way.

Don't get me wrong, the writing and story was all Susan and the characters were without question still on par with expectations but the whole story was lacking depth.  Most of the teams were represented, which was cool and made me want to re-read the series in order they were written. These guys all know eachother, either because of joint rescues or thru the military, so the cohesian and familiarity was there, people showed up, but somehow the story didn't. I DID realize that instead of the normal close to or over 300 pages, this book only had 154, so maybe there wasn't time to flesh out the details I'm used to.....?

I'm still in a bit of a funky headspace at the moment, so I will re-read it in a couple of months, but, yeah.... I was disappointed. I never questioned price vs pages, because I never had to with her, but when I hit the end 3 hours in, I started wondering, whether she is going for shorter stories. I hope not, it would be the end of my starting any new series.

Not going to publish a review on it, because I don't want to disparage my favorite writer over one book out of 110 books, but needed to "get rid of the thoughts" just the same. I know, everyone that reads, has a favorite writer (or 5) and out of their books there are favorite books you have read 8 times and will pick up again, books you re-read because they're just that good and books that are just part of the series, so I'm just going to put this one in the category "not favorites and will reread if I read the complete series again"

 

The Boat man by Dustin Stevens - Narrated by Charles Constant

This one is in 2 parts. Not the book, but the review :-)

One thing I learned by tapping into audio books, is The Narrator makes the book. You can have a great story, but if the narrator doesn't do it for you, you're wasting your time trying to "sit thru" to the end of the book, so.... IF I have an audio book to review, I will also mention the narrator, and if it's really bad and I can't sit thru the rest of the book, I will try and read the actual book, and do the review on it... (It will happen, trust me) I think, the narrator doesn't make a book better, maybe more enjoyable, but they can definitely ruin it. Charles did not ruin the book!

Now on to the reason you're reading this: The Review!

I can't say enough times how much I love this book! Now, I could leave it at that, but we all know I have more to say than that :-)   The book tells the story of the investigation AND the "here and now" of the Boat Man in a way, you would see in a movie, were the culprit is watching the police do their thing, with a little of his mindset and thoughts dispensed with it. And it's told in a way that feels natural. You get a glimps of A, the result becomes part of B's day, he deals with it to solve it, and so on.  The way the author weaves the story around and around, the details given, the thoughts and processes of the investigator  and the whole vibe.......  It's awesome and a little scary when he does it with the boat man, it's still a bit disconcerting to know the author had to come up with it :-)  It's a thriller, but it's not. I know, it's weird. There is so much tension written into the story, but it has nothing of the "leading up to" stress and racing heart you would have with a thriller except for maybe turning an extra light on in the hallway.... but there is no way you're putting the book down before you finish, because you won't be able to stop wondering. LOL! Definitely looking this author up for the rest of the series!

Now to the narrator. NO ONE BETTER to tell this story than Charles Constant. His voice is steady throughout the whole thing. His inflections are not acted out, but normal speech patterns you would hear if somebody is telling the story in person, not reading to you. He seems to be genuinely enjoying the telling of the story, he's engaged without going over the top. The couple of times he changed to give a person a voice, he did it subtle. He didn't go into some falsetto when speaking for a female, or changed his accent or tone of voice when speaking like a male. It was more of a "someone else is talking now" thing. Not sure how to explain, but it was a good thing! :-)  

 Can't wait to read the rest of them, maybe indulge in another audio verson, as long as Charles is the narrator....

I tried out audio books.....

Yeah, never thought to hear me say that, either :-)

 My niece loves them, and since I'm clearing out crap my sisters thought "I would like to have" after dad passed and don't want my mind to wander to severely missing my husband, I figured what the heck.

This listening to books, is a new thing to try,  so the house isn't so quiet.  It's like working around the house with the TV on, so you can follow along, which is great for a footballgame, because it literally is a "play by play" attention span thing and if you miss one (unless it's a touchdown, of course) you don't miss much in way of information and still keep up with the whole picture. On the otherhand you kinda have to keep your mind on "keeping up" when listening to an actual story. THAT part, I have a problem with, as I have used listening to music, TV or radio to force my brain to ignore the "clutter" and concentrate on what I was doing. I know it sounds weird, but by having to "tune out" the noise, my mind had no choice but to concentrate on what I was doing, because without noise, my mind would race anywhichway :-) It never started out that way, just something I discovered when I didn't have music going and couldn't balance my checkbook, but as soon as I put the radio on, everything fell swingingly in its place. Something that I had done since childhood finally had an explanation.

With listening to audiobooks, I actually have to concentrate on the noise, I spent my whole life tuning out! So my first attempt contained A LOT of rewinding. ROFL!!

Now, the difference by reading a book and listening to it, turns out to be more than concentration. My first attempt was The boat man by Dustin Stevens. The narrator was Charles Constant. HE WAS GREAT!!! I already loved Dustins' books but Charles gave the book a lot extra. It was actually like he was telling the story over a cup of coffee, at the kitchen table, like a friend catching up with his day to day.   HIM, I can listen to all day, as well as concentrate on what he is telling me. (After the initial rewinding sessions. LOL!)

But, on the flip side, when you're reading, in your mind, you fill in the voices, hear the story teller, see the sites, and imagine the surroundings by what is written. With a good narrator, like Charles, you still do and it makes it a great experience. One to be repeated. The enjoyment of audio books is not just whether you enjoy the writer, but also whether you can stomach the narrator.... and that brings me to the other end of the equation.

My second try, was the polar opposite. The book was "You should be so lucky" by Cat Sebastian. I read the sample to guage the story and liked it, so I checked it out on Audible, while I had my trial. (Don't think I will renew, because price and time are not on my side :-) so one more book, and I'm done until I have time to think....  The narrator, Joel Lestie is SO fake, or they used a really bad AI to do the reading.... He uses some weird accent of what he must think sounds New Yorkish, but is more of an ill attempt of someone with a heavy Southern accent, trying to speak over the top Brittish, that completely overshadows the story. Hearing the sample on audio had me gnashing my teeth and I didn't make it thru more than probably 1 page before I cut it off. So.... I will be READING that one.

So here you have it..... IF you want to try audio books MAKE SURE YOU LISTEN TO THE SAMPLE BEFORE YOU COMMIT!!! Audio books are sometimes almost the same price as a paperback or hardcover, and if you don't like it, you can't even gift it to somebody who might enjoy it.  

With reading, especially if it's a "new to you" author, how you feel is sometimes just as much part of the enjoyment of a book as the writing so if you don't like it first time around, you can always try again. You never know how that sometimes works ;-) but if you don't like the way the narrator tells the story, that's hard to come back from. It's like that one salesman that grates your nerves, you won't want him (or her) to help you next time you shop either.

So, DUAL SUCCESS on trying audio books.

Now, go hug a loved one, while you can.

Rise of the Fire Dragon by R.D.Foster

Yup, you got me.... I absolutely hate cliffhanger books, and yet....... I really liked this one!  Go figure.....  To me, starting a book I know will end on a cliffhanger, is like watching a movie halfway thru. You keep wondering! And I don't have the mental stretch to do this for very long, so I usually don't start. I have noticed, that sometimes a title will stay "Book one" only to be just that... book one of a series of loosely connected stories, but not one story running thru 2 or 3 books, and my mind didn't make the distinction this time around. Yes, I read a book on a cliffhanger, YES!!! I liked it! And, again, Yes, I will read the others, to get that sense of accomplishment without any loosends.  But until I can do that..... here's the review of Rise of the Fire Dragon.

The story is a tale of desperation and hope, tinged with adventure and action. The manipulations of one man, his hunger for power shackles a whole society and the world surrounding it, including the dragons that will eventually free the world.  The book is written well, the characters evolve thoughout the story, but....... it's only part of the story. I should have realised it by "book one" in the title, but I didn't, so..... I kept looking where I was in the story and comparing it to the pagecount, figuring the ending would be abrupt, only to find out, there was no ending yet.  

If you don't like cliffhangers, don't start this book untill you have all of them. If you don't mind them.... it's a very nice read that will have you looking for the next book when you're closing this one :-)

Trickster's Trap by Axl Blaze

Yup, realized I didn't read these in order, but besides some mentions of previous cases (that became clear, once I read said "case"  ROFL!) the books are standalones. Still not sure if I want to read more, but maybe I'll borrow one that should be edited and ready for print and see if I can get into them more.  The books could be great, but somehow fall short of their potential.

As the last book available from the series closes on another twisted case, I have to wonder and hope that the inconsistencies throughout the books, is because the final edit hasn't been done. The storylines, the twists, the premise all point to a great imagination, but the characters are not fleshed out and makes the books shallow, there seems an unending string of clues that are not explained and the ending is abrupt. Still, I couldn't put it down, wanting to know where it all leads, who did it and why. So, yeah...... Good read, with some second thoughts. As the last book available from the series closes on another twisted case, I have to wonder and hope that the inconsistencies throughout the books, is because the final edit hasn't been done. The storylines, the twists, the premise all point to a great imagination, but the characters are not fleshed out and makes the books shallow, there seems an unending string of clues that are not explained and the ending is abrupt. Still, I couldn't put it down, wanting to know where it all leads, who did it and why. So, yeah...... Good read, with some second thoughts.

Deadly Delusion by Axl Blaze

 It's hard to resist if you have a chance to review a whole series of stories..... The problem is, if you don't like it, you're kinda stuck :-)    It's not that I don't like this series, but there's something "off" and I can't explain it. The stories have a good theme, that's not it, either. The writing isn't bad, there's just something not "tripping" with me.....  Still, I try to be fair to the book and the author.

Nice read. The premise is interesting, the characters could be a little less shallow, and the story could have a little more details as to the "why is this a clue and not just information" but it's still an enjoyable way to pass the time.Nice read. The premise is interesting, the characters could be a little less shallow, and the story could have a little more details as to the "why is this a clue and not just information" but it's still an enjoyable way to pass the time.

 Nice read. The premise is interesting, the characters could be a little less shallow, and the story could have a little more details as to the "why is this a clue and not just information" but it's still an enjoyable way to pass the time.

 

Nice read. The premise is interesting, the characters could be a little less shallow, and the story could have a little more details as to the "why is this a clue and not just information" but it's still an enjoyable way to pass the time.Nice read. The premise is interesting, the characters could be a little less shallow, and the story could have a little more details as to the "why is this a clue and not just information" but it's still an enjoyable way to pass the time.

Summer Break by Britney Bell

 Still not a great fan of short stories under 100 pages, but as far as "lunch reads" go, there is something to say for them, I guess.....  I read a lot by this author, and it doesn't matter whether its a 40-something-page short like this one, or a full book.... It's a joy to spend some time with her characters and writing stye.

Fun short story. The writing is good, and the characters are likeable and human. No over the top action, just a little ego-trip at the beginning, but even that fits the character :-) It's a little lite on details, but with the limited pagecount, the story IS all there. Everything you need to know, is covered. Fun short story. The writing is good, and the characters are likeable and human. No over the top action, just a little ego-trip at the beginning, but even that fits the character :-)  It's a little lite on details, but with the limited pagecount, the story IS all there. Everything you need to know, is covered.

Fun short story. The writing is good, and the characters are likeable and human. No over the top action, just a little ego-trip at the beginning, but even that fits the character :-) It's a little lite on details, but with the limited pagecount, the story IS all there. Everything you need to know, is covered.