Louis L’Amour’s Son of a Wanted Man
Son of a Wanted Man – Louis L’Amour
Reviewed by Rex Huskey
Owner-operator
Baker Packing Trucking
Listening Time: 3 hours
Publisher: Random House
Retail: $14.99
Genre: Western
Plot: Mike Santos has just come of age. Now he must make a choice if he wants to live a life on the Owl Hoot trail or does he want something more with a woman he thinks he loves. His choice must be made fast before the gang of his adoptive outlaw father falls apart.
Which character was your favorite? Mike and his friend because they work as one so everyone gets out of the mess they’re in.
Did the book have a message or theme? We all have choices, but with every choice comes a price.
What did you like or dislike? I liked that all the characters seemed so real and lifelike, and they could have been relatives of ours.
Would you recommend?: Yes, it is just a good Western and easy to listen to and full of action.
Narrator’s style: This audiobook is a dramatization that includes a cast of 25 veteran Hollywood actors, digital sound effects and an original musical score. The actor playing the main character has a mellow voice but needs to work on his volume. It fades in and out.
How would you grade the book? A+
Garden of Beasts – Jeffery Deaver
Reviewed by Jack Hadley
Owner-operator
Schneider National
Listening Time: 6 hours
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Retail: $30
Genre: Mystery
Plot: World War I veteran Paul Schuman, who is now a hit man for the mob, is given a second chance on life when he is recruited by the Navy to infiltrate into Germany and assassinate the head of the clandestine rearmament department, Reinhardt Ernst. If he succeeds, his past criminal record will be wiped clean and he will receive a substantial financial payment to start a new life. Paul travels to Germany posing as a freelance sports journalist, where he starts a game of hide and seek with an inspector of the criminal police while trying to kill his target and escape.
What was your favorite moment? Inspector Kohl displays what a true professional is all about when he finds out his government has sold the German people a biased political view of the “final solution.”
Which character was your favorite? Paul, the lead character, gets himself into and out of many situations based purely on Lady Luck. He is hard yet soft. He is human and has an insight gifted to his line of expertise yet isn’t calloused by his lifestyle. He has a belief in what is right and true and fights for that belief, getting himself in more trouble.
Did the book have a message or theme? Everyone has an opportunity to do the right thing at the right time for someone else, be they friends or strangers, and good always wins over evil, but it may cost you more than you are willing to pay.
What did you like or dislike? The book had a theme of “we will make all your past go away and help to insure a future for you, if you will only do this for us and if you survive.” Many other books and movies are available with the same premise.
Would you recommend?: Yes, if you want to hear more of the same material, only with a different location and characters.
Narrator’s style: Jefferson Mays has a voice that can lull you to sleep. He does each person’s voice the same each time, but somehow lacks projection of the inflections such as surprise, anger, fear and forcefulness.
How would you grade the book? C
Notables
The Ice Queen – by Alice Hoffman
Be careful what you wish for. A woman who was touched by tragedy as a child now lives a quiet life, keeping other people at a cool distance. She even believes she wants it that way. Then one day she utters an idle wish and, while standing in her house, is struck by lightning. But instead of ending her life, this cataclysmic event sparks a strange and powerful new beginning.
6 hours on 5 CDs
Retail: $31.98
Time Warner Audio
Drivers, here is your chance to review the latest audiobooks. Tell our readers what you like or dislike about the plot and characters, and why you would recommend it to other drivers. At left is one of the audiobooks available in the Truckers News audiobook library. Contact Kristin Walters at (800) 633-5953, ext. 1204, or via e-mail at [email protected] to reserve an audiobook. It will be sent to you free of charge for your review. Audiobooks are available on a first-call, first-served basis.
Audiobook Sources
Audiobooks may be purchased or rented from the following sources:
AUDIO ADVENTURES, (800) 551-6692, for 14-day rental of most major titles.
BOOKS NOW, (800) 266-5766, for purchase.
OASIS AUDIO, www.oasisaudio.com, for purchase.
Simon & Schuster Audio, (800) 223-2336, for purchase.
Audiobooks from these publishers, Random House, Time Warner and Topics Entertainment are available for purchase from www.amazon.com, www.barnesandnoble.com and www.borders.com.
