A Novel Murder

Fat Ollie’s Book –
Ed McBain

Reviewed by Robin Huskey
Owner-operator
Baker Packing Trucking

Listening Time: 5 hours
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
Retail: $26
Genre: Mystery/comedy

Plot: Detective Fat Ollie Weeks goes to investigate the murder of councilman Lester Henderson. With him is the only copy of a book he is writing. While there, someone steals his book. He and two fellow cops investigate the murder and try to find his book.

Which character was your favorite? Why?: Fat Ollie. He was so obsessed with his book and getting it back. He thinks it is the greatest novel of all time, but it is only 10 short chapters in one cop’s life.

What’s best (or not)? The comedy along with the murder and theft of Ollie’s book make for good listening.

Would you recommend?: Yes, it was great entertainment for the road.

Narrator’s style: I think he sounded like a New York cop. He just has the right tone to his voice for all his characters.

How would you grade the book? B


Sin Killer –
Larry McMurtry

Reviewed by Vicky Stowers
Wife of owner-operator

Listening Time: 8 hours
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
Retail: $35
Genre: Western

Plot: The Berrybender family, an aristocratic English family, have left their mansion in England and decided to travel down the Mississippi River and experience the wild West for themselves. The year is 1832, and the riverboat they travel on is the Rocky Mount. They encounter Indians, bad weather, death among the family members and much more.

Who are the main characters?: Tasmin Berrybender is the oldest daughter. She’s headstrong and beautiful. Jim Snow is a frontiersman who fights Indians. Lord Berrybender is an aristocratic miser.

What’s best (or not)? I liked the plot. I like all of Larry McMurtry’s books.

Would you recommend?: Yes, because it’s a great story told with realistic details to make you feel as if you are there, right in the middle of the river with the whole family.

Narrator’s style: The narrator is Alfred Molina. He did a good job with the various voices, and there were a lot of them.

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How would you grade the book? A+


Notables

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. Below are some 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.

In the Company of Heroes –
Michael J. Durant

Piloting a U.S. Army Special Operations Blackhawk, Durant was shot down and captured on Oct. 3, 1993, in the battle depicted in Mark Bowden’s bestselling book Black Hawk Down. Durant became a prisoner of Somali warlord Mohammed Aidid – the man responsible for prolonging starvation in his country by hijacking United Nations food shipments. U.S. policy makers had determined that capturing Aidid was the only way to restore order. The simple snatch-and-grab plan, named Operation Gothic Serpent, turned into the biggest U.S. firefight since the Vietnam War.

Durant’s experience as a prisoner in Somalia grew increasingly bizarre,
crystallizing a clash of cultures by turns frightening, melancholy, hilarious and strangely familiar. Revealing never-before-told stories with the incisive thought and emotion of one who was there, In the Company of Heroes is one man’s unforgettable, true story of going to hell and making it back alive.

6 hours
Retail: $26
Simon & Schuster Audio

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.
Simon & Schuster Audio, (800) 323-7445, for purchase.

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