A Death in Vienna – Daniel Silva
Reviewed by Kay Floyd
Owner-operator,
L & L Trucking – Pilger
Listening Time: 6 hours
Publisher: Random House
Retail: $25.95
Genre: Mystery/suspense
Plot: Gabriel Allon, an art restorer/spy is out to find the terrorists who bombed a building in Vienna. In his search he uncovers a man who terrorized and killed thousands, including his own mother.
What was your favorite moment/scene in the book? When the clockmaker received his clock and time ran out.
Which character was your favorite? Why? Gabriel because he had the courage not to kill a horrible person when he had the chance but to make him face and recall his evil.
Did the book have a message or a theme that stood out to you? There are and always have been terrorists. We can’t let them go on with their cowardly ways or deny they exist. Sept. 11 wasn’t the beginning.
What did you like about the book? Dislike? I liked the persistence of Gabriel Allon. I normally don’t care for spy thrillers because they are usually unbelievable, but this one, I could believe it was a true story. All of the foreign names were hard for me to keep track of.
Would you recommend?: I would recommend this book, as after the first tape, I couldn’t wait to hear more.
Narrator’s style: Tony Goldwyn did a fine job with the different accents, and I would like to see this as a movie.
How would you grade the book? A
Twisted – Jeffrey Deaver
Reviewed by Tama Gordon
Company driver,
PTL
Listening Time: 6.5 hours
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Retail: $26
Genre: Mystery
Plot: This is a collection of eight mystery stories. I’ll use just one story as an example. In “Triangle,” a jealous and desperate man named Pete plots to take revenge on the lover of the only woman in his life. He goes on a weekend trip with murder in his mind. Mo is the main female; she seems petty and shallow. Doug is Mo’s lover. He is nice but unlikable.
What was your favorite moment/scene in the book? My favorite scene would give away the ending. Let’s just say when Pete gets back from the weekend with Doug and gets off the plan. That was my favorite part.
Which character was your favorite? Why? I liked Pete. He seemed like the underdog who took a stand through the whole story. My opinion changed at the end of the story, though.
Did the book have a message or a theme that stood out to you? Yes! Never think you know what’s going on till they say “the end.”
What did you like about the book? Dislike? I loved all the stories. They kept me on edge and always guessing. This author is truly talented.
Would you recommend?: Definitely. My boyfriend doesn’t [usually] like books on tape till one of these stories ended and he stayed up and listened, really getting into it. That is recommendation enough. He loved it and wouldn’t go to sleep till he found out how it ended. It also helped me get through the night and kept me alert while driving. Better than coffee!
Narrator’s style: I liked all three narrators. They knew where to put all the appropriate pauses for effect and put a lot of personality into the characters.
How would you grade the book? B
Brothers in Arms – by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Anthony Walton
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (the six-time NBA Most Valuable Player with the devastating “sky hook”) first became immersed in the history of the 761st Battalion through family friend Leonard “Smitty” Smith, a veteran of the unit. Working with writer Anthony Walton, Abdul-Jabbar interviewed surviving members of the battalion to weave together a narrative based on their memories, stories and historical accounts, from basic training through the horrors of the battlefield to their postwar experiences.
Trained essentially as a public relations gesture to maintain the support of the black community, the battalion was never intended to see battle. But the Allies were so desperate for trained tank personnel in the summer of 1944, following heavy casualties in the fields of France, that the battalion was called up.
While most combat troops fought on the front for a week or two before being rotated back, the men of the 761st served for more than six months, fighting heroically under Patton’s Third Army at the Battle of the Bulge and in the Allies’ final drive across France and Germany. Despite a casualty rate that approached 50 percent and an extreme shortage of personnel and equipment, the 761st would ultimately help liberate some 30 towns and villages, as well as several branch concentration camps.
5 hours
4 compact discs
Retail: $24.95
Random House 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 and Topics Entertainment are available for purchase from www.amazon.com, www.barnesandnoble.com and www.borders.com.