The Appeal – Audio CD Review

The Appeal
by John Grisham
Book on CD
Read by Michael Beck
Reviewed by Paul McMahon
Its been a while sing I have read a Grisham book. I did not realize that this was his latest.
It is one of his best.
The book is 12.5 hours on 10 compact discs.
The story:
There is this chemical plant in Mississippi which makes some [...]

The Pig Did It – Book Review

The Pig Did It, A novel
by Joseph Caldwell
Review by Paul McMahon
We get an introduction to an Irish pig who does not talk, but disrupts everybody’s life that it has contact with.
Aaron is an American who spent his youth in Ireland.  He is returning to mourn his failed relationship with a girl.
How sad.
We begin to be [...]

Bad Dogs Have More Fun – Audio CD Review

Bad Dogs Have More fun
By John Grogan
Book on CD, 6 CDs 5.5 hours
Read by Arte Johnson from Laugh In
 
Once in a while a book comes by which is a masterpiece.  This is not quite it.  This book is a collection of masterpieces.
 
The book is a collection of 75 columns written by Grogan for the Philadelphia [...]

Damage Control – Book Review

Damage Control
by J. A. Jance
 
Jance has two mystery series that she writes.  One is Joanna Brady set in Tuscon which this book is part of.  The other is the J. P. Beaumont Series set in Seattle.
 
Jance can build a complex mystery with several plots developing simultaneously.  Sometimes they are related and sometimes there to increase [...]

Resolution – Book Review

Resolution By Robert B. Parker
 
The book is an entertaining Western with an intriguing plot that gradually develops as you read the book.
 
Resolution is a Western town near a copper mine and a sawmill.
 
Parker develops an interesting set of characters and plays each against the other in unexpected ways.
 
Parker’s writing style is different but effective.  He [...]

Crisis – Audio CD Review

Crisis
By: Robin Cook
Book on CD
Read By:  George Guidell
Reviewed By: Paul McMahon
Robin Cook always has a twist in the tale he is telling and Crisis continues the tradition.
We meet Dr. Jack Shannon, a New York City Medical Examiner who rides a bicycle to work in Manhattan traffic.  Eccentric but competent.
Then we meet Dr. Craig Bowman in [...]

The Elephant and the Dragon – Book Review

The Elephant and the Dragon
By: Robin Meredith
Reviewed by: Paul McMahon
When I was in high school and college we were told that culture and knowledge move East. This made us proud of the success of what we called Western Culture of Europe and the Americas and the failure of the old cultures of [...]

The Messenger – Audio CD Review

The Messenger
By:  Daniel Silva
Book on CD Read By:  Christopher Lane
Reviewed by:  Paul McMahon
9 CDs 11 hours
This is a current terrorist thriller and it is spine chilling.
There is an underlying theme that the Saudis are funding the terror side of the “War on Terror”
One of the richest men in the world is a Saudi who collects [...]

Who’s Killing the Great Writers of America? – Audio CD Review

Who’s killing the Great Writers of America?
By: Robert Kaplow
Read By: Arte Johnson
This is a parody.
The story starts with Sue “A is for Alibi … S is for Silence” Grafton who is riding to Paris on the un-air conditioned Orient Express. Suddenly Steve Martin appears o n the train and presents some of [...]

Tallgrass – Audio CD Review

Tallgrass
By: Sandra Dallas
Read by: Loreli King
Reviewed by Paul McMahon
This is a terrific book.
You may not be aware that many Japanese Americans who lived in the Western states were moved to internment camps because they might be spies. I was growing up here in Connecticut during World War II and I will tell [...]