Savages by Don Winslow read by Michael Kramer

A ruthlessly intelligent localization of the seven deadly sins, California style.

10 Years of Reviews

It is not obvious that what happens to English in L.A. is natural, because what is natural in California is not natural anywhere else. But if nature is not local, what is? What localizes language? Why does Hollywood Nate understand another cop who asks him whether an Indian girl isHollywood Moon by Joseph Wambaugh

Jackson slugs a bully and saves a small dog. Hence Jackson, ex military man, ex husband (twice), having been familiar with violence his whole life has now finally found a good use for it. Now on the other side of the law, but otherwise non-localizable: "when heStarted Early Took My Dog by Kate Atkinson read by Graeme Malcolm

I am reading, no hearing, a beautiful book where a photograph is described: This is us when we are happy is not the message that Alice Roosevelt's wedding delivers...and unlike Alice Roosevelt who continued to be an unrepentant thorn in her father's side even after Teddy's death, allThe Shadow Catcher by Marianne Wiggins read by Bernadette Dunne (!)

A very clever book, horribly named. Holly the perky divorced real estate agent shows Bill a very very big house after Bill's partner tells him to buy Tara for their new law office. "Think what this house says about the people who live here....!" she says. It says that they have spentPMS Outlaws::Sharyn McCrumb read by Barbara Rosenblat

Gamash celebrates his marriage at a bed and breakfast with beds so high you need a little step stool to climb into them and bumps into a family murder. The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny read by Ralph Cosham

What starts off as a sweetly original, Jobs-like desire-mined story about a woman's relationship with the net: before and after marriage, turns into a stupid, GOOFY-Lucy-type plot about a wife and mother who tries to hide her need to be free from her straight laced and slightly idiotic husband. TooHacker Mom by Austin Rachlis

Two London twits, one Giantess and one Mum, run a domestic agency, performing unlovable chores for unlovable wives with money. The two twits rehash I Love Lucy daffiness during the subprime era of extravagance. Another dose of the English language fading into bad American dialogue and imitation Hollywood idiocy.Getting Mad, Getting Even by Annie Sanders read by Suzy Aitchison

Cynthia Darlow always lends coziness and warmth to stories about Southern life, Southern manners, and Southern towns. Like many, this story begins with an inheritance: the old Farrington mansion along with its papers, pictures, and privy things. This time, the heir is a 45 year old single mother andFirst Impressions by Jude Devereaux read by Cynthia Darlow

Remember once upon at time when you watched BATMAN because the last episode had Batman hanging by his toes over a vat of melted rubber hoses? And you had to tune in to the same Bat time, same Bat station to find out what happened? And even though you knewRobert K. Tanenbaum: Gotham

Smiley receives a letter from his ex, reads ("I want to make you an offer which no gentleman could accept. I want to come back to you. I'm staying at the Baur au Lac in Zurich till the end of the month. Let me know.") and thinks: "That was Ann. LetCall For the Dead by John Le Carre Narrated by Frank Muller(!)

Aristotle says that there are three sexes: men, women, and short women. This book is about that third sex: short, married, murderous women with happy helpful husbands and perky breasts. The kind who play tennis in the morning and spend the afternoon decorating the guest bathroom. The kind who think that wife #3 meansLong Time No See by Susan Isaacs read by Cristine Mcmurdo-Wallis

Whatever falls from the sky above, thou shalt not curse it. That includes the rain. No matter what might pour down, no matter how heavy the cloudburst or how icy the sleet, you should never ever utter profanities against whatever the heavens have in store for us. Everybody knowsThe Bastard of Istanbul by Elif Shafak read by Laurel Merlington

An all but dead movie director, inspired by a creative CIA operative, flies to Uzbekistan to shoot a reality show about a mafioso war lord in the post soviet territories with problems. "Wife is bitch on wheel. Son wants to join fuckink Taliban. Daughter like pussy." A perfect formula forThe Manhattan Beach Project by Peter Lefcourt read by Tom Weiner

Matt Payne is back, attracting bullets and bad guys and the failed sons and daughters of old Philadelphian society, and WEB Griffin is in fine form in the digital age, as romantic and jolly as always. But instead of showing us into the salons and bedrooms and backbenches ofThe Traffickers by W.E.B. Griffin read by Scott Brick

Two mothers. Iris, mother of the bride, is pushy, ambitious, Jewish, overpresent, and proud of her Red Hook genealogy, which can be traced back to the Battle of the Bulge. But Iris is not exactly a local. Yes, every summer Iris comes back to the oceanfront Queen Anne house,Red Hook Road by Ayelet Waldman read by Kimberly Farr

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