Hollywood Nate Archives > recordedbookreview.com

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 is feather or dot?

19 Years of Reviews

The last of the Rabbi Small series narrated with an annoying over-aggressive punkishness by Guidall -- to intimate, perhaps, the intellectual aggression of Rabbi Small, the clever not-to-be socialized puzzle solver and prayer leader of the Conservative Jews of Barnard's Crossing Massachusetts. The characters are at least as aliveThe Day the Rabbi Resigned by Harry Kemelman read by George Guidall

Rina Lazarus is a religious woman who cleans the ritual bath, cooks huge Sabbath meals, and teaches Math at a Yeshiva for boys in "Jewtown", near L.A. She dresses modestly, covers her hair with a kerchief or a wig, and celebrates the Sabbath by hosting huge home cooked meals forThe Ritual Bath by Faye Kellerman performed by Mitchell Greenberg

We all have an aunt or a grandmother who likes to mourn. But in the March family there is a maiden aunt who only comes to visit when the family is in mourning - and doesn't go away until another family member dies…. Silent in the Grave by Deanna Raybourne

If you're Jewish and you have a brother and he's still married, this is NOT how he will sound after he divorces his goyishe wife who you've never liked anyway. Because the person reading this acid-funny tale doesn't have the nasal force or the resentful irregularity or that specific JewishThis is where I leave you by Jonathan Tropper performed by Ramon de Ocampo

For those of you who have been reading or not reading Koontz lately, it may not be obvious that there are two Koontzes: the early Koontz and the late Koontz. Like the early Heidegger and the late Heidegger. The distinction should open the door to hours and hours and hoursThe Door to December by Dean Koontz read by George Guidall

In some possible Doris Day movie about a perky blonde secretary and a rich executive bachelor there is a perpetual secretarial pool typing out Nora Roberts novels in time to Sinatra or Liszt. There is no Nora Roberts. There is a pool of Nora Roberts, a herd of Nora Roberts,The Nora Roberts Pool

CJ Critt's sweet, well enunciated, sing song voice turns even a murder mystery into a fairy tale. Once upon a time, Judge Knott (pronounced Judge not!) found a book of manners, probably given to newly engaged 19th century women preparing for wedding, marriage and domestic life. Each chapter begins withRituals of the Season::Margaret Maron::CJ Critt

Self-righteous, five foot eleven cunt-cop does a "If I have to choose between doing the right thing and ratting on my cop-boyfriend I'd rather be a cunt" and spoils this perfectly curious re-take of vice-cop falls in love with wretched and beautiful prostitute. Don't you hate it when the PROTAGONIST isRed Light by T. Jefferson Parker

Whatever else Ruth Rendell does or does not do, she demonstrates what might, could, would or should be said while helping the police in their inquiry. The mystery lies not so much in who did it but in who lies about doing it: who said that he didn'tBabes in the Woods by Ruth Rendell narrated by Nigel Anthony

Although less terrible than usual, Brick can't do funny. And this book can be funny. The ram rod straight CIA trainer; the queer, ruthless, demented Director of Operations; the stubborn, nerdish, accidentally lucky pseudo-operative determined to avenge his murdered girlfriend..... Then of course he bumps into a woman who The Amateur: A Novel of Revenge by Robert Littell read by Scott Brick

Nine times out of ten, if you've got a paranoid psychotic on the loose, his name is Raymond, he's mumbling something in Russian, and he's been hypnotized by his mother -- who is vicious and who controls the world. Allan Folsom is wonderful. So is Richard Condon. The extra bitThe Exile by Allan Folsom Read by Paul Michael

Remarkably lean and unfussy novelette about a female chef who rediscovers that experimentation is the best part of cooking...The Wedding Gift by Lisa Kevin

Imagine a big black woman, Myrna from Montreal, who decides to drive South, but feels peckish after an hour and a half and so stops and bumps into a one-vache town, a fairy-tale town: Three Pines had what she craved. It had croissants and cafe au lait. It had steak fritesA Fatal Grace by Louise Penny read by Ralph Cosham

Couples. Kellerman's shrink narrator is full of meticulous, obsessive, data-driven characterizations of L.A. couples and couplings. Milos and Rick, for instance. Rick gets his hair trimmed every two weeks at a high priced West Hollywood salon. Milos drives every two months to La Brea and Washington where he hands hisKellerman's Gone

Is it the caterer or the husband or the ex-husband? Or the best-friend? When the hated mother of the bride is poisoned at the wedding, the wedding planner and her favored caterer are at the top of the suspect list... For those who want to read about weddings and murder atBetter Off Wed by Laura Durham read by Stephanie Spicer

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Hollywood Moon by Joseph Wambaugh