NAVY Archives > recordedbookreview.com

Clean, streamlined writing by STEPHEN COONTS; as always, wonderful technical-mechanical

details of navy pilots planes and carriers; wry, politically prickly story
about NAVY officer-dom, post-war bureaucracy, and the flow of military
power-money.

19 Years of Reviews

A nympho wine reviewer with a boyfriend who doesn't like to fuck on boats looks for a killer in San Francisco. But there are no localized mappings, detailing the city or its' neighborhoods, except for traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge. Likewise, don't expect any happy wine tasting menuDeath in a Wine-Dark Sea by Lisa King

Only if you want to listen to a spoiled wife's marriage problems while her husband, the surgeon, has chemotherapy for his brain cancer. A long array of the usual complaints, followed by forgiveness and a touch of rural religion.Pirate Queen by Patricia Hickman read by Flora Plumb

It is not unusual for women's books to lay out women in groups, like a plate of madeleines, a silver tray of cream cakes. But this circle of quilters is not a dainty or delicate array. Chiaverini quilts stories about a dozen or so women who quilt, whose separate livesJennifer Chiaverini's Elm Creek Quilting Series narrated by Christina Moore

It is not unusual to hear unflattering descriptions of Americans in the press, but when did Americans get so ugly in fiction? Consider a white haired couple who seem to be wearing each other's clothes in Donna Leon's Blood from a Stone: The woman wore a flannelBlood from a Stone by Donna Leon::David Colacci

The first murder victim is a horror list of character flaws with L.A. citizenship: 1. She could not be bothered to make the car payments on the first of each month, even though her parents took care of the down payment. 2. She lives in a dump in ShermanCompulsion by Jonathan Kellerman read by Rubenstein

At St. Alban's Church there is a stained glass window picturing a Roman soldier with a halo dressed as a Priest. The Roman soldier was Alban. When the Priest who converted him was sentenced to death, Alban switched clothes with him and died in his place. A soldier disguised as aAll Mortal Flesh by Julia Spencer-Fleming read by Suzanne Toren

This short sharp tale of a dominant woman D.A. who loves political office far too well adds new personae to the genealogy of Cornwell's anger. Monique Lamonte, a moneyed, manipulative, Harvardy alpha female; Winn, her cop investigator pretty boy with a tarot-reading grandmother and a taste for Hugo Boss andAt Risk by Patricia Cornwell read by Kate Reading

What happens to a hard cop in a hard city in an era below good and evil.Hollywood Station by Joseph Wambaugh

Maeve Binchy is the grand-mistress of the domestic imaginary: that hearty, busy, pretty space where women make themselves primal. It is late Capitalism and the lumpen proletariat of Dublin are caterers, not cooks. Katy is prole and caterer and the figure of a Dublin that caters to others, toScarlet Feather by Maeve Binchy read by Barbara Caruso

After much too much silly shitty giggly girly fiction, this clever, sharp, unpredictable novel about a small town female Sheriff who meets a man at a Quantico training course is a delight. The dialogue between the coupling law enforcement agents is witty, original, delicious; the supporting characters are curiousMaking It Right by Catherine Bybee read by Cristina Panfilio

A ruthlessly intelligent localization of the seven deadly sins, California style. Savages by Don Winslow read by Michael Kramer

An adulterous wife, a cracked small town doctor, a crooked partner, and a handful of gun-nuts, rednecks and vets are trapped inside this book like 5 men and 4 cowboy hats in a trailor. Third Degree by Greg Iles read by David Collacci

Every hyphenated family is unhappy in its own way. And so the Wyatt-Yarmouth family is unhappy not only because its son has died in a small town in British Columbia where a sweet, incompetent, merry constable is trying to keep the peace. There is also a venomousWinter of Secrets by Vicki Delany read by Carrington MacDuffie

Jim Thompson's The Killer Inside Me hard boils the story from the start: London as the small bad city with its own 87th precinct: Brant, who cuts a bit off the top of every drug bust, makes himself loved by women, plays laid back surfer dude copCalibre by Ken Bruen read by Gerard Doyle

Dick Francis died in his home on the Cayman Islands. He was 89. A successful steeplechase jockey, Francis turned to writing after he retired from racing in 1957. He penned 42 novels, many of which featured racing as a theme. His books were translated into more than 20 languages, and inDick Francis 1921-2010

Tag: NAVY

The Minotaur by Stephen Coonts read by Michael Prichard