The House at the End of Hope Street by Menna Van Praag

What begins as a semi-magical stay at a semi-magical cottage ends as another story about pregnant women at an English Women’s Shelter.

19 Years of Reviews

Frank Muller reading William Caunitz Just a paragraph. Listen to Frank Muller saying: "All in a day. It's almost like there's a puppet master pulling all our chains." Somehow, he lets the sense roll in and then rides it with his voice so that the words are gathered up in a hugeFrank Muller reading Chains of Command by William Caunitz

Disgraced, crazed, outlawed for his goodie goodieness, ex-prosecutor for the Justice Department is given one last project: investigate the disappearance of Martin Green, an aide on the intelligence committee. J is coupled with a Southern belle-neophyte FBI agent, and instructed to find nothing.Law of Gravity by Stephen Horn read by Dylan Baker

No, this is not a book about a new pope. It is about a Roman Catholic arson investigator-ette. Of course, she's blonde. And she has a huge, overprotective, overloving and overlovable family who teach us right and wrong and manners, like old Italian recipes that work. Joyce Bean reads Nora Roberts: Blue Smoke

"Your cigar fell down. You told me how good it was and how all the women liked your big cigar. We hardly started smoking and your cigar fell down." It is Havana radio. The whores are called hinateras, jockeys, to describe the way a girl might ride a pig.Havana Bay by Martin Cruz Smith read by Frank Muller

The relentless decomposition of the Oznard family has left Andrew in the position of so many young Englishmen, who had, for the first time in centuries, to feed themselves. Young Andrew had thus determined from an early age that he was for England and more specifically, that England was forThe Tailor of Panama read by John Le Carre read by Le Carre

This second in the "Allison Campbell Mystery" series is disappointing. It would have been nice to come back to a different kind of detecting woman -- a woman whose job it is to detect -- and re-configure -- a social image. The image of a person is of course aDeadly Assets by Wendy Tyson read by Tanya Eby

There's nothing like a kitchen-fuck, standing up against an old refrigerator, the ketchup bottle and the jar of mayo rolling around inside, the bag of peaches falling off the top.... There's nothing like two cops, fucking. But its a signature love scene, painterly, pointilistic, confessional. Mushrooming metaphors. And very veryDarkness Peering by Alice Blanchard read by Alyssa Bresnahan

Ed McBain's DOLL (Pouty D, drag the O, tongue heavy on the L.) is bedtime reading. The warped, lusty, utterly female voice of this slut-goddess kicks you in the groin, cuffs you to the radiator, and feeds you sex and ham sandwiches. You, or rather Steve Carella, who rarely gets tangled up withDOLL by Ed McBain read by

Has anyone else noticed a spectacular and embarrassing silliness among the old guard of East Coast scribblers? As though they were trying to write comic books, and couldn't figure out how to convert text into images? Gone are the wry, dry, street talk, the inside cracks of persons, cities, institutions.Capture by Robert Tanenbaum read by Charles Leggett

Incongruous, unlovable, post-Vietnam: a weatherman and a reporter make the Minnesota TV newsroom hummm. Dixie Quinn locks into the weather and doesn't let go. Rick Beanblossom, burn-victim, works behind the scenes, behind his mask. Their curious, uneven characterizations are ambushed midway by a grim, hopeless plot. Quotes: "Y'all take care now" (The weatherman's lastThe Weatherman by Stephen Thayer read by George Guidall

The spunky wife of a floor licking, scum sucking, receptionist-nailing hack accountant discovers her husband's infidelity and writes up the dastardly deed in his monthly newsletter which she emails to kith and kin and customers. She accumulates notoriety ("SCORNED LOCAL WIFE SUED FOR SCATHING E-MAIL") , attractsAnd One Last Thing by Molly Harper read by Amanda Ronconi

Quiet, patient, relentless intelligence spills over the pages of this story about a girl geek, a journalist, a news magazine devoted to the critique of corrupt Swedish institutions, and an odd assemblage of Stockholm's thugs, bureaucrats, intellectuals, and cops. None are verbose. Men and women think. Thinking happens withoutThe Girl Who Played With Fire by Steig Larson read by Simon Vance

The absentee father-veterinarian comes back not knowing that his ex-love is raising his daughters. He finds out, meets his girls, plays daddy, screws the right sister, and wants to run away, again.Sugar Springs by Kim Law read by Natalie Ross

Slow, cloddish, cumbersome and overcooked dialogue stretches across this morality play about an ugly presidential election. Add the 'aching sadness' and 'fatal failures' and 'eyes shining with tears' of flat white characters, but read on. Hear the slimy campaign advise of slimy campaign managers: "Girlfriend is bad. BlackThe Race by Richard North Patterson Narrated by Michael Boatman

One reason to write books is that you can name your chapters — more than just One, Two. You can name a chapter “Visiting Nora at Nova Scotia Rest Hospital”. Out of nowhere appears a book about Jacob from Halifax who was born in the reading room of the Halifax FreeMy Darling Detective by Howard Norman