Death Du Jour - Audiobook Review

Death Du Jour by Kathy Reichs

Format - Audiobook, Downloaded by Audible

Narrator, Bonnie Hurren

Why? 2nd in a new series I'm reading 

What Now? on to #3 but not in audiobook format...and here's another plug for Audible (no I don't work for them)...I downloaded #3 Deadly Decisions to my Iphone and was shocked when the download  was complete so quickly.  I realized then that I had downloaded the abridged version...not the unabridged...I almost had a conniption fit.  I emailed Audible explaining what I had done but didn't really expect them to be able to do anything about it.  Within 24 hours I had a credit to my account for the price of the download and a very polite email apologizing for any inconvenience I had been caused.

Now that's customer service :) 

Unfortunately though, I have yet to find the unabridged version of Deadly Decisions so I may have to go back to the old fashioned way of reading again...on my Nook ;)

Summary

While working on a historic case, to establish the sainthood of long dead Elizabet Nicolae, Temperence is called in to investigate a housefire where adults as well as children have been killed in what turns out to be a cult murder.  The cult connections run deep, and once Temperence gets the Canadian officials to get over their macho selves, they begin to put the far flung pieces together in this "better stay sharp or you'll miss a clue" novel.

In the process of Death du Jour, Temperence finds that a cult following is similar to a cancer that spreads wide and within even the smallest niches, only to be discovered after irreversable damage is done.

What I Liked

Detective Ryan - He's not Booth (from the t.v. show)...and that was almost a dealbreaker for me when I was trying to decide which next series to try...but this Temperence is not the Temperence on t.v. either...once I got to know both these characters in the book, the details worked out much better than I thought.  I like their partnership; I think it's inevitable that they'll end up a couple of some sort, but I think they'll also remain professional...that's my hope anyway...if Reichs goes all lovey dovey on me, she'll lose me.  

Reichs got me again...I had absolutely no clue who the villain was...until Reichs decided to unveil it...I was stunned.  Walking around with my earphones in, I actually stopped and said the person's name.  My oldest daughter said, "Huh?"

The movement from Montreal and Quebec to Charlotte, Virginia...Murtrey Island - the island of the monkeys...the movement of the story is one of the many reasons you have to stay alert while reading Reichs.  I think she does that on purpose, and I appreciate it!

Daisy Ginot - the McGill University professor with deep, dark secrets...I can't say much here, but she gave me chills from the first time Temperence met her. 

Elizabet - the bones that begin the mystery...end the mystery...a very comforting and effective closure...possibly one of the best I've read. 

While the storyline is wide, it all connects in the end and sets up just enough lose ends for continuation later in the series...Temperence's daughter Katy connects with an anthropologist mentor, Sam Rayburn of Temperence's on the grounds of the island on which he studies monkey behavior.  Katy is struggling with decisions in her life right now so the connection here brings out some of her characteristics like her mom.  Of course the most direct connection is that 2 dead bodies show up on the secluded island, which is quarantined due to risk of infection for the animals.

Cults are the focus of this novel...and while the novel follows a distinct storyline, the reader also "accidentally" gains a great amount of information about the subject matter...all of the info pertinent to being able to figure out the puzzle.

Temperence's brain doesn't stop when she sleeps...especially when she's working or anxious...at one time in her life, alcohol numbed that anxiety.  A recovering alcoholic, Temperence works, runs, reads, travels, etc. in order to keep her sanity and stay sober.  Even during the times that she would like a drink, she works through the desire logically...deliberately thinking about how the relief is always temporary and that the consequences, physical as well as emotional, are not worth a drink.  Temperence drinks Diet Coke instead of alcohol, doesn't whine or moan about her status, and doesn't share her story with just anyone.  I think I like this part of Temperence's personality bc it shows how even the toughest, smartest, most together women can and do have weaknesses/challenges over which they climb every. single. day.

The older I get the more I am convinced that the brightest people are at risk of addictive behavior as well as mental challenges.

What I Didn't Like

The use of dogs as part of the villainous torture...I'm biased here, but 

dogs, knives and scalding liquid as forms of torture are gruesome.  I'm also one of those dog owners who doesn't encourage my dog to "get" anything, nor do I reinforce any of her aggressive traits.  The world has enough images of dog viciousness already...hence breed specific legislation, which I am totally against.  

The science and the language - it's not that I don't like these aspects...bc I felt more connected with this 2nd book than I did with the 1st, but it's still challenging for me to keep up at times.  Kathy Reichs' isn't a brainless writer so her books are anything but brainless.

Temperence's sister Harry...accent snob as I am, the narrator's voice wasn't my problem.  Harry's "voice" is high-pitched and whiny...makes me shiver just typing that line.  I don't have a lot of patience for characters who just bumble around aggravating the crap out of everybody else and never learning from their mistakes.  Harry is the complete opposite of Temperence.

Narrator

Since I liked the first narrator so much, I was immediately taken aback when I realized the narrator this time was different.  Her voice was different with nuances I wasn't sure I would be able to be ok with.  I thought a lot about how difficult I am to please with narrators.  I'm not sure there's anything I can do about it although I did finally get over the differences enough to still enjoy the story.  

Overall Recommendation

"Bones" viewers and mystery, detective novel readers who are also interested in the science and social aspects behind cults, their organization, characteristics of followers as well as leaders, will enjoy this edition of Temperence Brennan.

Book Review - Deja Dead

Deja Dead by Kathy Reichs

Downloaded from Audible

Narrated by: Barbara Rosenblat

Why? this past year I've been disappointed in a couple of series I've loyally read for several years...(James Patterson's Women's Murder Club and Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum)...and one of my favorites is coming to an end Summer 2012 (Charlaine Harris's Sookie Stackhouse).  

I decided to spend some times "researching" three other series I thought I might like to get into next.   Besides Kathy Reichs' Temperence Brennan series, I also looked into Tess Gerritsen's Rizzoli and Isles as well as Patricia Cornwell's Kay Scarpetta novels.  I read a few reviews for each series, and I even watched the pilot episodes of both the Reichs and Gerritsen books.  I was immediately drawn to Bones but not so much to Rizzoli and Isles, so I decided to push Gerritsen to the back burner (for now) and chose Tempe Brennan as my next smart girl heroine :)  

Stephanie Plum better get with it...

or else :p

What Now? This series makes me think...and it makes me ever so thankful that professionals like Temperence Brennan really exist and have the thinking skills as well as the book knowledge to solve these crimes, sometimes using only leftovers (ahem, human leftovers) as evidence.  

On to book 2 :)

Why Audiobook format?  I started off reading Deja Dead on my Nook...but I had to keep forcing myself to read.  How could I like a tv series so much and have such a difficult time getting into the books the show was based on??

You see why I have the rule about reading first??

The first book takes place in Montreal and Quebec, and much of the language is tinged with French phrases, names, etc. I have absolutely nill background about this area of the world.  The science is also about as steep as it can get.  All that together made me almost feel dumb.  I think it overwhelmed me. 

I blamed myself rather than the book and decided I would give it one last shot...but instead of going back to my Nook, I took the plunge and downloaded it to Audible.  

Audiobooks are expensive.  Period.  

I'm one of those folks who loves to buy books...and even after I've listened to an audiobook or read a book via one of my electronic devices (Nook, Kindle, Iphone, etc.), I sometimes still want to buy the paper copy...especially if the book ranks up there with the other keepers I have on the shelves of my antique secretary.  The audiobooks I've listened to in my car end up being on clearance at BAM or Barnes and Noble or checked out from the library.  I mean, really, have you seen the prices on brand new audiobook selections??  I don't mind paying hardback prices for books...but not for CD's of the book when there's a possibility I'm gonna turn around and buy the book anyway.

:/

With Audible, I pay a certain fee per month and can download audiobooks at discounted prices.  With each purchase, I also earn points that can be used toward my next purchase.  

Much, much more affordable.

Summary

Temperence Brennan is a forensic anthropologist at the Laboratoire de Medecine Legale.  On top of the highly specialized job of identifying human remains, Tempe is incredibly smart, incredibly successful, has a college aged daughter, an ex-husband (divorced barely a year) and is a recovering alcoholic.  

In Deja Dead, through her own work, plus assisting her longstanding friend Gabby with an anthropological project among prostitutes, Tempe stumbles into a serial murder investigation.

Tempe puts clues together but is forced to run those clues through a group of male detectives who are anything but happy that she's stepped up to the plate, especially one older detective named Charboneau who seems to think women are better in the kitchen and at home than working on a murder investigation.  

As Temperence begins to unravel the clues, the killer begins to lose concentration on his victims and turns his sights on Tempe herself.  

What I Liked 

Tempe - how can you not like this woman.  Her life is not perfect, and she doesn't pretend nor strive for it to be.  She is a mom, a professional, a woman, a friend, a person.  Tempe is tough but also vulnerable...She wants a drink, but remembers why she can't even dance one dance with that particular devil.

Even though a drink would help for the moment, the morning after always comes...and it's not worth it.

She loves her daughter Katy fiercely but knows Katy has some decisions to make and that Katy will most likely make those decisions on her own. Tempe lives with and loves her cat Birdie :)  She loves and appreciates Birdie for his independence and catness...as only a genuine cat lover can.

Tempe cares for her ex-husband Pete (more for the happier times from  their life together than the present, but she still cares). Tempe knows that she and Pete don't really belong together; their lives are different now, and their relationship changed before the marriage was over.

Plus, when he's not getting on her nerves, Detective Ryan really looks nice in those 501's he wears :)


Tempe loves Gabby...and accepts her for who she is...even when Gabby gets on Tempe's nerves.  Tempe even loves Gabby enough to know that she can't keep rescuing her every time she gets herself in trouble...and most importantly, like Katy, Gabby is a grown woman and will choose her own path in life and will take her own risks, no matter what Tempe suggests.

Last but not least, Tempe cares for the people whose bones she identifies...she wants their families to have some closure...some kind of peace.  While it's her job to put up walls and sometimes anesthetize herself from what she sees, she can't help but feeling emotional for those who've been left behind.

And, most importantly (to me anyway), Tempe is not whiny about ANY of these things.  

Life is what it is.  And, Tempe Brennan lives it.  

The science - whoa Nelly...I think one of the reasons I like the science is bc I really have to pay attention...if I'm trying to get my mind off something (driving back and forth somewhere day after day, the crappy day at work I just had, a monotonous day's routine, etc.), I plug the earphones in and I'm gone.  My brain is racing to keep up. 

The suspense - I never knew who the killer was until the killer was unmasked...as a matter of fact, I didn't have a clue.  My heart raced at times, anticipating the killer's next move...and then it wouldn't happen.  Instead of being disappointed, I was relieved.  My fear level rose immensely when the killer finally made his final move, and I could barely breathe until the scene was over.
Now, THAT is a a series that's worthy of my time :)

What I Didn't Like

The science - for example, there was one place in the audio where Tempe discussed the different kinds of cuts made by saws...she calls a saw expert and for page after page they talked about various saws, their individual teeth, what kinds of pressure it takes to move the saws, the motions, the grooves, the way the cut, groove and pressure affect the bone....zzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Oh, sorry :p

I'm not exaggerating, folks...Kathy Reichs is all about some scientific detail.  It's incredibly exciting and challenging most of the time, but it can also leave you behind if you're, let's say, not a saw afficianado ;)

Narrator

I listened to the first chapters in the regular paced audio speed, but once I got used to the words, the surroundings and the accent, I sped her up :)  The voice was not distorted at all, just a little less time between the pauses.  Perfect.  

I knew from the first few minutes of the audio that I would be ok with this narrator; her accent is flawless and sounds original...her French impeccable where French phrases were used for effect...I even found myself near the end picking up on nuances and noticing words in French that were similar to English words.  

She switched voices between gruff male detectives, Tempe herself, her friend Gabby, the prostitutes Gabby was working with, Tempe's daughter Katy, the villain in the heat of a kill, etc. with ease.  The dialogue was very easy to follow and kept me on the edge of my seat.  

Overall Recommendation

1.  Do NOT read the Kathy Reichs series expecting Temperence Brennan on television to be Temperence Brennan in the books.  The name is just about the only similarity between the two characters, that and the fact that they are both forensic anthropologists.

2.  If you are tired of the same old formulaic, no brainer detective/mystery stuff, and want something to challenge your sleuthing abilities as well as question whether or not you took enough science classes in high school, this is your series.  

Audiobook Review - South of Broad

Golden Lines (sorta):

"I felt like a booger on a kleenex as I crossed the room"

(***please see my audiobook dislike below)

(not so) Short and Sweet Summary:

After finding his brother Steven dead from slitting his wrist and neck in the bathtub, Leo King, the narrator of South of Broad, spends the rest of his life putting the pieces back together, struggling, in and out of trouble and dangerous situations, both legal and psychological, from his young teenage years at Penninsula High School in the historical city of Charleston and into his adult life over the next 2-3 decades. 

Among others Leo's story includes:

 his mother Dr. Lindsey King, devout Catholic, former nun, a James Joyce scholar and principal of Penninsula High School who makes her son learn 5 new vocabulary words each and every day;

his science teacher father, intelligent, calm, collected and a realist, head over heels in love with Leo's mother and the peacekeeper between his wife and son;

 Chad Worthington X, arrogant member of old Charleston society, an ass on the football field and in the halls of Penninsula High as well as in his own home within Charleston elite society at the Battery in the beginning of the story and an ass in his high end law office as a rich cheating husband by the end of the story;

Frazier Worthington, Chad's sister who doesn't quite fit the Charleston society feminine expectations, a star athlete known statewide for her abilities as well as her honest but quiet personality;

Molly Huggee, another member of the Charleston elite, who spends most of her life wavering back and forth between what she thinks she's supposed to be and what she thinks she wants to be, Chad's girlfriend in the beginning and his unhappy, whiny wife at the end;

Trevor and Sheba Powe, flamboyant twins, whose mother is an alcoholic running from a psychotic, abusive husband; they join the group their last year in high school and leave Charleston as soon as they can...Trevor to San Francisco where he can openly be himself, a promiscuous gay man, and Sheba to Hollywood where she becomes a star.

Niles and Starla, two orphans from the Appalachians, rescued by Leo; both eventually marry other members of the group, but only one of them will survive the trauma they lived through before Leo found them tied to a chair.

Betty, a young African American orphan, sent to Penninsula with Niles and Starla to assimilate with other groups of kids before turning 18 and being sent out on her own.

Ike Jefferson, son of the first black head football coach at Penninsula, mistrustful of Leo at first, but honest, tough, and determined to break through the racial barriers of Charleston.

Through these relationships, collective and individual, Leo will make sense of the world...and finally come to grips with the fact that we are all just hanging on, taking life one day at a time and rolling with its violent punches.

My Initial Reaction

I don't think I've ever been so relieved for a story to end.  By the time the action picks up high speed in South of Broad, I was so exhausted that I was holding on by a thread during the chapters in the last section of the book...

Leo's story reminded me a lot of The Big Chill...group of friends growing together from high school into adulthood, some in more positive directions than others...South of Broad covers more time in detail than The Big Chill with other individual stories weaving in and out and breaking up the sequence at times.  The characters are rich...and complicated at the same time.  The reader either loves them or hates them...and at times will be disappointed, even with characters he/she loves.

What I Liked:

You can't help but like Leo.  How in the world he manages toughing it out through his brother's death, his mother's stubbornness, his wife's craziness and holds all his friends together amid complete total chaos at the same time is beyond me. 

Conroy's descriptions are vivid.

Conroy spends a lot of time describing the surroundings...and vivid descriptions are absolutely imperative when your characters age 30 years and travel from Charleston, SC to San Francisco, CA, particularly in the Tenderloin during the height of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980's. 

After the whirlwind that is Leo's story, the ending is right. There is only so much one person can stand...the final straw for Leo was also the final straw for me as well, and it would have been unbelievable for Leo to absorb the last surprise without some fallout.  I personally wanted to vomit in my car.

Throughout everything that happens to Leo, I never felt sorry for him; Leo never wanted sympathy...he was a character who pulled himself up by the bootstraps and dusted his behind off time and time again and became a stronger person each time he made it through the storm...literally and figuratively.

What I Didn't Like:

The plot of this story doesn't even really begin until Chpt 3.  I would have read this book much faster had I been reading it instead of listening to it...but I probably would have missed some of the intracacies that are characteristics of Conroy's writing.  There were times when I was gritting my teeth.

The story was exhausting - it is packed...not just with Leo's issues but the issues of all his friends.  It was exhausting to write this review because of how much goes on in this story, including but not limited to:

racism, southern stereotypes, juvenile system, psychological disorders, Catholicism, homosexuality, pedophilia, alcoholism, classism, journalism, hurricanes, psycho killers and on and on and on...

lots of language...because I was listening in the car I had to make sure I was alone in the car...the language was appropriate for the story but it was very crude language...not just the usual shit, damn or hell...but words that will make you cringe...especially if you're listening to it.   Sorry, Mom, this one is not for you.

Sequence breaks - I can usually deal with this kind of thing...but it happened TOO MUCH with South of Broad.  When Leo and his friends are in San Francisco trying to find Trevor, they literally have to rescue him...right in the middle of the rescue, Conroy stops and tells another story of when they were all younger...yes, the story is relevant but geez...these breaks began to get on my nerves...especially when they were long and drawn out breaks.

What I Didn't Like Specifically about the Audiobook

The reader of this book, Mark Deakins, is not a Southerner. His accent reminds me of those old Civil War movies where non-Southern people try to pretend to be Southern.

If I hadn't been in my car traveling 1 1/2 hrs to and from the airport, I probably would have popped this baby right out of the CD player from the first word.

It's very difficult to pick out golden lines when you're listening to a story...I write/annotate/journal as I read which is probably against the law while a person is driving (if not, it should be). I don't decide on my Golden Line until I'm completely done and then I pick out the sentences that I think paint a picture with words of what can be expected in the story. The only reason I even remembered the Golden Line I used in this review was because I typed it up as soon as I started the audiobook...the quote comes at the very beginning when Leo is walking across the dining room of the country club to meet his parents as they discuss with two families of upper crust Charlestonian society how best to handle their own children's transfer to Penninsula High after a minor drug related incident. Leo is describing how purposely conspicuous he feels as a non-member of the club.
I'd say a booger is pretty conspicuous...I just never really thought about it :p

Overall:

This story is one of resiliance.  It is a story about what happens when life kicks us in the face again and again and again.  Leo's story is one of family...his biological family as well as those he brings into his inner circles and loved as much as, if not sometimes more than actual family members...and all the complications those relationships bring with them.

Did I love this book? no

Am I glad I read it? yes

If you like books set in Charleston, SC, San Francisco, CA, the Citadel, newspaper rooms, educational settings and stories about survival that include some places where you almost want to put your head between your knees and catch your breath, you should read this book.  If you are easily offended or don't want visuals of young men dying from AIDS, child abuse, incest, etc, you don't want to go here.

Am I going to read another Conroy?  YOU BETTER BELIEVE IT!



The Kite Runner - Audio Book Review

Summary:

Amir and Hasan are two young boys growing up in an Afghanistan where tradition rules, gardens bloom and boys play with kites.

Amir's childhood is idyllic, and his relationship with Hasan is set up very similarly to the age old story of The Prince and the Pauper.  Hasan's father is a servant in Amir's household which is run by Amir's father, Baba.  Therefore, Hasan and Amir grow up together as brothers, even though they are separated by two distinct classes.

Amir's father Baba is a man's man.  He's a businessman who also helps look after his community; he is wealthy, well respected and people know that they can count on him.  Amir is nothing like his father, prefering books over being outside, playing sports, etc.  Those who knew Amir's mother, who died while giving birth to him, say that Amir is more like her than Baba.

Amir dreams of being a writer.

Amir and Baba clash constantly, and Amir grows jealous of Baba's attention shown toward Hasan. 

This jealousy begins to drive a wedge between Hasan and Amir with Amir acting at times like a spoiled brat and Hasan accepting Amir's treatment as a consequence of his position and the way things are supposed to be. 

One day after school Amir and Hasan meet up with a known crowd of bullies, and Hasan suffers a lifechanging horror while Amir simply watches.  Amir eventually flees the scene and pretends it never happened.

Thus began the downfall of Amir and Hasan's relationship.

Even after the horrific event, Hasan's love for Amir is still as complete as ever.  Amir, however, is still eaten up with jealousy, but now also overcome with grief and guilt.  Yet, Amir still takes his emotions out on Hasan.

All of their lives are interrupted by the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and life as they know it ceases to exist.  By the time the Taliban takes control, they must flee their homeland in order to survive. 

Through a clandestine effort of great and sometimes unbelievable difficulty Baba and Amir are able to escape in the middle of the night with nothing but the clothes on their backs to California where they begin to build some semblance of a life, albeit nowhere near the one they had in pre war Afghanistan.

In California Baba and Amir continue to wrestle with their relationship but are finally able to find a comfort zone of sorts with one another while they both adjust to their new lives in America.  They find a home within a community of other Afghan refugees with the knowledge that the land of their birth is gone forever.  Ironically, it is here that Amir is finally able to come to terms with his culture, the traditional roles embraced so by the older generations, including his father, while at the same time forging ahead with his own ideas and goals.

Amir's mature acceptance of his new life, however, also keeps him from true happiness because he cannot forget Hasan and the events surrounding their disintegrated friendship.  Hasan was forced to remain in Afghanistan, and communication between those who escaped and those who remained is non-existent.  Amir begins a quest to find Hasan and right the wrongs of their childhood.   

It is through this frustrating and exhausting quest that Amir learns the secrets of his family including Hasan and his father's connection.

My Thoughts:

It has been difficult for me to review The Kite Runner...I actually finished it over a month ago.  I couldn't write anything about it at first.  I needed to just let it work its way through every pore of my brain (do brains have pores?). ;)

There were many times in the audio that I wanted to just grab Amir by the shoulders and scream at him to GROW UP!!! and think of someone besides himself. The horror that occurs shocked me; I didn't expect it, nor was I prepared emotionally for it...especially Amir's response; he literally and symbolically deserted Hasan.  I had a very difficult time liking Amir after this event.

The descriptions of pre-war Afghanistan surprised me.  I'm embarrassed to admit that.  As an American it is difficult to think of Afghanistan in any other way besides the way the media has portrayed it.  After the events of September 11, Afghanistan became a place of "bad people" and still is for many Americans.  Tragedy has a way of swaying perspective.

I am an intelligent person.  I should know better.  I've spent a great deal of my life encouraging students to keep their eyes open and to always remember there are more sides to the story than just the one you think you see.

The teacher learned a lesson this time.

The descriptions of Soviet controlled Afghanistan and especially Taliban controlled Afghanistan disturbed me as much as scenes I've read describing The Holocaust.  I guess I'm just naive enough to keep hoping that this kind of evil does not exist.

Unfortunately, my adult brain knows that it does.

Another very interesting aspect of reading The Kite Runner is how I will now teach the excerpt in our Comp I reader, simply called Baba and Me.

I'm ashamed to admit that I have been teaching Baba and Me for quite some time without having read the novel. 

As an academic who has been trained to think about these things way too much, I now wonder if we are really doing our students any favors by throwing so many snippets of all of these works of art at them.  Would it not be better to give them a complete picture of fewer selections rather than a cursory read (or not) of as many as we can fit in a semester??

Most of my students hate Baba and Me.

The few who have actually read the novel, however, love it.

Go figure.

I'll no doubt have to blog more about this later, whether or not this is an academic blog ;)

My read of The Kite Runner also took place within an audiobook format.  The author as narrator kept me involved in the story...his language, the dialect, the Afghan words spoken with beauty and flowing from the mouth of someone who is obviously a lover of language, his language, is an experience in itself.  Wow!

The ending of The Kite Runner is perfect...and realistic...the ending is not simple and all is not "happily ever after," but if it had been, the story would have then become unrealistic. In life most of the time there is no way to just say "I'm sorry" and fix all the wrongs of the past. We also are changed by events that occur outside our control.   While we get to go on with our lives, we take the consequences of past choices and events with us forever. Hopefully, we learn from those events and they help us to become who we eventually are. I believe this is what finally happened with Amir.

The Kite Runner will go down in history as being one of those books that changed my perspective and opened my eyes.  If the definition of a literary work includes those texts that permeate every inch of a person and make the reader go through an entire gamut of emotion while reading...and then change that person's life, perspective, existence in the process...then this is one of those books.

P.S. I have not and will not see this movie.  I want to keep the story just as it is in my head :)

I'm sorta silly that way ;)