Books to Read While Working - June 2005 - Audiobooks Reviewed by Jonathan Lowe

Books to Read While Working - May 2005 - Audiobooks Reviewed by Jonathan Lowe

Author James Siegel, like James Patterson, has worked for a NY advertising agency before becoming a writer of fiction. Not every copy writer out there would be able to pen "Derailed," his first novel, a brilliant suspense about a duped train passenger which is now a Miramax movie. But his ad copy skills certainly enabled him to hone his craft by making his sentences spare and concise. Siegel's new novel DETOUR is about a childless couple who attempts to adopt a little girl from war-torn Colombia, with its nightmare drug cartels and Twilight Zone legal system. Naturally things go very wrong when their baby is mysteriously different after a brief time with a "nanny." So now protagonist Paul Breidbart, an insurance executive, must calculate the odds and risks of crossing the line to make things right again. While not as good as "Derailed," this novel is certainly worth a listen in the hands of actor Holter Graham, and as such it makes for an interesting detour from heavy traffic on the highway. (Time Warner Audio/6 hours abridged)

Next, I wanted very much to recommend to you an SF novel titled "Altered Carbon" from Tantor Media about digitized clones whose memories are stored in a data bank. Alas, the intriguing plot degenerated into gratuitous sex and overuse of the "F" word. So I'll recommend another title from Tantor instead. DANGEROUS WOMEN is a collection of short stories by various authors from Elmore Leonard to Anne Perry, and read by five different narrators. Can the fairer sex be evil? You bet. And proof comes from anthologist Otto Penzler, in this collection recommended by Janet Evanovich. I particularly liked the Nelson DeMille story about a female sniper in Vietnam, more cunning than any man. For those of you with Mp3 CD players, it's also available in that format, on one disk. (Tantor Media/11.5 hours unabridged)

Ridley Pearson has a new suspense titled CUT AND RUN, about a witness protection marshall who falls in love with a woman whose testimony helped jail several members of the Romero crime family. Twist is, Hope Stevens has now entered the program and so has disappeared, while Roland Larson must find her when the master list of witnesses is stolen, and Hope--among others---is endangered by hit men out for revenge. Naturally, a particularly sadistic killer has targeted Hope, and both he and Roland hope to find her even though a warning has gone out, and all the witnesses are now hiding elsewhere. Here is a case where the narrator takes an otherwise average yet well-written novel and makes it more real and dramatic than it would seem in print. Thanks for that rests with Dick Hill, a veteran reader whose characterizations, voice, and acting skills could probably animate a laundry list into something interesting. (Brilliance Audio/10 hours unabridged)

A more original plot resides with IN THE COMPANY OF LIARS by David Ellis, also read by Dick Hill and his wife Susie Breck. Like a tag team, these two take on the personalities of the various male and female characters residing in a story which is told in reverse chronological order. The plot involves a woman on trial for murder, who may or may not know something about a coverup involving a drug to be used by terrorists. Both the terrorists and the FBI are circling her, but the truth is only revealed by what happened in the beginning. So the story starts with the Epilog, and works its way backward, day by day, until at the murder itself we see who has been fooling who. More interesting than if told from point A to point ZZZ. (Brilliance Audio/10 hours unabridged)

Next, first time author Gregory Galloway has written AS SIMPLE AS SNOW, a haunting story about an odd teenage girl whose obsession with magic tricks and ghost stories leads her to leave her boyfriend with a mystery---her folded dress beside a hole in the lake's ice. Did she commit suicide, or was it all a game? Her high school beau must now sort through all the clues to decide. The audiobook is read by Audiofile Golden Voice winner Scott Brick, whose gift in narration comes from disappearing behind the page rather than from amplifying the characterization into high drama. As such, Scott has become the most sought after of readers, and was profiled on page one of the Wall Street Journal last November. (Blackstone Audio/9 hours unabridged)

Finally, it was inevitable that, with all the money to be made on fad diets, you haven't heard the end of them, even after Atkins pushed out "The Zone" and the "South Beach" for the top spot. Introducing THE 3 HOUR DIET by Jorge Cruise, weight loss coach for AOL. (Harper Audio/3.5 hours abridged) Jorge's new book is narrated on audio by Holter Graham, after the author's introduction, and includes audio testimonies from people who've lost from 13 to 155 pounds following his regimen. What's the angle here? Well, that you should avoid large meals, and instead eat something small every 3 hours. That's about it. What does this do for you? The magic fact that Jorge has stumbled upon, and which may now propel him to fame and fortune, is that your body goes into "fat storage mode" after 3 hours of not eating anything, and starts burning muscle instead. So you can trick it into avoiding this evil mode by eating something---ANYTHING---every 3 hours, starting with when you first awaken. You now know pretty much everything there is to know about this diet, because the remaining 3 hours of the audiobook is devoted to stretching the concept into affirmations, visualizations, and denigrations of other diets. My problem with this "rhythm method" of eating is not that it may help people lose weight, but rather that this thin concept is the basis for trying to create an industry or brand from it, while telling folks they can eat even junk food, without the need for exercise. Sure, there's a nod toward nutrition and balance, but the appeal is to those who want to eat their cake and lose weight too. Here's a better idea...

"The Audiobook Diet" Obviously, Americans have a problem with overweight, and have tried every diet on earth. (Mars is next). Yet the solution to this problem is apparent from its cause: instead of watching stories on TV, or reading them while parked in a lounge chair, people need to start listening to them---and walking with them---instead. Why? Because passive TV viewing of "reality" shows only creates another kind of reality for many people---that of making them idiots, or what I call "vidiots." (If anyone affiliated with Webster is reading, please add this new entry):

VIDIOT: (noun) An obsessive/compulsive consumer of sports, video games and celebrity TV at the expense of more social, educational or literary practices. (As in, "Freddy, don't be such a vidiot, and at least use a coaster with that beer!")

A vidiot is always within reach of soda and potato chips. His unused brain is flooded with fast food commercials delivered at subliminal speed and with the frequency of waves at the beach. He thinks in sound bytes and expresses his opinions in one-liners, content with eyeballing that blissful panoply of ignorance known as broadcast entertainment. Naturally enough, this keeps Jay Leno's standup routine going, as he has no problem finding vidiots on every streetcorner who know all about the upcoming season of sports, movies and pop music, but they're not quite sure if George Washington played for the Lakers, or if the moon is farther away from us than the sun. (Jay often comments on their weight, too.)

As a solution, imagine the audiobook diet. It's easy, and 100% effective. I've been on this diet for some time now, and have lost twenty pounds in so doing. How is this possible? Because you can't eat audiobooks. Although a CD is roughly the same size as a donut, and has a hole in the middle too, it doesn't come glazed or filled with saturated fat. If you're out walking, you're away from the refrigerator, too. And if you listen to audiobooks on health while you walk or jog with your iPod, like "The Perricone Prescription," (also Harper Audio) you may learn how to actually live into old age instead of dying prematurely of diabetes-induced heart attack. Sound advice?

Again, obviously. Still, people have to try something the first time. But maybe since they've tried all the other diets in the solar system, they'll try this one. And not while hiking to McDonalds and scanning the TV Guide, either. As for me, I've just donated my TV to science in the hope that one day, when they discover why there's 100 channels with nothing on, that particular medium can be revived. And controlled. So now you can go ahead and call me a plain old "idiot," and be done with it.

(These audiobooks may be rented from Audio Adventures by calling 1-800-551-6692. Jonathan Lowe's award-winning audio novels POSTAL, AWAKENING STORM, and FAME ISLAND are also available in e-book format at FictionWise.com. )

Books to Read While Working - April 2005 - Audiobooks Reviewed by Jonathan Lowe

This month actress Eliza Foss reads THE MERMAID CHAIR by Sue Monk Kidd, a literary novel by the bestselling author of "The Secret Life of Bees" about a mysterious chair carved with mermaids residing in a monastery on an island off the coast of South Carolina. When a girl is summoned home to aid her mother, Jessie then meets Brother Thomas and begins to wonder if the legend of the mermaid who became a saint is true. Amid all the family and historical intrigue, is romance afoot too? Absolutely. Kidd is a gifted writer known for her multilayered characters, who never dip into the kind of cloying melodrama or sentiment that many other characters do. Actress Foss is a relatively new narrator, but has already been called one of the hottest romance narrators by Audiofile. (Penguin Audio)

If you're into gambling, actor Tony Roberts reads MR LUCKY by James Swain, a mystery novel by the author of "Loaded Dice" about a cop in Atlantic City named Tony Valentine who is summoned to investigate the enigma of Ricky Smith, a man who appears to have lady luck as a mistress. How else to explain his unending streaks in Las Vegas and with the lottery? But then Valentine uncovers Ricky's past, and an ingenious scam begins to emerge. Renting MR LUCKY isn't much of a gamble, particularly since Tony Roberts is one of the most listenable narrators, who also reads some of another satirical writer's work. . .Carl Hiassen. (Random House Audio)

With a rescue theme, John J. Nance reads his book SAVING CASCADIA, a suspense novel about an island off the Washington coast that may be the center of an upcoming catastrophic earthquake. Naturally, the island is site for a new upscale resort under construction, and the construction itself may be enough to trigger the fault beneath to unleash a deadly tsunami on the coastal residents of Washington state. Then helicopters are called to the rescue when the tremors begin, as tensions in the boardroom are reflected in the violent weather. Known for his aviation suspense novels, and despite a slight lisp, Nance succeeds in juxtaposing the many interpersonal relationships in this cautionary tale. (Brilliance Audio)

With a setting in the turbulent Mideast, Guerin Barry reads PRINCE OF FIRE by Daniel Silva, a suspense novel by the author of "A Death in Vienna" about art restorer and spy Gabriel Allon, a man whose cover is blown after an explosion in Rome, when he is called back to Israel to track an elusive terrorist. Narrator Barry gives a believable interpretation of the characters involved in this cat and mouse game in a land where some of the rats seem as big as cats, and where ancient rivalries and hatreds seem just as predictable. What's the answer, when both want the same milk? That's a tough question for fiction or non-fiction, but this one attempts it. (Brilliance Audio)

For the health conscious, Lloyd Sherr reads THE PERRICONE PROMISE by Dr. Nicholas Perricone, a well researched nutrition book that outlines seven classes of super foods necessary for optimal health, including vegetables, fruits, fish, peppers, onions, spices and nuts. With recipes on an enhanced second CD in PDF format for computer, the production enables listeners to utilize Perricone's famous 28 day program to reverse the effects of aging from the inside out. So if you want to boost your immune system, look younger, and become less disease prone in the process, the only thing you need to do is buy this audiobook and give up junk food. Sound nuts? Not as nuts as your future hospital bill if you don't! (Time Warner Audiobooks)

Next, David Coburn reads EVERYTHING CHANGES by Jonathan Tropper, a witty "guy lit" story about Zachary King, whose idllic existence is interrupted by his estranged father, who suddenly wants to make amends and reinvent himself after a twenty year absence. Zach is then inspired to make changes of his own, including his relationship to someone who would only be a trophy wife. It's a witty novel without any murders or weapons, things usually associated with male protagonists. As one publisher told me, "men don't read, they watch TV," so consider this an opening salvo in hopeful competition with the glut of "chick lit" romantic fantasies out there. (Random House Audio)

For something really different and well crafted, Terry Donnelly reads SHADE by Neil Jordan, author of "The Crying Game," a lyrical literary novel similar to "The Lovely Bones," but told from an Irish viewpoint, about a girl named Nina who retells her life in the memories of those friends with whom she shared secrets during her life, prior to her murder. It's all leading to a revelation at the end which is both heart-rending and poetic. This Irish bestseller is read by a female member of the Abbey Theater in Dublin, and is a true gem for those of you tired of formula fiction and looking for something different. (Highbridge Audio)

Finally, Martin Jarvis and Rosalind Ayres star in THE SHERLOCK HOLMES THEATER by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. It's a full cast production that also includes Kristoffer Tabori, Josephine Bailey and Mark Bramhall, among others, and is the first ever audio recording of the only two plays Doyle wrote, the first titled "Sherlock Holmes" and the second "The Speckled Band." As a bonus, the production also includes the premiere of a comedy written by producer/director Yuri Rasovsky and titled "Ghastly Double Murder in Famed Detective's Flat." It's an amusing capper to an intriguing and well acted 4 1/2 hour production, new for 2005, and a must-have for Sherlock buffs. (Blackstone Audio)

(These audiobooks may be rented from Audio Adventures by calling 1-800-551-6692. Be sure to ask for "Awakening Storm," a suspense with full sound effects about a greedy televangelist trapped in his beach house with a tidal wave coming.)