B. Steele

Fun, Multilayered Whodunnit

Revisado: 08-01-24

I’m the kind of mystery reader who never bothers to try to solve the crime in advance of the detective, so I enjoyed this rather overwrought and highly improbable novel. There are lots of twists and clues that our hero smartly explains for us. Some are clever, some preposterous, and some amusing. But I was entertained and surprised. The double twists right at the end were especially fun. It’s no Agatha Christie or PD James, but it’s well written and enjoyable.

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Great book, well cast, but…

Revisado: 06-28-24

…don’t expect to be able to tell who’s talking 90% of the time. The actors reading the interviews are all terrific but the decision not to re-identify them (and their jobs on the film) every time was very inconsiderate to the listener. You’ll learn to recognize Miller, Theron, and Hardy, but almost everyone else is a big blur. Still enjoyed it, because it’s an amazing story, well reported. But be warned.

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The voice you know

Revisado: 05-15-24

So great to hear Gene Wilder talk about Gene Wilder! Not as many on-the-set anecdotes as I’d hoped, but almost embarrassingly honest and always entertaining.

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Catalog of miseries

Revisado: 11-04-21

In this novel, happiness is something that happens to other people, glimpsed in parks or on sidewalks, but never to the countless main characters. It’s elegantly crafted, a series of interlocking novellas, but the consistent tone is one of loss and suffering. The audiobook is read by heavily accented performers, which was a terrible, listener-snubbing decision that does the author’s language no favors. (Even a character born in the US speaks like she just left Afghanistan.) If you want to appreciate this novel, buy the actual book and skip this hard-to-understand recording.

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Beautifully written...

Revisado: 07-07-21

...and wisely thought through. The Native American attitude toward the natural world could indeed save and transform our suffering Earth, not to mention its starving inhabitants. Alas, there are not even hints here on how to accomplish this, just a similar sermon, with the usual nature metaphors for improving human behavior, repeated over and over. Some great stories, well told, but too much lecturing and not enough follow through.

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Good story, odd audio choices

Revisado: 05-16-20

If you like Stephen King, this is a good one, even if it’s stamped from an old template (telepathic children, an evil conspiracy, a brave loner, etc.). But the director of the audiobook made the odd choice to have the narrator use his (very good) character voices not only for the dialogue but for entire chapters from that character’s point of view (but not narrated by them). It’s just... strange and distracting. A third-person narrator needs to maintain a consistent, authoritative voice, not flit from voice to voice in non-dialogue sections. Let’s not try this again.

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Starts well, peters out

Revisado: 07-15-17

Reviews hinted at hidden depths to "The Sisters Chase," and indeed the revelations start early and never stop. It's well written (and superbly read) and it does peel away layer after layer. The nonlinear storytelling works well. Sadly, though, the last third of the book runs out of engaging plot developments and just sort of meanders on and on to the end without interesting new involvements to challenge the characters. And the poetic and abrupt ending ... whaaaaaaaaa??? Very disappointing. Had I been her editor, I would have ask for a rewrite from about two thirds on. Two of the most interesting characters disappear and should have been given more than a coda. Still worth reading for the first two thirds, but you might want to increase Audible speed to plow through to the inexplicable climax.

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A tedious classic

Revisado: 06-02-17

Warning: This novel has little to do with adultery or love and everything to do with finding God. Or not finding God. Who knows? Narrated by an obnoxious (but articulate) atheist, it largely consists of characters ranting against a God they claim not to believe in. There's some good wordsmithing but the plot is thin and turns on contrivance and coincidence designed to direct the story ever back to the tiresome question of God's existence. Not that it will influence readers' opinions either way. The narrator's lover, whose religious struggles end their affair and muck up both their lives, is a man's poorly imagined view of a troubled good woman. She has no weight or credibility as a dramatic character. There's no real chance for any actual feelings to take hold, since it's more confused op-ed than novel. But enough. It was thought great at the time - back when atheism was edgy, I guess. You can look up literary exegesis if that interests you, but I doubt you'll care by the end. If you MUST read this book, Colin Firth's narration is as good as it gets and better than this indulgent, badly dated novel deserves.

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Excellent crime noir

Revisado: 05-14-17

This title restored (for now) my faith in Audible's Deal of the Day. After a lot of dogs (including some crime novels), I found this collection of three novellas well worth the full price and the time. The fact that it's now a TV series is a bonus but has nothing to do with my enjoyment of the stories, which are compelling, taut and intelligently written. Letty is a great character and she's surrounded by fine suppprting figures in meticulously plotted capers. (The fact that the twist in each is based on a similar feint I'll leave for readers to debate after they've enjoyed all three. It's a gimmick but it works every time.) Highly recommended to crime fiction aficionados. And anyone else who likes a good yarn.

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Mediocre mystery

Revisado: 04-12-17

This is not a terrible book but I can't recommend it. The writing, especially the dialogue, is merely competent and unimaginative, sometimes plodding. The mystery is solved not but wit but by lucky coincidence and unmotivated confessions. And the attempt to set up a sequel is merely frustrating to readers who have earned answers by sticking with it until the end. I bought it out of affection for the plague setting of "The Doomsday Book," but this book treats plague more as a kind of medieval zombie attack than as a social phenomenon and has little to add, beyond some historical and geographic facts, to our understanding of that era. The multiple points of view, including the villain and the king (who is just dropped about halfway through) seem more laziness in plotting than illuminating. Mostly I was disappointed in the detecting, of which there is very little, so you're never convinced of the hero's smarts (except for his convenient and underused photographic memory). But as I said at the start, it's not an awful book. It's just that there are so many better ones, why bother with something so-so?

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