Four Books, Five Audio, and More Photo Critiques

Audiobooks on CD

Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith. 18 hours on 15 CDs. J.K. Rowling writes another detective story with Cormoran Strike character. I listened to the first novel, it was good but long.

Guilty by David Baldacci. 12 hours on 10 CDs.  Another novel with an assassin.

See Me by Nicholas Sparks.  14.5 hours on 13 CDs. What are the chances I will ever willingly listen to one of these? 1 in 5,000? 1 in 10,000?

Crimson Shore by Preston and Child. 11 hours on 9 CDs. Douglas Preston and Lincold Child collaborate again. This is read by Rene Auberjonois. What Star Trek guy was he? Let me check... oh, yeah, he played Odo. I had completely forgotten he played Father Mulcahy in the film version of M*A*S*H.  Odo was a neat character.

Cross Justice by James Patterson Literary Industries Amalgamated. 9.5 hous on 8 CDs. Hey, Patterson wrote this one himself, no collaborator is listed. Oh wait, does he do the YA and children's novels on his own?

Fiction

The Bitter Season by Tami Hoag. I don't care about the plot. Let's critique author photos again.  Wow, The publisher hired a good photographer for Hoag's full, back-cover spread. The colors are great. Do authors ever figure, "Hey, I'm going to be here anyway and the photographer is already set-up. Why I don't I pay the photographer for a couple extra hours work and do some family shots?"

My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout. Smaller photo on the inside cover. The photo is kinda small but it has too much light and blur for my tastes. The photo is well done, I just like Hoag's shot better.

Scandalous Behavior by Stuart Woods. No author photo, just a picture of Stuart Woods. Yes, that was a dig at Woods because I think he hires ghost writers. No, I have absolutely no proof.

The Girls She Left Behind by Sarah Graves.  I thought Graves lived in Kansas. Nope, she lives in Maine. Graves's author photo is by her husband. It is a wintertime outdoor snapshot. The splotch of dirt on the plastic book cover makes it look like Graves has a lopsided mustache. I'll clean that dirt off.