Audio Books | Book Chatter

End of Watch
By Stephen King
Simon & Schuster Audio | ISBN 9781508211365 | June 2016

The Short of It:

A solid conclusion to the Bill Hodges trilogy.

The Rest of It:

*No Spoilers*

These days, I am not a fan of trilogies. When I read Mr. Mercedes, it had not been announced yet that it was the first book in a trilogy but it’s King so what do you do? You read all of them. When Finders Keepers came out, I ran right out to get it. It was pretty good but the story strayed a little from the main bad guy which made it less interesting to me.

However, with End of Watch, retired detective Bill Hodges is once again forced to deal with bad guy Brady Hartsfield which made my heart sing. He’s a real “baddie” and in this book, he’s taken it to a whole new level.

King has always been good at developing awesome characters and he built a good one in Bill Hodges. I always worry about the last book in a trilogy because it has to do so many things. It has to tie-up all the loose ends. It has to give the reader a sense of finality without bashing them over the head with some trite ending. It should be good…and this one is.

As you can see, I didn’t go into the story because I’d inadvertently give something away but as a trilogy this series is pretty solid and enjoyable to read and/or listen to.

Audio Note:

I listened to this book on audio and then alternated between it and print due to a technical glitch with my device. If you’ve not listened to a King book on audio then you are missing out.

Source: Review copy provided by the publisher.
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

Luckiest Girl Alive (audio)
By Jessica Knoll (Read by Madeleine Maby)
Simon & Schuster Audio | ISBN 9781442380516 | May 2015

*No spoilers*

The Short of It:

How important is it to be perfect? What if it’s all a lie?

The Rest of It:

On the outside, twenty-nine year old Ani FaNelli has everything a woman could want. She’s gorgeous, is about to marry a handsome guy, has a glamorous magazine job, and everyone she knows seems to envy her. So what’s her problem?

Ani used to be known as Tiffany and when she was younger and attending a prestigious private school something happened to her that changed her life forever. Now, right before her wedding, she is forced to deal with those events from the past and her world comes crashing down around her.

I read online that Reese Witherspoon plans to direct a movie based on this book. She’s been doing this a lot lately and seems to have a good sense for what makes a good movie. So when I was offered this book to review, I quickly snatched it up. What I did not do though, was read anything about the story so I went into it cold. I wanted to be surprised.

I was surprised.

That said, there is a certain element of suspense that keeps you reading. It’s kind of like Gone Girl in that you want to keep reading. I mention it because it’s being compared to Gone Girl but they are very different in tone and the stories are nothing alike.

What I did not care for was the shallowness of the main character. Once I found out what her deal was, I empathized with her but not to the point of liking her. In the end, I came around somewhat and felt that the story came full circle but too much of the first half was spent on descriptive details regarding looks and well, just frivolous details, really.

On a technical note, I listened to the audio version and I can’t say enough about Simon & Schuster Audio. I’ve listened to a lot of audio books and so many of them have issues with the recording itself but I never have any issues with Simon & Schuster and the readers always seem to be spot on with their delivery.

In summary, once you get past the first half, the story really takes off but the main character’s shallowness held me back from really liking it.

Source: Sent to me by the publisher.

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