Straight Into Darkness, by Faye Kellerman

This audiobook came from the Alachua County Library, was on 12 CDs, and was narrated by Paul Michael.

Axel Berg is a Munich policeman during the mid 1920s. He is investigating a series of brutal murders in the midst of tumultuous time. Hitler is on the rise, Jews are expendable, and they make excellent suspects. The trouble is that Berg is a conscientious policeman who wants to catch the actual killer. He also has a hard time fitting in with the anti-semitic mania. He is not a lover of the Jews, but neither can he be bothered looking for reasons to persecute them. He is a WW1 veteran, of Danish origins, fond of "subversive" art and music, and cheats on his wife. He is not lovable, but in contrast to the lunacy around him, he is heroic.

Excellent characters in a solid story during intriguing times, this one just slips into 4 star territory.

The Cell, by Stephen King

This audiobook was downloaded free from NetLibrary.com, was 12 hours and 27 minutes long, and was narrated by Campbell Scott.

This one takes off running as a man finds himself in the middle of the Cell Phone Zombie Apocalypse with no warning at all. Whether it is a terrorist plot or demons is never ascertained, but some devilish pulse through the cell phone networks is turning everyone into their most primitive and bloodthirsty selves quicker than you can say, "Can you hear me now?"

Our hero is Clayton Riddell, a struggling illustrator who has just made the big time just in time for it not to matter. He is able to team up with a small band of people who were lucky enough to have been off their phones when the terror struck, and now he just wants to get in touch with his estranged wife and his 11-year-old son. Are they dead, undead, or just fleeing for their lives? You don't dare pick up a phone to call them. Because you could also become one of them.

Both gory and philosophical, this book is not about reaching a conclusion. The phone zombies and the "normies" are all ruined people. One group has lost its minds, while the other has lost it's faith. It's a cliff-hanger that leaves you falling and falling...

It's worth 3 stars if you like this sort of thing!

River of Doubt, by Candice Millard

This audiobook was found at the Alachua County Public Library, came on 10 CDs, and was narrated by Paul Michael.

When my customers find out what an audiobook junkie I am, they sometimes make suggestions to me from their own reading. This year, someone told me about "River of Doubt" and I was immediately intrigued because I am a big fan of Teddy Roosevelt. I could not find this title for awhile, and even now it is unavailable at Amazon.com. But one day a search on the library website turned it up, and I put it on reserve. It was waiting for me when I got back from vacation.

This is a wonderful mix of history, biography, and suspenseful adventure. Any one of those descriptions is enough to lure me in, but all three, combined with Theodore Roosevelt risking life and limb in the Amazon jungle as a form of post-election therapy makes this unforgettable. Candice Millard takes you there with research that would rate as overkill if it were about anyone else.

It's both gripping and sad, as it also turns into a father and son examination. TR and his third son, Kermit, near-lethal hardships and acquit themselves admirably. Kermit was very much his father's son when it came to physical endurance and toughness in the midst of calamity. But away from the snake and cannibal infested testing ground, they were two totally different men.

I will avoid the spoilers and say that this is a 4 star delight, whether you are a history buff or and adrenaline junkie.

The Good Guy, by Dean Koontz

This audiobook comes from the Alachua County Public Library, is on 9 CDs, and is narrated by Rick Ferrone.

I am a huge Dean Koontz fan, so I make a point of subscribing to his email newsletter and getting on the waiting list before the latest book even gets to the library. This one was good, but not great.

This is the story of a man who is mistakenly given a packet of money and a photograph by another man who wants someone killed. Our hero is a self-employed mason who is just minding his own business over a beer when he meets the over-anxious courier who has gotten ahead of his rendezvous with a hit man. The courier splits before our unwitting friend can open the envelope and see that he is expected to kill a young woman he has never seen before. Soon, the hit man arrives, approaches him, and now there is a decision to be made. Does this ordinary working guy hand over the money and the instructions and let nature take its course? Or does he attempt to interfere, perhaps saving this woman's life?

An interesting enough premise, but a below average villain for a Dean Koontz novel. Also, the man and woman who spend their time evading the killer are just not interesting enough. If you read a lot of Koontz, you could swear you have met them somewhere else. And you'd be right.

It saddens me to do so, but this is only a 2 and 1/2 star book.

Consider the Elephant, by Aram Schefrin

This book is available for free from Podiobooks.com, and is available in 37 installments. Find it here. This dramatized, unabridged audiobook is not suitable for younger listeners because of explicit sexual content.

This is a novel about John Wilkes Booth and the plot to assassinate Abraham Lincoln. It is based on extensive research, using actual letters to and from Booth that reveal a great deal of detail about events and his state of mind. It is very well written. The characters are vividly portrayed, and the story is riveting, even if you know how it turns out.

Your American History class would have been a whole lot more interesting if portions of this book had been made available. A film adaptation of this book would be a unique offering that I would love to see.

This gets 4 stars.