Zugzwang, by Ronan Bennett

This novel was a free download from Overdrive Audio through the Alachua County Public Library. It was 8 hours and 28 minutes long, and was narrated by Stephen Lang.

A real chess geek would recognize the term, zugzwang, but the general public would have to run to a dictionary. In chess, it is a position in which you are compelled to move, but that doing so leads to your loss. When you have no good moves, and you wish you could pass, that is zugzwang.

And that is the metaphor for this book, set in 1914 in St. Petersburg, Russia. Revolution is afoot, and there is a big chess tournament in town. The greatest players in the world are on hand, and one of them needs professional help. Rozental is a brilliant player, but he is socially challenged and schizophrenic. An admirer named Kopelzon, a great violinist, takes Rozental to his friend, Otto Spethmann, a psychiatrist and our protagonist. All three men are Jews in a time when Jewishness is a handicap.

As if Rozental does not have enough problems, he is also being used as an unwitting pawn in a plot to assassinate Czar Nicolas, who will be honoring the winner. There are enough twists and odd characters in this story to keep your mind busy, and it is a story that is well told, for the most part. What makes this especially interesting to the chess geek is that Rozental is a thinly veiled version of Akiba Rubenstein, a chess master of the era who was a certifiable nut case. The tournament is real, and the plot is foiled; the better to preserve Czar Nicolas' date with destiny in 1918.

Spethmann works to uncover the source of Rozental's mental illness, as well as the plot that involves his patient, his friend, and his daughter, who has been sleeping with Bolsheviks. There is a lot going on here, including Spethmann's affair with the daughter of a powerful political leader, and a little gratuitous sex that seems out of place for the story. Nonetheless, this gets 3 stars, and even a non-chess player could enjoy it.

Fay, by Larry Brown

This audiobook was a free download from NetLibrary.com, was 17 hours and 24 minutes long, and was narrated by Tom Stechschulte.

Fay is pretty while trailer trash living in an abusive home situation. Her story begins with her deciding to go feral with only 2 dollars tucked in her bra. She is 17, vulnerable, and brings out the worst in men. Even the kind and well-intentioned Mississippi State Trooper Sam Harris is sucked into the vortex of sex and violence that is attendant in her life. Although she cannot be blamed for most of what happens, she does change the climate wherever she saunters.

This is a somewhat depressing story of bad choices colliding with bad luck. But it's sense that redemption is just within reach keeps you involved with characters for whom you can want it.

I can't put my finger on what keeps this from being a four star book, but I can only give it 3 and 1/2.

The Know-It_All, by A.J. Jacobs

This audiobook was a free download from Overdrive Audio, through the Alachua County Public Library. It was 15 hours and 24 minutes long, and was narrated by Geoffrey Cantor.

When Arnold Jacobs was a boy, he thought he might be the smartest kid in the world. By the time he was married and a young editor at Entertainment Weekly, he believed that he had gotten dumber. That is when he had a flash of inspiration and decided to read the entire Encyclopedia Britannica, 2002 Edition.

This quest was also, at least partially, an attempt to impress his father, who had begun the feat himself a long time ago, but gave up early and focused on writing mind-numbingly dense law books.

What follows is a very funny tour of the Britannica, and how reading it turned him into an insufferable bore. Jacobs' life is seriously impacted by this quest for knowledge self-aggrandizement. He and his wife are a working couple that is trying to get pregnant, so this is a bad time to start nerdifying oneself. The Britannica project also causes him to consider the difference between knowledge and wisdom, and even his own relationship to God.

This was a very funny, and even thoughtful, book if you can overlook the casual f-bombs. I give it 3 stars because, as much as I enjoyed it, I was starting to get anxious for it to end.

Easy Prey, by John Sandford

This audiobook was a free download from NetLibrary.com, was 12 hours and 37 minutes long, and was narrated by Richard Ferrone.

I am not reading these in order, just as I find them. This is the 11th in the Prey series about detective Lucas Davenport. He is investigating the deaths of two women who were at the same party. One is a local hotel hostess who had her neck broken and was stuffed in a closet. But they didn't find her until after they had found a strangled, and world famous, supermodel.

The order of these discoveries is meaningful because it is also the root of the investigation's misdirection. It is focused on the high-profile victim, and who would want to kill her.

This is a typical good story and good characters from an author who consistently delivers. And Richard Ferrone is the perfect narrator for the Davenport stories.

As a dedicated Davenport fan, I take note of the appearance of certain characters. In this one, Lucas is still on a break from his former lover, Weather Karkinnan. In later books, they will be married. This one was good but not outstanding at 3 stars.

Just a Guy, by Bill Engvall, Alan Eisenstock

This audiobook was a free download from Overdrive Audio, through the Alachua County Public Library. It was narrated by Bill Engvall.

The most likable of the Blue Collar Comedy Tour has created this autobiographical tour of his life and the things he finds interesting. If you are already a Bill Engvall fan, this is for you. If you were hoping that this was a book by the next Dave Barry, you will be sorely disappointed. It has a few funny moments, but it could have been condensed down to an interview.

I actually like Bill Engvall, and I cannot blame him for cashing in on his transient fame, but there is nothing compelling about this book. At best, I call it 2 star mind candy.

The Lords of Discipline, by Pat Conroy

This audiobook was a free download from NetLibrary.com, was 22 hours and 10 minutes long, and was narrated by Tom Stechschulte.

This was one of Pat Conroy's first novels, published in 1980. It is loosely based on his experiences as a cadet at The Citadel, where Conroy played Division 1 basketball in the mid 60s. Years later, Conroy wrote a non-fiction book about his senior year at The Citadel called "My Losing Season".

This one is about a young cadet, Will MacLean, who survives his plebe year and all the attendant hazing, and continues his college years as an iconoclast. He is a studious English major, a student athlete, and an uninspiring military specimen. Fortunately, he is part of a band of brothers. He and his 3 roommates would take a bullet for each other, and it is all that makes their time at South Carolina Military Academy possible.

During his senior year he is tasked with keeping watch over the school's first black cadet. This mission is not for the faint-hearted. Not only is this boy going to get the hazing of his life; but there is a secret organization on campus dedicated to keeping the school "pure", and they don't observe any limits.

This is a long book, but it flies by because there is so much going on. There is also much that will touch you, anger you, and even inspire you. This is Pat Conroy's most emotional book, in my opinion, because it strikes so close to his own heart. Even "The Great Santini", a book based on his relationship with his father, does not bring up Conroy's bile like this one. He hates bullies, and he hates the system that creates them; even turning former victims into bullies.

It was easy to give this one 4 stars.

Power Play, by Joseph Finder

This audiobook was obtained from Overdrive Audiobooks, through the website of the Alachua County Public Library. It was read by Dennis Boutsikaris, and was 8 hours and 30 minutes long, including an author interview.

Jake Landry is a lower level executive at an aircraft manufacturer. The company has recently gotten a new CEO, a woman, to clean up some sloppy business practices. Jake gets the call to come on one of those off-site team-building retreats where executives get to bond under rugged circumstances. He is the low man there, and he is not particularly ambitious. But he has a past that had to be expunged from his record when he turned 18.

As the opening night meeting is getting underway at the remote wilderness lodge, the entire executive team is captured by paramilitary types who are posing as errant hunters. Their goal is to force them to ransom themselves with a huge bank transfer, and they are willing to kill some of their hostages to make that point.

This story has excellent characters and a fast moving story that gets to the point without rushing things. It's a four star story.