Audiobook Review: The Templar Legacy by Steve Berry

Title: The Templar Legacy
Author: Steve Berry
Narrator: Paul Michael
Publisher: Books on Tape
Duration: 15 hours, 42 minutes
Series: Cotton Malone, Book 1
Summary: (taken from Goodreads)

The ancient order of the Knights Templar possessed untold wealth and absolute power over kings and popes . . . until the Inquisition, when they were wiped from the face of the earth, their hidden riches lost. But now two forces vying for the treasure have learned that it is not at all what they thought it was-and its true nature could change the modern world. 

Cotton Malone, one-time top operative for the U.S. Justice Department, is enjoying his quiet new life as an antiquarian book dealer in Copenhagen when an unexpected call to action reawakens his hair-trigger instincts-and plunges him back into the cloak-and-dagger world he thought he'd left behind. 

It begins with a violent robbery attempt on Cotton's former supervisor, Stephanie Nelle, who's far from home on a mission that has nothing to do with national security. Armed with vital clues to a series of centuries-old puzzles scattered across Europe, she means to crack a mystery that has tantalized scholars and fortune-hunters through the ages by finding the legendary cache of wealth and forbidden knowledge thought to have been lost forever when the order of the Knights Templar was exterminated in the fourteenth century. But she's not alone. Competing for the historic prize-and desperate for the crucial information Stephanie possesses-is Raymond de Roquefort, a shadowy zealot with an army of assassins at his command. 

Welcome or not, Cotton seeks to even the odds in the perilous race. But the more he learns about the ancient conspiracy surrounding the Knights Templar, the more he realizes that even more than lives are at stake. At the end of a lethal game of conquest, rife with intrigue, treachery, and craven lust for power, lies a shattering discovery that could rock the civilized world-and, in the wrong hands, bring it to its knees.

Overall Rating: 2 out of 5

I wanted to give this religious/mystery/thriller genre another try, because it's so popular! When I dislike a popular book or genre, I feel like I'm not giving it a fair chance. So, even though I did not at all like The Da Vinci Code, I ended up reading The Templar Legacy. I've heard some people call this the "poor man's" Da Vinci Code, but I don't agree with that. It's pretty much the same premise and kind of has the same characters, but the writing is better (and less offensive) than The Da Vinci Code. That still doesn't make this book good, though.

I see the interest that this book may have for people, and if you can overlook writing filled with clichéd phrases and characters, go for it. The plot is interesting and I like that these sorts of novels take a for-granted story and twist it on its head. But I just couldn't get past the writing. There's a lot of telling instead of showing and a lot of unnecessary direction that I feel like I simply didn't need as a reader. When someone started talking, the dialogue would be interrupted to simply tell me that the other person listened. Like this:

Alyssa told Georgina, "Well, I'm not so sure about that."

Georgina listened.

Alyssa continued, "You see..."

So, that got annoying fairly quickly. Along with that, there was just too much explanation and information dumps, making it a slow, tedious read. If a quarter to a third of this novel were cut out, I think it'd be a better story.

Despite my dislike of the story, I thought that the narration was good. Not anything extraordinary, but enjoyable -- Paul Michael did a good job with what he had. It just didn't hold much interest for me.

Audiobook Review: My French Whore by Gene Wilder

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Title: My French Whore
Author: Gene Wilder
Narrator: Scott Brick
Publisher: Books on Tape
Edition: Unabridged
Duration: 3 hours, 48 minutes
Summary: (taken from Goodreads)

The beloved actor and screenwriter's first novel, set during World War I, delicately and elegantly explores a most unusual romance. It's almost the end of the war and Paul Peachy, a young railway employee and amateur actor in Milwaukee, realizes his marriage is one-sided. He enlists, and ships off to France. Peachy instantly realizes how out of his depth he is--and never more so than when he is captured. Risking everything, Peachy--who as a child of immigrants speaks German--makes the reckless decision to impersonate one of the enemy's most famous spies. As the urbane and accomplished spy Harry Stroller, Peachy has access to a world he could never have known existed--a world of sumptuous living, world-weary men, and available women. But when one of those women--Annie, a young, beautiful and wary courtesan--turns out to be more than she seems, Peachy's life is transformed forever. 

Overall Rating: 3/5

This book is set in World War I and it is told through the eyes of Paul Peachy, an American who left his wife and enlisted in the army. When captured by the Germans, he pretends to be Harry Stroller -- a German spy who let himself be captured by Peachy's regiment. Now, Peachy has to pretend to fit in with the German army, all the while handling his feelings for Annie.

My French Whore is interesting and enjoyable, but there's nothing in it that could make it amazing. It's a slow story and goes by rather quickly, so there isn't much time to get in depth with anything. Wilder does a great job in crafting the characters so quickly. They were all intriguing and had enough background and quirks to make them seem real. War time always makes for good stories, and this is a good story. It's entertaining to see Peachy pretend to be Stroller and to read how he gets out of tricky situations.

My main problem is that I didn't like Peachy very much. While he does an amazing job in pulling off his Harry Stroller act, he is a little stupid and naive. I have no idea why he loves Annie as much as he does; she doesn't seem all that great. A little more relationship development between the two of them would have fixed this, I think.

I really like that the ending is realistic. Peachy doesn't magically become a super spy, and he and Annie don't live happily ever after. I think war novels have to be a little bit more serious and tragic than other novels, and I'm glad this one didn't go the "everything is suddenly fixed" route. Peachy has some real problems and gets himself into a dangerous situation, and there is no easy way out of that.

As always, Brick is a great narrator. He does a good job for awkward, whiny guys, for some reason. He was able to make the story come alive, and he just fit for Peachy's character. There were also quite a few accents for this one, and he did them all perfectly. I usually get annoyed with people's French accents, but Brick's is excellent. If you're going to read this, definitely consider going for the audiobook.

Audiobook Review: Beloved by Toni Morrison

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Author: Toni Morrison
Publisher:Books on Tape
Narrator: Toni Morrison
Duration: 12 hours 3 minutes
Summary (taken from Goodreads)

Staring unflinchingly into the abyss of slavery, this spellbinding novel transforms history into a story as powerful as Exodus and as intimate as a lullaby. Sethe, its protagonist, was born a slave and escaped to Ohio, but eighteen years later she is still not free. She has too many memories of Sweet Home, the beautiful farm where so many hideous things happened. And Sethe's new home is haunted by the ghost of her baby, who died nameless and whose tombstone is engraved with a single word: Beloved. Filled with bitter poetry and suspense as taut as a rope, Beloved is a towering achievement by Nobel Prize laureate Toni Morrison.

Overall Rating: 3/5

Let me start off by saying that this book is beautifully and powerfully written. It is one of the best character studies I have ever read -- there's a reason why this book has won a Pulitzer. Honestly, there is no criticism I can give this book. The characters are beautiful, and real. The way in which this story is told is eerie and haunting and perfectly fitting for the topic. It's a book that I think everyone should read (or at least try to read) within their lifetime.

However,while it is brilliant, it is not the type of story that interests me. It is completely character-driven with very little plot. There was nothing for me to grab onto. While the characters are perfectly depicted, I wasn't able to fall in love with them. Now, this may be because I listened to the audiobook before I read it in print (which I am planning on doing, to give the book a fair chance). I am easily distracted and I think that reading such a slow-moving, detailed story will be much better than hearing it.

It is told at a very slow pace, and I found myself drifting during parts of it. However, I think that if you've already read the book, the audiobook is definitely worth it. There is nothing like hearing the author tell the story herself (or himself), with pauses and emphases exactly where the author intended. Toni Morrison doesn't have a great range of voices (she is, after all, a writer and not a narrator by trade), but it's hardly necessary for this book, since each character is so distinct and unique, their identity shows through the words.