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Title: The Phantom Detective

Subtitle: The Phantom's Phantom

Author: Robert Reginald

Narrator: Todd McLaren

Format: Unabridged

Length: 5 hrs and 12 mins

Language: English

Release date: 03-06-12

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 1 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Modern Detective

Publisher's Summary:

The time is 1953. The world has changed. Richard Curtis Van Loan has been forced to hang up his mask. But The Phantom Detective is drawn out of retirement by the sudden murder of his longtime friend, publisher Frank Havens; and must then face the greatest challenge in his long career, as he finds himself pursued and hounded by a vicious, unseen assailant, ?The Phantom's Phantom.? The hot, sunny hills of Southern California present a very different problem from the cold, dark-edged streets of the Big Apple. As the bodies begin piling up, Van Loan is driven to the very limit of his resources. Who is The Phantom's Phantom?

©2007 Robert Reginald (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

Members Reviews:

A return with mixed results...

THE PHANTOM DETECTIVE pulp ran monthly from the early 1930s to the early 1950s, and here experienced author Robert Reginald has given the semi-retired Phantom a new adventure occurring just after the close of his pulp career, in the fall of 1953.

There are a number of anachronisms in slang and cultural reference, and some odd misspellings of words (e.g., "Lugar" for Luger). The murder plot is a bit simplistic and the Phantom solves it by what amounts to pretty routine police work, carefully questioning witnesses, etc. I think you'll identify the murderers before the Phantom puts them on the spot, since the clues are fairly planted, and that you'll also identify the Phantom's nemesis, who has been persecuting both the Phantom and his old pal Frank Havens with mailed threats and seemingly random physical attacks, long before he and his large, equally deranged family make their ultimate play.

There is no mention or use of the Phantom's supernatural skill at disguise and impersonation. Most all the characters have goofy names along the lines of Zinc, Dastrie, Zed Lepplin, etc. I lost count of the number of bystanders who are gunned down whilst standing right beside the Phantom, in the course of the "action" (to use the word loosely), yet he never gets the third degree, or even the first or second, from the cops.

Most incomprehensibly, he reveals to a large group of hangers-around that he, middle-aged playboy Curtis Van Loan, is indeed the Phantom Detective, suicidally setting himself up for hundreds of revenge attacks by hundreds of embittered relatives of the hundreds of bad guys he has mercilessly gunned down over the years... just like the revenge attack that is the subject of this novel!

Finally, the action takes place in California, new to the Phantom, which allows the author to expend about 50% of his pages in uninteresting local color and tedious travelogue.

I got through it, but by about halfway through, my sense of enjoyment had plunged to a fairly low level.

More than one Phantom

It was a great idea to "resurrect" the Phantom Detective, and Robert Reginald was the right man to do it. He uses the familiar "book-within-a-book" device to achieve his purpose, but handles the plot mechanism with deftness of touch and a soupon of irony.

His Phantom is older, wiser and sexier than the original, changes which are discussed in an Author's Note at the end of the novel. He solves his case - several cases, in fact - and unmasks the sinister killer who has been murderously pursuing him.

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Title: The Phantom Detective: The Nasty Gnomes

Author: Robert Reginald

Narrator: Traber Burns

Format: Unabridged

Length: 5 hrs and 3 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-29-12

Publisher: Audible Studios

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Modern Detective

Publisher's Summary:

Nothing seemed to stop the little monsters. I shot a second time, wounding or killing another, and then dropped the gun to the ground. I pulled a slender blade from under my belt, and whipped it at the little men. Another couple of strikes against my legs brought me level with the filthy floor of the alley, my fine clothes being soiled by the trash of the Big City-and although I sliced and diced deeply into the bodies of several of my attackers, I knew that I was doomed to lose this particular battle in the end. There were just too many of them: they would either kill or severely injure me. Is this how The Phantom meets his end?

Members Reviews:

THE NASTY GNOMES an enjoyable tome.

I didn't pick up this book just because I discovered that a third of its dedication was devoted to me; I didn't even know the dedication was there until I began reading. I didn't pick it up because there's mention of a St. Lambert church (William Lambert a pseudo of mine) with a Maltese cross on the top; also mention of a know-it-all character called Willie Boy; and a Medical Examiner, by the name of W. L. Maltesius. Finally I didn't pick up the book JUST because I know the author, although that's always as good a reason as any in my book (a little pun, there, sorry folks).

I did pick it up because of its cover (knowing, of course, that you can't judge a book by its cover); nonetheless this cover is very throw-back to the days even before I first got my start in writing pulp fiction and, therefore, it struck a chord of nostalgia. I did pick it up because of it's prequel "The Phantom's Phantom" by Reginald which I read and enjoyed a few months back (my review is still posted on that one). I did pick it up because I've read and enjoyed several other Reginald books, including his tour-de-force historical fantasy, "The Dark-Haired Man, Or, the Hieromonk's Tale: A Romance of Nova Europe".

Finally, there is just something about this book's title "The Nasty Gnomes" that honed my curiosity and had me suspecting that I could count on another quirky little tale of adventure from Reginald, this time, for not the first time, with the old folk hero of the 30s and 40s, "The Phantom Detective", resurrected, once again, to take up where he'd left off -- albeit a tad older (the character seems to do a good deal of sleeping, these days), and a tad hungrier (the character so often sits down to eat I was always sympathetically hungry and running off for snacks).

In the end, I wasn't disappointed, nor will you be. If I'm still a little uncertain about the political correctness of making "Little People" the villains of the piece, it's all done in good fun, tongue-in-cheek, and, as it turns out, their villainy isn't their fault at all but the fault of ... guess who? Clue: a BP. And not once does Reginald use one of them as a bowling ball.

It's an enjoyable fun romp, with enough twists and turns along the way, including The Phantom's love interest and wife Dastrie, to keep it interesting. All in all, it can't be beat for a leisurely evening at home, by the fire, glass of wine in one hand, "The Nasty Gnomes" (a real handful) in the other.

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Title: Closely Knit in Scarlatt

Subtitle: A Novel of Suspense

Author: Ardath Mayhar, Laural Merlington

Narrator: Laural Merlington

Format: Unabridged

Length: 4 hrs and 54 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-23-12

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 8 votes

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Modern Detective

Publisher's Summary:

Olive is the most unlikely of secret agents, a professional assassin in her sixties who's known only as "The Knit Lady." She begins her trade by killing the Italian mobster who'd cheated her late husband, and then is quietly recruited by "The Brokers." Now she's hired to kidnap and kill retired British agent Benjamin Scarlatt. But The Knit Lady has scruples, and when an Islamic terrorist group takes control of the cruise ship on which both she and Scarlatt are traveling, she decides to fight back, with knitting needle, scalpel - and plastic explosives. Don't underestimate Little Old Ladies - they're the most dangerous ones of all!

Members Reviews:

Love child of Miss Marple & Jason Bourne;)

Olive Rienzi is sixtyish, a widow, a craftswoman, a cleaning lady--and a mysterious and scrupulous international assassin.

The author, in a prologue, talks about the genesis of the novel from her noticing that as she aged she became less visible--and realized that invisibility had a lot of potential.

I gave this a four-star rating for the humor in this story. As I listened to Olive's adventures and judged them preposterous, I kept thinking that many a time I have bought even more ludicrous exploits when performed by young and tough heroes and heroines--and it made me laugh. Olive is old, tough, competent and nobody's fool. She is quite capable, thank you very much, of taking care of herself, and others as necessary.

Most titles involving knitters (crocheters, quilters, cooks, etc.) are cute and cozy, focusing on female bonding. Olive is a refreshing change from this; she is a loner amid a cast of spies, assassins, miscreants and shadowy cabals and they underestimate her at their peril:) and I very much enjoyed her tale. Watch out for the pointy sticks! :)

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Titolo: L'arciere fantasma [The Green Archer]

Autore: Edgar Wallace

Narratore: Silvia Cecchini

Formato: Unabridged

Durata: 9 hrs and 14 mins

Lingua: Italiano

Data di pubblicazione: 01-27-12

Editore: Collina d'oro

Categoria: Mysteries & Thrillers, Modern Detective

Riepilogo Editore:

Pubblicato nel 1923 dal maestro del crimine Edgar Wallace, il thriller, ambientato in un castello inglese pieno di passaggi segreti e di nascondigli, si snoda con leggerezza e con suspense , un colpo di scena dietro laltro, fino allimmancabile spiegazione finale dellintreccio.

Please note: This audiobook is in Italian.

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Title: The Big Bad Wolf

Author: James Patterson

Narrator: Kerry Shale

Format: Abridged

Length: 5 hrs and 23 mins

Language: English

Release date: 01-12-12

Publisher: Headline Audiobooks

Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Modern Detective

Publisher's Summary:

Whos Afraid? Alex Crosss first case since joining the FBI has his new colleagues perplexed. Across the country, men and women are kidnapped in broad daylight. They are not being taken for ransom, Alex realises, but being bought and sold. And it seems The Wolf is the master criminal behind this terrible trade. Youre Afraid. Getting impatient with the FBIs clumsiness and caution when it is time to move, Alex has to go out on his own in order to track his new prey and try to rescue some of the victims.

Full of the unexpected twists and heartrending surprises that James Patterson is famed for.

Members Reviews:

This has got to be the dark ages for Alex Cross.

I swear, what happened to James Patterson?! He just took a beloved series and turned it into something else. He was nearly on the right course of the "Four Blind Mice" putting it back on track. But this one just throws right back off.

Okay, positives. I do like that Alex is a FBI agent now. It opens the door for new challenges and new tougher villains for him to take on. But sadly, it doesn't happen (which we will get to later on in the negatives). I really love that we get more of Kayla Coles from the previous novel. I'm just loving that character. And I will admit, the Mastermind cameos are pretty memorable.

But the negatives are just way to high for me to like this novel. The villain is no good and the fact that Alex is taking on criminal organizations that the CIA or even James Bond would handle just doesn't fit the universe of the series. We could have seen Alex face off against new kinds of criminals that are worse and see him go through some life changing decisions. Christine Johnson returns in this novel and how she returns just freaking ticks me off. This is not the Christine I remember from the past novels before "Roses Are Red". In fact, I'm starting to hate her character now. I still can't get into Alex and Jamilla's romance. Even the ending when they say "I love you" to each other, I don't believe it for one second. I still like Jamilla as a character, but I seriously don't like the romance.

This has got to be the dark ages for Alex Cross. I mean it! "Cat & Mouse" was the early stages of it. "Roses Are Red" and "Violets Are Blue" officially made it happen. And now we have "The Big Bad Wolf" keeping it that way.

Great Series

I bought every book in this series because after I read the first one, I just waned more! James Patterson does not disappoint. There is a reason he is such a best selling author!!! Each book is better than the last one and you not only fall in love with the main charachter but with his whole family and profession alike. This series is a murder mystery/ cop drama kind of series and is definitly at the top of it's genre. It is not for the younger audience or the very tender hearted as it has graphic literary imagery. It puts you in the mind set of TV shows like Rizoli and Isles, Law and Order, CSI, and Major Crimes in the sense of type of series and graphic crimes but its focus on one detective, his cases, his life and his family makes it a more personal look at the crime and solving of it. You won't be able to stop at one book and you won't want to put it down when you start!

Another Great James Patterson suspense.

I am a great fan of all James Patterson books.

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Title: I denne sde sommertid

Author: Mari Jungstedt

Narrator: Torben Sekov

Format: Unabridged

Length: 8 hrs and 2 mins

Language: English

Release date: 01-05-12

Publisher: ArtPeople

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 3 votes

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Modern Detective

Publisher's Summary:

Please note: This audiobook is in Danish.

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Title: Don't Look Now

Author: Richard Montanari

Narrator: William Hope

Format: Unabridged

Length: 8 hrs and 42 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-22-11

Publisher: Random House AudioBooks

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Modern Detective

Publisher's Summary:

Andrea Heller has been married for seven years, but still likes to pretend she's single. She enjoys sitting on her own in bars, and watching what happens. But there's another couple watching too. They call themselves Saila and Pharaoh, but only after sundown. And it is after sundown that some terrible things are happening in the singles clubs in Cleveland. In six months, three women in their twenties have been brutally murdered. And each step that Homicide Detective Jack Paris takes to find their killer draws him closer to the heart of his own forbidden impulses. As the stakes become increasingly personal, Jack knows only one thing for certain. To enter the minds of Saila and Pharaoh is to enter a world from which no one ever fully returns....

Members Reviews:

Don't Look Now by Richard Montanaria EXCELLENT

This is the first Richard Montanaria that I've listened too. I think this is an excellent book if you like detective novels. My only criticism would be that the narrator didn't change his voice enough and sometimes I had to rewind the book to ensure that I kept up with what was going on. But having said that it was an entralling book

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Title: True

Author: Michael Cordy

Narrator: Jim Barclay

Format: Unabridged

Length: 10 hrs and 26 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-08-11

Publisher: Random House AudioBooks

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Modern Detective

Publisher's Summary:

How can a drug that makes people fall madly in love be a bad thing?

So thinks Professor Bacci when he inadvertently unlocks the biochemical key to falling in love, and develops a drug capable of creating emotions indistinguishable from the real thing.

Determined that the world benefits from his discovery, he seeks funding and business advice from a private Swiss bank, owned by the secretive Kappel family. Unknown to Bacci, however, Helmut Kappel sees love as a sickness to be exploited, and has his own plan for abusing the drugs power; a cynical nightmare of breathtaking arrogance far removed from Baccis naive dream of spreading love around the world. Only two people can stop Kappels dark vision. One is Professor Baccis daughter Isabella, a doctor dedicated to saving lives. The other is Kappels own son and heir, Max, a man raised to feel no emotion and show no pain, a killer apparently incapable of love. But before they confront Kappel they must first confront their feelings for each other. Can love conquer all in a world where even true love can be faked?

Members Reviews:

Loved this book!

I have read several Michael Cordy novels before and this is the first time I have wanted to write a review, because I just LOVED this book.

First of all, the subject is universal and has long been a human quest: an elixir of love that guarantees that the person you love will love you back. How wonderful would that be?

Sure, this book is, as usual in Cordy's work, science/genetics oriented although not highly technical (not for scientists I guess), but in this one, I have found food for thought that his other books did not bring IMHO.

Also, the characters here are more developed than usual and you really feel for them and their quest for love and recognition.

Okay, the writing could be better, and that is the reason why I only put 4 star and not 5, but there are some good passages and the reading is pleasant from start to finish. The ending is particularly well-done.

So if you like a short, easy-to-read thriller with suspense and love, go for it!

Publisher's plot

The key twist in the plot is that the publishers have reissued old Cordy books with new titles.

True = The Venus Conspiracy

also

The Miracle Strain = The Messiah Code

Crime Zero = The Crime Code

Lucifer = The Lucifer Code

Higly underrated book!

This was a fantastic read which I devoured in one day. The book was well paced and had a very engaging tone. Well developed characters, especially the main ones. The overarching plot with its creatively thought out almost science fiction-like take on genetic engineering was very appealing. It was a good "what if?" read. I also enjoyed the way in which the author developed the relationship between Max and Isabella. It was believable and I really found myself rooting for them. Really worth a read, especially if you have a science background.

Pity more don't read these

I enjoyed this. It had a plausible plot and was a good page turner. More should read this book. It was entertaining.

Somewhat unrealistic - Mr Cordy has a vivid imagination.

Somewhat unrealistic - Mr Cordy has a vivid imagination.

Basically a load of rubbish.

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Title: A Perilous Conception

Subtitle: The Detective Baumgartner Mysteries, Book 1

Author: Larry Karp

Narrator: Traber Burns, Sean Runnette

Format: Unabridged

Length: 8 hrs and 31 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-06-11

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Modern Detective

Publisher's Summary:

Its 1976. Despite fierce international controversy over whether in vitro fertilization (IVF) should ever be performed in humans, doctors around the world race to be first to produce a baby through this procedure.

Dr. Colin Sanford, a brilliant, ambitious obstetrician in the Pacific Northwest city of Emerald, has a plan. He recruits Dr. Giselle Hearn, an experienced laboratory geneticist/embryologist at the university whos frustrated by the ultraconservative policies of her department chairman. Drs. Sanford and Hearn, working secretly, set out to put their names in the history books. Unfortunately, a secret that big is hard to keep, and Alma Wanego, Dr. Hearns lab supervisor, catches on and demands a blackmail payment.

Several months later, Dr. Sanfords patient, Joyce Kennett, gives birth to a healthy boy, and Sanford prepares to make an announcement at a press conference. But before that happens, Joyce Kennetts marginally schizophrenic husband kills Dr. Hearn and then himself.

Police Detective Bernie Baumgartners investigation is hampered by pressure from influential people at the university who want to control sensationalism that might harm the institution. The chief of police chalks it up to the work of a mentally unstable man who may have forgotten to take his medication and considers the case closed. But dogged, tenacious Baumgartner suspects that Sanford and Hearn were in fact doing IVF, that they succeeded with the Kennetts, and that murder, suicide, and other crimes were the fallout.

A double cat-and-mouse game develops between doctor and detective, and as stakes escalate, truth becomes an increasingly evasive commodity.

Critic Reviews:

"Hotbutton issues, ruthless ambition, human experimentation, blackmail, suicide, murder. A Perilous Conception delivers." (Kevin OBrien, New York Times best-selling author)

Members Reviews:

Surprise revelation at the conclusion

I thought it was a great read. I enjoyed the subtle clues that kept me involved in the plot. It was like being the detective trying to get at the truth and solve the case.

A great read!!!!

I really enjoyed Larry Karp's latest novel, "A Perilous Conception." I found the book to be very interesting with all the details on IVF, and the plot was very good with several unexpected developments. For me, this was another of the author's can't-put-it-down novels. I especially liked Bernie Baumgartner and his somewhat unorthodox police procedures. Hope to read more of him in the future.

The wording is showing that I read a paperback. That's not true. I read the hardcover edition purchased from Amazon.

Not much of a mystery

It's 1976. In vitro fertilization is in its infancy and Dr. Colin Sanford has a plan: teaming with embryologist Giselle Hearns, Sanford wants to earn his fame and fortune by producing the first baby conceived in vitro. The plan is going well -- Sanford's patient, Joyce Kennett, is pregnant -- when a lab supervisor blackmails Sanford, threatening to expose his clandestine research before he's ready to reveal it to the world. Sanford's plan really turns sour on the day he intends to announce the successful birth of the first child to be fertilized in vitro.

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Title: The Destruction of Neva

Subtitle: Ardis Cole Mystery Series, Book 5

Author: Loretta Jackson, Vickie Britton

Narrator: Stephanie Brush

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 1 min

Language: English

Release date: 11-14-11

Publisher: Books In Motion

Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Modern Detective

Publisher's Summary:

Ardis Cole is summoned to Russia to help Grant Merlins friend, Nikolai, locate a priceless marble statue called Neva. The life-sized sculpture vanished seven years ago, along with the artist, Nikolais uncle Treve Savik. Most people believe Treve destroyed his masterpiece and then committed suicide after being jilted by the statues beautiful model, Varina Morinsky.

On the way to the Savik mansion, Ardis is nearly pushed to her death in the Moscow subway. Once in St. Petersburg, Ardis discovers the grave of a murder victim, buried for seven years. The search for the missing sculpture also turns into a hunt for a dangerous killer....

Members Reviews:

Good series

I have read and enjoyed all the books in this series

Great Reads

I have read their books before and have always found them to be very exciting and well written.