Briar Patch Books

Category: Audio Books

  • What did the president know …

    Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson RICHARD NIXON: The Life. By John A. Farrell. Random House Audio. Read by Dan Woren. 29 hours; 23 CDs. $60. Also available in hardcover from Doubleday. There have been other biographies of Richard Nixon, the only American president to resign from office. From what I’ve read, this new one by…

  • A most misunderstood president

    Reviewed by Paul T. O’Connor HERBERT HOOVER: A LIFE. By Glen Jeansonne. Berkley. 464 pages. $28. Also available from Penguin Audio, read by Mark Deakins. 16 hours, 28 minutes. $29.95. Head west across Interstate 80 from Chicago, and you’ll come across a National Park Service surprise in West Branch, Iowa: The Herbert Hoover National Historic…

  • Can Jack be back?

    Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson THE CUTTHROAT. By Clive Cussler and Justin Scott. Penguin Audio. Read by Scott Brick. 9 ½ hours; 8 CDs. $45. Also available in hardback from G.P. Putnam’s Sons. Isaac Bell, the chief investigator for the Van Dorn Detective Agency, would not normally be assigned to find an attractive young woman…

  • Fighting Irish – a tale for our times

    Paul O’Connor reviews a new biography of a 19th-century immigrant who battled discrimination against himself even as he fought for freedom for those who were enslaved. Reviewed by Paul T. O’Connor THE IMMORTAL IRISHMAN. By Timothy Egan. Brilliance Audio. 14 hours, 9 minutes. Read by Gerard Doyle. $11.95 Audible Download. Also available in paperback. Mariner Books. 384…

  • Pirates, beware

    Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson THE SHORES OF TRIPOLI: Lieutenant Putnam and the Barbary Pirates. By James L. Haley. Books on Tape. Read by Paul Boehmer. 15 ½ hours; 13 CDs. Also available in hardcover from G.P. Putnam’s Sons. 464 pages. Wow, what a book – a naval adventure tale full of action, interesting characters…

  • A haunting novel

    Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson LINCOLN IN THE BARDO. By George Saunders. Read by Nick Offerman, David Sedaris and George Saunders, with a full cast of others. Random House Audio. 7 ½ hours, 6 CDs. $35. Also available in print from Random House. George Saunders has earned his literary laurels through writing short fiction, as…

  • Stone Barrington’s latest is rich with plot, action and politics

    Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson BELOW THE BELT. By Stuart Woods. Read by Tony Roberts. Penguin Audio. 8 hours; 7 CDs. $35. Also available in hardcover from G.P. Putnam’s Sons. I haven’t read nearly all of the Stone Barrington books, which Stuart Woods cranks out with alarming frequency. I have read enough of them to…

  • Frozen, a la Stephanie Plum

    Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson TURBO TWENTY-THREE. By Janet Evanovich. Read by Lorelei King. Random House Audio. 6 hours; 5 CDs. $32. Also available in print from Bantam Books. Janet Evanovich is one of those prolific writers with several series and a new novel of some sort appearing just about every time you turn around.…

  • Around the world with Dirk Pitt

    Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson ODESSA SEA. By Clive Cussler and Dirk Cussler. Read by Scott Brick. 12 hours. 10 CDs. $45. Also available in hardcover from G.P. Putnam’s Sons. If you like Dirk Pitt novels, you’ll get your money’s worth and more in Odessa Sea, No. 24, out just in time for Christmas. These…

  • Better than chicken soup

    Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson THE WHOLE TOWN’S TALKING. By Fannie Flagg. Read by Kimberly Farr. 16 CDs; 12 hours. $54. Also available in print from Random House. Just as there is comfort food, there are comfort books. Once again, Fannie Flagg has dished up the latter in fine style. Some people know Fannie Flagg…