Audiobook Review: The Case of the Cursed Dodo (The Endangered Files #1) by Jake G. Panda

The Case of the Cursed Dodo (The Endangered Files #1)
by Jake G. Panda

Description:
If you're looking for trouble, you've found it. The name's Jake G. Panda, and trouble seems to follow me wherever I go. I work in the protection racket at a flophouse for endangered critters called the Last Resort. I'm the hotel snoop. The resident fuzz. It's my job to keep these guests safe and outta harm's way. This is the first of my many misadventures. A wild and woolly mystery involving a lost suitcase, a green bird, and a bunch of double-crossing animals. I'm calling this jungle noir The Case of the Cursed Dodo.

This hilarious first installment of The Endangered Files follows Jake, a hardboiled panda detective, and an unusual cast of endangered creatures on a globe-trotting adventure that will appeal to young and old alike.

My Review:
I read this book back in 2014. Now it's out as an audiobook, and the author asked if I wouldn't mind giving the new production a listen and share my thoughts. I must say, it delivers much better as audio, set up like an old fashioned radio adventure from back when radio was the source of evening stories and entertainment, not TV.

This is a multifaceted story, featuring a private detective story, a mystery, and a ton of endangered species filling the cast. Jake G. Panda is hard on the trail of his friend, who goes missing investigating the cursed dodo. Aided by a secret underground and a former love, he follows the trail of clues and narrowly escapes danger. It comes across a little bit cliche in places, but that seems purposeful, a nod to the noir genre.

Another interesting thing about this audiobook rendition is that it isn't simply read, but performed by a full cast of voice actors and actresses, accompanied by subtle audio background noises and music and narrated by a very radio-worthy announcer type. It isn't like some books where the reader of the moment performs the different voices, it truly is like an audio play. If Jake is talking, the actor playing Jake voices his lines. If Jake does something, the narrator describes it.

Anyhow, I liked it and would definitely recommend the audiobook over the ebook. Folks who are looking for something different might like this. My impression is that this would probably be better enjoyed and more relevant to adults than children.

About the Author:

Jake G. Panda is a wildlife investigator. A hardboiled Winnie-the-Pooh. He likes bamboo and saving endangered animals. He is the author of The Endangered Files, a mystery series about his misadventures in the protection business.

His partner in crime, the fella who helps write these books because, let's be honest, it's not easy typing with big, clunky bear paws, resides somewhere in New England. He has written his fair share of stuff, mostly for the big screen. And some of it has actually been projected. He likes to keep a low profile and lets Jake do all the talking.

Feel free to contact Jake at jakegpanda@gmail.com
Website: http://www.endangeredfiles.com
Twitter: @JakeGPandaPI
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/JakeGPanda

ARC Review: Immortal Creators by Jill Bowers

Immortal Creators
by Jill Bowers

Expected Publication Date: April 3, 2018
Publisher: Blue Moon Publishers

Description:
Sixteen-year-old author Scott Beck never wanted to be an Immortal Writer—not after his father was killed on a mission attempting to dispatch his own villain. Scott blames Shakespeare and the Writers for his father's untimely demise, but no amount of hatred will prevent the oncoming alien attack, which has come over to reality straight from Scott's book.

Scott is forced to collect his characters—an Air Force colonel, two of the best pilots on Earth, and an alien enthusiast from the year 2134—and defeat the alien king before Earth is obliterated by his ships. But an odd sickness Scott calls his Writing Fever might just kill him before the aliens have the chance.

Will Scott be able to defeat the monsters he created, or will the world end in flames?


My review:
Immortal Creators is the sequel to Immortal Writers and seems to set up quite nicely for a third book. The main premise of these books is what would happen if the greatest storytellers literally become immortal and bring their stories to life.

I very much enjoyed this book. Blending together conflicts from Scott’s sci-fi characters, the Immortal Writers, and Scott’s Writing Fever, there was a lot going on, but I had no trouble keeping up. I enjoyed how Curtis and Liz came back in this one as supporting characters, and I think having to fight off a technologically superior alien invasion definitely kicked it up a notch. Once I got going in the book, I had a hard time putting it down.

As for the set up for the third book, wow. I had no clue that was where this was going, and I’m anxious to see what happens next. If you’re reading cliffhanger into that, you’d be right, but the primary focus of this book is resolved, it just sets up the next in the ongoing storyline. I thought it was well done.

Overall, I loved this book, and I feel it outdid the first in the series. Highly recommended to folks who get a kick out of the idea of fiction leaking into reality.

I received the ARC of this book from NetGalley.


About the Author:

Jill Bowers is a technical writer by day and a fantasy author by night. She is one of two composers-in-residence for the Westminster Bell Choir and has a great love for all music. She used to be the writer and host for the award-winning radio show Olde Tyme Radio on the Aggie Radio Station at USU and has dabbled in stage play writing as well.

Jill enjoys attending Utah's Comic Con and Fantasy Con and has an unhealthy attachment to Netflix. She lives in Utah and has a lovely dachshund that needs to lose weight because she probably doesn't get enough walks and is too cute to not feed. Jill attended Utah State University for their creative writing program, where she actually specialized in creative nonfiction rather than fiction. However, Jill loves delving into different worlds in fantasy and sci-fi novels and is excited to have people enter the worlds she has created.

Author Links:
w: www.immortalauthor.com/
t: @Jilliard08
f: facebook.com/immortalauthorjill
g: goodreads.com/user/show/2509616-jill-bowers
p: pinterest.com/jilliard08/
i: instagram.com/jilliard08/
y: youtube.com/channel/UC4FH9bS51qVga7rPot7awTw


Other Books in this Series:


You can check out my review of Immortal Writers here.

Fantasy Review: Heartless by Marissa Meyer

Heartless
by Marissa Meyer

Description:
Long before she was the terror of Wonderland, she was just a girl who wanted to fall in love.

Catherine may be one of the most desired girls in Wonderland and a favorite of the unmarried King, but her interests lie elsewhere. A talented baker, she wants to open a shop and create delectable pastries. But for her mother, such a goal is unthinkable for a woman who could be a queen.

At a royal ball where Cath is expected to receive the King’s marriage proposal, she meets handsome and mysterious Jest. For the first time, she feels the pull of true attraction. At the risk of offending the King and infuriating her parents, she and Jest enter into a secret courtship.

Cath is determined to choose her own destiny. But in a land thriving with magic, madness, and monsters, fate has other plans.

My Review.
Great story. Tragic.
I was on the waitlist for this one for a long time, months I think, at the local library. Finally came up and I must say it was worth the wait.

The author flawlessly carries off this origin story for Alice in Wonderland’s infamous Queen of Hearts, taking the reader through Cath’s first true love, her daring attempts to dodge fate, the sinister threat of the Jabberwock, and the inexorable pull of her own sense of right and wrong. All of this makes the story memorable, unique, and surprisingly suspenseful, even when one can’t help but know how it has to end.

Overall, I loved this book and strongly recommend it to folks who love twists on classic fairytales.
I borrowed the audiobook from the library.

Intrigued?
Add it on Goodreads.
Find it on Amazon or Barnes & Noble.


About the Author:

Marissa Meyer is a fangirl at heart, with a closet full of costumes, a Harry Potter wand on her desk, and a Tuxedo Mask doll hanging from her rear view mirror. Han and Leia are still her OTP. She may or may not be a cyborg.

Marissa writes books for teens, including the NYT bestselling series: The Lunar Chronicles.
Follow her blog or sign up for her newsletter at http://www.marissameyer.com.

Check out Marissa's other books on Amazon.

Thriller Review: Stillhouse Lake (Stillhouse Lake #1) by Rachel Caine

Stillhouse Lake (Stillhouse Lake #1)
by Rachel Caine

Description:
Gina Royal is the definition of average—a shy Midwestern housewife with a happy marriage and two adorable children. But when a car accident reveals her husband’s secret life as a serial killer, she must remake herself as Gwen Proctor—the ultimate warrior mom.

With her ex now in prison, Gwen has finally found refuge in a new home on remote Stillhouse Lake. Though still the target of stalkers and Internet trolls who think she had something to do with her husband’s crimes, Gwen dares to think her kids can finally grow up in peace.

But just when she’s starting to feel at ease in her new identity, a body turns up in the lake—and threatening letters start arriving from an all-too-familiar address. Gwen Proctor must keep friends close and enemies at bay to avoid being exposed—or watch her kids fall victim to a killer who takes pleasure in tormenting her. One thing is certain: she’s learned how to fight evil. And she’ll never stop.


My Review:
I really liked this one! Engrossing and kept me up too late getting through it.

Looks like the next book comes out this month, but I can't wait for all three to be out. I think I'd rather read these all in a row. It's one of those that really does leave you wanting more.

Yes, while this is a #1, you don't often expect thrillers (even in a series) to end with a cliffhanger, especially one that's just so huge.

Anyway, very good thriller and worth the read, but it is just the beginning.

I purchased my copy of this book.


About the Author:

Rachel Caine is the New York Times, USA Today, and #1 internationally bestselling author of more than fifty novels, including the smash hit bestselling thriller Stillhouse Lake, the internationally bestselling Morganville Vampires series, the Great Library series, the Weather Warden series, the Outcast Season series, the Revivalist series, and the acclaimed YA novel Prince of Shadows.
The pilot for the crowdfunded show MORGANVILLE is now available on Amazon Prime as streaming video.

She was born at White Sands Missile Range, which people who know her say explains a lot. She has been an accountant, a professional musician, and an insurance investigator, and ultimately a corporate management executive before leaving to write full time. She and her husband, comic historian/actor/artist R. Cat Conrad, live in Texas.

Visit her webpage at WWW.RACHELCAINE.COM.

Follow her on Twitter, Goodreads and Amazon.

The next book comes out on December 12, 2017:

Audiobook Review: Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell, Simon Prebble (Narrator)

Nineteen Eighty-Four
by George Orwell, Simon Prebble (Narrator)

Description:
Blackstone Audio presents a new recording of this dramatically popular book.

George Orwell depicts a gray, totalitarian world dominated by Big Brother and its vast network of agents, including the Thought Police - a world in which news is manufactured according to the authorities' will and people live tepid lives by rote.

Winston Smith, a hero with no heroic qualities, longs only for truth and decency. But living in a social system in which privacy does not exist and where those with unorthodox ideas are brainwashed or put to death, he knows there is no hope for him.

The year 1984 has come and gone, yet George Orwell's nightmare vision of the world we were becoming in 1949 is still the great modern classic portrait of a negative Utopia.


My Review:
It took me quite some time to get around to reading (listening) to this book, and I must say I wasn’t disappointed.

It boggles the mind how pervasively fictional (in the context of the story) every known fact and history in the book is. The concept of double think, well, it’s amazing and seems like it wouldn’t be possible, but the way George Orwell explains it in the book, gives examples, and shows it happening to the characters makes it start feeling pretty real by the end of the story.

I found it particularly chilling how the government run media in the story proactively rewrote history, made all the more so by how easily the citizens of that future dystopia instantly adjusted their own perceptions of history to match.

Then, the romance. I had no idea that this story, with all its reputation of dystopia and Big Brother, was actually a tragic romance. Not only did it make the story hard to put down, but it perfectly illustrates just how well Orwell’s society controls every aspect of those who reside in it.

As for relevance? Well, it’s eerie and eye opening. Having read this, I find myself paying closer attention to trends in what stories the media shares, what they say, and how certain popular figures respond to it. While the story takes the ideas of social and thought control to the extreme, current events make it seem rather possible that the concepts in the book aren’t quite as fictional as one would hope.

Overall, an excellent and chilling story. Highly recommended. The audiobook performance by Simon Prebble was fantastic.

I borrowed this audiobook from the library.


*Note that the image I used is for a boxed set of this book along with Animal Farm. It was the closest match I could find to the one I read from the library.