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Common sense and facts

Revisado: 04-21-25

While I will admit I do not agree 100% with Thomas Sowell on everything he writes, I would still want to see every one of his books in every person's hand in the United States. He makes so much sense that his writing really should be required reading in schools - especially for the teachers.

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Interesting concept

Revisado: 04-21-25

So this book is basically a bunch of short stories put together to make one book. Super interesting concept. Normally I do not like short stories but since these were all connected to a larger story I loved it. Granted there wasn't much suspense or "twisting" throughout since they are short stories and the twists had to come quickly and so they're pretty predictable, but, that did not make them any less enjoyable. It's worth a listen :)

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These stories really ARE hard to believe

Revisado: 04-01-25

In the beginning of the book the authors say that you will find yourself saying that these stories really can't be true - and they're right. As you listen it's unfathomable that these people were not just suspected and arrested for these crimes but that they actually were convicted and even put to death! The corruption in some of the police departments and communities in some of the stories are so unbelievable if it was fiction you'd think the author was stretching things too far. This is a great but disturbing listen.

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I'd love this app

Revisado: 04-01-25

So I actually had trouble turning this one off. I finished it in two days. The concept of the app in the story is not too far fetched - I feel like the technology described could actually work, which made this story all the more exciting. I'm a widow so I could really imagine spending my time nonstop using it if it existed at the time my husband was killed. My only complaint about this book is the scene where Sarah breaks her phone. Just reading it gives me anxiety I hate when authors do this OR have the main character leave their phone in another room or in their car. Lol. But apart from the anxiety that part gave me this was a very good listen!

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I hope Jane Fonda has read this

Revisado: 04-01-25

I was in elementary school when the Vietnam war was ending so this war and hearing about it have been a normal part of my whole life. I remember hearing about Jane Fonda spitting on the returning soldiers and that these men were pretty messed up by things they experienced over there. This book made it all personal - brought it to life in a way that makes me feel like I understand now. I love it that Kristin Hannah wrote this book from the perspective of women who were there and I would say that as the main character goes through h*ll once she returns home the only thing unrealistic about it all is that she was able to be saved from it, since so many people were not. Anyone who is interested in history should read this. Kristin Hannah is a remarkable story teller.

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Great ending!

Revisado: 04-01-25

I feel like it's not easy to pull the wool over my eyes but Caroline Overington definitely got me with this one. Great story. Great ending. Great narration - beautiful voice and great performance. This one is worth a listen!

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Stephen King with poor narration

Revisado: 02-25-25

Now I'm gonna assume that this SK book and the other one that are both free are part of an experiment to see how we all like the Virtual Voice narration. Give us something we are all sure to like with the Virtual narration and it will be a good indicator of how good/bad that narration is? Well it was odd. The voice isn't quite a dead lifeless computer voice, it's kinda' decent as far as computer voices go, but the emotion level was all the same all the time no matter what was being read and that doesn't work. It's like how clowns with their painted smiles are creepy because they aren't always smiling even if their make-up is. Like it was just "wrong." And there were things that were read strangely, like a criminal's "M.O." was read as the criminal's "moe."

This is a 4-hour book. Do you really mean to tell me, Audible, that you can't afford to find an actual human woman who could use a job to read this book for you? Trying to pull this crap is kinda' shameless of you, and kind of reduces my respect for Audible overall.

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Not what I expected

Revisado: 02-21-25

This book is not what I expected. At one point the authors spend chapter after chapter telling the entire life story of the mother of a murdered child. Yes, what the family went through is tragic, but they go on and on painting this woman who willingly left her young daughter to be babysat by a very shady homeless/jobless/drug-using person as this wonderful woman. Chapter after chapter it goes on telling us what she thinks, what she feels, what she's doing, and...I'm a little less than half-way thru the book and I'm returning it. I can't listen to any more of this.

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Good but not great

Revisado: 02-14-25

I always hate leaving anything but a raving review because - who am I? None of the books available here are written by me, so who am I to judge? But as a listener there were just several places where I felt the story was forced. With stories like this always the authors try to get us to suspect someone else, and I felt like that false suspect was too obvious. And then who leaves their phone in their car? Who turns their phone off when their fiancé is out of town and they are home alone and kinda' scared? But in order to move the story the way the author wanted it was necessary to separate the main character from her phone. Didn't work for me.

What also didn't work were the times the main character just goes rogue like when she believes she knows where to find someone and drives 40 minutes to get there late at night. We're supposed to believe she doesn't call the police because the police think "she's crazy" but in reality the police have to investigate even an anonymous call. So again, that didn't work for me. I get that to keep us engaged the main character has to get into sticky situations, there has to be danger, and edge-of-your-seat stuff but it was just too forced and unnatural.

All that said, I actually really like her writing style and her use of imagery. She is a good writer. I guess this was her debut novel and so I'm sure I will be listening to other books of hers as she's likely only getting better at her craft.

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Great listen

Revisado: 02-13-25

This book is too short! When he got to the part where he is introducing the next case and says it was "his last" I grabbed my phone and looked at how much time was left and was not happy to see it say an hour and three minutes! I could have listened to this guy tell stories for days. The author tells the stories very well both in how he wrote it and how he reads it. He's also very respectful with regard to the victims even while being very thorough with regard to recounting what exactly happened. His voice is great and he should consider becoming a narrator for other books.

The only thing I'd want to argue with the author is in one place where he attempts to explain how serial killers are made and insists that all the ones he came across came from "good homes." One big problem with the American culture is that most of the things we American parents think of as "normal" are actually quite harmful to our children's developing brains. Even just the very common thing of letting babies cry themselves to sleep hinders their ability to develop empathy. How we turn out is a bit nature and a bit nurture. Someone with the nature to turn really evil in a home where they're getting inadequate nurture...is a huge problem. Parents can look great on the outside, but our culture is not so maladjusted, unwell, and violent for no reason.

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