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Great summer listening
REVIEWS BY SUKEY HOWARD
By Sue Grafton Random House AudioBooks, $25.95 ISBN 0375404163
The Forgotten Epic Story of World War II's Most Dramatic Mission By Hampton Sides
The Sinking of the USS Indianapolis and the Extraordinary Story of Its Survivors By Doug Stanton HarperAudio, $25.95 ISBN 0694524352
Extraordinary Correspondence from American Wars Edited by Andrew Carroll Simon & Schuster Audio, $26 ISBN 0743508424
Looking for loveJennifer Crusie knows women (and men) and knows how to tell a sassy, sexy, fun and funny tale. Fast Women is a hoot -- a feel-good story about women who finally say "enough" and do their damnedest to make a life that's worth living, to find love that's real and really great. There's a touch of The First Wives Club here, but these three attractive adults don't want revenge, they want to work, to be appreciated and, with luck, to hook up with a good guy who has some zing. Nell, whose husband of 22 years has left her for a size two sweetie, is the leader of the pack. She gets a job at a detective agency, falls for the boss (loaded with Dashiell Hammett-esque dash) and falls into the job she was meant for. Her girlfriends take a little longer to get with the program, but that's all part of the fun. Sandra Burr reads and, as always, is in top form.
By Jennifer Crusie Brilliance Audio, unabridged, $34.95 ISBN 1587882337
Sukey Howard reports each month on spoken word audio. |
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Sue Grafton, that alphabetically able author, is back with her 16th bestseller, P is for Peril. Kinsey Millhone, a hard-working, no-nonsense, private investigator, given the appropriate no-nonsense voice here by Judy Kaye, has been a star since this series started in 1982 with A is for Alibi. Kinsey lives and works in St. Theresa, California, and rarely turns down a job. When a prominent doctor goes missing and his acerbic, tightfisted ex-wife asks Kinsey to look into his disappearance, she takes the job only to find herself in the middle of a muddled multi-family mess, with the added attractions of a current, glamorous wife and her troubled teenaged daughter. As Kinsey is fitting the pieces of this puzzle together, her own situation starts slipping south as a pair of brothers start hitting on her -- one with lust in his heart, the other with murder. Remember, "L" is for listening.
This seems to be the season for reliving war stories, especially those of WWII. There's been a barrage of books, from histories and memoirs to stunning stories of courage and survival. Ghost Soldiers: The Forgotten Epic Story of World War II's Most Dramatic Mission, written by Hampton Sides and read by James Naughton, is one of the most stunning and moving of all. In January 1945, as General Douglas MacArthur's Sixth Army was driving hard to retake Manila, they discovered that a "fragile obstacle" stood in the way. The obstacle was a sordid prison camp that housed an "elite of the damned," the remaining American soldiers who had survived the Bataan Death March only to spend the next three years starving, slaving and living in unbelievable squalor. There was no true military reason to attempt a rescue, but emotion ruled over reason. A highly risky enterprise was planned and carried out by an untested unit known as the Sixth Ranger Battalion. Sides skillfully weaves together stories of these desperate prisoners, their bold saviors and the background history as he details this amazing raid.
In Harm's Way: The Sinking of the USS Indianapolis and the Extraordinary Story of Its Survivors, read by Boyd Gaines, is Doug Stanton's charged, crackling chronicle of the worst disaster at sea in U.S. naval history. On July 30, 1945, a Japanese submarine torpedoed the battle cruiser USS Indianapolis in the waters of the Pacific. Hundreds died immediately, and close to 900 men were cast into the sea to battle sharks, hypothermia, mental and physical exhaustion. Only 317 men survived the five-day struggle. Charles McVay, the ship's captain, was court-martialed for having failed to follow evasive maneuvers, and in 1968, he killed himself. In 2000, 55 years after his career had been destroyed, McVay was exonerated, something for which many of his crew had worked tirelessly. Much has been revealed in newly released government documents, but the in-depth details come from interviews with survivors who keep alive the commitment to honor, courage and dignity.
War Letters: Extraordinary Correspondence from American Wars, edited by Andrew Carroll, is exactly that, extraordinary in content and presented by an extraordinary, star-studded cast. The first of these previously unpublished letters reach back to the Civil War; the most recent missives are from the Balkans. In between come WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf War and Somalia. Together they form a kind of national autobiography, an unfiltered history of hellish times told in fragments of real life experience, recorded by first-hand witnesses. They are grim and they are brave; they reflect rage, despair, tedium, fear and the horror of seeing and being part of all that carnage. But then there is the pride, the passion, the patriotism, the timeless sense of honor and duty felt not only by the men and women who served but also by the parents who sent them off.
