Audio book Review of Burn by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge read by Danny Mastrogiorgio

Burn by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge
Read by Danny Mastrogiorgio

from Goodreads.
Detective Michael Bennett finally returns to New York City –and to the most unsettling, horrific case of his career.





At last, Detective Michael Bennett and his family are coming home to New York City. Thanks to Bennett, the ruthless crime lord whose vengeful mission forced the Bennett family into hiding has been brought down for good.





Back in the city that never sleeps, Bennett takes over a chaotic Outreach Squad in Harlem, where he receives an unusual call: a man claims to have seen a group of well-dressed men holding a bizarre party in a condemned building. With no clear crime or evidence, Bennett dismisses the report. But when a charred body is found in that very same building, he is forced to take the caller seriously – and is drawn into an underground criminal world of terrifying depravity. 

My Take:  The Michael Bennett Series by James Patterson is becoming my favorite series by him.  It was nice to have the Bennett family back in New York.  Bennett was kind of demoted by being given the Outreach Squad to lead.  He gets them to finally care about what they are doing then he is given a promotion to work on the case of all the diamond heists that have been going on.  I enjoyed the family drama that goes along with the this series.  I did feel that the resolution to the one case was a bit anticlimatic. 

Audio:  I felt that the narrator wasn't all that great he really didn't have to much range other than reading the book and not showing any emotion. Kinda monotoned. . Not enough to keep me from listening to him again but still not that great.  

This book is taken from my personal audible library. 

Audio Book Review of Gone by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge read by Daniel Mastrogiorgio and Henry Lewa

 Gone by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge
Read by Daniel Mastrogiorgio and Henry Lewa

From Audible.com

A crime lord has declared war on America. Only Detective Michael Bennett knows why.
Manuel Perrine doesn't fear anyone or anything. A charismatic and ruthless leader, Perrine slaughters rivals as effortlessly as he wears his trademark white linen suit. Detective Michael Bennett once managed to put Perrine behind bars, the only official in the US ever to accomplish that. But now Perrine is out, and he has sworn to find and kill Bennett and everyone dear to him.
Detective Bennett, along with his 10 adopted children, their nanny, and his grandfather, are hidden safely on a rural California farm, with guards courtesy of the FBI's witness protection program. Perrine begins to embark on an escalating series of assassinations across the country, killings whose brazenness and audacity bring into question the possibility of safety and law in the U.S. The FBI has no choice but to ask Detective Bennett to risk it all in Perrine's war on America.
With explosive action and fierce villainy that rivals James Bond movies at their best, Gone is the next astounding novel by James Patterson.

My Take:  The Michael Bennett series goes back and forth as my favorite series by James Patterson with Women's Murder Club.  It depends on the last  book in the series of which is the one I like the most.  As of right now Michael Bennett has the lead as this latest installment was a great addition to the series.  Putting the family in witness protection was an accident waiting to happen.  Like you can hide a family that size with very distinctive family members like a grandfather priest and an Irish nanny and nobody noticing.  The bad guy Perrine is not someone that you should mess with as he demonstrates with each of the crimes he commits against his fellow criminals and against people that are completely innocent.  This book will keep you listening till the very end to see if Michael gets a clue and realizes what he has in his nanny or if he will go after the flashy FBI agent.  Oh Yeah and you will want to find out what happens with Perrine also.

Narration:  The two narrators did a good job with the reading and they were able to add just the right touch of suspense to their voices so as not to take the story to over the top. 

This book was taken from my personal Audible library. 

Zoo by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge audio book review

Zoo by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge
narrated by Jay Snyder

from Audible.com

Publisher's Summary

Once in a lifetime, a writer puts it all together. This is James Patterson's best work ever.
Total
For 36 years, James Patterson has written unstopable, pulse-racing novels. Now, he has written an audiobook that surpasses all of them. Zoo is the thriller he was born to write.
World
All over the world, brutal attacks are crippling entire cities. Jackson Oz, a young biologist, watches the escalating events with an increasing sense of dread. When he witnesses a coordinated lion ambush in Africa, the enormity of the violence to come becomes terrifyingly clear.
Destruction
With the help of ecologist Chloe Tousignant, Oz races to warn world leaders before it's too late. The attacks are growing in ferocity, cunning, and planning, and soon there will be no place left for humans to hide. With wildly inventive imagination and white-knuckle suspense that rivals Stephen King at his very best, James Patterson's Zoo is an epic, nonstop thrill ride from "One of the best of the best" (Time).
©2012 James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge (P)2012 Hachette Audio

My Take:  James Patterson's best work yet?  I don't think so.  This book was good but I wouldn't say great.  All the animals in the world are suddenly attacking humans and they are doing so in packs which have several different species together.  Oz has seen this coming for awhile but could get no one to listen to him until the problem was to big to ignore.  I just thought that is was dumb that Oz saw this happening but was surprised when his chimp attacked his girlfriend.  Then all of sudden it is five years later.  No mention of what happened to the chimp (we do learn later what happened to him which was a bit unbelievable ).  Although the story was not very believable if you are able to suspend the believability  it is an enjoyable story and keeps you guessing. 

The narrator did a good job.  He did some little bit of an accent for some of the characters.  There were random snippets of music that really didn't add anything to the story.

All in all I did enjoy this audio book but there was alot to overlook.  I feel that with the last couple of books James Patterson has just been phoning it in.  I am currently listening to another of his books and this one is much better. 

Devourerofbooks.com hosts a meme where we link up all our audio book reviews.  Head over there and you might find your next great listen.

I, Michael Bennett by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge Audio book review

I, Michael Bennett by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge
Read by Bobby Cannavale and Jay Snyder

From Goodreads:Police officers shot Detective Michael Bennett arrests an infamous Mexican crime lord in a deadly chase that leaves Bennett's lifelong friend Hughie McDonough dead. From jail, the prisoner vows to rain epic violence down upon New York City-and to get revenge on Michael Bennett. Judges murdered To escape the chaos, Bennett takes his ten kids and their beautiful nanny, Mary Catherine, on a much-needed vacation to his family's cabin near Newburgh, New York. But instead of the calm and happy town he remembers from growing up, they step into a nightmare worse than they could have ever imagined. Newburgh is an inferno of warring gangs, and there's little the police-or Bennett-can do to keep the children safe. Target: Michael Bennett As violence overwhelms the state, Bennett is torn between protecting his hometown and saving New York City. A partner in his investigations, federal prosecutor Tara McLellan, brings him new weapons for the battle-and an attraction that endangers his relationship with Mary Catherine. A no-holds-barred, pedal-to-the-floor, action-packed novel, I, Michael Bennett is James Patterson at his most personal and most thrilling best.

My Take:  The Michael Bennett series, by James Patterson,  is my second favorite after The Women's Murder Club.  This book was really a disappointment.  I think that the Michael Bennett in this book was the replacement the aliens left when Michael was abducted.  He is totally clueless in his handling of any and all police work   in this book.  He acts more like a clueless rookie cop than like the well respected veteran police officer that he is.  The disregard that he has for what his actions might have on his family is totally not like him at all.  Plus not even taking into consideration Mary Catherine when he goes off with the prosecutor is another stereotypical male thing to do.  This Michael Bennett was definitely not the Michael Bennett that I have loved in the other books.  The ending I feel was just thrown in so that you would buy the next book.  It was like the authors knew that they had just phoned this one in and they needed a hook to get you to want the next book.  Will I get the next book?  Probably,  but if it is not better than this book, I will probably be dropping this series from my must listen list.

Which brings me to the audio.  The narrators did a very good job with what they were given.  I would not hesitate to buy a book if I saw that either one of these men were doing the reading.  They were the best thing about the whole book.  

This book was taken from my personal audio library.