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Audiobook, Audiobooks, book review, Law Enforcement Biography, Non-Fiction, True Crime

KILLER TRIGGERS – REVIEW

May 18, 2021 Kai Cohen Leave a comment

Litercurious Book Review

Title	Killer Triggers: Murder Comes Down to Sex, Drugs, or Money
Author	Joe Kenda
Narrator	Joe Kenda
Publisher	Blackstone Publishing (March 09, 2021)
Format	Unabridged Audiobook, Kindle & Hardback
Time	8 hours and 30 minutes
Genre	Criminology, Law Enforcement Biographies
Language	English
ASIN #	B08GGBRHXQ

“The magnificent 8 we made beautiful music that year from murder and mayhem.”
Joe Kenda, Killer Triggers. Narrated by Joe Kenda., Audible, 2021. Audiobook.

#CriminologyAudiobooks #LawEnforcementBiographies #TrueCrime #TrueCrimeAudiobooks

AUTHOR

Former Police Lieutenant, Joe Kenda is the author of Killer Triggers. Read more about Kenda’s background here.

SYNOPSIS

Killer Triggers by Joe Kenda is an unabridged audiobook that is a phantasmagoria of real world criminals and their motivations. Sometimes hard to stomach, Kenda delivers a phlegmatic narration that contrasts starkly from the horrors that he describes. At times, there is a slight trepidation in his voice, tone, or tremor. His varied tonation indicates a deeper emotional recollection of the crimes that still evoke unease in his soul.

One particular recollection of Kenda’s, involved the events that occurred at The Avenue in Colorado Springs. Two Fort Carson Soldiers, Army Specialist Layne Shmidtke and Sargent Joseph Reeves, were attacked on September 11, 1991. Over 700 witnesses saw the crime. Kenda explains how his 8 man team worked tirelessly to identify all those involved and discover their motivations.

Kanda details the grimness of the job that murder detectives do on a daily basis. Sometimes he punctuates it with a hint of irreverence to warm the cold horror of some of the cases he’s been involved in. The worst crimes involve small children. Those of a more delicate disposition may want to avoid those accounts.

There is a very real sense throughout that Kenda is still all cop inside, evidenced by his television presentations and his writing. He comes across as the kind of man you would want on your side in a criminal investigation. He is loyal, forensically aware and intelligent. Just as importantly, he had a dogged determination to leave no stone unturned ensuring that the criminals were brought to justice.

CONCLUSION

Killer Triggers contains a host of disturbing content. At 8 hours and 30 minutes, it is about the average length for a work of its kind. Many true crime readers out there may consider it less impactful than some other similar works due to the staccato pace. The crimes stack up quickly and contemplation comes once the book is finished.

Killer Triggers is a stark reminder to us all that Law Enforcement Officers have a most unique job. A job that requires them to be social workers one moment, traffic management personnel at another, and defenders of the population sometimes through the use of deadly force. Can we be surprised that the men and women of the Police suffer health and psychological issues? They are forced to be Mary Poppins one moment and Judge Dredd the next. Is it really any wonder that alcoholism, domestic abuse, and suicide plague the Law Enforcement community?

Kenda can put a brave face on it, but the nerve shredding sights, smells, and emotional baggage created by investigating these horrific crimes, scar the individual permanently. The memories still haunt him. At other time he uses graveyard humor to deal with horrors he witnessed. Dealing with monstrous crimes, as Joe Kenda and his team did day-after-day, seems to leave little room for sentiment. The most egregious crimes are those involving children. These undercurrents of psychological turmoil were not covered, but could be felt throughout the book. Unsurprisingly, Kenda’s delivery is emotionally separate and heavily redacted in terms of police operation methods .

If you were a family member of a murder victim, Kenda is the kind of Law Enforcement Officer that you would demand. He is Intelligent, doggedly, determined, forensically and legally aware. The kind of law officer that will turn over every stone to capture the criminal that stole your loved one.

NARRATION

Joe Kenda’s dedication to his craft is evident in every word as he deftly reads his own prose. There is a laconic fall-off to his spoken word that leaves us in no doubt that he still carries the memories of all those unforgettable crimes that he once witnessed. He uses vocal emphasis by changing the speed of his delivery and his tonality thus adding weight to the alarming acts of violence. There is an authority to his voice that demands your undivided attention. He conversationally relays the information to the listener in a way that is both engaging and riveting.

OTHER WORK BY THIS AUTHOR

I will Find You, by Detective Joe Kenda True Crime

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to than Joe Kenda, NetGalley, and Blackstone Publishing for affording me the opportunity to review Killer Triggers.

Audiobook, book review, Fiction, Horror

THE END OF THE WHOLE MESS – Review

September 22, 2020 Nemo Leave a comment

Litercurious Book Review

Title	The End Of The Whole Mess
Author	Stephen King
Publisher	Simon & Schuster Audio; Unabridged (Sep. 29, 2009)
Format	Audiobook
Time	1 Hour, 1 Minute
Genre	Short Stories, Horror literature and fiction
Language	English
ISBN 10/13 ASIN	9780743598231/ 978-0743598231 0743598237

“I want to tell you about the end of war. The degeneration of mankind, and the death of the Messiah.”
The End Of The Whole Mess, Stephen King, Simon & Schuster Audio Unabridged September, 29, 2009

Author

The seemingly infinitely creative Stephen King is the author of The End Of The Whole Mess and Other Short Stories.

Synopsis

The End of the Whole Mess is a short science fiction story by American writer Stephen King, first published in Omni Magazine in 1986. It was collected in King’s Nightmares & Dreamscapes in 1993 and in Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse in 2008. The story is written in the form of a personal journal. It relates the story of the narrators’, Howard Fornoy, genius younger brother’s attempt to cure humanity’s aggressive tendencies.

Key Character’s

Narrator: Howard Fornoy

Brother: Robert, the ‘Messiah;’ 7 year age difference.

Plot

In an apocryphal tale set in a pre-apocalyptic era sometime in the near future; a gifted narcissistic philanthropist and his older talented brother engage in a plan to improve society and fix its ills. The apparent failure of their plan triggers the very apocalypse they had sought to curtail. As often happens with quick fixes, the medicine proves worse than the sickness, and as a result humanity’s future again hangs in the balance.

Author’s Purpose For The Story

King challenges the audience to re-assess their own zeitgeist from the perspective of the two key characters: Howard Fornoy and his autodidactic younger brother Robert. His cautionary fable encourages the reader to asses the decisions made and the resultant consequences. King presents us with the dichotomy between allowing a failing system to continue unchanged and falling to the lowest point naturally; or to do something so outrageous that your actions precipitate a more dire situation. King cleverly convinces us of the primacy of Bob’s theory in a world lacking hope. Once the process is set in operation, the unforeseen and irrevocable consequences begin to unfold.

Narrator

MATHEW BRODERICK

Mathew Broderick provides a first person compelling and skillful narrative. He immediately engenders the character with his eloquent delivery and managed to add tone and texture in a perfect tempo throughout. Broderick manages to paint the characters in full 3D, techno-color on the canvas of the mind. He expertly annunciates every emotion, with impressive levels of expertise. All these combine to produce a totally enjoyable journey. Broderick’s narration enhanced and improved the story bringing it to life fully formed and entrancing.

Conclusion

The perfect storm of the author and narrator combines to create a thoroughly enjoyable distraction from the woes of the world in 2020. It may only take just over an hour to listen to this apologue, but the story will continue to resonate with you for days.

A SELECTION OF OTHER WORKS BY THIS AUTHOR

Audiobooks, book review

DOES YOUR DOG SPEAK HEBREW? – Review

July 26, 2020 Nemo Leave a comment

LITERCURIOUS BOOK REVIEW

Title	Does Your Dog Speak Hebrew: A Book of Animal sounds Series: Very First Board Books
Author	Ellen Bari
Illustrator	Holly Clifton-Brown
Publisher	Kar-Ben Publishing ® (September 1, 2020)
Format	Audiobook, Board Book, Kindle
Time / Pages	1:26:00 / 14 Pages
Genre	Children’s Animal book, Children’s Language Book
Language	English and Hebrew
ISBN 10/13	1541560892 / 978-1541560895

AUTHOR

Ellen Bari has created award-winning museum exhibits and programs for clients including The Children’s Museum of Manhattan, Sesame Workshop, PBS, Nickelodeon and the US Holocaust Memorial Museum. Ellen, a fluent Hebrew speaker, lived in Israel and enjoys writing about a variety of Jewish topics. She lives in New York.

SYNOPSIS

Does Your Dog Speak Hebrew? is the most recent offering from the acclaimed children’s literature author Ellen Bari. This book is meant for parents of very young children who wish to ensure they begin learning Hebrew linguistically as soon as possible. Research supports the proposition that in order to increase the success of learning multiple languages, it is best started as early in a child’s life as possible. As you would anticipate from a book directed towards children 1-4 years of age, the content is purposefully short, simple and repetitive. This is no accident, but is done purposefully in order to hold the child’s attention; and through repetition, improve their retention of the story and thus the nuances of the language.

The narration is clear, concise and delivered in an accurate manner accent free. I would acknowledge the narrator’s name, but I was unable to establish it on this occasion.

I am reviewing the audiobook version, so I am unable to comment on the illustrations; beyond stating that if the front page is anything to go by, the images will be every bit as exciting and interesting as the narration and the dialogue.

CONCLUSION

Does Your Dog Speak Hebrew? is fun for children and parents alike. What better gift to give your child than a better understanding of the world through the languages we speak. I enjoyed it and I am completely confident that you and your children will also.

SPECIAL MENTION – ILLUSTRATOR

Holly Clifton-Brown was born in London and attended Chelsea School of Art, Media, and Design; and Bristol UWE Faculty of Art, Media and Design, where she attained a B.A. in Illustration. Her work has been exhibited at The London Transport Museum. She is the author and illustrator of Annie Hoot and the Knitting Extravaganza and has illustrated other picture books including Big Bouffant and Big Birthday.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to thank Ellen Bari, NetGalley and Kar-Ben Publishing ® & Lerner Audiobooks for affording me the opportunity to review Does Your Dog Speak Hebrew?

LITERCURIOUS CHILD FRIENDLY JOKE

Q. What goes tick-tock bow-wow, tick-tock bow-wow?

A. A watch dog.

OTHER WORK BY THIS AUTHOR

Jenny loves to jump. But when jumping gets her in trouble, she decides to retire her pogo stick. Then her school decides to hold a fundraising fair, and she discovers that her skill can be used for a good cause.

The Tattered Prayer Book, winner of The Mom’s Choice Award, is a gentle introduction to the Holocaust for children ages 6-10. Ruthie discovers a secret about her father while looking through a box of mementos from “the old country.” As her father tells his surprising story, Ruthie learns a slice of Jewish history and the circumstances under which the family fled Nazi Germany. A burnt prayer book taken in secret from a destroyed synagogue after Kristallnacht offers solace to a young boy at the most difficult time in his life.