Caedmon Audio Books

Tonight's been a long one for me... very long. By the time you get in and read this, it'll be well and truly Christmas Day on the top and I'll be in bed sleeping off a massive dinner I really should have had more restraint in dishing up onto my plate at my cousin's house.

But when the gift-giving came around, I was totally surprised by what my brother and niece gave me! They went into the city on Sunday and sussed out presents for everyone - well the last ones for everyone - and found me two audio vinyls from Caedmon Audio Books. 

These books aren't whole books, they are just chapters of the books - excerpts if you will - and are read by the authors of the books themselves. Very cool if you ask me! And my brother knowing how I'd squeal with delight about these things bought them for me for two reasons: I love books in any way shape or form, and I collect vinyls. 

The most special thing about these two vinyls is that they were in their original wrappings and have never been played before. So, I'll have something to 'read' over the weekend while it's raining - very cool. 

Caedmon Audio Books have been around since the 1950's, recording books on vinyls for a long time to keep people in connection with the written word for as along as everyone had turntables. 
However, as time went on and technology became better and faster, another company took them over, but kept the name of Caedmon; to keep the familiar feel to the product - HarperCollins Publishing. This company expanded upon the vinyls and kept up the quality recordings in America and across the world; making Caedmon a household name.
In the 1990's, Harper/Collins moved with the times and changed their ways slightly and moved from vinyls to CD's - but they changed the old name of Caedmon to their publishing name and the older name of Caedmon faded out quickly; thus the next generation didn't know about them as well. 
I'm glad there's people who still have these long-playing vinyls around to play as they're something interesting and brilliant to keep on hand if you're wanting something different to read instead of a book or an e-reader. It's a very retro way of reading, and having the very author's voice reading the words the way they're supposed to have been read is even better! Until my next post, happy reading.

'Death by Didgeridoo' by Barbara Venkataramann

Spike from 'The Screaming Zombies' is dead.  He was found in the studio of his music store of the same name by one of his students, Adam, who is being charged for his murder.

But are the police right in doing this?  

Jamie Quinn - a lawyer, and Adam's cousin - thinks they're wrong.  The main reason is that Adam couldn't possibly have done it.  Just because he was at the scene of the crime saying he was wrong and he had done it, didn't necessarily mean it was the murder he was talking about. 

Jamie's cousin is Autistic and he's a talented musician who loved Spike; they were the best of friends and Jamie knew this.  She just has to prove this the police before it went to court.

So, she hires a private detective:  Duke Broussard.  And just as his name sounds, he's from The South.  He's a charmingly sweet, womanising kinda man, but he also knows how to get the right kind of information about Spike and the rest of the band he played with - even if none of them got along offstage, and Spike himself wasn't very well-like by anyone around him.

Duke digs up a lot of things about Spike that could get him harmed or killed by just about anyone in the band - along with their spouses - but he is confident that Adam is the least of their worries, and he can prove that too; but can they find the murderer in time and catch them before this whole thing goes to court and Jamie's cousin is charged for a crime he didn't commit?

This is the first of the series of books written by Barbara Venkataramann.  Even though it's a good, old love-triangle murder, with all the usual twists and turns, those twists and turns weren't in the places I expected them to be; and this is a good thing.

I also didn't know something about America:  there are two Hollywood's.  There's the one we all know well on the west coast in L.A.  And there's one in Miami, just north of Miami Beach where Hollywood has built an entire suburb to the movie industry so movies can be made on the east coast as well!  This is something I had to Google; it totally threw me a total curve ball in the first three chapters... otherwise, after I knew this, it was fine.  I jumped straight in and listened to the rest of the book!  I'd love to read more books along this line.  

However, the characters do need more fleshing out.  I'd love to know more about their backgrounds, their lives, what they look like more, what their houses look like and family histories better.  But this, I trust, will be filled out more as the series goes on.  Well worth a read or a listen to on audio-book through Audible.  Until my next post, happy reading!

The Watcher by Jo Robertson

Kate Myers is tracking a serial killer - well, she thinks he's a serial killer.  Kate is a psychiatrist who has been tracking this guy since her twin sister was killed when she was 17 years old... when it should have been her... when she knew she should have walked their dog instead of Kassie that cold afternoon in Ohio; and their dog came home dragging its lead without her sister.

Kate Myers blames herself completely for her sister's death - simply because Kate could have fought off the killer.  Kate could have done something different to survive... 

It's been years and Kate Myers is in Northern California and she's still tracking the same killer.  He's killed another teenager and it's dredged up memories of Kassie's murder for Kate again.  This time it's in a small town where everyone know each other and the police station is smaller than it should be.
From the moment Kate walks through the doors, she's judged by all the cops - particularly Ben Slater, who doesn't like her at all.  She up tight, pushy and believes there is something out there - somebody out there - when he thinks there's no connection at all... well, that's until she gets him to read up on her files, what she had pulled together and they go and look at the files from the past where markings have been missed on the bodies and not noted down in the files but noticed in the photos.

However, the MO of the killer shows that he takes years to plan and plot his kills - that he picks his prey carefully so he doesn't stuff up.  This is until Kate and the killer cross paths by accident at a petrol station and he recognises her as Kassie, and he panics!  Did he kill her?  Did she survive?  If she did, he had to set the record straight and make sure he caught her again and ...and ... 

The sheriff goes missing - on a holiday, he said - for a few weeks suddenly from the station.  But he doesn't give a return date and leaves his office a total pig sty.  Kate notices and goes snooping around... and she starts putting things together about the sheriff - who was around at the times of the first murders years ago.  She finds cryptic notes around his office and shoves them into her handbag to look at later...

In between all this, Ben and Kate work long hours in the office and at her place over the case.  They talk well into the nights and over coffee, takeaway food and in bed in each other's arms; not expecting to fall for each other this way... harboring secrets of their own - painful, terrible secrets from their own lives - which could either make their relationship stronger or break it, shattering what they've discovered between them and within the manila file folders before the next victim is taken ... but who will that next person be?

The Sheriff?

Kate?

Another high school student?

Or...

All three...? 

Listening In

Audio-Books are on the increase; and I'm beginning to get into them too.  And the best thing is that they are so easy to download off the net - especially seeing you can get free ones off Audible - a great app on the Play Store for Android or iTunes alike.

I won a romantic thriller 'The Watcher' by Jo Robertson from The Romance Bandits.  And I've had the opportunity to be able to use my Sony headphones which have been sitting next to my stereo system for the last 3 years...  yes, three years I've had a set of gorgeous headphones and nothing to plug them into because the cord is too short.  Now, I'm listening to books and a new world has opened up to me... 

...not that I haven't listened to books before; but that was on cassette tape.

The last audiobook I listened to was 'Time After Time' by Jack Finney and that was the sequel to 'Time And Again' - and it didn't have a good reader.  So, I don't really remember what happened in it.

So, which books have you listened to and loved - because the reader has been absolutely perfect - and which ones were great books, but the reader made you feel as though you couldn't connect?  The reader for 'The Watcher' has been wonderful.  I'm up to chapter 2, and I do want to get back to it to see what happens next; and his voice is just lovely to listen to... what can I say?  I'm a sucker for a cool, deep voice of a young man.  Until my next post, happy reading!