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I just finished listening to 'Killing Rommel' by Steven Pressfield. It is about the British forces operating in the desert behind German lines in North Africa during the period of Fall 1942 - early Spring 1943. The story reads almost like a documentary rather than a typical novel and goes into a lot of detail describing the desert, their equipment, and the physical hardships the men had to endure. I am not a hard-core fan of war novels, probably reading something fiction or non-fiction about either the first or second World Wars once or twice a year. This story was well-done and focused on an area of the war I have seldom read about before. On the whole, I would say I enjoyed it and would give it thumbs up for anyone interest in straight up war stories.
This book is narrated by the actor Alfred Molina. He does a good job of just disappearing into the background and letting the story shine through. As a sidebar, Molina happened to come up in conversation with someone at work this week. 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' is about to be rereleased into the theaters in IMAX. My friend mentioned to be sure to watch for a much younger Molina, who has a small part during the opening sequence. So I mentioned in turn the coincidence of how I was currently listening to a book being narrator by him.
Next up - I have just started listening to the fourth book in the 'Royal Spyness' series: 'Royal Blood' by Rhys Bowen. This a light-weight, fluffy series of books set in 1932 about a girl who is 36th in line for the British throne who continually gets caught up in murders of one sort or another. Not much ever seems to happen in any of theses stories, yet they keep drawing me back. Perhaps it is how good the author is at conjuring up a feeling you really are in England in the 1930s mingling with the British upper-crust and royalty. Or perhaps it is simply the narrator, Katherine Kellgren. I enjoy listening to her voice and British accent.
Duane
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