The Perfect Christmas
Author: Debbie Macomber
Read by: Tavia Gilbert
Publisher's Description: For Cassie Beaumont, a perfect Christmas means meeting her perfect match. Cassie, at thirty-three, wants a husband and kids, and so far, nothing's worked. Not blind dates, not the Internet and certainly not leaving love to chance. What's left? A professional matchmaker. He's Simon Dodson, and he's very choosy about the clients he takes on. Cassie finds Simon a difficult, acerbic know-it-all, and she's astonished when he accepts her as a client.
Claiming he has her perfect mate in mind, Simon assigns her three tasks to complete before she meets him. Three tasks that are all about Christmas: being a charity bell ringer, dressing up as Santa's elf at a children's party and preparing a traditional turkey dinner for her neighbors (whom she happens to dislike). Despite a number of comical mishaps, Cassie does it all and she's finally ready to meet her match. But just like the perfect Christmas gift, he turns out to be a wonderful surprise!
True Blue
Author: David Baldacci
Read by: Ron McLarty
Description: Mason "Mace" Perry was a firebrand cop on the D.C. police force until she was kidnapped and framed for a crime. She lost everything—her badge, her career, her freedom—and spent two years in prison. Now she's back on the outside and focused on one mission: to be a cop once more. Her only shot to be a true blue again is to solve a major case on her own, and prove she has the right to wear the uniform. But even with her police chief sister on her side, she has to work in the shadows: A vindictive U.S. attorney is looking for any reason to send Mace back behind bars. Then Roy Kingman enters her life.
Roy is a young lawyer who aided the poor until he took a high-paying job at a law firm in Washington. Mace and Roy meet after he discovers the dead body of a female partner at the firm. As they investigate the death, they start uncovering surprising secrets from both the private and public world of the nation's capital. Soon, what began as a fairly routine homicide takes a terrifying and unexpected turn-into something complex, diabolical, and possibly lethal.
A Cousin's Prayer
Author: Wanda E. Brunstetter
Read by: Jill Shellabarger
Description: After her boyfriend is killed in a van in which she was also a passenger, Amish girl Katie Yoder finds herself suffering from depression and anxiety attacks. What—or who—will deliver Katie from the bondage of her fears? Freeman Bontrager has been attracted to Katie for years. Now that she's home, can he break through her emotional scars long enough to reach her heart? When a mysterious package brings Katie out of her despair, hope looms, until the "gift" must be returned to its rightful owners. Will Katie find the courage to really live—and love—again?
Dead and Gone
Author: Charlaine Harris
Read by: Johanna Parker
Audiofile Review: The Weres, as in werewolves and shape-shifters, have come out of the closet, and telepathic waitress Sookie Stackhouse soon discovers what the effect of that may be on the human world of Bon Temps, Louisiana. Narrator Johanna Parker portrays Sookie with a Southern accent that gives the story added credibility and gives dimension to its setting. Her narration is both light and fun while transitioning well to the dark and scary bits. This series can now be experienced as a print book, an audiobook, and a television show. Parker's performance makes this audio version a strong contender for being the most satisfying of the three formats.
Unmasked: The Final Years of Michael Jackson
Author: Ian Halperin
Read by: Richard Allen
Description: In late December 2008, Ian Halperin told the world that Michael Jackson had only six months to live. His investigations into Jackson’s failing health made headlines around the globe. Six months later, the King of Pop was dead.
Whatever the final autopsy results reveal, it was greed that killed Michael Jackson. Friends and associates paint a tragic picture of the last years and days of his life as Jackson made desperate attempts to prepare for the planned concert series at London’s 02 Arena in July 2009. These shows would have earned millions for the singer and his entourage, but he could never have completed them, not mentally, and not physically. Michael knew it and his advisors knew it. Anyone who caught even a fleeting glimpse of the frail old man hiding beneath the costumes and cosmetics would have understood that the London tour was madness. Why did it happen this way? After an intense five year investigation, “New York Times” bestselling author Ian Halperin uncovers the real story of Michael Jackson’s final years, a suspenseful and surprising thriller.
True Compass: A Memoir
Author: Edward M. Kennedy
Read by: John Bedford Lloyd
Description: The youngest of nine children born to Joseph P. Kennedy and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, he came of age among siblings from whom much was expected. As a young man, he played a key role in the presidential campaign of his brother John F. Kennedy, recounted here in loving detail. In 1962 he was elected to the U.S. Senate, where he began a fascinating political education and became a legislator.
In this historic memoir, Ted Kennedy takes us inside his family, re-creating life with his parents and brothers and explaining their profound impact on him. For the first time, he describes his heartbreak and years of struggle in the wake of their deaths. Through it all, he describes his work in the Senate on the major issues of our time—civil rights, Vietnam, Watergate, the quest for peace in Northern Ireland—and the cause of his life: improved health care for all Americans, a fight influenced by his own experiences in hospitals.
Horse Soldiers: The Extraordinary Story of a Band of US Soldiers Who Rode to Victory in Afghanistan
Author: Doug Stanton
Read by: Dennis Boutsikaris
Publishers' Description: Horse Soldiers is the dramatic account of a small band of Special Forces soldiers who secretly entered Afghanistan following 9/11 and rode to war on horses against the Taliban. The bone-weary American soldiers were welcomed as liberators, and overjoyed Afghans thronged the streets. Then the action took a wholly unexpected turn. During a surrender of six hundred Taliban troops, the Horse Soldiers were ambushed. Dangerously outnumbered, they fought for their lives. At risk were the military gains of the entire campaign: if the soldiers perished or were captured, the effort to defeat the Taliban might be doomed.
Until now the full story of the Horse Soldiers has never been told. Doug Stanton received unprecedented cooperation from the U.S. Army's Special Forces soldiers and Special Operations helicopter pilots, as well as access to voluminous after-battle reports. In addition, he interviewed more than one hundred participants and walked every inch of the climactic battleground.