Tag: Audio Review

Fog Island Mountains (Kirishima mountain range) are located beneath the volcanic area in Southern Japan.  As a big typhoon is preparing to roll in the residents of Komachi prepare for the storm as well.  Alec Chester is one of these residents.  He has lived in this area for 40 years and has recently been diagnosed with a terminal cancer.  With the storm on the verge of erupting, Alec’s wife Kanae disappears into the stormy weather struggling with the realities of her husbands diagnosis.

Narrated by Komachi’s oldest resident and told in Japanese kitsune folktale tradition; Fog Island Mountains is a story of grief, acceptance and healing.

Fog Island Mountain is an interesting read involving a couple (Alec and Kanae) as they deal with the approaching storm in their area as well as the approaching storm in their life.  The story is told by an outside narrator, which was not totally new for me, but not usual so this took me awhile to get into the flow of this writing style.

Beautifully written, narrator Jennifer Ikeda was a smooth narrator to listen to.  I enjoyed the feeling of Japan that surrounded the book giving me a bonus dose of the culture as well as an interesting read.

• Audible Audio Edition
• Listening Length: 6 hours and 2 minutes
• Program Type: Audiobook
• Version: Unabridged
• Publisher: Audible Studios
• Audible.com Release Date: November 4, 2014

Julie Bishop’s life has fallen apart.  Her husband’s sneaky dealings becoming public, then his sudden death, have left Julie torn apart and bankrupt.  When a stranger arrives at her doorstep and offers her a job taking care of his mother who is thought to be dead, and offers Julie an escape from her worries and the public, Julie agrees.  What does she have to lose?

When Julie arrives at the beautiful mansion on Lake Superior she can not began to believe her luck.  House maids prepare all the meals and make her whatever she wishes, she has her own private room, a beautiful in-house library, and as it turns out, the lady she is looking after, Mrs. Sinclair, was once a famous author and a delight to keep company with.

Yet things, sadly are not all as they appear.  For one, there is a photo of a woman who looks shockingly like Julie.  And there are strange sighting, glimpses really of movement, and a lot of hush-hush when Julie tries to address what she is seeing to Mrs. Sinclair’s son.  Then there is the phone call… an impossible phone call from someone Julie knows for certain is dead.

What exactly has Julie signed up for?

Wendy Webb writes crazy good spooky reads from Minnesota.  The Vanishing is just the type of book you want to curl up with on a cool dark evening.  I absolutely enjoyed this book with its gorgeous but eerie settings.  There is also something about tying books and authors within stories that fully grabs on to me.  Throw in a few ghosts, a good-looking guy, and you have yourself the makings of something awesome.

This is not my first experience with Wendy Webb.  I enjoyed The Fate Of Mercy Alban a couple of years back.  I listened to this one on audio and narrator Xe Sands had just the right smooth tones to add a bonus level to this experience.

• Listening Length: 8 hours and 41 minutes
• Program Type: Audiobook
• Paperback: 304 pages
• Version: Unabridged
• Publisher: Tantor Audio
• Audible.com Release Date: April 8, 2014