Customer Reviews (1)

Book Cover Missing
This used hard back book came to me in great shape and it is a great story, but the book cover was missing.I did not realize the book would come without a cover. ... Read more

Product Description
Including

The Mighty Johns by David Baldacci

The End of Innocence by Anne Perry

The Empire Strikes Back by Brad Meltzer

Each performed by Scott Brick. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (19)

Embarrassment
Wow. Some of the stories in this book were really bad. The title story by David Baldacci is absolutely awful. I mean, it's John Farris-bad. Terrible pacing, dialogue, characterization, everything. Lawrence Block's story is the worst thing I've ever read by him. Gary Phillips' story is incomprehensible--I still don't know what happened.

Is there anything worth reading in this volume? Yes. Brendan DuBois, Tim Green, Colin Harrison, Brad Meltzer, Peter Robinson, and John Westermann all turn in nice efforts.

Unfortunately, this book was apparently never copy edited or proof read. I've never seen so many typos in a published book in my life. Embarrassing.

Easy to Forget
I did not think that Baldacci could write something this bad.His other efforts I thought were good to very good, but this was one of the worst attempts to keep a reader interested that I have encountered.I am greatly dissappointed with this collection words and in the future spend more time reading reviews before purchasing Baldacci again.

Jaundiced Reflections on Our Fascination with Sports . . . and Ourselves
Please let me make it clear that I'm reviewing the New Millennium Audio version of The Mighty Johns which also contains The End of Innocence by Anne Perry and The Empire Strikes Back by Meltzer . . . as performed by Scott Brick.

Whatever editorial flaws the book version of this material has, those flaws are seemingly overcome in this audio version.

All three stories require you to suspend your disbelief to enjoy the tales.Otherwise, you'll find these stories to be two-star efforts.

Although these stories each have a game as part of their action, the attitude is definitely anti-sport . . . so if you're a died-in-the-wool fan who doesn't want to hear anything different, I suggest you skip this audio.

In The Mighty Johns, you find yourself waiting for the football in the end zone while having a bizarre discussion about the stadium's scientific symbolism.From there, Tor North, blocker extraordinaire, explores the implications of his curiosity and the possible relevance of obscure phenomena in physics.He soon turns amateur sleuth and trails an old spoor in an unexpected direction . . . thanks to a mysterious custodian.In between there are lots of references to what female fans and players like to do together in the library.The off-beat humor alternates with hoary clichés.I found the story engaging enough to hold my interest . . . but it's hardly a great story.

The End of Innocence could have equally well been the title for all of these stories.I found that story, however, to be the best of the three.Just a few hours before shipping off to France during the opening of World War I, young English men and women find themselves faced with unexpected challenges in their rural homes.A final rugby match provides a turning point for some of these lives . . . and raises chilling ethical challenges that presage the battles to come.

The Empire Strikes Back is inspired by the real life pranks (or "hacks" as MIT students like to call them) that frolicsome students have pulled off over the years at the Harvard-Yale game.Having been at the 1982 game when a weather balloon suddenly inflated from its berth below ground on the field at the 45 yard line, I had high hopes for this story.Unfortunately, those high hopes were dashed by a rather ridiculous . . . and ironic plot.You could skip this story and you won't have missed anything.Fortunately, it's short . . . or I would have graded the audio down to two stars.

The Mighty Johns
I was really expecting something special after reading Publisher's Weekly's review.I thought the story was predictable and rather foolish.One football player sends six opponents off on stretchers because he knows physics?I also got a little tired of hearing how "brilliant" Tor was.Make the point and move on.

I'm Being Generous
A couple of the stories are actually engaging. "A Sunday in January" and "Whatever It Takes to Win" are by far the best of the lot. I would like to have seen the latter flushed out into a full length novel, and I could actually see it being developed into a screenplay. The rest of the stories are barely readable. Baldacci's novella is nowhere near the level of his writing in his full length books.
PLUS, this is by far the WORST EDITING JOB I HAVE EVER SEEN. I am embarrassed for the authors that their work (as much as I didn't particularly enjoy the stories) appeared in this collection. Page 61 alone had four typographical errors, and it got worse from there. It seemed that every story had a different problem, from periods in the middle of sentences, to transposed 'that's and 'what's, to missing words, misspelled words, forgotten periods and appostrophes--it was atrocious. It literally made the book unreadable.
I wanted desparately to enjoy the stories, but the lack of effort put in by the oft-acclaimed Otto Penzler ruined the experience.
Do not buy this book. All it will do is infuriate you to think that the publisher and editor are profitting from such a shoddy product. Save your money. And if you have already purchased this book, spend another 37 cents on a stamp to send New Millenium Press and Otto Penzler a letter of complaint. But don't forget to proofread before you send it! ... Read more