Isle of Dogs by Patricia Cornwell

As I was in the library looking at the available audiobooks, I saw a woman who had the appearance of a frequent visitor to that section. I asked her for her advice. She said that her blind mother-in-law frequently listened to audiobooks, and she selected them for her. Two authors she suggested were John Grisham and Patricia Cornwell. Since I was familiar with Grisham, I went with Cornwell.

The book I selected was Isle of Dogs, and it turned out to be an abridged version. I don't know how long the actual book is, but I listened to 5 CDs whereas a "normal" novel might contain between 9 and 14 CDs.

After listening for a while, I noticed all the reviews for this book say that it is bad. Cornwell is apparently "America's bestselling crime novelest", though in this one, she tries her hand at dark humour. The book involves a state trooper and the head of the Virginia trying to track down a serial killer and a band of "road pirates" who board semi tractor-trailers. There's also the blinding and senile governor and a cast of characters with really strange names, such as Unique First, Major Trader, Windy Breeze, and others. Everything is such a caricature that there is a limited feeling of reality about the whole thing. When my recording malfunctioned and I missed the last 7 minutes of so of the novel, I didn't feel that bad about it. Everyone seemed so unrealistic that it was easier than normal to not care about missing the conclusion. Maybe I'll pick up a print copy and read the last few pages sometime. Or maybe not.

That said, it's not all bad. Maybe it's like cotton candy for the mind. It did hold my interest, though I may be slightly embarrassed to admit it, and when I missed hearing the ending, it was quickly forgotten. I still need some real nutrition.

Two stars (barely) out of five.