Publish and Perish A Ben Reese Mystery Book 1 (Audible Audio Edition) Daniel Dorse Sally S Wright Books
Download As PDF : Publish and Perish A Ben Reese Mystery Book 1 (Audible Audio Edition) Daniel Dorse Sally S Wright Books
Millions of mystery novels are purchased every year, and only the Bible has outsold the number of copies purchased of Agatha Christie's titles. Now author Sally Wright introduces to the Christian marketplace an intriguing new mystery series which follows the adventures of archivist Ben Reese, an expert in rare books, coins, paintings, ancient texts, and documents. A former intelligence agent and commando in WWII, Reese - who is also a Christian - repeatedly must extricate himself from dangerous situations, both at home and abroad, in each of the stories in this mystery series. In the first title, Ben is called away from a sabbatical in Oxford, England, to investigate the death of an eccentric, conservative professor who dies of a heart attack in Ohio moments after reporting that he has uncovered a terrible act of treachery. Now Ben's own life is on the line as he investigates the professional jealousy and unchecked pride that led to murder in Publish and Perish.
Publish and Perish A Ben Reese Mystery Book 1 (Audible Audio Edition) Daniel Dorse Sally S Wright Books
I listened to this entire book while driving all day yesterday. For the first 50 miles of listening I was looking for a place to pull over so I could look for another Audible book to listen to. The first voice I heard sounded like a very old man voice speaking at very low volume--even when I turned the volume way up. I had no idea who he was or what he was going on about except there was a phone call for somebody from America in the middle of the night.Next, I realized, we were in somebody's kitchen where it sounded like the very old man was still talking. After listening another 10 minutes or so things started making more sense and I could sort things out. It wasn't until I reached my destination that I could read the first chapter on the Kindle version that I understood what the beginning of the book was about.
The reader does a good job with many of the voices--especially the Italian woman. However, I think he has chosen the wrong voice for a key character and for a couple of other minor characters. Sometimes I think he mixed up the character who was supposed to be talking with another character's voice.
The story is interesting and seems pretty authentic to the time and place. I haven't decided yet if I like Ben Reese all that much, but from other reviews by people who have read more books in this series I am reassured that he is a sterling character. Reassured enough to have ordered the next two hard copy Ben Reese books.
I give the Audible version two stars and the story 3-1/2 stars.
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Publish and Perish A Ben Reese Mystery Book 1 (Audible Audio Edition) Daniel Dorse Sally S Wright Books Reviews
This was my first Sally Wright novel, and I enjoyed it thoroughly, both in terms of the suspense and the development of the setting and characters. Wright writes excellent dialogue that provides not only enjoyable reading, but insight into who these people are. Her characters are developed thoughtfully, and they do come alive on the page--always a plus, in a mystery or any other kind of fiction. As a former inhabitant of the academic cauldron in which this story takes place, I was especially interested in--and often amused by--the often arcane battles among the well-defined denizens of various departments and disciplines. The ending had me on the edge of my seat (figuratively speaking--I was reading in bed), and the result was clever and satisfying. I'm happy to have been introduced to Ben Reese and look forward to spending many more hours with him.
Setting her story in 1960, Wright explores the ethical obligations of college faculty with regard to each other and to students. To post-1970's students, it will seem strange, indeed, to learn that in that period, consensual sexual interplay could be grounds for summary dismissal from the College. On the other hand, the bitterness toward a faculty member or Administrator by others within the same Community, who are blocked in their aspirations by too "fussy" a definition of performance standards is, as it has always been, part of the Academic situation.
It is into this background, that Wright places her hero, a wounded special services soldier, who has just heard of the death of his closest friends death.
The background, though treated with brevity, gives to the story an appealing setting. The plot line, sometimes overburdened, that is, too weak to justify actions related to it, mostly is serviceable, The characters, sketchily delineated, still are sufficiently human for us to identify them as recognizable people. The best friend, while having a kind heart, is seen to be locked into a rigid definition of his "duties" regardless of the misery he causes. Whether we will be led by the author to sympathize with him in death is an open question.
All in all, a light read which is successful as a story, for some it will not be successful as a moral tract.
The line between genre fiction and literary fiction has become ever more thin and difficult to distinguish for me over the past decade. Publish and Perish permanently obliterates any such line, if it ever existed. Sally Wright's novels are literature in a time-honored tradition that isn't often practiced this well. I've now read three of her books, and they are in the ancient tradition called drama. Aristotle wrote that drama is action that seems to result from the characters' motives and choices. Shakespeare is the supreme writer of dramatic action in English. Wright's Ben Reese, the hero of her first six novels, is a Christian. So his motives have a specific moral impulse. He is a university archivist, meticulous and patient. And he is a former military intelligence agent, which has taught him to be insightful and circumspect. All that composes Ben's nature seems to cause the story to unfold as it does.
Without giving away too much or spoiling your enjoyment of the book, I'll provide some examples of Ben Reese's nature, the nature that drives his actions and this book. And I hope you'll notice that Wright's style is inventive and enjoyable. As Ben considers the death he is investigating, he thinks that he "...had never felt a conflict between [logic and meaning] and he doubted that [the victim] had either. Any more than either one of them had seen a conflict between reason and revelation." Ben relies as much upon his spiritual nature as upon his reason. He even offers his adversary every opportunity to find redemption, at the risk of his own life. Wright also employs an occasional Biblical allusion "But then we don't see ourselves clearly. We squint around the beams in our own eyes, and gloat over the motes in our neighbors'." But she is never preachy, not even remotely; she is simply an artful storyteller. I think that even the most devout atheist will enjoy the intricacies of this book.
Ben Reese is the archivist at Alderton University, a small school in Ohio. So his approach to crime solving is governed by a certain mode of thinking "It was part of Ben's general philosophy to mistrust speculation, to think that toying with any hypothesis in circumstances like that, when he didn't have any real data, was an irrational waste of time and energy." This methodical and composed turn of mind is unusual in detective fiction and makes Ben an absorbing character . Ben's approach is rigorous and fair-minded we have mild ridicule of "students imposing Freud on The Wind in the Willows." (Although that is not one of Ben's lines; it is spoken by a character who knows that Ben will understand and have no sympathy with such sophistry.) The point is that Ben Reese is precise, fair, reasonable, and cautious. You'll have to read the book to appreciate fully the results that his methods bring.
The action takes place a decade and a half after D-Day. Ben's war experiences affect him, both in the numerous and severe scars he carries on his body and also in the way he thinks and behaves. After the invasion at Normandy, Ben worked as a behind-the-lines scout in France, not even attached to his own Army, out of touch with his own countrymen, and without the support any soldier comes to expect. So he is used to working in isolation, without a safety net. He sniffs out the culprit relying upon his own inspection of the evidence, as elusive as it is. One character observes, "`Course, I don't think most people under forty know how to take care of themselves. They haven't seen enough of what life can do." Ben is not quite forty; yet he has seen far too much of what life can do, and he does take care of himself, including keeping himself fit, which plays a role in the plot. Both his job as an archivist and his background in intelligence work come to bear as he carefully examines all the paperwork of the murder victim. This study is on-going through much of the book and finally yields its fruit.
Parenthetically, I'll mention another aspect of Sally Wright's command of her art, though it's an aside. In my review of her latest book, Breeding Ground, I mentioned an unusual manipulation of point of view. In Publish and Perish Ben receives a phone call; we hear only his side off the conversation. Then, quite a few pages later, we hear the voice of the speaker in that call. Now, we have the entire picture. Such inventive touches are prominent in Wright's prose.
Ben Reese's characteristics first lead him to believe that murder has been committed, when the evidence seems to indicate natural death. Then, he pursues his quarry in a very particular way. His choices of methods and the motives he has for choosing them seem to cause the story to unfold as it does. Actually, though, we know all along that the author is controlling everything. That's the alchemy that a fine writer performs when writing dramatic fiction. Sally Wright is not simply a writer of excellent mysteries, though she certainly is that. She is a serious novelist who has chosen this medium for her art.
Very highly recommended
John Pendley
I listened to this entire book while driving all day yesterday. For the first 50 miles of listening I was looking for a place to pull over so I could look for another Audible book to listen to. The first voice I heard sounded like a very old man voice speaking at very low volume--even when I turned the volume way up. I had no idea who he was or what he was going on about except there was a phone call for somebody from America in the middle of the night.
Next, I realized, we were in somebody's kitchen where it sounded like the very old man was still talking. After listening another 10 minutes or so things started making more sense and I could sort things out. It wasn't until I reached my destination that I could read the first chapter on the version that I understood what the beginning of the book was about.
The reader does a good job with many of the voices--especially the Italian woman. However, I think he has chosen the wrong voice for a key character and for a couple of other minor characters. Sometimes I think he mixed up the character who was supposed to be talking with another character's voice.
The story is interesting and seems pretty authentic to the time and place. I haven't decided yet if I like Ben Reese all that much, but from other reviews by people who have read more books in this series I am reassured that he is a sterling character. Reassured enough to have ordered the next two hard copy Ben Reese books.
I give the Audible version two stars and the story 3-1/2 stars.
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