Pandora's Box

Last year I started taking a creative writing course in hopes of completing a life-long goal of writing a full length novel.  I already have a job that I enjoy, so I wasn't escaping anything, but wanted a creative outlet that was lacking in my life.  As part of that process I decided to increase the amount of fiction I otherwise read.  Here is my routine:

Morning commute - listen to current audiobook

Lunch hour - read current novel on Kindle

Evening commute - listen to current audiobook

Bedside table reading - read a hardcover book purchased before I got my Kindle, or my current novel on the Kindle - depending on which is more interesting at the time.

Following this routine I finish about 4 to 5 books a month.  My wife is the only one who usually hears my thoughts on fiction and what I'm reading.  This blog will hopefully give her some relief from the endless barrage of commentary. 

I have just finished the audiobook version of Iris Johansen's Pandora's Daughter.  The story was very compelling, but the audiobook was a little distracting.  The villian was Italian and whenever the actress attempted the accent she sounded, to me, like Boris Badenov from the Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoon. This made me laugh, or at least smile, each time there was a compelling fight between the hero and the villian.  I'm sure that was not the intended result, but I just couldn't imagine Boris as threatening. 

Overall, I really liked the story.  The premise is that the hero, a doctor who lost her mother as a child, doesn't know that she has psychic powers linked to a powerful family of supernatural psychics spread throughout the world.  The villian is seeking vengence on these "freaks" and a mysterious ledger of the whereabouts of those with the psychic abilities.  Definitely worth the read, just skip the audio version unless you never watched the Rocky and Bullwinkle show. 

JD