I’ve read 24 books so far this year, and 17 were audiobooks (we’ve already established I’m not going to say ‘books consumed.’ Listening and physically reading are distinctive, but they’re interchangeable here).

Of the 17 audiobooks, 15 were new. I re-read more than I read new books, but I’ve been using audiobooks to tackle things for the first time. 7 books were Clive Cusslers.

CLIVE CUSSLER

I first talked about Clive Cussler back in 2019. He would die a half-year later, at age 88. He had created an empire, with other authors carrying on his five sometimes-intertwined series’. I revisited his works last Summer. I’ve listened to 7 of his books so far this year, as I am well behind on my Cussler.

Isaac Bell is a turn-of-the 20^th Century private eye for the Van Dorn Detective Agency. Justin Scott co-wrote the first 10. Jack Du Brul (who had been co-writing The Oregon Files), took over for the next 5. Though I liked it, for some reason the series hadn’t resonated with me in paperback. They were slow reads through the first 5. But Scott Brick reading them aloud worked for me, and I’ve listened to books 6 through 9: The Striker, The Bootlegger, The Assassin, and The Gangster. I like listening to Bell. So, audiobooks have me invested in a series that I wasn’t into in print. I will continue on. This series has run from 2007 through 2025.

The Oregon Files are the only techno-thrillers I’ve ever gotten into. I’ve not read a single Tom Clancy book. Craig Dirgio ‘co-wrote’ the first 2, succeeded by Jack Du Brul for the next 7. Boyd Morrison took over for 7 books, with Mike Maden having written the last 4 in this 19-book series. I’m still in the Morrison phase, listening to books 12 (Typhoon Fury) and 13 (Shadow Tyrants). These are different from any other series I read, and I like them. I’ll continue on. This series has run from 2003 through 2025.

The Fargo Adventures feature married treasure hunters named Sam and Remi Fargo. These feel a little less intense than the other series’. As with Isaac Bell, listening to the books works better for me than actually reading them. Grant Blackwood wrote the first 4. Thomas Perry took over for the next 2. Russell Blake then wrote 2, and Robin Burcell has written the last 6 in the 13 book series. I listened to book 5 (The Mayan Secrets). This is my fourth-favorite series, just below Isaac Bell. But it’s WELL above Dirk Pitt. I’ll check out Russell Blake here soon. This series has run from 2009 through 2023.

My favorite series of them all feature Kurt Austin and the NUMA Files. There are 21 books, and I’ve read somewhat over half. I haven’t listened to any this year, but I should try to get caught up some on those, as well. I enjoy reading Austin in book form and will likely do that again. This series has run from 1999 through 2024.

As I’ve said before, I don’t read Cussler’s foundational series, featuring Dirk Pitt. There have been two movies from it, with Matthew McConaughey’s Sahara a big screen action flick. There have been 27 novels.

Starting with book 18, his son, Dirk Cussler, began writing them. He’s not as bad as Anne Hillerman (whose last name is the only qualification she has for continuing father Tony’s Navajo Tribal Police series. She is SO bad I quit mid-book and abandoned the series. She’s a disgrace), but I read the first two Dirk Cussler books, and gave up. I might try the next one after I’m 100% caught up on the other series’, but I doubt it. I didn’t enjoy them, and there’s too much good stuff out there to read and re-read. Including the earlier Dirk Pitt books. This series has run from 1973 through 2023.

Scott Brick narrates the books from all four series,’ which is unfortunate. There are multiple characters in each one, including a large team for The Oregon Files. Having the same person reading all the books kind of runs together. Brick is okay in each, but some variety would be nice.

JAMES LEE BURKE

Back in 2022, I talked about my favorite audiobook narrators, and Will Patton was one of them. He was the perfect choice to read James Lee Burke’s Cajun Noir featuring Dave Robicheaux. I am well behind, and I just read 20210’s The Glass Rainbow in hardback. Burke is a superb writer. One of the best of my lifetime. I’ve got 6 to go to get current, with the latest just having come out last month. I wrote about Tommy Lee Jones’ labor of love to bring Robicheaux to the screen.

Unfortunately, most of the Patton audiobooks still available are abridged. I’m not an abridged fan. Most of the books are now read by Mark Hammer. I don’t like his recordings at all. I re-listened to book 1 (The Neon Rain) -which I had by Patton – while I read The Glass Rainbow. Then I tried to listen to Hammer reading book 2 (Heaven’s Prisoners) and I simply quit, moving on to a Firefly audiobook. He just sounds like a boring old man. I won’t be listening to any more Hammer readings. It was disappointing. Wish I still had some of my Will Patton cassettes.

NIKKI HEAT

I talked about Castle, and Nikki Heat, back in January. I listened to books 7 (Driving Heat), 8 (High Heat), 9 (Heat Storm), and 10 (Crashing Heat). 8 and 9 were definitely the low points of the entire series, but it recovered in book 10 to close things out well enough. Overall, worth reading. As I said in the prior post, a female narrator would have made a lot more sense.

CASTLE PERILOUS

And back in February, I talked about revisiting this whimsical eighties fantasy series by John DeChancie. I listened to books 4 (Castle War!) and 5 (Castle Murder), then dove into Clive Cussler. I’ve got the rest of the series, from the 2025 Audible Big Sale, so I’ll listen to more.

MISC

I listened to some Douglas Adams (Life, the Universe, and Everything), and the two ‘radio play readings’ of Red Dwarf, by Chris Barrie. He does a really good job, and they’re as good as the audiobooks of the novel. Sadly, co-creator Rob Grant died on February 25.

I listened to the ten Firefly audiobooks a few years ago. They’re a mixed bag: some are good, some not-so-much. One of my favorites is book two, The Magnificent Nine, which is a Jayne story. And essentially a Firefly version of The Magnificent Seven. This was written by Sherlock Holmes – and Conan – author, James Lovegrove. James Anderson Foster sounds kinda like Nathan Fillion, and I think he was a good choice. I’d start your Firefly listen with this one. Lovegrove had to use a ‘story concept’ by someone else for book one, and it’s a weaker entry. Four of the first five are among the best in the series. I’m not as keen on the succeeding authors.

Prior Audio Posts:
What I’ve Been Listening To: November (II) 2025 (Dictator, Don’t Panic, Mistletoe Murders, Sword of Shannara)
What I’ve Been Listening To: November, 2025 (Conspirata, Stacy Keach, Gideon Lowry)
What I’ve Been Listening To: August, 2025 (Middlebridge Mysteries, Unlicensed, The Big Lie, 64th Man)
What I’ve Been Listening To: June, 2025 (Eve Ronin, Thieves World, SPQR, Egil & Nix, the annual sale)
What I’ve Been Listening To: February, 2025 (Isaac Steele, Sharpe & Walker, SPQR, Steven Saylor, The Trojan War)
What I’ve Been Listening To: November, 2024 (Mistletoe Murders, The Caine Mutiny, Mr. Rickey Calls a Meeting)
What I’ve Been Listening To: September, 2025 Desert of Souls)
What I’ve Been Listening To: August, 2024 (Part II) (Leaphorn and Chee, Tony Hillerman, Eve Ronin)
What I’ve Been Listening To: August, 2024 (Egil & Nix, Caleb York Westerns, Malazan)
What I’ve Been Listening To: July, 2024 (The Black Company, SPQR, Charles Willeford, Thieves World)
What I’ve Been Listening To: September 2022 (Robert R. McCammon, Ian C. Esslemont, Dirk Gently)
May I Read You This Book? – (My favorite audiobook narrators)

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Bob Byrne’s ‘A (Black) Gat in the Hand’ made its Black Gate debut in 2018 and has returned every summer since.

His ‘The Public Life of Sherlock Holmes’ column ran every Monday morning at Black Gate from March, 2014 through March, 2017. And he irregularly posts on Rex Stout’s gargantuan detective in ‘Nero Wolfe’s Brownstone.’ He is a member of the Praed Street Irregulars, and founded www.SolarPons.com (the only website dedicated to the ‘Sherlock Holmes of Praed Street’).

He organized Black Gate’s award-nominated ‘Discovering Robert E. Howard’ series, as well as the award-winning ‘Hither Came Conan’ series. Which is now part of THE Definitive guide to Conan. He also organized 2023’s ‘Talking Tolkien.’

He has contributed stories to The MX Book of New Sherlock Holmes Stories — Parts III, IV, V, VI, XXI, and XXXIII.

He has written introductions for Steeger Books, and appeared in several magazines, including Black Mask, Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine, The Strand Magazine, and Sherlock Magazine.

You can definitely ‘experience the Bobness’ at Jason Waltz’s ’24? in 42′ podcast.