Mer Barr

A rare form of parallel and intersecting stories <spoiler> where the stories don't merge into one story </spoiler>. And a bit disconcerting as the stories move back and forth through time to before, during, and after the two main events. But once you relax into it, it's really quite an enjoyable story, excluding the two main events of course; with interesting takes on how people react to their trauma.

I'd be curious to see how the world and people continue.

I don't really have a desire to revisit my teen years so I'm not fond of listening to that age-based anxiety in my books. It's not the majority of the book so I was able to wait through these parts to enjoy the rest of the story.

I read this almost ten years ago, thinking it was about folks working on the Manhattan Project. I remember feeling a bit confused but didn't remember why. Today I understand why.

This book is 2/3rds biography of the author's family, an uncle's science fiction book that was based on top secret work he was involved in, and 1/3rd about the science his uncle, relatives, and their coworkers were creating. Sciences like radar, radiation, microwave, and cyclotrons to name a few.

Amazing read! The author is also the narrator and he has a great speaking voice; his timing and modulation keep your focus well.

The material is broken into chapters that designed for relatively short reads over a seris of days. And I like that he's interspersed some of his own story into the telling.

I highly recommend this for folks wanting to get a new take on US history.

One of the books the 2022 streaming series is loosely based on. Still an exploration of the Joe Leaphorn character, which I think is great.

Good pace and a pretty complex mystery make for a good story