Long Bright River
narrated by Allyson Ryan
set in Philadelphia, PA
Audiobook Review: 3.5/5 Sometimes the greatness of a beat cop narration is it’s instructive, systematic roll out of information. In this way, Ryan delivered; maybe too well. I found the narrative straight, somewhat dry in her hands. Yet, always clear, Ryan’s performance reflects Mickey’s stoic character well. She has the sarcasm inflection down pat, but there’s not much variation with the other characters. The accents are sometimes indistinguishable (Gee sounds a lot like Mrs. Mahon). Overall, still better than listening to yourself sing while walking. Well done; I would consider this audiobook good company.
Book Review: 4/5 Two sisters, one small town, and a world between them. Mickey is a straight-laced beat cop; Kacey, an opioid addict who sells herself on the streets that Mickey patrols. They manage to stay deliberately disconnected until Kacey goes missing. I love a good police procedural (#harrybosch is my hero!)- which are notorious for being straight, laced with a dry humor. Liz Moore has the straight part down. The informative structure is broken by heartfelt moments between Mickey and her son, and her dedication to Kacey. My only request would be some lightheartedness to break the straightforward descriptive text. I do like the alternating ‘then’ and ‘now’ storyline. Overall, Moore has strongly depicted a sad but riveting look into one of our country’s biggest issues right now- opioid addiction. With her well developed characters, I hope Moore gives us ‘more’ and that this is a first book in a long series for Mickey.
Food Review: 2/5 The struggle was real. Food was a fleeting addition to a conversation here or a memory there. All mentions refrained from description except for ‘canned’ or ‘burnt’. Throw me a (dry rubbed and grilled prime rib?) bone here!! I have to admit it was challenging- and I’m always up for a challenge! I hope you enjoy the next few recipes I’ve cooked up!
Recipes
We all know that our police officers need coffee so it’s no wonder Long Bright River is full of the dark roast.
“Finally I determine that I can offer her spaghetti and tomato sauce from a jar, slightly past its suggested use-by-date. Frozen broccoli will round out the meal.”
Liz Moore, Long Bright River
“For a brief, tense period, we held on—living on canned tuna fish and spaghetti, never buying clothing—and then in December there came a sewage leak from the basement to the street that cost ten thousand dollars to repair, and the balance tipped, and everything came crumbling down.”
Liz Moore, Long Bright River
“Today we’re making brownies, but the thing is that I’ve never made brownies before, and the first batch is already ruined, burned to a crisp. (Dutifully, loyally, Thomas crunches one in his jaws and pronounces it good.)”
Liz Moore, Long Bright River
Hi Jenni, I heard your husband Greg talking about your new blog and so I thought I would check it…
It’s been awhile since I’ve made the instant pot version, I’m sorry.
I plan to make this for my book club. Great idea. Do you happen to have the directions for the…
This was my favorite slider out of the four! Thank you, Azilde! I hope you enjoy 💕
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Hi Claudia! I’m so happy that you’ve reached out. Thank you so much fir the kind words and the recommendation!…