Crank Calls by Jonathan Winters (Author)
This delightful compilation of answering machine messages left for Jonathan Winters's friend and colleague, J. B. Smith, is a necessity for die-hard Winters fans. In this Grammy winner for Best Comedy Recording Winters's improvisational skills shine. He deftly tackles such subjects as politics, plumbing, Porsches and passing on--each in 60 seconds! Listeners are treated to Winters's spirited wit, as well as his humorous views of real-life stresses: aging, holidays, the frustration of not being able to reach the person you're calling. Ever! Winters's laughing voice orders Smith to "pull the chain on your head and flush your mind." With its sheer silliness, that's just what this recording does for us.

Jonathan Kellerman - Obsession
Mega-best-selling Kellerman delivers another psychological suspense tale starring shrink hero Alex Delaware. While the Delaware novels are wildly popular, this one, at least, gets by only on plot. The characters are sketchily drawn, except for Delaware's new dog, who receives far more intensive (and ridiculous) development than any human in the book. Kellerman also takes the shortcut of having his characters deliver plot details and provide background motivations in artificial dialogue that should have been left to an omniscient narrator. But Kellerman does have a strong plot going for him (once we've waded through excessive descriptions of meals and interiors). The story centers on a young woman, whom Delaware treated as a child and who returns to tell the psychologist of the deathbed confession of her aunt and adopted mother--a woman whom Alex remembers as a heroically capable mother and nurse. The recently deceased woman allegedly told her niece that she had killed someone.

In the mountains of Transylvania there stands a castle. It is the home of Count Dracula - a dark, lonely place, and at night the wolves howl around the walls. In the year 1875 Jonathan Harker comes from England to do business with the Count. But Jonathan does not feel comfortable at Castle Dracula. Strange things happen at night, and very soon, he begins to feel afraid. And he is right to be afraid, because Count Dracula is one of the Un-Dead - a vampire that drinks the blood of living people...