Christopher Meeks

When Patton Burch does a good deed he never expected it to put him on the run from both the Las Vegas police department and the FBI

Facing a long stretch in jail for a murder he didn't commit he decides that if the authorities aren't going to investigate then he will just have to do it himself.

What follows is a well written amateur detective murder mystery which has twists and turns aplenty for our hero before he finally solves the case.

I really liked the way the novel was constructed - it was entertaining, informational and went at a good pace without getting bogged down too much with unnecessary detail.

The plot was good and there are no glaring plot-holes to distract the reader.

My only criticism of the audio version is when one of the characters who is from New Zealand speaks in an accent which is a mix of Bert from Mary Poppins and Crocodile Dundee - an issue that would not be present in the book version. The Narrator is otherwise excellent… (mais)

When Patton Burch does a good deed he never expected it to put him on the run from both the Las Vegas police department and the FBI

Facing a long stretch in jail for a murder he didn't commit he decides that if the authorities aren't going to investigate then he will just have to do it himself.

What follows is a well written amateur detective murder mystery which has twists and turns aplenty for our hero before he finally solves the case.

I really liked the way the novel was constructed - it was entertaining, informational and went at a good pace without getting bogged down too much with unnecessary detail.

The plot was good and there are no glaring plot-holes to distract the reader.

My only criticism of the audio version is when one of the characters who is from New Zealand speaks in an accent which is a mix of Bert from Mary Poppins and Crocodile Dundee - an issue that would not be present in the book version. The Narrator is otherwise excellent… (mais)

The Benefits of Breathing is the first short story collection from Christopher Meeks since 2008’s Months and Seasons. In the meantime, Meeks has written five novels, but fans of his shorter work will tell you that it’s been way too long between short story anthologies to suit them.

This time around, Meeks delves into the romantic complexities between men and women that, over time, are likely to plague us all. Long-term relationships are not easy, and as so many of us have learned the hard way, they often end in the kind of failure that will haunt us for the rest of our lives. The Benefits of Breathing is not some feel-good romantic fantasy of a book; this is about the real world. Among its eleven stories are instances of love needlessly discarded, love lost, love settled for, love that withers and dies, love squandered, love that backfires, and love nipped in the bud. But not all of the stories, including my favorite of them all, “Nestor by the Numbers,” end in failure, despite the emotional trauma suffered by the narrators along the way. These are stories about life the way most of us live it, complete with all of its ups and downs; it’s about people like you and me. It’s about life in the twenty-first century, and surprisingly enough considering its overall tone, this is a collection that includes a good bit of optimism and hope.

I found several of the stories to be particularly memorable, but I suspect that other readers are going to do the same with an entirely different list of stories than the one I created for myself as I read the collection. Among my personal favorites is the opener, “Joni Paredes,” in which a still-young woman is wary of the romantic-gold she discovers at her daughter’s wedding reception. Another is a story with a bit of a surprise ending that had me hooked as soon as I read its title, “I’d Rather Die Than Go to North Dakota.”
And then, there’s the title story itself, “The Benefits of Breathing,” that speaks to the power of persevering until the right one finally comes along.

But my favorite story is the longest one in the collection, “Nestor by the Numbers,” a story about a man whose wife decides on their twentieth anniversary that their marriage is over. The man’s ensuing experiences as he works his way through more than twenty potential partners via online dating services are both hilarious and poignant – sometimes, believe it or not, at the same time. I completely lost myself in this one and hated to see it end.

Bottom Line: The Benefits of Breathing is an interesting and entertaining collection of short stories about who we are and how we relate to the opposite sex – whether we want to admit it to ourselves or not. It was worth the wait.

Advanced Reading Copy provided by Publisher/Author for Review Purposes… (mais)

I flew through this book, enjoying it all the way. It had a little bit of physics, a little bit of philosophy, romance, travel, it was great! It is the story of a physics professor, Gunnar, who decides he is ready to marry and starts a search for love. He tries to go about it scientifically, with mixed results.

I loved his attempts at speed dating. The women he meets are so over the top. His awkward attempts at casual talk are funny too. This is a man who initially finds it hard to talk to women, but by the end of the book, he doesn't seem to have any problem with this.

Halfway through the book, Gunnar travels to Denmark, both for his work and for a woman. His adventures in Denmark are hilarious. I especially liked his trip to Christiania. I had never heard of this place, and it was very interesting. His relationship with Kara was a bit depressing, but helped him on his journey to love.

The ending left me feeling a little mixed. Happy from the romantic in me, but the practical side of me was appalled. Love at Absolute Zero was a fun read, and I would recommend it to my friends.


I received this book for free from the goodreads first reads program.… (mais)