OYENTE

Stewie

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No one is safe in a Jeff Strand novel

Total
5 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
4 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 02-19-25

You know that saying, "No one is safe."? For example, in the Game of Thrones TV show (I haven't read the books, so I can't say it's the case there too), everyone is at risk of dying. From main characters to secondary characters. In The Walking Dead (the comic), same thing (but not the TV show). Same with a Jeff Strand novel.

Deathless is the sequel to Pressure, and if you haven't yet read Pressure, I'm going to go ahead and ask you to stop right here. This isn't one of those sequels where you can dive in and just know what's going on. I mean, you can figure it out, but there's going to be A LOT of things you'll want to know.

Anyway, Deathless picks up a few years after its predecessor. Alex is still shaken from the events from the first book -- I mean, who wouldn't be rattled after a serial killer wants to be your BFF and constantly kills those around you -- but he meets a woman who seems to dig him and his life might just be turning around, red flags be damned. There are so many red flags.

Eventually, of course, Alex determines Lulu may not be the one after all, especially after he makes a discovery that rattles him to his core. Lulu doesn't take the break up well, and goes a little crazy. Terrible things happen, and she disappears. But not for good.

Look, that's just the beginning of Alex's latest adventure from hell. The man can not catch a break. Darren Rust, the serial killer who loves to love Alex, is in jail, so how is it he's still affecting Alex's life? I don't want to give anything away, but let's just say as unrealistic as it may seem, it's COMPLETELY realistic.

That's something Strand is great at. Dancing right up to the line of unbelievability, but not <i>quite</i> stepping over it. I'm not talking about his supernatural books like Dweller or Allison. I'm talking about his works like Autumn Bleeds Into Winter, and this one and its sequel. Improbable, sure. but not necessarily impossible. This adds a lot to the enjoyment, as Alex does smart things as well as stupid things, and he's clearly not a hero of any sort. That's what makes you like him even more, you can relate to his predicament and even if he does something really dumb, you think, "But, yeah. I probably would have tried that too."

As with all of Strand's work, Deathless is chock full of memorable characters, hearty laughs, brutal emotional blows, and a bit of gore and grue. It also moves at a brisk pace, with either something crazy happening or just about to start. His literal humor is laced throughout, and you never know if you're going to laugh or get the wind knocked out of you when someone who you thought was 'safe' is most definitely not.

Scott Thomas, as always, delivers in spades. Thomas is one of my favorite narrators, and I was happy to see he was performing the sequel, especially since he read Pressure as well. Since I listened to them back to back, it was one big seamless story read to me buy one of the best in the business. As I've mentioned time and again, Thomas always nails the inflections and puts great effort into using different voices for different characters. He's dang good at it too.

This is yet another great Strand/Thomas collaboration and I'm always looking forward to more.

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Just Strand being Strand

Total
5 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
5 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 02-12-25

If you have read any of my reviews (thanks!!), you'd know I'm a huge fan of Jeff Strand's work. I often praise his knack of messing with your emotions, his ease of making you laugh one page, be sad as hell the next, and grossed out on the following. PRESSURE is no exception.

I suck at breaking down a synopsis, but long story short, Alex meets Darren after being sent to a school for troubled boys. Darren is a sociopath, and ends up in Alex's life, whether Alex wants it or not, for years and years to come. Naturally, it's more involved, but that's the gist.

I loved this one. I'd put it in my top three of Strand's work (of what I've read, naturally). This is mainly because the emotional rollercoaster ride it is. As I've said over and over, Strand is great at making you laugh and he's just as great as making believable characters you root for or hate. He's at his very best here, making you feel comfortable with the characters, then doing something so painful (and, honestly, believable) that really feels like a gut punch. There is one particular scene that I audibly gasped and paused the book so I could take in what just happened.

And, as mentioned, the characters are so believable here. There were points in the book where I was literally screaming at the radio, yelling at Darren for being Darren and yelling at Alex for some decisions he makes. BUT, the decisions are credible. That's what's so great in Strand's work. His characters make REAL decisions. They aren't superheroes. When Alex is a kid, he does dumb kid things. When he's a teen, he does dumb teen things. When he's an adult, he does what he thinks is best for his family. It's all believable, even if you don't necessarily like what he's doing.

As usual, Scott Thomas NAILS the narration. Honestly, it's as if he and Joe Hempel were born to narrate Strand's work. Thomas expertly delivers the perfect inflection and tone to keep you glued to the book. His multiple voices for characters makes it very easy to determine who's speaking without the 'he said, she said'. Thomas is one of those narrators where I would just buy a book that I might not be interested in if he's doing the reading.

Over all, just a fantastic book.

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Fun little romp in The Neighborhood

Total
3 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
4 out of 5 stars
Historia
3 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 02-04-25

Okay, first and foremost, all thrillers I review/read are graded on the Jack Reacher scale. Reacher is one of my favorite literary characters, and Lee Child always delivers. Him and his brother, not quite there yet, but I digress.

This is a fun, action-packed book that moves at a quick pace. A bunch of bad guys enter a neighborhood on a particular mission, but they didn't count on Zach, a dude with particular skills. Things get crazy as Zach starts systematically taking out the intruders.

Overall, I enjoyed The Neighborhood. It has enough tension, fighting, car chasing, and blowing uping to keep me engaged. It does have A LOT of exposition at times, but that's okay, we're hear for the action.

George Newbern's narration is great. This is my first time listening to a book read by Newbern, and I look forward to hearing more of his work.

Overall about a 3.5/5, but since I'm forced to give a full star, it drops to 3 because of the mentioned exposition.

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Another winner by Jeff Strand

Total
4 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
4 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 01-15-25

If you read any of my reviews, you'll know I love Jeff Strand's work. He's incredibly versatile and always a delight to read, to the point where I don't even bother reading a synopsis of any of his works. I just dive in because I know I'm going to enjoy it. Ferocious is no exception.

The skinny of it is Rusty and his niece Mia get attacked by zombified animals, and they have to get to safety. Sure, there's more to it than that, but that's the nut of the tale.

Without fail, Strand brings comedy and gore to the book in spades. When you aren't clinching from the gross coming from your speakers, you're laughing at something ridiculous. Strand is the absolute master of being able to make you laugh one page, gross you out the next, and then damn near make you cry on the third.

Sometimes when I read something heavy, I need to follow it up with something light and breezy, and this easily fits that bill. Just one hell of a good time.

Scott Thomas, as usual, knocks it out of the park with his performance. He's so good, I will buy a book I might not necessarily purchase otherwise if I see his name on it. He's a perfect fit for Strand's work, and it shows.

If you're looking for a good time with guts, grue, gore and guffaws, grab this one.

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Pretty cool short story.

Total
4 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
4 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 11-07-24

I really dug this short story of a strange visitor showing up at the home of one of the main characters, and how that visitor shaped his life.

I don't want to go into too much detail, as this is only an hour listen and I don't want to get into spoiler territory, but suffice it to say, author John Pelletier does a great job laying out all the pieces before things get bonkers.

Sean Crisden's narration perfectly complements Pelletier's tale. I almost felt like I was in the same room as the characters as the tale was being told.

This is my introduction to Pelletier's work, and it's a good one. Looking forward to reading more.

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Interesting but problematic.

Total
3 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
3 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 11-07-24

I need to take a break from John Douglas' books for a while. This one is good, and the narration by Joe Barrett is fantastic, but Douglas is so egotistical, it's distracting. He NEVER talks about his failures, and he is always acting like a tough guy when it comes to the criminals (like calling them names and stuff). Don't get me wrong, the criminals are garbage and don't deserve any niceties, but the way Douglas comes across is like a guy behind the keyboard talking tough. Put him in the room with Ed Kemper and I'm betting he would be calling him names, you know? It's chest thumping. Still interesting, but he's obnoxious.

To be fair, this one is about motive, so maybe this one isn't the one for Douglas to talk about his profile failures. But I've read like three or four of his books and to hear him tell it, he's just 100% right 100% of the time. It gets tiresome. Part of the process is failing, and it would be nice if at some point he talked about those, what they got wrong, why, and how they corrected. That's just as fascinating as the successes.

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Why Just Four Overall Stars?

Total
4 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
5 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 08-22-24

You might be asking yourself, if he gave the performance 5/5 and the story 5/5, why only 4/5 overall? I'll tell you: The stupid sound effects in the recording.

First, the story. It's a quick and fun. It's a short one, but the basics are Doug accidentally collides with a jerk while surfing, and the jerk being a jerk escalates the situation. That's basically it. Yeah, there's more to it, but that's the nut.

Ed Harris' performance is outstanding. But honestly, would you expect any less?

The problem comes with the added sound effects. They take you right out of it. Listen, I don't mind sound effects, if they are consistent. Like Stephen King's classic audiobook, THE MIST. Using sound design the entire time can really elevate a listen. But here, it's not all the time. For example, there's a scene that takes place in a bar, and you hear the noise of a bar for a few seconds, then nothing for a while. Then later, in another scene, you might hear some glasses tinkle. It's annoying because it comes out of nowhere, then goes away just as fast. Either go all in or don't.

All that said, it's definitely worth a listen. Be prepared for the distraction of misused sound design, though.

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Meh

Total
3 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
2 out of 5 stars
Historia
3 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 03-11-24

This is my first dive into John Wayne Gacy, as far as reading about him. I've watched a bunch of documentaries, but books tend to dive deeper.

This one was a bit meh. I listened to the audiobook, and Sean Runnette's narration is a bit bland. Don't get me wrong, he isn't monotone, but he more reads the book than acts it out. I don't ask for much, but I do like different people being portrayed with different 'voices'. Runnette is an excellent reader, but I prefer more performers.

The story itself is a little disjointed, bouncing around in its telling. The author, Terry Sullivan, was the prosecutor of the case and I think I would have liked more if he had just focussed on the trial more than the actual investigation.

I'm going to look other books by Gacy. This isn't bad, but it also isn't great. If this is your first trip to Gacy-town, you might want to start somewhere else first.

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Fantastic dive into the crimes of a killer.

Total
5 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
5 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 02-21-24

If you're into True Crime, this one should be an easy purchase. It takes a deep dive into the crimes and investigation of BTK Killer, covering his first kill all the way up to his trial and prosecution. There's virtually nothing mentioned about BTK's childhood and personal life, but it goes into so much detail in the actual investigation, that's okay.

One thing that struck me is how incredibly STUPID BTK is/was (I didn't check if this clown is still alive). If you think the same and think it's an act, it's not. The guy is a moron. A lucky one, but still a moron.

Keith Sellon-Wright's narration is great. It took me a minute to get used to, but once I got his beat, I was all in.

Overall, a great book, and I'll be reading more from the authors.

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Too much butt kissing of con artists for my taste.

Total
2 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
2 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 02-19-24

I picked up this audiobook a while ago, before I had really dived into the Warrens and learned how they were nothing more than snake oil salesmen.

I wouldn't call this a hate read, because I was still interested in some of the cases they were involved with, but it was vastly disappointing how the author virtually didn't even bother to address the controversies surrounding them. (But, to be fair, this was originally published in 1980, so I don't know if the word was out yet; however, an epilogue addressing this - or any of the matter - would have been great).

The writing itself is great, and the cases are interesting even if you can't trust anything the Warrens said about them. However, I would be more than willing to read any fiction by Gerald Brittle, as he is more than capable of writing intriguing work.

I listened to the audiobook version of this, and Todd Haberkorn does a great narration of the work. For some reason, his voice of Ed Warren is reminiscent of Mort from Bob's Burgers, so I laughed a lot.

The writing and performance is a solid 4/5, but painting them as these heroes when they are just after money and fame is gross, so it gets 0/5 for that. Call it a 2/5.

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