JJ West

What a pleasant surorise and enjoyable "read"

Revisado: 06-17-24

Loved the sparkling simplicity of the setting and cast. Full of surprises. Listened to it twice and found it just as captivating the 2d time.

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Overlooked gem

Revisado: 07-20-23

Wow. What a great story and incredible literature. I had read Of Mice & Men and Grapes of Wrath as a teenager, but had stopped there. Really reminds me of a Doestoevsky novel with its bittersweet tragedy and fullsome character development..
Narration is tops and every character he voices is quite credible.
Don't miss this!

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Better'n the movie

Revisado: 02-20-23

Chilling story & social commentary. Narration was pitch perfect.
Please find & kill Anton Shugur!!

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Great story but not plausible

Revisado: 01-29-23

Surprise ending just doesn't make sense when you think over Simon's injury and convalescent leave.

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Formulaic, fantastic, predictable

Revisado: 09-23-22

i won't be reading any more of this series. Jack Sterling has become an absurd omniscient character who foresees every otherwise unpredictable detail. The monotone narration unfailingly puts me to sleep.

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Very Frustrating Novel

Revisado: 04-13-21

Having listened to, twice, all of Doestoevsky's great books, I had high hopes for this one. But I constantly found myself wondering if I was somehow missing the plot.
Here are some of my nagging questions (in no particular order):
-- Why does the author continually refer to the main character, Golyadkin, as "our hero"? What is heroic about this strange, quirky, mousy fellow?
-- There is never any explanation of the connection between Golyadkin and Klara, the daughter of one of his bosses. (And how many bosses does he have??).
-- Why does Golyadkin hire a coach and go on a shopping spree far above his means? This event or its consequences are never woven into the plot.
-- Why is Golyadkin denied admittance to the birthday party at the front of the story? It seems to be more than his not being invited; rather he seems to have been preemptively banned. Why? The host of the party and Klara seemed absolutely mortified when Golyadkin showed up and tried to dance with Klara. I went through most of the book thinking that the Double must have created some offense in the guise of being Golyadkin, but this was not the case.
-- Did the Double really exist, or was he merely a figment of Golyadkin's imagination? Why did no one else seem to notice the amazing resemblance to Golyadkin? And why did he have the same name? If he did exist, what was the explanation for his remarkable resemblance? A long-lost twin separated at birth? A demon in the flesh? Why did he have the exactly the same name. Doestoevsky never really explains any of this.
-- If the Double was merely a figment of Golyadkni's imagination, then why did the shop owner insist that G. owed $ for 11 pies instead of the one had eaten?
-- Why didn't Petruska not seem to notice that G. had a double? Then, later, he mistakes G. for his Double and tells him in the morning that G. had already gone out? And still later, told G. that good people do not have doubles?
-- Why did Petruska quit working for G. when G. always seemed to treat him gently and kindly? Any how come he had such a cantankerous attitude toward G.?
-- Why couldn't G. ever adequately explain any of the Double's hijinks to his superiors or others? He always ended up babbling incoherently, as I find myself wanting to scream in frustration listening to him.
-- Who was this German woman that kept coming up and did G. or did he not slander her? Or was that the work of his Double? No explanation.
OK, enough for now. I think I'm losing my grip on reality...on to "Diary of a Madman." ; }

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An overlooked great literary work

Revisado: 03-24-21

Hard to imagine that this book was written when the author was only 23 and he died at the tender age of 26. Anyway, a compelling story that only gets better as it goes on. I thought the narrator was annoying at 1st but later realised that his delivery fit that of a bored jaded young man thus nicely fitting the narrator of the book.

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Excellent but morose

Revisado: 01-12-21

Chekhov is a master of the short story and the voice was fantastic. However I kept wondering why every single Russian novel and short story has to be so damn depressing

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Probably least satisfying of 3 Legacy books

Revisado: 08-31-20

Maybe its just me but Jack is just too damn omniscient and all powerful. Too many "just in time" miracles and perfect outcomes. Not realistic to me. After all of his injuries in Book 2, how could Jason even walk just a few days later? Also, the plot regarding Jack's intentions really doesn't make sense. Still, i was entertained & look forward to the new perspective of Book 4 (when it comes out in audio).

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Downward trajectory

Revisado: 07-27-20

The story started out strongly enough as it focused on how this crime was pulled off. But then it veered into a litany of discussions such as climate change, labor exploitation, food counterfeiting, and poor working conditions in The Valley. I laughed out loud when the community activist Rosie insisted that almond farmers employ full-time truck drivers rather than using gig drivers to deliver their annual Harvest. Totally clueless about economics. And the author never bothered to challenge her.

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