Devlin Faust

Surprisingly Good--Actually, Very Good

Revisado: 03-23-25

I recently got into reruns of the TV comedy show, "Corner Gas" and liked the show. I started looking for other Brent Butt projects, and found out that he had written a novel, and it was available on Audible. I decided to give it a try. "Huge" was superb. There's a lot of depth of characters here, and they are interesting. In addition, there's a lot of care giving us little tidbits of how a live comedy performance actually works, which I found fascinating. Yep, referring to a car in a joke as "Chrysler" or "Buick" is actually funnier than simply saying the word "car" and moving on. Who would have thought?

The pacing in the book is great and there's good suspense going on about what the end game is going to be. I very much liked the ending, as well.

A word about the narration; Mr. Butt is a professional but he did a truly superb job at the narration. If he so desired, he would be a fine professional narrator, but I hope he sticks with creative writing so there will be other books.

I can't say enough positive things about "Huge".

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No "Melon-Choly" in This Story

Revisado: 07-09-16

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Cutting to the chase, I really liked this book. It reads a little like a western, but sprinkled with a smattering of a taste of the late 1960's or early 1970's. I had seen the movie starring the late Charles Bronson many years ago, and enjoyed it. However, as is quite often the case, the book is better than the movie.

In Mr. Majestyk one has a real "knight without armor in a savage land" who takes on racial prejudice, a callous legal system, punks in a Dodge Charger (of all things) and organized crime, with an eye towards righting wrongs while all the time trying to protect his precious melons. The notion of a hero who is willing to truly risk everything for what he or she perceives as right is not new to this genre, but it is done so well here under the umbrella of "you have pushed me far enough." The writing is very clear, but with a lot of action, so boredom isn't ever a concern.

The late Frank Muller narrated this book and does an excellent job in getting everything right in terms of narration. Muller was good in everything he narrated, but "Mr. Majestyk" was a great vehicle for his excellent skills.

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Superb All the Way Around

Revisado: 07-09-16

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Stephen King can certainly write. This collection of short stories is fascinating and there are some surprises in here. It is only an opinion, but I saw no weaknesses in any of the short stories in this collection and, indeed, there are some that are real gems. This is one of those books where you want to hurry up and do your commute so you can listen to more of the book.

Not only are the stories great, but the group of narrators are perfect. It's almost as though each story was specifically matched to their respective skills. That said, the best narration in this collection goes to the late Edward Herrmann, who totally 'sold' his short story.

An excellent listen!

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An Editing Would Have Helped

Revisado: 07-09-16

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I was surprised that this book has a number of five star ratings. There's absolutely nothing new about the plot, and it's stereotypical relative to people living in the south to the point that it's almost a little offending.

Perhaps the main problem is that no one seems to have ever edited this book. For example, there's a conversation between the protagonist and his spouse where the word "think" or derivation of think must have been used over a dozen times. There's another situation where the protagonist drops off his 'friend' about two miles from a location. We are then told that with a leisurely walk, the person is supposed to walk to the location in about 15 minutes. Wow! The person in question is in street clothes, it's hot and he's toting a firearm. Not saying it's impossible but most people would have to work up a pretty good jog to do two miles in 15 minutes under those conditions. Then there's another situation where one man is talking to another on the phone and tosses his Bible into the trashcan. The point of this is difficult to discern, but we're not told why he would do this.

I could go on and on, but I won't. To say the least, this book isn't well written. I will say that the author made a couple of the characters relatively interesting, so I gave it two stars instead of one. The narrator is good, and he really tries to take all this seriously.

There are a lot of suspense/thriller books out there that are very good. Then there are some that just aren't.

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A Grand Slam!

Revisado: 01-06-16

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I doubt that I can add much after over two thousand reviews, but I just wanted to add my 'vote of approval' for this book.

I've seen the John Wayne movie as well as the remake a few years ago. I enjoyed both of them. But as it so often the case, the movies do not live up to the book. I originally ordered this book because I like an occasional western genre book. I soon discovered that it's really pushing it to call this a western genre book. "True Grit" invokes the classic 'quest', 'coming of age' and also the 'great American hero' genres. I feel confident one could adapt the plot and general sequence of events to a host of settings other than the west or rural America.

It is such a classic story and so incredibly well written. It gives you just the right balance of drama, excitement, humor and also just a little bit of improbable magic towards the end. The exceptional thing about the unfolding of the work is that all three central characters end up with 'true grit', but perhaps none as much as the the 14 year old girl, Mattie.

It would be difficult to explain just how great the narrator is in this audio book. I'd put her reading of "True Grit" right up there with some of the best of the late Frank Mueller. There is no higher compliment than that.

If you're at least on the fence about this book, get it!

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Perseverance, Insight and Some Luck

Revisado: 01-06-16

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I originally ordered this as a book for my 12 year old niece to listen to on long trips. Being a responsible uncle, I wanted to listen to it first, to make sure it would be suitable for her. I am rather glad that I did. It is suitable for my niece, but aside from that, it is a good listen. This is the classic example of a more-or-less average person who gets caught up in a very abnormal situation--and rises to the occasion.

Scarlett makes a lot of mistakes throughout the book, but she never gives up and eventually prevails. One mistake she did not make was that of making some hard decisions and getting started before things got out of hand. Of course if she had not made those hard decisions early on, this would have been a short story instead of a book.

The 'disease' itself manifests in a fascinating way. Some of the most interesting parts of the story are early-on when the protagonist is making her way in a town that is almost deserted and her eventually learning to be more cautious in this new world.

Some have criticized the narrator in that she sounds too mature for a 15-year old. However, it should be remembered that this reading is in retrospect--she is older and looking back in telling the story. In that light, I thought that the narrator did an excellent job.

Overall, the book moves at a good pace and keeps your attention. It is a very good book for young teens or us "old folks."

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Nary a Squeal About This Book

Revisado: 09-30-15

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First and foremost, this book is a documentary. If you are looking for a book about a magic hog or perhaps a novel about an over-sexed vampire pig, you will have have to look elsewhere.

That said, what we have here is a well-done documentary that touches not only on current meat processing practices but also on the history of swine. Some of what was written is interesting, surprising and even somewhat disturbing.

There are no 'recipes' in this book, but there's little doubt that the author has an abiding love of bacon and other cuts. There's a brief section in the book about how cute some of the young pigs are, and they seem to be on the verge of almost becoming something like pets, but they get slaughtered eventually, albeit in the nicest way possible...sort of.

I would imagine that someone who is very deeply committed to animal rights and/or vegetarianism would have problems getting through this book, as it can be rather graphic in examining methods in the pork-processing industry. By the same token, if someone is wedded to the idea that big corporate farms and big corporate processing is the only way there is to go, then they are likely to be 'disappointed' in some of the conclusions in this book.

On the whole, it seems as though the author does a pretty good job of being 'balanced' in his approach, and what is produced appears to be an honest attempt to describe the current situation for raising and processing pork, which is something most of us probably don't want to think about when we sit down for a nice meal featuring ribs or when we grab a ham sandwich to go. It gets bogged down just a bit in some statistics, but this is short-lived and mostly the book is interesting. The narration is very good, as well.

If you are looking for a book that is everything you wanted to know about the pork industry-but was afraid (or reluctant) to ask, then by all means, dig in!

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A Pleasure at Any Age

Revisado: 04-28-15

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I first read this book over 40 years ago. I enjoyed it very much back then. As is the case with some of the classics, like those from Mark Twain, this is as good a read (listen) as an adult or as a kid--but for different reasons. As a kid, it's an adventure and the protagonist is the right age where he can be identified with. As an adult (OK, late middle-aged adult--let's be honest), it's a book that takes you back to simple enjoyment, yet you can see the humor in some of the writing.

I had no problems with the narration.

This is just fun. It's one of the author's best, yet it's often overlooked.

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Well, It's Not Exactly 'Perfect'

Revisado: 04-28-15

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This may be one of those rare occasions where the movie is as good as the book. I won't say the movie was necessarily better than the book.

I thought that the book started out nicely and I was interested for a while, but as it went on, it lost me. That's a shame, as this is really a story that needs to be told. Indeed, it is obvious that the author went to a lot of trouble to research fact after fact after fact after fact.

I thought it was well-narrated and some good information was imparted, but I found that my attention eventually started going elsewhere.

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A Confederacy of Shallow People

Revisado: 04-28-15

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There have been almost 30,000 reviews of "Gone Girl" and I doubt that I can add anything here that hasn't already been said. I will simply outline a couple of things that I particularly liked (admired) about this book.

One of the things that sets this book apart is that the author has managed to keep one interested--actually, very interested--with characters that are well-developed but not admirable or heroic. Indeed, it's hard to like them, at all. This is very difficult to do in writing, but it's done beautifully here. Hey, people like this exist in the real world, so why not write a book about them?

The end was hard to guess, but actually flowed very logically from the groundwork that is carefully laid.

Usually, when there's more than one narrator, I start to roll my eyes. It's a book, and I want it to be read; not performed like a radio play. But that's not the situation in "Gone Girl." The narration from either gender is right-on, and it was interesting to hear the male do the female voice in his section and vice-versa. Both narrators did an excellent job.

I didn't see the movie. I didn't want it to cheapen my memory of this book, which is one of the best in it's genre. Listen and enjoy.

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