Chuck

He's A Regular Jug-Eared Joe...

Revisado: 06-08-21

If you like "standup detective" Tommy Sledge, or Steve Martin in Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid or Nick Danger, Third Eye, you will love Mick Oberon.

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Absolutely Fabulous!

Revisado: 05-08-21

I've "seen" so-called dramatizations fairly ruin good audiobooks. So when I saw these on offer, I thought, "Oh hell no..."

Then ASiB popped up on YouTube, and I thought, "Why not?" (I swear I'd try anything if it was free...)

As a British friend of mine used to say: "FanTAStic!" I've listened to the original readings of this series several times now. Holmes pastiches are trendy and often tiresome, but the Warlock Holmes stories are sufficiently bent to be fresh. Nevertheless, so many repetitions have made them too familiar. I figured I'd have to go cold turkey (Goose!) for at least a year, before enjoying them again.

Then along come these gems to hilariously revitalize the WH chronicles. As the saying goes, "Less is more", and these wonderful bits of audio theatre perfectly demonstrate that principle. They are the perfect balance of narration, acting, music and sound effects.

I listened to the first 20 minutes or so of a "dramatization" a few years ago, The background music was grating and continuous, the sound effects were loud, unrealistic and obnoxious, and the performances were monotone.

These GraphicAudio "movies for your mind" do it proper. The background music is better than that found on most TV shows, the sound effects are used judiciously, and blend so well with the plot action and performances that they are barely noticeable, and the voice characterizations are spot-on. (In fact, the sound fx are often comical in themselves, in the context of a given scene, being obviously quite tongue in cheek.)

Unfortunately, I can't share any of the myriad of great moments, because I really don't want to spoil the experience for anyone else. As a dedicated fan of this series, I can't recommend these dramatizations highly enough. You won't be disappointed. Without dropping any spoilers, I can tell you that if you are a little jaded with the original readings, you'll find yourself laughing all over again at these productions.

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The Wheel Turns, Brothers and Sisters!!!

Revisado: 07-24-16

Wow... Just... Wow!

I lack the superlatives to do true justice to this book/performance. R.S. Belcher is to “weird fiction” what William Gibson and Walter Jon Williams are to cyberpunk. At times his prose transmogrifies into pure poetry, and his word-paintings are as vivid, evocative and delightfully disturbing as anything penned by Lovecraft, Ashton Smith or REH. He is a member in good standing of that august lineage now, in my humble estimation, and I don’t accord that honor lightly or often.

In The Brotherhood of the Wheel, the brutal, gritty, unforgiving world of monsters and magic introduced in Nightwise takes on breadth, depth and scope in a “pulse-pounding thrill-ride” that ricochets across the US and into strange, brooding alternate realities that haunt the borderlands of Serling’s Twilight Zone. Modern “urban myths” and ancient, bloodthirsty cosmologies copulate to spawn living nightmares that impinge upon our fragile existence, threatening to rend the very fabric of space and time, to bring the whole whirling panoply of our universe to a savage, gibbering, gore-spattered conclusion.

But amidst the creeping, festering, unnameable horror, a light of epic heroism shines forth from the hearts and deeds of stalwart heroes who are nonetheless everyday folk, with jobs to lose, bills to forget, babies on the way and responsibilities they neither asked for nor are comfortable with. Outlaw bikers, latter-day Knights Templar, obsessed and disillusioned cops band together with an eccentric, improbable and thoroughly enchanting cast of supporting characters to fight the good fight, no matter the cost.

And the cost runs very high.

I can count on the fingers of one hand after a chainsaw accident the number of times I’ve actually jumped up and cheered during the performance of an audiobook. Damn few authors, in my opinion, can generate and sustain the gripping tension and head-long momentum of a good Hollywood actioner. It ain’t easy to do with the written/spoken word, but Belcher, with the more-than-able assistance of Pinchot, pulls it off with panache.

Nor can I say enough about Bronson Pinchot’s performance. He blew me away in Nightwise, and leaves me positively “gob-smacked” in Brotherhood. His voice slides effortlessly, seamlessly, from one character to another, and he rarely if ever drops a stitch. He brings Belcher’s characters to even more vivid life with intonation, accent, heart and soul. I find myself forgetting, quite often, that there is only one narrator behind all these many clearly delineated, individual voice characterizations. To reiterate what I said about his performance in Nightwise: He is a god! Or at the very least, a skilled and powerful “vocomancer”. “Aaron” may have risen from Hell, but Bronson is the rightful King here!

In Brotherhood, and its predecessor Nightwise, Belcher has set one Hell of a stage, and populated it with enough diverse characters, interrelationships, backstories and otherworldly settings to generate and perpetuate a modern myth-cycle the likes of which we have not seen since The Chronicles of Amber. Latham Ballard (still the single most bad-ASS anti-hero of modern weird fiction), Jimmy Aussapile, their kith, kin, associates and pursuers are the living warp and weft in a new current of modern myth and legend, a raw, unflinching mirror held up to our chaotic, neurotic, pain-wracked world by one of the new Masters of weird fiction.

As Jimmy would say: Come git some!

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Absolutely BAD-@$$!!!

Revisado: 01-01-16

Latham Ballard puts the anti back in anti-hero - with a vengeance!. Belcher presents magic the way it *really* is: lonely, painful, bloody and costly. Harry Dresden is a fluffy-bunny punk. Bronson Pinchot is a god. Nuff sed.

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True to a Great Tradition

Revisado: 12-26-15

I read a review on Goodreads by some Philistine who obviously isn't quite the Lovecraft scholar he thinks he is. Otherwise, he would know that "pastiche" is hardly the term to apply to an episodic novel in the tradition of Lovecraft's particular "sandbox". And the fact that he seems to think that other authors "intruding" in Lovecraft's Mythos is a recent phenomenon pretty much says it all. (I imagine he's also furious that some people get paid good money to invent stories in the Star Trek, Star Wars and Dr. Who universes as well.)

As to his bleating complaints about the structure of the book, well, he might want to go back and re-read the original Reanimator, paying a little more attention to the way that story was presented.

Anyway, enough about that oaf. I happen to think, for what it's worth, that Mr. Rawlik did an outstanding job, one that I feel HPL would approve of, and which any Lovecraft fan would appreciate and enjoy. If you're one of those "purists" who turn your nose up at Mythos stories by Derleth, Bloch, Long, Campbell, et al, then you might want to steer clear.

If, on the other hand, you're a True Fan of the Master, then you already know that he shared his sandbox with many another like-minded writer. Would he have approved of the veritable stampede that's ensued over the past few decades? I don't know. Dig him up, prepare his "saltes," say the words and ask him!

But remember: Do not call up that which you cannot put down...

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Not Harry Dresden - Thank God!

Revisado: 07-13-15

I think I'm just saturated with the current trends in so-called "paranormal adventures." I'm full to the brim with all the Buffy-esque cliches of secret societies, vampire cabals, werewolf packs, wizard colleges, super-clandestine anti-monster government alphabet agencies and the rest. Just the other day I was pining for something - if you'll forgive the expression - a little more down to earth.

BAM! Along come Misters Bain and Castleton. The overall atmosphere of these stories actually reminds me a bit of the Silver John stories by Manly Wade Wellman. The "paranormal" is very personal, very local, which for me makes it much creepier than the more outrageous adventures of Harry, Buffy, and the other way-too-superhero heroes. I can enjoy a good Dresden story, but the settings, characters and plots are so extravagant that it's simply a fable, a myth to me.

Will Castleton's adventures, however, hit a little closer to home. Indeed, the only monsters you will meet in these tales (for the most part) are the real ones that we *all* have to contend with - human beings gone bad. Add to that a nicely paced, flowing style and a great narrator, and - for my money - Mr. Bain's work stands up to the best of 'em.

Frankly, I think he has found the voice that the much-overrated Mr. King has - IMHO - tried for but never really achieved.

Keep them coming, David Bain!

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Another Home Run Slam!

Revisado: 03-30-15

The team does it yet again! With all due respect to Rick's writing, CJF *IS* Bill - I can't imagine any other narrator. I love the characters - I cheer or boo each time one puts in an appearance. Am I the only one with a kinda perv-o-crush on Gan? I actually did a little happy-dance when she showed up in this one.

As I implied, the characters are well-written by Rick and wonderfully performed by Christopher. The pacing is great, in both the individual novels and the series as a whole. The big action scenes are artfully drawn, and the banter, as always, is spot on.

I keep telling my wife: "THAT'S the way programmers talk! It's not my fault!"

I also like Rick's take on the "secret vampire empire", and the audacity of making "Yeshua" on of the founders.

It's what they used to call a "ripping good yarn!"

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What the FRAK is going on, people???

Revisado: 11-17-14

I can't stand it! How completely isolated from LIFE do you have to be to NOT know how to pronounce "denizen" and "voila"? Den-ZEE-en and VEE-oh-la??? WTF? And it's not just this one narrator - I've come across this crap in at least *3* other audiobooks! Helloooo? It doesn't appear to be an issue with the text, cuz I've checked the Kindle vers. It CAN'T be the narrator himself - there HAS to be a producer, quality checker, someTHING, right? Holy CRAP, people!

If nothing else, it's an absolute INSULT to the author(s).

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A 'Stainless Steel Rat' for the 21st Century!

Revisado: 11-14-14

Would you consider the audio edition of Hard Luck Hank to be better than the print version?

I haven't read the hard copy, but I think I'd prefer the audio. When I read, everyone tends to sound the same in my head - they all have my voice. When an audiobook is well done, I get the added benefit of the narrator's voice characterizations.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Hard Luck Hank?

There's pretty much a gem on every "page", but I'll pick the first that comes to mind: the first encounter with the robots - the first time Hank uses his grandfather's pistol. Yeah, you see it coming from a mile away, right down to the melted robot foot, but it's like the Stooges - painfully predictable and yet *still* hilarious.

Which character – as performed by Liam Owen – was your favorite?

Hank, hands down. (I love Phil Gigante, but I'd still like to hear Liam do Slippery Jim.) I like the combination of cluelessness and confidence that Mr. Owen manages to embody. Snarky is easy, as is Tough Guy, but this is a subtler and - IMO - more difficult mix. He also has just the right touch with the female characters - not too little, not too much. Another difficult trick to pull off. Liam is now on my short list of narrators to look for, along with Phil Gigante, Wayne June, Mark D. Nelson, Sean Runnette and others of the elite.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes and no. This is true pulp Space Opera - and that's a BIG compliment in my lexicon, buckaroos. While the story moves right along and you want to stay with it simply because it *is* constantly on the move, you also get the feeling you can walk away from it for a minute or a month, and come right back to it like you'd never left. In that respect, again, it reminds me of the Stainless Steel Rat, the Chronicles of Amber (oh, stop whining - Amber was even written in episodes - it's as pulp as it comes!), and Jack Vance's glorious classic, Planet of Adventure.

Any additional comments?

I was very pleased to find the text to be "PG-13". I'm no prude, but I get a little tired of gratuitous profanity, another device that can be a crutch for weak writers. Mr. Campbell manages to seamlessly weave what ought to be linguistic anachronisms in a galaxy-spanning culture with pulp sci-fi expletives like "Who the Void are you?" Good dialog doesn't have to sound like The Great Gatsby - it just needs to flow, and Steven achieves this in spades. One of the reasons I gave the story a 4-star is because it *is* basically a pulp adventure. No one expected Star Wars to win an Oscar for best screenplay, but I bet more people can quote it than Gone with the Wind. Nor does Mr. Campbell overburden the text with made-up "space lingo", another gimmick that can - and all too often does - fall flat on its face. He has fun with personal names and species designations, but doesn't "frak" things up, if you get my drift...

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Very Nearly Perfect

Revisado: 11-20-13

What made the experience of listening to Dead Drunk: Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse... One Beer at a Time the most enjoyable?

The book is a stitch, and could well be subtitled "The American Shaun of the Dead". It is exactly what you think it is from reading the pitch: "The Hangover" with zombies. And that angle could easily lead a lesser writer to a complete train wreck. But Mr. Johnson pulls it off with élan. His characters are the everyman friends we've all had on and off throughout our lives, and their responses to the various scenarios that arise are - blessedly - the reactions I would expect from me and my friends, and not the stuff of heroes. At the same time, Mr. Johnson cuts his characters no slack, and "kills his darlings" with ghoulish delight.

The humor is sometimes a little sophomore-ish, but that is quite in keeping with the characters, so it works. The "physical comedy", so to speak, is brilliantly detailed by the author; I rarely laugh out loud when reading, but I found myself sustaining lengthy belly-laughing fits more than twice. The scene with the zombie and the mullet is worthy of the Marx Brothers. The ability to convey effective slapstick comedy in prose is the mark of a solid writer.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Dead Drunk: Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse... One Beer at a Time?

The first big fight with the zombies when one grabs Russ by the mullet. That whole fight scene is hysterical. The "comic high jinx" are pretty evenly distributed throughout the book.

Have you listened to any of Neil Hellegers’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No, but he's now on my list, along with Phil Gigante and Wayne June. Mr. Helleger's performance is flawless. He nails the voices for the various character stereotypes without sounding stereotypical. His reading is spirited and engaging, and his sound FX are priceless.

If you could rename Dead Drunk: Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse... One Beer at a Time, what would you call it?

Zombie-Palooza

Any additional comments?

I don't usually write reviews, because someone else has usually said what I wanted to say, only better. But there were no reviews yet on this a/b when I checked earlier today, and I very much want to encourage Mr. Johnson to Write! Write! Write! In my humble judgment, this book stands right up there with WWZ, Zombie Fallout, etc. It's definitely not "Adam Sandler vs the Zombies" - there's a real zombie story in there, and a very interesting twist on the origins of the plague.

A solid, thoroughly entertaining first adventure into Zombiedom.

(PS: When it comes time to make the movie, please remember me as one of the book's first fans on audible - I would love to be a zombie extra!)

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