Infinivox, the publisher of the GREAT SCIENCE FICTION STORIES audiobooks, has a new blog! They’re also talking about doing a podcast. This is a new RSS feed that I’ll definitely be refreshing daily. Check it out HERE.
[vai SFSignal.com]
Posted by Jesse Willis
| Back in 2005 SFFaudio spun-off a sister site called AuralNoir.com. But it didn’t take. Those who visited loved it, but too few visited. So, what we’re doing now is posting non-Science Fiction, Fantasy or Horror, reviews, news, etc, under special headers like the one above. So welcome to our first such. Stick around, we’ll see how the string plays itself out. |
Dirty Money
By Richard Stark; Read by Stephen Thorne
Audible Download – 5 Hours 12 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: BBC Audiobooks America
Provider: Review copy provided by Audible.com
Published: 2008
Themes: / Crime / Heist / Armored Car / Double-cross / Massachusetts /
Master criminal Parker takes another turn for the worse as he tries to recover loot from a heist gone terribly wrong. Parker and two cohorts stole the assets of a bank in transit, but the police heat was so great they could only escape if they left the money behind. Now Parker and his associates plot to reclaim the loot, which they hid in the choir loft of an unused country church. As they implement the plan, people on both sides of the law use the forces at their command to stop Parker and grab the goods for themselves. Though Parker’s new getaway van is an old Ford Econoline with “Holy Redeemer Choir” on its doors, his gang is anything but holy, and Parker will do whatever it takes to redeem his prize, no matter who gets hurt in the process.
Richard Stark is the alternate personality of crime writer Donald E. Westlake. I’m a giant fan of both guys, Westlake seems to write instinctually, sometimes it all comes together sometimes it doesn’t. Dirty Money doesn’t blow my socks off. But, it is the latest installment in Stark’s long running (more than 20) series of novels about the hardened heister known only as “Parker.” What seems to have gone wrong is that Dirty Money is only a small part of the overall-arc of the last three books (the previous being Nobody Runs Forever and Ask The Parrot) – in previous decades all the action would have been crammed into one novel. There is value here, for long time Parker readers, but not enough, and it definitely isn’t the place to start reading the series.
The best place to start with Stark is his first book. In 1962 the world of paperback books was introduced to a novel about a professional thief who could do something all the previous fictional thieves could never seem to do – that is, actually get away with crime. Getting back to Dirty Money though, the plot starts as a continuation of the scene following mere moments after the closing sentence of the previous novel, Ask The Parrot. It seems Parker is still chasing the loot from the armored car heist he pulled off with a few other thugs two novels back (Nobody Runs Forever). In the back-story the crew had had to dump the money in an abandoned church so as to flee the area without carrying incriminating evidence. Now, having escaped the encircling noose, Parker’s putting his neck right back into it, but using his semi-straight common-law wife, Clarie, as his cover. As always, Parker’s not the only man after the swag though – his former partners are on the prowl, as are the cops, both local and federal. Everyone is intent on recovering the dirty money. findin. Like in every Parker tale, nothing goes quite according to plan. The twists and turns in Dirty Money, sadly, are unusually subdued. There are a lot of characters poking their noses into Parker’s business, but none of them seem quite up to the challenge of really making Parker’s life the miserable one we all like to see.
Stephen Thorne, the narrator, doesn’t project the voice of Parker all that well either. Parker seems too sedate, too settled – he’s seems almost comfortable with being a tourist in a Massachusetts autumn. Parker as a “leaf peeper” could almost be comedic, but it doesn’t quite come off that way – it comes off weak. And from what we know of him he aint weak. I still recall the kinetic menace of my favorite Parker narrator – Michael Kramer’s readings of the first dozen or so audiobooks done for Books On Tape projected danger in the most flip of lines – for me he’ll probably always be the voice of Parker. Still, knowing that Stark and Westlake novels are hit and miss affairs, I’ll be back, looking for more adventures should they come.
A note about this edition. Though originally released by BBC Audiobooks America, our review copy of Dirty Money came via Audible.com. Normally we don’t mention prices on SFFaudio, but I’m going to break that code here just for a moment. $10.48 is how much Dirty Money costs from Audible.com. The price for the CD edition on the BBC Audiobooks America website is $64.95. Normally, that wouldn’t be a big issue, I could just borrow a copy from the local library. Unfortunately, there isn’t one CD version of Dirty Money in all of Canada! Audible is definitely the deal here.
Posted by Jesse Willis
Starting very shortly, SFFaudio will be bringing you more content.
Instead of having our existing staff cloned, or making the day 25 hours long (our first idea was to blog from Mars), we’re going to be adding new posts from bloggers (and podcasters) from other existing websites. The idea is to turn you on to some of the keen folks that are out there writing about (and recording) the stuff we think sounds really cool.
Sites that post stuff we’d like to see added to the SFFaudio feed include those like:
Forgotten Classics http://hcforgottenclassics.blogspot.com/
Quasar Dragon http://freesciencefantasy.blogspot.com/
Free Listens http://www.freelistens.blogspot.com/
In addition to all those folks, we’re also planning a quasi-revival of our abortive sister site AuralNoir.com (2005-2006). Aural Noir, prior to her passing, posted stories just like those you see on SFFaudio, but instead of being about Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror audio, they were all targeted at the Mystery, Crime, Noir and Thriller audio that was out there. There’s a lot more of it available these days, and we’ve got a lot of stuff we’ve been just aching to tell you about. So, the plan is for us to have new posts, with their own labels, sporting the traditional “News”, “Reviews” and “Online Audio” topics but in the flavour of Mystery, Crime, Noir and Thriller podcasts, podiobooks, audiobooks and audio drama.
A little skeptical? Ya, we are too. But we’re hoping it will be very cool. Please let us know how you like it as it comes.
Posted by Jesse Willis
Orson Scott Card’s latest aural essay is up on Audible.com. This month it’s all about Robert A. Heinlein, and his pick is Podkayne of Mars!
Go check it out, or just have a listen |MP3| to hear what Card thinks about RAH and Poddy both and then be sure check out the new Blackstone Audio’s release of Podkayne of Mars (it’s already on Audible.com, but hasn’t hit their hardcopy shelf yet)! It’s a terrific juvie.
Posted by Jesse Willis
If you don’t already have an Audible.com account, here’s a great reason to sign up! Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s The Disappeared, the first novel in her “Retrieval Artist” series, will be temporarily 100% FREE starting Thursday July 10th 2008. All you need to get it is an active Audible account! Sez Audible:
SPECIAL OFFER: We think you’ll love Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s Retrieval Artist series. And to prove it, we’re giving away The Disappeared free! Please hurry. This book will return to full price on July 24, 2008.
The Disappeared – (Retrieval Artist – book 1)
By Kristine Kathryn Rusch; Read by Jay Snyder
Audible Download – 9 hours 50 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Audible Frontiers
Published: June 13th 2008 [FREE July 10th to July 24, 2008]
Retrieval artists help the lost find their way back home, whether they like it or not. Specialized private detectives, they investigate the most unusual crimes in the galaxy. But Miles Flint isn’t a Retrieval artist. He’s just a cop, trying to do his job. In a stolen space yacht, three people have been found eviscerated – the grisly signature of an alien vengeance killing. Moments later, the border patrol halts another ship launched out of the Moon’s orbit. Its passengers are two human children, kidnapped by the most ruthless aliens in the universe. Both ships are linked to a woman on the run: a Disappeared relocated to the inhospitable landscape of Mars. A reluctant outlaw with a bounty on her head and a detective on her case, she’s about to teach all of them a lesson: it’s dangerous to gamble with your life in a universe that rigs the game.
While you’re in the Audible catalogue you should also consider getting the Hugo Award nominated novella that gave this series its name…
The Retrieval Artist, was put out by Deuce Audio (owned by my buddy Scott) and is narrated by the incomparable Stefan Rudnicki. This tale is the true origin of the Retrieval Artist brand. It’s a two hour treat for only $3.49! GET THAT HERE
The Retrieval Artist
By Kristine Kathryn Rusch; Read by Stefan Rudnicki
Audible Download – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Deuce Audio / Audible.com
Published: 2007
Retrieval Artists find people who have disappeared. But people disappear for a reason: they don’t want to be found. When Anetka Sobol shows up at Miles Flint’s office on the Moon, he immediately knows that this case is going to be complicated.
And, last but not least, I’ve begun a KRISTINE KATHRYN RUSCH author page, which attempts to round up all the KKR audio that’s out there.
Posted by Jesse Willis
An English translation of Paulo Coelho’s short Portuguese novel The Alchemist is available for FREE in the iTunes Music Store’s audiobook section. From the Wikipedia description it sounds like a “magic realism” book to me…
The Alchemist
By Paulo Coelho; Read by Jermey Irons
iTunes Download – Approx. 4.25 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Provider: iTunes
FREE: July 8th 2008 -> ???
An Andalusian shepherd boy named Santiago travels from his homeland to the Egyptian desert in search of treasure buried in the Pyramids. Along the way he meets a Gypsy woman, a man who calls himself king, and an Alchemist. No one knows what the treasure is, or if Santiago will be able to surmount the obstacles along the way. But what starts out as a journey to find worldly goods turns into a meditation on the treasures found within. Lush, evocative, and deeply humane, the story of Santiago is art eternal testament to the transforming power of our dreams and the importance of listening to our hearts.
Yikes, that last bit makes it sound all new-agey! So, who’s gonna download this sucker and write up a review? Is it really “magic realism”?
Posted by Jesse Willis