Neal

I first heard about this book while reading Stephen King's review of it in his Entertainment Weekly column. I put in a request for the title here at Audible and I am so glad they added it. This really is a terrific book, read by the author who is one of my favorite narrators. I didn't know what to expect at first and certainly did not see myself caught up in the story like I became. It is a truly heartwarming tale about a born loser who seems to be just smart enough to know he isn't very smart. You begin to root him on and as the tale and his journey progress he may have the chance to become the person he always wanted to be. I have listened to many audiobooks over the years, a few that I couldn't stand, some that were simply tolerated, many that I really liked and this one that I wished would just never end. I couldn't wait to find out what would happen next. This book was in turns hilarious and touching. A terrific effort by Ron McLarty and I hope to see more from him. I recommend this book whole-heartedly no matter what your normal listening tastes may be.

This is the type of book I might have never picked if I had only read the publishers dust jacket copy. I ended up picking it because it was an audible editor's pick and I thought I would give it a shot. I am glad I did. This is a wonderfully engaging story and character, with one of the best narrators I have ever heard. He does the accents perfectly, It seemed I would end up smiling everytime he did the grandmothers voice. Some reviewers had called this a slow starter but I don't recall wanting the story to speed up at all while listening. I rated this book 5 stars and I really only have one negative thing I associate with the book. The ending seemed a little anticlimactic. The author I think designed the ending to be open ended, allowing the reader to draw their own conclusions about how the character fares from then on. I suppose I just wish there was a little more at the end. All in all though, a terrific book, well read and written. I highly recommend.

Stephen King's series about the Dark Tower is epic. It has spanned decades between release of this first book and the most recent which comes out Nov. 4th. This is a slightly expanded version of the original and I believe makes it a much more stand alone book. This series is far and away my favorite of King's work. The character Roland is very powerful. I am sure if you get this book you will be drawn to the rest in the series, which audible has recently added along with "Wolves of the Calla" which is coming soon. The sheer scope and volume of the completed works even so far are awesome, each book leaves you knowing more about Roland and his "ka-tet" but wanting to know even more. I highly recommend this book and the rest of the series. I sincerely hope that Audible plans to add the final two volumes as they come out next year.

Dean Koontz has become a writer I can only describe as, verbose, bombastic, wordy, gabby, garrulous, long winded, loquacious, redundant, repetitive and tedious. Anyone who read the book will recognize the parallel I am drawing (the scene where Corky walks into the arcade) Listening to this book was akin to physical pain at times. The author spends so much time over describing and using un-needed and certainly unwanted metaphors that the plot becomes stale. I have given Mr. Koontz the benefit of the doubt for the last time.