American Elsewhere

By: Robert Jackson Bennett

Narrated by: Graham Winton

Length: 22 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's summary

Some places are too good to be true. Under a pink moon, there is a perfect little town not found on any map. In that town, there are quiet streets lined with pretty houses, houses that conceal the strangest things.

After a couple years of hard traveling, ex-cop Mona Bright inherits her long-dead mother's home in Wink, New Mexico. And the closer Mona gets to her mother's past, the more she understands that the people of Wink are very, very different....

From one of our most talented and original new literary voices comes the next great American supernatural novel: a work that explores the dark dimensions of the hometowns and the neighbors we thought we knew.

©2013 Robert Jackson Bennett (P)2013 Recorded Books

Just meh

this book seems to drag on for far too long. I felt very disappointed after I finished it.

Much better than I anticipated

Purchased on a whim. Story, while somewhat predictable was much more interesting than I thought it would be. Made me look forward to doing chores so I could listen to a few more chapters.

What really set it apart was the narrator. No idea how he was able to make the characters sound so different. Really outstanding!

You are entering the twighlight zone

A very entertaining trip of weird. The book is described as supernatural but I would say it has many sci-FY elements such as quantum physics, alien beings and parallel worlds. Mona is an ex police officer that has been wandering for a few years after losing her baby and divorce. She inherits a home that belonged to her mother (committed suicide when she was a child) and after finding some info in her dads storage that shows her mom happy and working in a lab feels a great desire to learn of her moms life. The home and lab are located in Wink New Mexico, unfortunately it is not on any map. I don't want to spoil the story so in short she finds Wink, a charming small town and weirdness ensues. People are strange nothing is what it seems including Mona. The book kept me riveted till the end. Narrator was great. If you like Stephan King, or early Dean Koontz you will enjoy the story.

Hoping for complex and interesting, disappointed

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

no, just not smart or interesting enough, also not really fun or anything

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

the supernatural elements were not very supernatural, they're just sort of there

Was American Elsewhere worth the listening time?

no

starts out interesting gets really repetitive

This author has a habit of starting out books extraordinarily well and then having stories that just get really weird kind of boring and go on and on at length. The first half of this is really enjoyable and the reader did a great job portraying the characters. The audio level on this book is lower than most and requires that you turn it up pretty high.

What a difficult book to define but great nonetheless

I had a hard time with the description and some of the reviews. It's hard to put your finger on what this book is really about. There's a lot of themes that you might find another books but this seems to be a story unlike any other. I thought it was thoroughly entertaining and intriguing. I enjoyed the character development and the way it unfolded. It was a rather long book but I think it allowed for the depth that it had. I would highly recommend it but be sure this is a sci-fi story, not for those that only want realism.

Great tho long winded at times

I really enjoyed this author. I’m going to try some of his other work. There was nothing missing only some scenes were too long. The magic and world building was perfectly executed.

A unique sci-fi/horror mix...

It's a unique story that has a little bit of everything in it. Murder, monsters, aliens, conspiracies, you name it. The book takes you on quite a journey and is well performed by the reader. If you enjoy your sci-fi with a bit of horror, or vice versa, this may be the book for you!

Good story and narrator.

I downloaded this having gotten a recommendation after listening to Library at Mount Char a couple times and I enjoyed it. I like long stories and this held my interest even though there were parts I could skip. My only (tiny) gripe was that I would’ve liked there to be more about dimensions but it was still good. Worth a credit!

Wonderfully Strange and Totally Engrossing!

If you love Dean Koontz's Phantoms and The Taking, Neil Gaiman's American Gods, or Stephen King's The Tommyknockers then the is the brand of horror/sci-fi/mythos for you! Ugh, love this book.