Fourth of July Creek

A Novel

By: Smith Henderson

Narrated by: MacLeod Andrews, Jenna Lamia

Length: 15 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's summary

After trying to help Benjamin Pearl, an undernourished, nearly feral 11-year-old boy living in the Montana wilderness, social worker Pete Snow comes face-to-face with the boy's profoundly disturbed father, Jeremiah. With courage and caution, Pete slowly earns a measure of trust from this paranoid survivalist itching for a final conflict that will signal the coming End Times.

But as Pete's own family spins out of control, Pearl's activities spark the full-blown interest of the FBI, putting Pete at the center of a massive manhunt from which no one will emerge unscathed.

In this shattering and iconic American novel, Smith Henderson explores the complexities of freedom, community, grace, suspicion, and anarchy, brilliantly depicting our nation's disquieting and violent contradictions. Fourth of July Creek is an unforgettable, unflinching debut that marks the arrival of a major literary talent.

©2014 Smith Henderson (P)2014 HarperCollins Publishers

Great story and storytelling!

Sad but so good. A story of a guy who justs wants to help. He is haunted by his bad choices but the listener is rewarded by his good choices. Wonderful characters, their stories true to life, brought together by a beautifully, haunting narration. I loved it!

So so

This book kept my attention most of the way through to the end so I guess it was ok. The girl reader Jenna lamia was awesome - brilliant really. The man narrator, Macleod Andrews, has a voice that sounds like a creepy guy to me. My mind kept wandering and When I would check back in I’d find myself in the middle of a huge action scene -but the reader was still droning in in monotone. I didn’t really like the protagonist - he was kind of rude and uncaring. I did get through it though which speaks (to me) for something.

Good Story-Clunky Narration

Let me start by saying this was a good production and the main narrator did a fine job - aside from the grating mispronunciations of place names ( show-TOE? spo-CANE? How did he ever get Pend Oreille right?!!). However, having a second narrator was a big distraction and her accent was too "country" for Montana. Otherwise the performances were terrific and the writing was fantastic.

Captures so well the ethos of the Trump era.

It is so sad that so many people have fallen into the delusional, paranoid thinking of the cult of Trump. So many disenfranchised, discarded people who have been tragically seduced by the racist, bigotted hatemongers like Trump and Pence. This is fertile ground for fascism. So tragic, these poor people are being abused and exploited and they have no idea it's happening to them.

Intense

Would you consider the audio edition of Fourth of July Creek to be better than the print version?

Yes because of the great narration. Andrews and Lamia are great and give a dimension to the book I would not have picked up reading it.

Which character – as performed by MacLeod Andrews and Jenna Lamia – was your favorite?

Rose--complex, sad, trapped, and trying her best in awful situations.

Any additional comments?

This is an intense and well developed story about people most of us would never know or want to know. The characters however are well developed and accessible and beautifully portrayed by the narrators. The story was complex but not so much that it wasn't an enjoyable listen.

Rich

One of the best books in a while. Beautifully and unselfconsciously written, a story that kept my interest without sensationalism. A story of the darkest of humanity, yet with redemption. Narration compelling and compliments the book.

Exceptional Writing and Exceptional Performance

Smith Henderson has a command of prose rarely seen in modern literature. No clichés in this book! He writes as if he were describing something miraculous for the first time in every scene. Even the most mundane events are transformed into unique, memorable experiences when they are seen through his eyes and described through his words. The 2 narrators are phenomenal, too. Normally, I am impressed when the narrators stay out of the way of a story and do no harm. In this case, they truly enhanced the believability of this book. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this book. I gave the story 4, instead of 5, stars only because the ending was a little disappointing. But, who cares? Getting there was incredible.

This One Will Keep You Up Late

Any additional comments?

Smith Henderson's Fourth of July Creek will be a hard one to put down.

Keep listening!

I’ll be honest..I kept asking myself why I bought this book-at least until halfway through. I was enjoying the narration but not the rawness of the story. Glad I stuck it out. It really is a literary work of fiction -and will tug at your heart many times over.

A sad but intriguing mystery

This was sadly enjoyable, and narrated beautifully.

The story deserves to be listened to without any preconceived ideas, but is well worth a credit.

I'll listen to it again..it was that good.