Mean Streets

By: Jim Butcher, Kat Richardson, Simon R. Green

Length: 10 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's summary

Featuring New York Times best-selling authors Jim Butcher and Simon R. Green, and national best-selling authors Kat Richardson and Thomas E. Sniegoski, Mean Streets offers four novellas from the hottest names in contemporary paranormal suspense. Running the gamut from demons and werewolves to zombies and black magic, these whodunits crackle with otherworldly secrets, making for a noir collection with an extra set of fangs.

©2009 Roc Trade (P)2009 Recorded Books, LLC

caveat emptor

Should have read more carefully, the narrator for the Dresden story isn't James Marsters and it is jarring enough I've bounced off this book three times.

A nice change

What did you love best about Mean Streets?

I like this new series of books that are full of short themed stories, it is a great idea. This book did a great job the stories were interesting and even some new and fresh lines of thought instead of the same old thing.

What other book might you compare Mean Streets to and why?

I can not think of a book I would compare it to, if you know the authors that took part and enjoy those, then you will like this book.

What does the narrator bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

As always the readers bring a different take to the way I may read a sentence giving it a possible twist here or wrinkle there. I also enjoy the hands free ability to consume the book while completing another task

Who was the most memorable character of Mean Streets and why?

Hard to say

I have a weakness for Jim Butcher

Any additional comments?

this is a great collection of fun short stories by some of my favorite authors.

PIG EAR, GOOD

WEEPING WOMEN, ALMOST ALWAYS MEAN TROUBLE FOR SOMEBODY
I enjoyed three out of four of these, which is a good average. I especially liked Sniegoski's story NOAH'S ORPHANS. Some may not like this story as it shows God as not being perfect. For me the whole concept was cool and the story had a twist or two.

IS THIS HELL?
NO, BUT YOU CAN SEE IT FROM HERE.
Green has a story from IN THE NIGHTSIDE, which is funny, weird and very different. If you have not read any of the books from this series, this is a good way to get your feet wet.

Angels use Map Quest?
All the narrators are great.

okay

I liked the book and readers,
a review needs 15 words. 4 more words. bye

A nice collection of stories

I bough this for the Jim Butcher story and enjoyed all of them. The narration was nicely done. I will definitely be looking for more stories with these narrators.

A collection of 4 novellas

I am familiar with Jim Butcher and Simon Green, I have read most of what they have written, I enjoyed what they contributed. (not their best, but not their worst either) Kat Richardson's ghost story was interesting and had a real twist, It was good for a 2 1/2 hour listen. Thomas Sniegoski' is new to me, but I found this work very enjoyable and will be looking into checking out some of his other books. If you enjoy urban fantasy, these anthologies are a good way to find new authors. No not every story will knock your socks off but, being fair I have to say I really enjoyed 80% and I didn't hate the other 20%. Wish I could give this 4 1/2 stars.BTW If you have been listening to Jim Butcher "Dresden Files" and Simon Green "Nightside" on Audible, there is a different narrators, still I think they were done well. Nice way to find new authors and narrators.

Great P. I. Stories with a twist.

This was the best anthology I have run across. Each novella was a jewel! I had to put it away briefly while I caught up on the Dresden series and then jumped right in. Fortunately I totally lucked out and caught two of the other authors in the perfect sequence I was in with their series! Simon Green was new to me and I am intrigued by his "Nightside" series and will definitely check out some of his other stuff.

I am already a huge Dresden fan so I figured I would like his story the best but Kat Richardson's jaunt to Mexico with Harper Blaine blew me away too. This is the way to do an anthology. Rather than being loaded with many short, mediocre stories it has four great stories by truly talented writers with enough time to develop some great tales.

Jim Butcher got my attention

I enjoy Jim Butcher's stories, so I bought this anthology, but it was the fascinating storytelling from the other 3 that kept me wanting more. Excellent job!

BS good, RG bad...

I bought and listened to this book to determien whether or not I wanted to purchase Butcher's Dresden files, as well as to determine if any of the other author's were worth reading.

My conclusions in order:
1) Yes. Bought 2 of Jim Butcher's books immediately (and was a little surprised that neither the writing nor the characters were as developed as the novella here). Still worth reading his other books, though.

2) Maybe. I enjoyed Sniegoski's work, and it was reasonably self consistent. Green, however, was pathetic--perhaps I am expecting too much from the modern school system, but I don't expect zombies to be named "Deadboy", and when I kept hearing "The Car of the Future" referred to, I kept thinking on how "Boy, that will be tough to trademark and make consumer products out of." I would recommend it to any aspiring writer, however, in the vein of "If this dreck can get published, so can I." I keep thinking that maybe I'm missing an attack of the killer tomatoes kind of absurdity, but sometimes bad is just bad, not funny.

Richardson's work was better than Green's, in that she at least came up with some interesting modern magic approaches, but I kept waiting for something to happen, and the only thing that happened was that it moved on to the Sniegoski piece. No tension during the listen, and no "oooh, what a cool idea."

Mediocre, but not "throw my ipod away and burn my ears".