The Bottom of the Sky

A Novel

By: William C. Pack

Narrated by: Scott Brick

Length: 21 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

The Bottom of the Sky is an aching rags to riches family saga that surges from rural squalor into the opulent power chambers of Wall Street and Silicon Valley. The story contrasts the 30-year struggles of an abused sister and brother who seek to reclaim themselves from their abhorrent past. One is abandoned to a life of sexual desecration and addiction. The other escapes with his demons to wield fragile, uncanny genius and unrelenting ambition to amass staggering wealth.

Greed and betrayal power a tense plot involving the FBI, the SEC, and billions of dollars fleeced from brokerage customers and shareholders, while isolation and envy lead to deadly confrontations back home. It is a riveting tale of two disparate worlds joined by one desperate man and his ultimate redemption.

©2009 William C. Pack (P)2009 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

speed it up!

The story was intriguing. The ending felt disjointed. My biggest problem is the reader was sooooo sloooooow.

Loved it

Read a review where someone said depressing. It was but life is often depressing.
The characters were very interesting and so was the story. I'm not to the end yet but so far it's kept my interest every second. Curious to see how it will end.

A MUST READ!

I have long been a fan of great stories told well, and this is one. The author's words are beautiful and poignant. The story is masterfully told, and no less so than by Scott Brick, the narrator. I'd love to see these two pros team up again and add to the living library of American literature.

The One Book You Need to Get for Sure

It's a definite must read. It really is outstanding. I make a practice of reading as many prize winning books as I can, I even subscribe to a couple of podcasts that interview prize winning authors. This is easily as good as or better than most of them. Can't remember any that are better, but I don't want to be absolute when I don't often remember every book I've read.
If you love Montana/someplace rural you will love this book. If you have ever wondered about some of the things that go on behind closed doors of big corporations, you will love this book. William knows what he is writing about because he has had extensive experience with both. If you're a little squeamish, - Get over it because this novel is about real life and about finding your redemption and peace with life and what it deals to you.

A Must Read! You'll be glad you did.

The Bottom of the Sky is a literate page-turner. Scott Brick is one of my favorite narrators so to have him read such a well written story was the icing on the cake! The story is riveting and it's hard to believe that Pack is a first time author. Do yourself a favor and READ THIS BOOK!

Debut Author

Compelling and absorbing, the story draws you in. Sad premise for a book, heart-wrenching. Surprising ending leave you stunned.

Worthy of the buzz it's getting

Listed for several major awards, William C Pack's book is heavy-duty in size--and its hard-hitting themes of power, the abuse of it, and redemption. Its major theme is that of power--power of adults over young children, power of bosses over underlings, the power of addiciton, and the power money holds. It is also about the abuse of power--and there are so many intensely drawn, truly dispicable characters that love to wield power, you come away thinking a large majority of the human race sucks.

This book takes you from the raw Montana landscape to the high-powered exectuive offices of Silicon Vallery, San Francisco, and NYC, where we get up-close-and-personal with the world of stock brokers. Pack, hailed by the likes of Business Week and the Pulitzer committee, is a former Silicon Valley stock broker who knows of what he writes. It's a dirty world--and this is a solid, compelling read, with great, well defined characters. There were parts that occassionally bogged down a bit for me, but the scenes always took me forward to the reward of a great story, put forth with beautiful language.

Very good book.

Would you listen to The Bottom of the Sky again? Why?

This is a book that stays with you once you're done. The story is powerful, well written with interesting and memorable characters. Wasn't sure what to expect but really enjoyed it. Scott Brick, as narrator, may not be for everyone, but I enjoyed his somewhat sardonic performance.

Great Listen

I really enjoyed this book, it was very well written and as a stockbroker in the late 70's I could really relate to it. William Pack did a great job of invesigation before he wrote this book and it shows.

Great characters but too long and depressing

The story is great and the end was excellent. Great character development. My biggest complaint is that it was too long and depressing, unnecessarily so.