Galveston

A Novel

By: Nic Pizzolatto

Narrated by: Michael Kramer

Length: 7 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's summary

From the creator, writer, and executive producer of the HBO series True Detective and soon to be a major motion picture comes a dark and visceral novel set along the wastelands of Galveston.

On the same day that Roy Cady is diagnosed with a terminal illness, he senses that his boss, a dangerous loan-sharking bar-owner, wants him dead. Roy is alert to the possibility that a routine assignment could be a deathtrap. Yet what the would-be killers do to Roy Cady is not the same as what he does to them, and after a smoking spasm of violence, they are mostly dead and he is mostly alive.

Before Roy makes his getaway, he realizes there are two women in the apartment, one of them still breathing, and he sees something in her frightened, defiant eyes that causes a fateful decision. He takes her with him as he goes on the run from New Orleans to Galveston, Texas—an action as ill-advised as it is inescapable. The girl's name is Rocky, and she is too young, too tough, too sexy—and far too much trouble. Roy, Rocky, and her sister hide in the battered seascape of Galveston's country-western bars and seedy hotels, a world of treacherous drifters, pickup trucks, and ashed-out hopes.

Recalling the moody violence of the early novels of Cormac McCarthy and Denis Johnson, this powerful, potent, and atmospheric thriller is impossible to put down.

©2010 Nic Pizzolatto (P)2010 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Impressive.... Pizzolatto's insightful portrayal of the heroic Roy...is rough and tumble real." ( Publishers Weekly)

Boring

Was Galveston worth the listening time?

If I hadn't purchased this on the deal of the day, I would have requested a refund.

Any additional comments?

Very slow moving

Great story, mediocre narration.

The narration was decent aside from Rocky's lines. The more dramatic portions of her dialogue couldn't end soon enough. The story itself makes up for it though.

I enjoyed the narration

Any additional comments?

An interesting and sad tale about troubled people with a surprise at the end. I have to care about at least one character in a book like this and I did even though he was flawed. I also enjoyed that it was set in the region where I grew up.

great story

dark. gritty. captivating. and heartbreaking. a great start (first novel). i'm looking forward to more from this guy.

Interesting

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

no

What was most disappointing about Nic Pizzolatto’s story?

character development

Which character – as performed by Michael Kramer – was your favorite?

Nic

Could you see Galveston being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

yes, not sure

Any additional comments?

I chose this book because I really enjoyed True Detective. I found it hard to follow. Maybe the movie will be a better representation of the story.

A unique story

This is one of those listens where you can very clearly see the characters in your mind. The narrator sounds like the bearded aging cowboy, dealing with young Rocky, a girl he's thrown together with, while running for his life. The story is one of a man who seems to find his redemption when his life is at it's end, due to an encounter with a very special 4 year old
It's a unique narrative that grows on you and not a happy tale, but I found myself not disappointed having listened to it either.

Interesting character study of tough people

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

This is a good listen. It's a dark moody romp, that moves quickly and was pleasant at it passed, but in the end, like Roy, there isn't much to show for it. The transitions are indeed a little hard to follow. Like the review by Regina, i had to hit the back button a few times. "What happened? How did he get here?" But then it dives back into good story telling. The tough guy and tough girl characters are often likeable but still lose my interest for all their tragic flaws.

What about Michael Kramer’s performance did you like?

He does a really great job with these characters. Great for hard-boiled detective stories. He is obviously not from New Orleans and mispronounces several names of people and places, but he makes the characters believable, if only they weren't so broken.

Beautiful, tough and inexplicable

Michael Kramer is the reader you want for tough-guy noir, and this is an excellent species in the genre. His coarse, unemotional voice never lets the hero down, and Kramer is good with nuance in support players, especially women.

Nic Pizzolatto is a great writer. His images linger long after Kramer utters them. Characters are deep as wells, even the briefly met.

My only problem, and it might just be my problem, is that I had a really tough time following the narrative, which skips around. What happened, I constantly asked myself, pushing the backwards button.

I prefer my crime stories laid out, head to toe-tag, like bodies in a morgue, not the knee, then the head, then somebody else's head, then the body up and moving, before demise.

So many 'saved' clips...

Riveting from page one 'till the end. Might be hard to top, but somehow I doubt he'll disappoint. I finished his 'Yellow Sea' book, watched all three True Detectives, and am glad to have 'discovered' this author.

Wonderful Hardboiled Noir

If True Detective brought you here, you know you are obviously in for a treat. Nic Pizzolatto is a true student of the game in terms of hardboiled noir. The dialogue is very well written. As a South Texan, his descriptions of New Orleans, Texas, and the Gulf Coast are so incredibly vivid/accurate. Michael Kramer’s contrasting voices in this really bring the story to life.