The Big Both Ways

By: John Straley

Narrated by: Barry Press

Length: 11 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's summary

John Straley brings his storytelling abilities to a new level in this completely original period crime story.

It's 1935, and Slip Wilson, rattled by the gruesome accidental death of a coworker, has quit his job at a logging camp, hoping to make a clean start in Seattle. But along the way he rescues a woman and her young niece from their car in a ditch, and his life takes a hard turn. The woman, Ellie Hobbes, is an anarchist with big dreams - but first, she has to take care of that pesky dead body in the trunk of her car.

So begins the action that will take Slip, Ellie, her niece, and her noisy yellow bird on a thrilling adventure up the Inside Passage from Puget Sound to Alaska.

©2014 John Straley (P)2014 Blackstone Audio

Excellent story, workmanlike narration

This one had to grow on me but in the end I really enjoyed it. The characters were well drawn, if not particularly likable. The storyline was gritty noir and well-developed, and the author did a great job evoking 1930s Southeast Alaska. the narration was generally good, though Barry Press took great pains to. enunciate. each. word. clearly. [SPOILER] Straley did a great job tying up all the plot strings that was the ending was a little happier than I would expect in a story.

Loved it!

This is a wonderful historic romp up the inland passage. Good prequel to Cold Storage. Highly recommend this read.

Vivid storyline.

Barry Press reads this story to perfection! He brings the timeline of events of the ‘30s to life.

Recommended

I struggled with the first few chapters of this book, but once I stuck to it, the story was great. well written and narrated. Highly recommend.

1935, Seattle, Unions . . . and Alaska

Slip, a logger, having witnessed the horrific death of a fellow logger, just wants to go somewhere peaceful . . . and be a farmer . . . so he quits his logging job and heads for Seattle . . . meeting Ellie Hobbes with her car in a ditch . . . a man is dead (in her trunk), another gets killed, and a chance encounter continues into days and weeks, little by little Slip gets deeper and deeper into a situation he may never get out of . . . the story is full of colorful and cunning characters, idealists, unions and their bosses, and the lawmen caught in the middle . . . Ellie's dreams of flying airplanes, and Ellie's optimistic young niece, Annabelle with her bird, Buddy, bring contrast to a story fraught with tension . . . A lot of time is spent in the telling of the trip north to Alaska, with some amazing accounts of whales and wildlife . . . John Straley is a talented writer . . . and much is told of the seedier side of life that no doubt existed . . . the conclusion is quite satisfying . . . I would have enjoyed a more in depth story of this period of time, as it was most interesting to me.

Excellent writing! Very good storyline!

Very good descriptive writing. You can visualize in your mind what the author is describing. we also read Cold Storage by the same author.

A refreshing and enjoyable find!

A refreshing and enjoyable change from all the zombie, Dracula, and "conquering alien planets" books...., that I enjoy most often .
A well written, and narrated, story that combines drama with a bit of suspense, and is focused around the mid-1930 U.S. Recession. I definitely look forward to reading more from John Staley, whether I want a break from my "go to" themes or not.