Tonight I Said Goodbye

By: Michael Koryta

Narrated by: Scott Brick

Length: 10 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's summary

This is the remarkable debut mystery from the winner of the 2003 St. Martin’s Press/Private Eye Writers of America Prize for Best First Private Eye Novel.

Investigator Wayne Weston is found dead of an apparent suicide in his home in an upscale Cleveland suburb, and his wife and six-year-old daughter are missing. Weston’s father insists that private investigators Lincoln Perry and Joe Pritchard take the case to exonerate his son and find his granddaughter and daughter-in-law. As they begin to work, they discover there is much more to the situation than has been described in the prevalent media reports. There are rumors of gambling debts and extortion, and a group of Russians with ties to organized crime who don’t appreciate being investigated—a point they make clear with baseball bats.

With some assistance from newspaper reporter Amy Ambrose, Perry and Pritchard believe they are making swift progress. But then they are warned off the investigation by a millionaire real estate tycoon and the FBI. Just when they feel they are closing in on a possible source of answers, another murder forces them to change direction in the case.

©2004 Michael Koryta (P)2010 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“A terrific, first-class debut full of suspense, tension, tricks, and charm. If you like Spenser and Hawk, or Elvis and Joe, or Myron and Win, you’re going to love this.” (Lee Child, New York Times best-selling author)

“An incredibly fresh private-investigator novel...Koryta...emerges fully formed in his first effort.” ( Chicago Tribune)

“This riveting detective novel should delight fans looking for new talent.” ( Publishers Weekly)

Couldn't stop listening to this.

First, I think Scott Brick is the best narrator of all.
Second, the story kept me riveted all the way through. And the ending ---- wow!

pretty good read

this was a decent read, enjoyed the book, would recommend to anyone who looking for audience

Twist & Turns Thriller

Good story definitely held my interest, anxious for next opportunity to continue listening, well read

good story

New author for me, I've bought the next book in the series. Try it

Decent story, over acted narration

The story was decent enough for a long car ride. However, as always, Scott brick attempts to bring too much to the table. His tone of voice often comes across as pretentious. That should not happen when you’re bringing a story to life.

Worthwhile effort

Good story, well written but I wasn't on the edge of my seat waiting to find out what happens. Reader was fine - able to tell one character from another, but wasn't really special. This is the first of Koryta's Lincoln Perry books that I have read, and it's not quite as riveting as I found The Cypress House and The Ridge (my very favorite). I'll give LP another look - perhaps in subsequent books the character development is better than this one.

Great execution

Have you listened to any of Scott Brick’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have listened to Brick Scott before, and I've really disliked him in other narrations, but I didn't mind him so much in this book. He's slow, but it worked okay for this one.

Any additional comments?

I think this story had a lot of greats plot twists that made it very enjoyable. I did keep track of the characters in some notes on my phone; it helps me in the beginning of the story to make sure I don't mix up characters.

Never a dull moment.

Would you listen to Tonight I Said Goodbye again? Why?

No, 2nd time already.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Tonight I Said Goodbye?

The final confrontation in the cabin.

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

Great flow and emotion. Better than my imagination could come up with.

Any additional comments?

Same problem I see in several other books in this genre'. ANY person who knows handguns knows that Glocks don't have safeties. None of them ever. Yet the hero "clicks off the safety" on his Glock. That is why they quit using them in police departments. Too many accidental shootings. (mostly self inflicted wounds to the officer's leg). Its proof the only action the author has seen is in the movies. He might as well have given a phone number starting with 555 prefix like in T.V. shows. Ruins the whole book for me. For God's sake. If you are going to write "shootem up stories", do your research.

Good mystery, thriller, detective novel

Tonight I Said Goodbye by Michael Koryta was not a bad first effort for the author. I really enjoyed the story. Koryta is good at descriptive writing without over-describing so that just enough is left to the listener's imagination, and the character development was adequate for a novel of this type. This book could be classed as a mystery, a detective novel, or a thriller depending on how you want to look at it.

I won't go into too much detail about the plot, but essentially, it begins as a missing persons case and moves into a mystery that culminates in a mob thriller ending. It moved at a good pace, so I wasn't bored with it at any point, and I was surprised by some of the developments.

Scott Brick is a good narrator for this type of audiobook. He has the voice of the hard-boiled detective down pat, and he has a good cadence. I listened to him at a speed of 1x, which says a lot for his vocal quality. For novels, if I don't like the narrator, or if the story becomes boring in parts, I will use the speed button to get through the book faster. I didn't do that here because Brick has a relaxed, calming voice that I enjoyed listening to. He's not the best at differentiating the character voices, but he was adequate.

The reasons for the two-star deduction are the language and the sex scene. The language is mild, but it was scattered throughout the book and it became an unwelcome distraction from the novel. The sex scene was short and it's easy to skip through because, as usual, it had nothing to do with the story.

Overall, the storyline is great, the narration is good, and if you want to survive the language and the sex scene (or skip through it as I did), you will enjoy this book if you like mysteries, thrillers, or detective novels.

Great book 4.5 STARS!

The only reason it for 4 stars instead of 5 is it started off a bit slow, but it made up for it. Half way through I couldn't put it down. Highly recommend. I rarely ever listen to a book twice but I will definitely listen to this one again.
Get it. You won't regret it.