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Callahan's Key  By  cover art

Callahan's Key

By: Spider Robinson
Narrated by: Barrett Whitener
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Publisher's summary

Nobody blends good science with bad puns as brilliantly as Spider Robinson. Now he's back with the latest chapter of the Callahan saga: an improbable tale of impending doom, a road trip, space, drugs, and rock 'n' roll.

The universe is in desperate peril. Due to a cluster of freakish phenomena, the United States' own defense system has become a doomsday machine, threatening the entire universe. Only one man can save everything-as-we-know-it from annihilation. Unfortunately, he's not available. So the job falls instead to bar owner Jake Stonebender, his wife Zoey, and their superintelligent toddler, Erin, not to mention two dozen busloads of ex-hippies and freaks, Robert Heinlein's wandering cat, a whorehouse parrot, and misunderstood genius-inventor, Nikola Tesla, who is in fact alive and well.

©2000 Spider Robinson (P)2003 Blackstone Audiobooks

Critic reviews

"Fans and the uninitiated alike will devour this intoxicating blend of character comedy and hard sci-fi, for [Spider] Robinson's writing remains as potentially addictive and as full of earthy delight as [Jake] Stonebender's famed Irish coffee." (Publishers Weekly)
"[Spider] Robinson resembles [Robert] Heinlein in his mild anarchism; oft-cited, never described sex; and characters that think they're smarter than the rest of us, and are." (Booklist)
"I'd nominate Spider Robinson as the new Robert Heinlein." (The New York Times)

What listeners say about Callahan's Key

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  • Overall
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    5 out of 5 stars

as close to perfect as it gets.

if you like a to laugh cry orJust want a good read spider is your man .

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

cool

Just a well thought out fun story. That grabs you. It is like listing to a friend spin a yarn. just great.

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3 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

good sci-fi and the narrator does a wonderful job

just what I thought this story was going to get boring another twist would come along and keep it going I enjoyed this thoroughly.

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1 person found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Entertaining

What a wild ride with this book. It is fun and punny and I am pretty sure the Callahan crew is my tribe.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Didn't want to stop listening.

This is one book I never wanted to stop listening to during my day at work. It was really well read.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

More Please!

All I can say is - Audible.com, when will you have more from Spyder Robinson? I enjoyed every minute of it.

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1 person found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Spider, 'nuff said.

A great continuation to the Callahan saga. Jake and friends are out to top their performance as saviours of the world. This time they're out to be saviours of the universe. That's not hyperbole it just came to me in a flash..ahh...ahh.

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    5 out of 5 stars

an excellent continuing adventure for Callahan's

What did you love best about Callahan's Key?

It is another Callahan's Story. Every Callahan's Story is great, so it is really cool to get more.

What other book might you compare Callahan's Key to and why?

Callahan's Con, The Callahan Legacy, The Callahan's Touch, The Callahan Chronicals, The hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

What about Barrett Whitener???s performance did you like?

excellent voices, male and female alike.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

The Greatest Bar on Earth is out to save the Universe!

Any additional comments?

everyone should read the Callahan Books!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

get your fix

Which came first, the chicken, or the egg?
Am I addicted to Spider because he's good, or do I think he's good because I'm addicted? I put it to you: Does it matter?

If you've ever read any of the Callahan's stories, it's likely that you became addicted to the "feel-good". I know I am, and this book served up a nice big heart-clogging, gut-busting, butter-soaked, thanksgiving day sized serving with left-overs and not one burnt roll.

I'm happy to have chosen such an excellent and rewarding form of addiction. Costs thousands less than cigarrettes, doesn't make you stink, doesn't kill you, doesn't get you shot in a crack-house raid... It's not wholly unlike gambling, if gambling meant only playing once every few years but winning every time.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Callahan's Key (Unabridged)

Very Funny, Loved all the stupid Dam Quail quotes and phunny word play

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3 people found this helpful