Raising Stony Mayhall

By: Daryl Gregory

Narrated by: David Marantz

Length: 12 hrs and 15 mins

Publisher's summary

From award-winning author Daryl Gregory, whom Library Journal called "[a] bright new voice of the 21st century", comes a new breed of zombie novel - a surprisingly funny, vividly frightening, and ultimately deeply moving story of self-discovery and family love.

In 1968, after the first zombie outbreak, Wanda Mayhall and her three young daughters discover the body of a teenage mother during a snowstorm. Wrapped in the woman's arms is a baby - stone-cold, not breathing, and without a pulse. But then his eyes open and look up at Wanda, and he begins to move.The family hides the child - whom they name Stony - rather than turn him over to authorities who would destroy him.

Against all scientific reason, the undead boy begins to grow. For years, his adoptive mother and sisters manage to keep his existence a secret - until one terrifying night when Stony is forced to run, and he learns that he is not the only living dead boy left in the world.

©2011 Daryl Gregory (P)2011 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Stony [is] the best zombie character ever....More than many novelists, Gregory's work not only withstands but grows richer with re-readings and sustained attention." (SF Signal)

"Raising Stony Mayhall should add to Daryl Gregory's reputation as a dazzling innovator....a fast-paced, exciting narrative laced with both humor and moments of pathos." (Locus)

"Part superhero fiction, part zombie horror story, and part supernatural thriller, this luminous and compelling tale deserves a wide readership beyond genre fans. Highly recommended." (Library Journal)

Lackluster and not gripping

I wanted to like this book, but it's beset by problems that caused me to give up on it, a little over half the way. First, I will say: I liked the premise. Great premise. But the execution was just, well, boring. The story, I feel didn't develop its main character much or its supporting characters, at all. Rather, it reads like a novelty act. Might be best to call it, "Zombie with a Heart." The narration, as well, didn't engage me. Whether it's the voice itself or the weak material he has to speak from, this story simply put me to sleep...which is not a good thing when you pick up audiobooks for long drive times.

Adolescent tone and a very slow plot.

Underdeveloped and unsympathetic characters made this a tedious listen for me. I ended up wondering how old the author, Daryl Gregory is and was very surprised to find he is 46. The book reads like it's written by a twenty year old. There is simply no depth or motivation behind any of the characters. And the the plot just stops after the first third. I kept waiting for something to perk up the momentum but it didn't happen for me.
It didn't help that the narrator was very limited in the characterizations in his voice. I don't get the glowing reviews. This book was a dud.

Great start...Blah finish

I'm not sure why the rave reviews. This story did start out entertaining and captivating; but after Stony ran off and joined his fellow zombies there wasn't any more story. I'm now 2/3 through the book and I just can't stay interested. There's nothing in the story that's drawing me to finish the book, so for me it's a bust.

not very great

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?
Fans of these kind of stories may enjoy it more.

Any additional comments?
Not for me but could have some fans.

It could have been so much better...

I enjoy books with imagination and fantasy, and I was willing to give a zombie book at try. The idea of a book from a zombie's perspective seemed intriguing. After forcing myself to listen to the whole book, I can only hope that I bought it on sale because it was a big disappointment. The plot was very uneven. At times it was so boring I almost quit listening for good. At other times I felt myself drawn in and anxious to keep listening. The feeling of boredom was far more frequent. The fact that I was occasionally drawn into the story was the biggest frustration, since it kept me listening intstead of just stopping for good. Now that I've finished the book I can't say that I'm glad I did - I wish I hadn't been intrigued enough to buy it in the first place. Ultimately it left me thinking that the author could have made the entire book more compelling instead of a book with long stretches of dullness with an occasional spark. The switch in time and perspective was not very effective and ultimately added to the frustration. Some of the author's comments were just plain irritating - points where he stopped telling the story, and just lectured the reader on the reader's expectations. I can't fault the narrator for the story he was reading, and I would say he did a fine job with what he had to work with. It's not the worst thing I've ever read or listened to, but I won't be looking for anything else by this author, and if asked for a recommendation, I would never recommend this book to anyone else.

Started wel... Turned boring about a quarter in.

I did not care for this book. It started off good and I thought it would be a great book. However, about a quarter of the way in it became extremely boring and continued to bore me throughout the rest of the book – – not for me.

So much profanity, I only listened to half of it.

What would have made Raising Stony Mayhall better?

I believe the author could have easily chosen better words during his character's dialogs. There was NO reason to drop 30+ F-bombs and 20+ blasphemies in the space of 30 minutes in the middle of the story.

This was so offensive that I simply have no desire to finish this story.

Would you ever listen to anything by Daryl Gregory again?

No! No desire! Not a chance!

What aspect of David Marantz’s performance would you have changed?

The performance was fine. There was nothing in the voice or style that distracted from the story. The first half of the story was very nice to listen to.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

Certainly. The book was mildly humorous in the first half, and provided a solid story that I wanted to know how it ended… alas, that was ruined through a poor selection of choice words.

Any additional comments?

I don't wish to offend anyone, I simply want to warn you that this book goes out of its way to offend any "Christian" standards of speech or conduct. I highly recommend that you avoid the book if you do not want to be bombarded with F-bombs or the gratuitous taking of Gods name for no reason.

About 1/3 of the way through the book, the main character (Stony) is approached by a sister who has accepted Christ as savior and discusses salvation with him. Stony sums up his thoughts to the readers by analyzing Christ and God and says, "Jehovah must be a Dick!".

That comment was so unnecessary to the advancement of the story that I am ashamed that I continued to listen. The story was going fairly well at that point and I thought was worth listening to. I was so wrong.

1/2 way through the story there is a large gathering. At this gathering, there are so many F-bombs and blasphemies that I had to stop listening, delete the story, and warn others.

I hope this helps at least one person to avoid wasting their time with this trash.

To Audible.com I would ask that you PLEASE add a profanity / Offensive Language rating to the site. I am so tired of enjoying a story just to find that it is not worth the verbal onslaught.

Starts off great

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

The first part of the book was great until it became political and mind over matter stuff.

What was most disappointing about Daryl Gregory’s story?

It was a totally different story once Stony left home. I had a hard time following the timeline. It was not a smooth story and it was painful to listen to until the very end.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

The narrator did good.

What character would you cut from Raising Stony Mayhall?

None

Any additional comments?

Disappointing

Couldn't finish it, boring.

The story was interesting for a while, when Stony was young. But later it started to drag and I found I was forcing myself to listen just because I had invested so much time already. I really had no interest in what was going to happen. Overall an unpleasant experience.

Not your average zombie tale

Not your average zombie tale, less ravaging of humans than normal. More the tale of a zombie baby rescued by a family and kept hidden. One day, he realizes that he is not the only one. Then Stony grows up to become a zombie activist.