Shaker

A Novel

By: Scott Frank

Narrated by: Dion Graham

Length: 10 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's summary

Meet Roy Cooper, stoic, unassuming "errand runner" for various New York criminals. Roy arrives in Los Angeles to shoot a man named Martin Shine a week after a powerful earthquake has knocked out cell service, buckled the freeways, and thrown LA into chaos. Roy doesn't know who Shine is or why he has to die, but he does his job and does it well.

Except for one thing: After the hit, Roy can't find where he parked his car. Wandering the streets of North Hollywood, he stumbles upon a jogger getting mugged and beaten by four young gangbangers. Despite his attempt to simply put his head down and walk away, Roy winds up in the middle of another killing. Things get more complicated when the murdered jogger turns out to be a controversial mayoral candidate. Roy himself is shot twice, hospitalized in critical condition, and mistaken for a hero when a local resident leaks a video that goes viral.

Now meet the rest of the cast of characters, including Kelly Maguire, a disgraced LAPD detective with an anger management problem and strange feelings about LA's newest hero; Science, the teenage gangbanger/shooter who needs to keep Roy quiet about what he's seen; Mayor Miguel Santiago, who finds himself facing accusations that he's just had his opponent whacked; Albert Budin, Roy's onetime mentor and one of the scariest, creepiest characters in recent crime fiction; and myriad criminals, politicians, and cops who all need Roy to disappear - preferably forever.

Finally, meet Scott Frank, who has created not just one of the most entertaining novels of the year but also one of the most surprising. This first novel is fun and funny as well as moving and textured, nuanced, and powerful. Shaker is the debut work of fiction by a major new storyteller.

©2016 Scott Frank (P)2016 Random House Audio

I 💗 LA

Great thriller with Los Angeles (my hometown) as a backdrop. The story and writing style reminded me of (2) other LA writers, Michael Connelly and Robert Crais. Great narration. If you love LA based stories, check this one out. FYI, there are a LOT of characters and plot strands, and not all of them are wrapped up, hence the (4) star overall rating. Otherwise, very entertaing.

LAME ENDING

Awful lot of build-up and flashback only to end up with a very unsatisfactory ending. Missed opportunity but narrator was great

earthquake and murders in Los Angeles

Roy is a free lance hit man from New York that goes to L.A to kill someone he doesn't know just after a major earthquake; then, he accidently wanders into another killing, which turns out to be a controversial candidate for mayor, and Roy then ends up in the hospital… and then suddenly ghosts of the past emerge and story plot gets frantic and accelerates to bring us to a “grand finale” full of drama (and blood).
A great first novel of Frank Scott, one of the most successful screenwriters of the past decade. The book has charisma and “sucks you in” very easily to become additive: characters are memorable and the plot captivating.
I found a few things that could be improved (flashbacks are too long and create at times gap between the past and the current events) , but this ,all in all , is a superb debut novel.

Loved loved love... until the end?

What did you like best about this story?

I liked the characters so much but the end was terrible. There was no ending! Did he live? Did the others? Is he in prison? WTH?

Great Book...

Dion Graham has done it again, the voice of “The First 48 Hours” and several Eric Jerome Dickey audio books is as smooth as they come, teamed with Scott Frank this is a cant miss audio production!

Fantastic Dark Thriller

Shaker by Scott Frank is an absolutely amazing narrative experience. From the noire streets of LA, to the ccomplete immersion, to its fantastic characters and to the brilliantly written plot, this is a masterpiece.

Reminiscent of Stephen King's The Shawshank Redemption and of other dramatic stories by Don Winslow, Shaker will grrab you by the neck and will not let you go until its heartbreaking end. You'll meet an assassin for hire, a group of gangbangers, a troubled Police detective, a mom looking for a lost child and many others, all of them shrouded in dark secrets...

Dion Graham is the perfect narrator for this story set in the City of Angels. He is in stellar forme and delivers an amazing performance, giving life with passion and talent to all the deeply developed characters.

If you like dark thrillers, dramatic stories ripped from the headlines and lifelike characters, Shaker is exactly what you are looking for. Grabbed it from Audible at Stephen King's suggestion and listened to it late into the night, tossing and rurning, not willing to stop it, but I had to. Woke up, started again early next day until and I kept going until I finished it. I was left breathless, waiting for more, hoping for more, but that was the end, and it was the right way to endot.

I hope from all my heart that Scott Frank will write more excellent books in the future!

That was pretty good

The voice actor did a really good job! I also thoroughly enjoyed the twists this story had to offer!

Great Debut Novel

A real page turner! If you are looking for an action filled read with interesting characters, this is the book for you. The narration is first rate.

Disappointing

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

I love Scott Frank's screenwriting, but this book was pretty underwhelming.

Would you recommend Shaker to your friends? Why or why not?

No. I'd recommend his films instead.

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

Narration was fine.

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

It could be a movie, but it'd be a pretty boring one.

A well read great and darkly comic story

I look forward to getting more of both the author and reader's work. An original, action-packed story brilliantly performed by Dion Graham.