The Pity Heart

A Nick Drake Novel

By: Dwight Holing

Narrated by: Charles Leggett

Length: 7 hrs and 37 mins

Publisher's summary

Set in 1968, Nick Drake is a troubled Vietnam War veteran seeking redemption as a game warden in a quiet land. But when a fighter pilot from a nearby air force base mysteriously plummets onto one of his refuges, he is plunged into a deadly showdown with the military. A vexing mystery involving multiple murders ensues, and Nick must turn to the old ways of his Paiute neighbors, to hunt for a vicious killer and bring justice to the pitiless high desert.

Listen as a stand-alone or as part of the Nick Drake series.

Award-winning author Dwight Holing draws on his deeply rooted connection to the American West and understanding of the natural world to create a masterful story. With memorable characters and prose that crackles like the unforgiving setting, the suspense builds and drives The Pity Heart to a climax, as powerful as a force of nature.

©2019 Dwight Holing (P)2019 Dwight Holing

Complex and engrossing story

The characters are solid and clear, some wounded, some steady on their feet. The story is complex and multifaceted really a good read.

Excellent Contemporary Western ....

The Pity Heart is the second book in the Nick Drake series. This can be listened to as as a stand alone but I would suggest listening to the entire series.
This book is set in 1968. Nick Drake is a Vietnam vet with a closet full of ghosts that will not be quite.
While working as an Oregon State game warden he sees a fighter pilot ejected from his plane. Something about the way the Air Force is handling the investigation feels wrong to Nick. When he goes to the base he first meets up with a man who’s life he once saved. He’s engaged to the RN who saved Nick’s life, but something really feels off now.
Charles Legget does an excellent job narrating.
This series is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
If you found this review helpful please indicate so.
Thank You.

Good story but left unresolved

4/5 it was good up until the end it did not end the main story.

Fast paced!

The story was fast paced and intriguing. I liked the main character who was flawed but honorable. The narrator drew me in. I’m looking for the next Nick Drake story.

Great story, good narration, needs better directio

Narrator was very clipped. Sentence endings were very abrupt - had an angry feel. I know that anger plays an emotional part of the story, but even descriptions of locations and people sounded abrupt.

Immersing

I found "The Pity Heart," second in the "Nick Drake" series, to be engaging, interesting, humorous, and educational. I did not like (only at first) the changing of narrators from Steve Marvel to Charles Leggett, although Leggett did a good job and continued to through the following two books in the series. Marvel and Leggett are both excellent narrators, but I don't particularly appreciate changing the series voice. I still adapted am glad I kept with the series. I enjoyed the setting being in 1968 and that the author held to this past setting with all the history, kinds of phones, computers, etc. I loved the scene in desolate Harney County, Oregon, where cowboys still exist. The Paiute Indian Tribe is interweaved in this series, and their ways are very intriguing. Author Dwight Holing does it again!

interesting story

a nice story in the continuing struggle that our protagonist has in overcoming addictions incurred in Vietnam. what kind of a recent historical perspective with lots of references for those people of a certain age in music and social context. a great native American perspective of the Oregon area or east of the Cascades I should say. a window into a part of the country now that a lot of people know about.

5 star

page turner for sure 👍 I am loving this series so far, both narrators have been really good, I am onto the next book... this book and the first won't disappoint you, they are paced just right and keeps you guessing.

I tried hard to like this book but...

It was hard to LIKE some of the characters- and they were the GOOD guys. The veterinarian intended as a possible love interest for the main character was down right unlikable, as were others. The story was okay, but dark. Trying to keep up with who was who was sometimes a challenge. I picked this book because I am a fan of the narrator. Even he couldn’t pull this depressing thing out of the mud.