Heaven, Hell, or Houston

De: Thom Erb

Narrado por: Doug Miller

After a less than successful stint as the Governor's security detail, the volatile, alcoholic Texas Ranger Jay McCutcheon wants nothing more than to get home to his wife and baby and save his marriage. He thinks the only thing standing between him and his family is five hundred rain-soaked miles of dark pavement. But he's dead wrong.

Isandro Dianira has just broken out of prison. He's been possessed by an evil voice that has spoken to him since childhood. With his gang-banger thugs, he leaves a bloody trail on his way to Mexico. Before leaving the country, he needs to kill McCutcheon, the pig that put him in the pen.

As the two men unknowingly race toward each other, a powerful rainstorm is heading westward, and along with it, a zombie virus that's causing the dead to rise. Stacy-Jo, a street-tough teenage girl from New York is about to get in some serious trouble, when she meets McCutcheon, who winds up saving her hide from a nasty situation.

Together, they hit the road and wind up at a roadside diner, where brutal violence will unfold and the undead will feed.

©2015 Thom Erb (P)2015 Thom Erb

Hell of a ride!

If you could sum up Heaven, Hell, or Houston in three words, what would they be?

Gritty, gruesome, and gory

Who was your favorite character and why?

Texas Ranger Jay McCutcheon oozes old school cowboy in an a 1980s world. He is that 1980s action hero, Clint Eastwood meets Bruce Willis having the worst day ever. A good man with some bad habits who can't stop getting in his own way.

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

Doug Miller had the gravelly voice that was perfect for the lead character Jay McCutcheon and delivered the vile Isandro Dianira's lines with villainous grace. He handled the smaller characters deftly, although I did feel he struggled a little finding the voice for street tough teen Stacy-Jo, but nothing that impeded my enjoyment of the story.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I ran through a few extreme emotions with this book.

Erb's villains are harsh, bad men who disgusted me and made me angry and you feel McCutcheon's inner struggle to be the man he wants to be while fighting to save what he loves...

Any additional comments?

Thom Erb can turn a phrase, reminiscent of Stephen King's deft descriptions and quality characterizations. He pulls no punches. It is a beautifully written, but brutal 'no apologies" genre bending cowboy-noir/zombie thriller through a 1980s Texas landscape.

So hang on when the rubber hits the road and keep your gun loaded (you'll need it)!

Action packed road trip with zombies!

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Yes, simply because I enjoyed the book. The Book wasn't too long a little over 5 hours and listened to it in a few sittings.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

I wouldn't have changed anything. It was perfectly enjoyable as it was.

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

I was a little put off initially by Doug Miller's voice but I must say that it grew on me as the story progressed, he aslo did very well and distinguishing between character voices.

Did Heaven, Hell, or Houston inspire you to do anything?

I did look to see what else Thom Erb wrote...

Any additional comments?

This was a very good book from an author unknown to me. It was fast paced and brutal and not for the squimish. An entertaining story and good characters overall. Very enjoyable, recommended.

I received this book for free in return to give an honest and fair review.

Graphic and intense zombie story

What made the experience of listening to Heaven, Hell, or Houston the most enjoyable?

I enjoyed the story and the narrator did a great job. He was exceptional with the different character voices.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Heaven, Hell, or Houston?

There were several very graphic and intense scenes that were hard to forget.

Any additional comments?

I was provided this audiobook at no charge by the author in exchange for an unbiased review via Audiobook Blast

Vivid imagery, Erb paints a picture with his words

WARNING: Explicit violence and rape of women and young girls as well as foul language.

Some people have all the luck and then there are guys like the volatile, alcoholic Texas Ranger, Jay McCutcheon. From a long line of Texas Rangers and alcoholics, McCutcheon just wants to dump the stupid drunk perverted Governor’s security detail and get home to his wife and baby girl. A year of living apart, McCutcheon wants to save his marriage and change. He was well on his way until the yellow rain fell raising the dead to walk and eat. Oh, then there was Stacy-Jo a runaway who won his heart and whom he protected as much as possible from the uncanny situations she often found herself thrust into.

Toss in the evil Isandro Dianira, who recently escaped from prison and decided to rape and pillage everyone and thing in sight, and McCutcheon’s night just got worse since he’s the one who was responsible for Isandro’s prison term. Isandro was the leader of a gang and one who had a special friend living in his head who told him to do “things.” Such as slicing animals and … well torturing and murdering anything that has a pulse since he was old enough to walk!

If one can get past the violence, it is an authentically written book with the dialect, words and everything written in a very realistic manner. Thom Erb has written an excellent book (violence aside) that captures what everyone fears but doesn’t realize – who is the person entering the convenience store? What are they likely to do? What sets them off?

Vivid imagery, Erb paints a picture with his words. Listeners can see the tired, angry Texas Ranger vividly as well as the evil Isandro. Zombies do make an appearance but it is the evil Isandro and McCutcheon that are the center of the drama. A strong plot and well developed characters.

Doug Miller did an excellent Texas Ranger voice for McCutcheon, he was a little weak for Stacy-Jo’s New York accent but overall, he did an excellent job. Not only could I feel his energy through his reading, I could also feel the oozy slimey gunk flowing from the evil Isandro and the pervert on the bus by his talented reading by tone and voices. His enunciation was perfect.

I enjoyed the book and was sorry to hear it end. I would recommend this book to adults given some of the content.

There were no issues with the production of this audiobook.

Audiobook was provided for review by the narrator.

Please find this complete review and many others at my review blog

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the worst road trip EVER

Heaven, Hell, or Houston (Unabridged)
________________________________________

Author: Thom Erb
Narrator:
Doug Miller
Provider:
Third Bay Studios

After a less than successful stint as the Governor's security detail, the volatile, alcoholic Texas Ranger Jay McCutcheon wants nothing more than to get home to his wife and baby and save his marriage. He thinks the only thing standing between him and his family is five hundred rain-soaked miles of dark pavement. But he's dead wrong. Isandro Dianira has just broken out of prison. He's been possessed by an evil voice that has spoken to him since childhood. With his gang-banger thugs, he leaves a bloody trail on his way to Mexico. Before leaving the country, he needs to kill McCutcheon, the pig that put him in the pen. As the two men unknowingly race toward each other, a powerful rainstorm is heading westward, and along with it, a zombie virus that's causing the dead to rise. Stacy-Jo, a street-tough teenage girl from New York is about to get in some serious trouble, when she meets McCutcheon, who winds up saving her hide from a nasty situation. Together, they hit the road and wind up at a roadside diner, where brutal violence will unfold and the undead will feed.

I don’t usually read Zombie books, as I consider them to be nothing more than barely animated mindless corpses who shuffle around, rotting, and do nothing but eat. However, the author gave his zombies something that made them more unique and interesting, so I was willing to set aside my dislike of the …um …things for the sake of the story.

The truly excellence in this book, though, lies in the characters. The main character is masterfully drawn, and about as real as a character in a book can get. I know I’ve “connected” with a character when I find myself wanting to alternately hug him and bang his head against the wall for being just …obtuse, and acting stupid. I spent the entire book on that particular swing …but in the end, I just wanted to hug him. The other main characters are nicely drawn too, even the convict and his crew. I admit to finding the convict’s psychopathy a bit trite, as it has been somewhat overused, but it worked, at least most of the time. While I could *NOT* empathize with him, I could understand him somewhat, and wonder what he might have been without the condition from which he suffered. The other significant characters were believable, often charming, and sympathetic, and I enjoyed reading about them and routing for them …unsuccessfully in many cases.

The narrator was excellent, and very nearly superb. Not only was his phrasing and shaping perfect, but his Texan was spot on …and he understood that people from Texas don’t talk as fast as say, people from NYC …so he got the drawl just right, too, which isn’t all that usual in professional narrators. His Hispanics weren’t cartoon character Mexicans, either, and he obviously new, or spent time learning, how to pronounce Spanish words, because he did so naturally and easily.

Though not my normal reading fare, this was a good book, and well written, so I give it 4 out of 5 stars, and the narrator a full 5 stars.