Shadow Ticket

De: Thomas Pynchon

Narrado por: Edoardo Ballerini

The New York Times bestseller • A TIME Best Book of 2025

The new novel from Thomas Pynchon, author of Gravity's Rainbow, The Crying of Lot 49, Vineland, and Inherent Vice.

“A masterpiece.” —The Telegraph

“Bonkers and brilliant fun.” —The Washington Post

“Late Pynchon at his finest. Dark as a vampire’s pocket, light-fingered as a jewel thief, Shadow Ticket capers across the page with breezy, baggy-pants assurance — and then pauses on its way down the fire escape just long enough to crack your heart open.” —Los Angeles Times

Milwaukee 1932, the Great Depression going full blast, repeal of Prohibition just around the corner, Al Capone in the federal pen, the private investigation business shifting from labor-management relations to the more domestic kind. Hicks McTaggart, a onetime strikebreaker turned private eye, thinks he’s found job security until he gets sent out on what should be a routine case, locating and bringing back the heiress of a Wisconsin cheese fortune who’s taken a mind to go wandering. Before he knows it, he’s been shanghaied onto a transoceanic liner, ending up eventually in Hungary where there’s no shoreline, a language from some other planet, and enough pastry to see any cop well into retirement—and of course no sign of the runaway heiress he’s supposed to be chasing. By the time Hicks catches up with her he will find himself also entangled with Nazis, Soviet agents, British counterspies, swing musicians, practitioners of the paranormal, outlaw motorcyclists, and the troubles that come with each of them, none of which Hicks is qualified, forget about being paid, to deal with. Surrounded by history he has no grasp on and can’t see his way around in or out of, the only bright side for Hicks is it’s the dawn of the Big Band Era and as it happens he’s a pretty good dancer. Whether this will be enough to allow him somehow to Lindy-hop his way back again to Milwaukee and the normal world, which may no longer exist, is another question.

Awesome writing

Pynchon has done it again - crafting another perfect story - this book fits perfectly between Against the Day and Gravity’s Rainbow

Fun story. Horrible rendition.

This is one of the most overacted audiobook I’ve ever heard in my life. Grating, overemphasized, turning the characters into caricatures. Read the novel rather than listening to this, it’s significantly more grounded.

Eduardo Ballerini

I honestly couldn’t really tell you what this book was about but I would happily listen to Eduardo Ballerini read from the phone book. His command of voices and dialects and inflections is head and shoulders above almost every other voice actor working today. I continue to seek out titles that he performs because I know I will be mesmerized.

lost me

somewhere about the middle of the book it started to lose me and the last half I had no clue what the point was.

fever dreamy, laugh out loud funny.

it's like a dream you're having about a 1930s movie you saw late at night but it's all over the place (in the best possible way) very very good. absolutely hilarious.

some stuff in the novel mirror todays political climate, and that's scary.

Geography via Mustache

Hide and Seek behind the brackets, or don't. give me any lip.to hang it on

Absolutely Perfect

There is nobody better than Thomas Pynchon. I finished this book in two days. I can’t recommend it enough.

Disjointed

Starts out promising but then meanders into several different plots. Lacks cohesion….would have benefited from a strong editor.

Still got it

Pynchon is still Pynchon even at 88 years old. If you're a fan, then this will be a fun read and a reminder of his brilliance. Might not be for the first time Pynchon reader.

great performance

excellent narration. think i heard this guy read some news articles he's really good. story's hard to follow but beautifully written. lots of chuckles and head spinners throughout. amazing to get a new book from this old master