Treadmill

De: Warren Adler

Narrado por: Eric Bryan Moore

Jack Cooper is an unhappy man - mind, body, and spirit. In the blink of an eye, he has lost his longstanding job to the economy, his mother to illness, and his wife to her secret lover.

Beaten, broken, and crippled by tragedy, he withdraws into total isolation, narrowing his life down to the simplest of routines in order to block out the pain. His day begins with a strenuous workout at the Bethesda Health Club, his personal oasis where his mind and body can be free, and ends in his tiny apartment, where he escapes from reality with his books until he can lose himself in sleep.

Nothing more, nothing less. That is, until he meets the enigmatic Mike Parrish. Stolen from the hospital as a newborn and passed around from household to household, Parrish has no official identification. To the government and the world at large, he does not exist. He is an anonymous drifter, but also the first person who breaks through Cooper's emotional confinement. Cooper finds solace in his friendship with Parrish, a man who understands his plight and is sympathetic to his pain.

But then Parrish suddenly disappears, leaving Cooper to search for a virtually invisible man. As he looks for clues as intangible as ghosts, and chases leads as fleeting as shadows, his search leads him back to the one place he called his refuge: the Bethesda Health Club. How much can be taken from a man before he has nothing to lose?

©2018 Warren Adler (P)2018 Warren Adler

A Dark Mystery

Disclaimers first. I read this book as an audiobook for review purposes.

The narrator was perfect for this book. His reading personified the action that was taking place throughout the book. The story is a complicated mystery/suspense with many twists and turns. You need to follow along. Perhaps, with an audiobook, it is more easy to lose track of the action, which I did. But it is easy to go back and ‘reread’ a section. I enjoy mysteries, so I had my suspicions of characters from the beginning..... but it was hard to pinpoint what would happen next and who would be at the bottom of it.

That said, it is a dark story about an unhappy man, who is trying to manage his sorrows. It seems just as he is beginning to open up, things start happening. And he wants answers, and he pursues answers. And in doing so, he puts himself in the center of something much darker than all that went before.

This is an adult book and deals with adult interactions and adult topics. All and all I liked the story and enjoyed the book. It is not the book to read if you are depressed because it is about the dark side. It will make you think about things that you may not have contemplated before.

Exciting Mystery

Jack Cooper had been working out at a club beside Mike Parish for about five months. They had crossed paths at work before they both had lost their jobs. Mike finally told him he had been stolen as a baby and had no family. Jack’s wife had left him for her boss, so they had much in common. When Mike didn’t show up to workout one day, Jack asked the trainer for Mike’s phone number. Blake got real mad and didn’t give it to him. Jack knew something wasn’t as it should be and he started nosing around. A few women entered the mix and a true mystery came about. The author and narrator did a super job of making my hair stand on end.

Intriguing premise; kept me listening

This story is quirky and engaging, but I'm not sure it really fits in the category assigned to it in Audible. It is part mystery, some thriller (at the very end), and a large dose of psychological suspense. There was no gratuitous violence, and the two explicit sex scenes were used to advance the story. As always, an Adler is a good read and, with the excellent narration, this one is also a good listen.

I received a free promotional copy in exchange for an honest review. This review expresses my honest opinions and was not influenced by the promo.

Excellent Narration, Gripping Tale!

The way this book turned out took me totally by surprise. While it starts out a little slow, it makes up for it in how it finishes. By mid-book, I was on the edge of my proverbial seat. The tension and angst build and build, and characters and events take turns that are completely unexpected. I've read and listened to several of Warren Adler's books; this one has moved to the top of my list. This is a dark book, make no mistake, but pays off at the end.

The narration proved exactly right for this book. The slightly gravely voice suited the main character, and the other voices were perfect for each character, man or woman. I grew to care about these people, wanted to know why what was happening was happening, and why to them.

I listened to the Audible audio book version, which I received as a gift from the author, and thought it excellently written and performed. If I could have, I would have listened to it all in one sitting, but real life, sadly, didn't allow that. Opinions expressed in this review were not influenced by the author's generosity.

Treadmill

From the first chapter of this book, you really have no idea where it's going to end up. I had a completely different idea regarding what this book was about. This is my second Warren Adler book, and it was very different than the first.

The narration on this was exceptional. I have listened to Eric Bryan Moore many times and am a fan. He never disappoints.