Whiplash River

De: Lou Berney

Narrado por: Jeff Gurner

“Like Carl Hiaasen, Berney delights in the cartoonish. Like Elmore Leonard, he can drive a plot. What sets him apart is how well he evokes love, making the romance…as compelling as the mystery.”
—Boston Globe

Lou Berney immediately earned a seat of honor at the mystery masters’ table with his crackling caper novel, Gutshot Straight—a lightning-fast, fiendishly clever suspenser that screamed for a sequel. And here it is. Former professional wheel man Charles “Shake” Bouchon is back, living in the Caribbean paradise of Belize with his lawless past far behind him—until a gunshot tears through his beachside restaurant and he’s on the run again. A twisting tale filled with lawmen, con men, and hit men; a beautiful but deadly FBI agent; and a murderous thug named Baby Jesus, Whiplash River recalls the best of the off-the-wall crime fiction impresarios—Elmore Leonard, Carl Hiaasen, James W. Hall, Robert Ferrigno, Tim Dorsey—while establishing its own unique orbit in the noir universe.

great story featuring the unflappable Shake

Jeff Gurney is a great narrator and does a great job on this book. Unfortunately Edoardo Balerino's reading of the first Shake Bouchant mystery, Gutshot Straight, captured the main character so perfectly any substitute would look like Roger Moore to Sean Connery.

Nevertheless Whiplash River is good mystery featuring truly entertaining characters so well developed I felt like they were old friends. It is funny and plays like a great Elmore Leonard movie.

It's a Series! (I hope.)

I'm hoping this is second in a series, starting with 'Gutshot Straight'. I agree with a reviewer of 'Gutshot Straight' who said that Berney writes like a combination of Elmore Leonard and Carl Hiaasen. This second novel has the hero, Shake, caught up with other vividly drawn characters in a fast paced plot with lots of twists and turns. I found myself smiling and laughing aloud as I listened to the characters' responses to murder and mayhem. The third book can't come along soon enough for me.

Entertaining,

Where does Whiplash River rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

The book was entertaining and a bit humerus at times.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Not just one character, Shake and Gina together are quite an adventurous couple. I would love another Shake/Gina book.

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

Great job in bringing the book to life.

Great characters. Great story

Top notch writing and story. I’ve loved everything Lou Berney has written. You will too

Average, But 'Average' Ain't Bad

Look, the competition out there for successful mystery/adventure fiction is intense, right? I want a book that will entertain me at the gym, during a commute, and at chore time. Some of those books are terrible. Some are great. But most are average. That is they don't disappoint, deliver a good time, and entirely disappear from your memory quicker than a political speech.

Lou Berney's, "Whiplash River" is one of those. I'll probably buy more of his books especially if they're read by Jeff Gurner. There are worse ways to spend an hour grooming the lawn.

It's average, but average is a good thing on these competitive shelves.

A great romp

The narrator was great. And it’s always fun to run into shake and Gina. What a great series.

Con games

Stories involving the con game seem hard to come by.
This one creeps up on you and then gets nicely complex, still very upbeat with a lot of wry humor.
The narrator was excellent and the changes were flawless, the pace just right, and absent the excessive over acting of some other narrators.

Implausible event mars a good novel

I’m all for the willful suspension of disbelief, but to have a character just leave a probable priceless item to chase after a possible switcharoo just doesn’t ring true. Sorry, but that series of events needed more editing.

Performance of Narrator Loses Story

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

Berney's second book is not as developed as his first and his selection of narrator almost renders book unreadable (hard to listen to).

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

The return of the characters from the first book--Shake, Gina, and Jasper. They were fully developed in the first book and return with half their personality but I'm glad to see them again.

What didn’t you like about Jeff Gurner’s performance?

Everything. He doesn't distinguish between characters, doesn't grasp Shake's emotional tones and ruins the relationship between Gina and Shake. The characters blend together as there is little emphasis and nuances between them. Bad narrator.

Any additional comments?

It's sad to see an author's second book stray so far from his first work.

meh

Thing is, this book was fair. Though it was the second book in the series, it felt like the first book the author did. Top that off with a radio DJ narrator that sounds like Casey Cassum (sp).