Callahan's Con

By: Spider Robinson

Narrated by: Barret Whitener

Length: 9 hrs and 37 mins

Publisher's Summary

In the discreet little Key West bar that Jake Stonebender established, Fast Eddie Costigan learned to curse back at parrots as he played the house piano; the Reverend Tom Hauptman learned to tend bar bare-chested, and Long-Drink McGonnigle discovered the margarita. Nobody even noticed them save the universe.

After 10 quiet years, their laid-back existence is disturbed by a malevolent, moronic Mafioso, named Tony Donuts, Jr., intending to resurrect the classic protection racket in Key West. Jake's scientifically precocious 13-year-old daughter is threatened by the truancy officer and then, thanks to very poor accessorizing, Jake's wife, Zoey, suddenly finds herself in a place with no light, no heat, and no air. And no way home. The urgent question was where, precisely where, but that turned out to be a problem so complex that even the entire gang, equipped with teleportation, time travel, and telepathic syntony, might not be able to crack it in time.

©2003 Spider Robinson (P)2004 Blackstone Audiobooks

Critic Reviews

"The wordplay flies fast and funny as always in a Callahan's romp, and the characters, regular and new, are pretty darn amusing." (Booklist)
"Robinson knows how to generate tension without losing his sense of humor, a more difficult trick than you might imagine." (The New York Times)

callahan's con

Slow, boring and silly nonsense.

16 of 24 people found this review helpful

The Worst of the Best

The problem with this book isn't that it's bad. It's not. But compared with the other books in the Callahan's series, it's pretty weak. None of the stories where shared pain is lessened, nor of shared joy, increased.

That being said....

If you've read the previous ones, read this one. If you haven't.... go back and read "The Callahan Chronicals". If you liked that... go through the others and get here eventually.

10 of 15 people found this review helpful

A fun ride.

This is a fun book on its own. But I somehow missed the fact that it's a sequel. So, there were numerous unknowns I had to discover that weren't immediately obvious. I may now go back and find the original series.

5 of 11 people found this review helpful

A Must for Callahan Fans

Simply said, this is another great book in the series. Easy to listen to, funny and touching. I hope it's not the end.

3 of 14 people found this review helpful

Cheers with a Wormhole

This book is pure fantasy -- but a good fanatsy. There's a bar where everyone not only knows your name, but really cares about what goes on in your life, and has interesting (to put it mildly) life's of their own. I'm not a big fan of puns, and of all of the Callahan books this one has the fewest pans -- so I found that pleasant. But the most important part of the Callahan stories are the characters. These characters are not particularly realistic, but as you listen to their stories, you wish they were. If you had a really tight cadre of friends in college, and if your college experience was sufficiently long ago that you now remember the experience through a rose colored set of bifocals you'll relate to the story and hope that Mr. Robinson continues to produce more of them.

3 of 15 people found this review helpful

Callahan's Con (Unabridged)

Always a kick to hang out with the Callahan bunch and have some fun while saving the world!

1 of 10 people found this review helpful

Loved it!

I really enjoyed this audiobook. Just recently discovered Spider Robinson, and have been wallowing in whatever I can find of his. Reading them is good, but HEARING them is SO much better. If you like Callahan's Place, you'll like this one.

1 of 11 people found this review helpful

first class story

another Sipder Robinson - little more needs to be said. Excellent story, keeps you listening, usually with a grin. clearly and well spoken

0 of 7 people found this review helpful

An unexpected but wonderful farewell.

I laughed. I cried. I cringed. I gasped. I laughed again. I'll miss this group of telepathic companions till I decide to listen or read again.

- Shaun Callahan.

(No relashaun to Mike Callahan)

0 of 8 people found this review helpful

great fun

I loved this book. It is, as of now, the final book in the Callahan Series, and it doesn't disappoint. The narrator is great, the subject matter is great. How could anyone not love Spider Robinson's Callahan books.

0 of 8 people found this review helpful