Culture Shock

The Gunn Files, Book 1

By: M.G. Herron

Narrated by: Oliver Wyman

Length: 7 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's summary

Aliens are among us, and Austin, Texas just got a whole lot weirder.

When smart-aleck, down-on-his-luck bounty hunter Anderson Gunn snags his next job, he’s just happy to get the gig. The target he’s chasing may be wanted for murder, but his bills aren’t going to pay themselves.

As it turns out, he probably should've been more selective. When he tracks down Cameron Kovak, the wanted man turns out to be no man at all.

Gunn finds himself face to face with a tentacled creature out of Ridley Scott’s worst nightmare - a baby Cthulhu, wearing his target's skin like a onesie. And that's just the start of it. Aliens have their eyes on us, and Gunn finds himself swept up in their mysterious plans.

Experience the start of The Gunn Files, a sci-fi thrill ride that will have you wondering if aliens truly walk among us. It's perfect for fans of Men in Black and The X-Files.

©2019 Aethon Books (P)2019 Audible, Inc.

Gunn is the man!

Anderson Gunn might have just become one of my favorite characters in fiction. He’s fun. Snarky. But a serious badass.

The secondary characters, Detective Gonzalez, Annabelle Summers, and even Elekatch—they are so full of depth and character.

This is like Men in Black meets Urban Fantasy but totally Science Fiction and I loved every second of it. I can’t wait for book two.

Oliver Wyman absolutely embodies the character and captivates from the first chapter.

A Funny and Fantastic Action Comedy

This book has a lot to offer: thrills, laughs, heady ideas, and an engrossing world, all in one readily accessible and easily digestible package. The characters, especially main guy Anderson, are likable, unique, and interesting, and the author weaves them together in a tale that both keeps you rapt all the way through, but also leaves you hungry for the next step in the series. On top of all that, the narrator does a fantastic job bringing it all to life, breathing the characters into being in a manner befitting their rich identities...I definitely recommend this book

Stunning Sci-Fi Action Thriller

Anderson Gunn is a down on his luck Bounty Hunter. He has his own business in Austin Texas and gets his bounties from a friend called Alek. Alek notices that Gunn isn’t doing great, so offers him a job, a simple one, but at the same time, a bit harder, to hunt down and bring in a bail jumper, who is now wanted for Murder, his name is Cameron Kovak.
Gunn, being desperate for money (He has just had a note saying he missed his rent, and bills are due, and things are not good), jumps at the opportunity, as it as a $10K price tag on it (Bail was for $100K, and the person who brings them in gets 10%).
Alek, who is worried about his friend, also sends over his accountant, who happens to be a stunning blonde called Annabelle Summers, and between a lot of flirting, she actually does sort out his money. Whilst doing that, there is a sighting of Kovak, so Gunn leaves her and goes to the scene of the Murder.
Whilst there, he runs into another old friend, a Detective, Sheila Gonzalez, and you find out they are good friends, and there is some amusing banter. You quickly work out that the Author is great at developing his characters through conversations, giving you a lot of background story about his main character, as well as his supporting characters, whilst at the same time, developing the story, all done with clever, rich dialogue, that is fun to read.
We learn that things are weird at this scene, and it is not a ditch, but a crater, and whilst there, Gunn sees two very strange looking detectives, one an odd-looking albino, and the other does not look right? As he is looking at them, they turn to stair at him, and he turns away quickly, and when he turns back, they have literally vanished, making Gunn wonder what is happening?
Without giving too much away (don’t worry, everything above is just general stuff), Gunn does catch up to Kovak, and things go horribly wrong, because he kind of has tentacles, and a 20ft tongue. And just to really freak him out, the other two strange Detectives are there.
And this is where we go from a Mystery-Thriller with a ‘Bruce Willis’ type Bail Bondsman/Bounty Hunter, to a Sci-Fi story.
Gunn is hunting a Fugitive alright, just not from this planet.
Kovak is not Kovak, (and I am not going into any details here as I don’t want to give too much away), but an alien (duh, obviously, I just said that..Sorry…), but so are the other two Detectives. They are intergalactic Bounty Hunters.
The story ramps up from like an 8 to a 16 then (out of 10), as Gunn doesn’t go down the rabbit hole, he is dragged down it. He finds out that there are Aliens Earth, and there are all sorts of things going on that he (and everyone else) has no clue about. The world building here is just exceptional, Herron has gone to incredible depth to create this ‘underworld’ that is hidden from Humanity, and provide it with a plethora of different things. I again, don’t want to give any real details and spoil all the fun.
And that is what it is, you have this really great thriller story, as Gunn chases this dangerous fugitive (and it isn’t just a simple bail jumper, stakes have been raised and there are now lives on the line, including ones close to Gunn), but during the story, we get to meet all this really brilliant Characters. Herron is an outstanding Character Author, creating all these different characters to fill out his story, giving it so much depth, with a lot of really great (and realistic) dialogue, that brings the story up to a whole new level.
His descriptive work, of his world, his characters, and most of all, his intense action scenes is masterful, leaving you sitting there with your mouth open at times as you read, in a silent ‘Wow’, or ‘Awww’ as something incredible happens and he gives you this compelling and extraordinary description.
This is one of those books that you finish, and as you are finishing the last few lines, you are already finding something to buy the next book, or when you went to get a drink earlier (if you stopped reading of course), you bought it when got your coffee or tea (probably coffee, so you could stay awake a bit longer to read more!)
If you want a brilliant read, that covers just about every genre (except kids – children should not read this, but I’m guessing you already knew that!! *GRIN*), there is even romance, then this is the book. I have read some great books this year, but this is one of the best Sci-Fi Action Thrillers I have read this year, and I am already into the sequel “Overdose”.
You won’t be disappointed!
The Narration is done by Oliver Wyman, and he does an outstanding job, bringing such a great voice to Gunn. He does each of the voices really well, giving clear and easy to understand Narration, with great individual male and female voices that you can easily distinguish, so that you can pick out who is talking (he does great accents and alien voices to!!)
What he really captures well is the emotion in the Characters voices, and it is this that really makes the Narration so Masterful. You can hear the happy, sad, scared, annoyed, angry etc voice types when they speak, and he does it so well. It is not just a monotone reading, it is done with such passion, clarity, and creativity. He is brilliant, and this is one that you MUST get the Audiobook over the book as Wyman is so good!!

Bring it on!

I loved this new series. In fact I pre ordered the next release.
Great MC, great writing and most of all a great narrator.

Cowboys and Aliens

Did you like Men In Black but felt uncomfortable with a huge overreaching government agency having so much authority? Do you like the funky nature of Austin Texas? Well pardner I've got a story for you.

Saturday SciFi Matinee Fun

Sooo...it is early August 2020. There is a pandemic, countrywide protest, political strife, and the worse unemployment in living memory. I NEEDED AN ESCAPE...and M.G. Herron's first book of this new series "Culture Shock," provided exactly that! This is a quick book. Plot is fun, moves fast, fun story driven, likable characters, good alien villian, and takes place in my home city, Austin TX. Anderson Gunn is the bounty hunter protagonist who is in financial straits and needs a catch a skipped bounty suspect for a payday to keep his head above fiscal waters. This is a light hearted tale, that pulls you along like an old time Saturday SciFi matinee. This is not Solaris, Dune, Interstellar, or The Martian. Science and physics are kept to a bare minimal. This is all about the FUN of the genre. Long time friends who are aliens, a thriving extra extra terrestrial night club scene, large kitty cats with two hearts, and of course obligatory. SciFi......TENTACLES!!!! If you ever spent time in Austin there is an unofficial slogan here, "Keep Austin Weird." Culture Shock by Herron does just that!

I debated between 4 or 5 Stars. With excellent slow burn narration by Oliver Wyman, l decided to give it 5...as it helped me forget about all the items that presently are with us in this not so fun 2020.

An adrenaline boosted tale!

I really had a great time listening to this intense, adrenaline boosted tale! The story jumps right into the action when our protagonist, a bounty hunter named Anderson Gunn, takes on the job of finding Cameron Kovak, a runner who's wanted for murder. There's hazard pay on top of his usual percentage, so Gunn is more than willing to take on this high-stakes job, especially since he's facing an empty bank account along with more bills than he can shake a stick at. But, the first thing Gunn has to do is to get over his "culture shock" when he discovers that his perp might not be human! Furthermore, Gunn's not the only hunter competing for the prize. Seriously, when Gunn looks hard enough, he finds that there is a lot more WEIRD out there than he had ever imagined! It's a complex mess, and Gunn has to try to renegotiate his contract so he still comes out ahead!
I immediately fell in love with Anderson Gunn's snarky wit, and the kinds of friends he keeps... So grab the story and be ready to run like Hell through the streets of Austin... it's that or be left for dead in this edge-of-your-seat SciFi, Men in Black kinda' yarn!
Oliver Wyman happens to have been the perfect choice to narrate the adventure! His voice performance is the AwesomeSauce that perfectly accentuated MG Herron's wonderful story!
This is a Must Have for your library... Don't miss out on it!!!

predictable sci fi

The narrator was superb. Attention was paid to character gender, regional accents, and "alien" nuances.

The story was too similar to "Men in Black" to be particularly engaging.

Enjoyable First Book to Start the Series

The story feels like Dresden Files meet Men in Black in a very positive way.

A great listen

This story has it all. A great ensemble of characters, a hero with killer one-liners and the narrator delivers it well.