Dead West

The Nils Shapiro Series, Book 4

By: Matt Goldman

Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot

Length: 8 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's summary

In the words of Lee Child on Gone to Dust, “I want more of Nils Shapiro.” New York Times best-selling and Emmy Award-winning author Matt Goldman happily obliges by bringing the Minneapolis private detective back for another thrilling stand-alone adventure in Dead West.

Nils Shapiro accepts what appears to be an easy, lucrative job: find out if Beverly Mayer’s grandson is foolishly throwing away his trust fund in Hollywood, especially now, in the wake of his fiancée’s tragic death. However, that easy job becomes much more complicated once Nils arrives in Los Angeles, a disorienting place where the sunshine hides dark secrets.

Nils quickly suspects that Ebben Mayer’s fiancée was murdered, and that Ebben himself may have been the target. As Nils moves into Ebben’s inner circle, he discovers that everyone in Ebben’s professional life - his agent, manager, a screenwriter, a producer - seems to have dubious motives at best.

With Nils' friend Jameson White, who has come to Los Angeles to deal with demons of his own, acting as Ebben’s bodyguard, Nils sets out to find a killer before it’s too late.

©2020 Matt Goldman (P)2020 Blackstone Publishing

Needs a different performer

Enjoy the Nils Shapiro book series but Bronson Pinchot is not a good performer for the characters. I should have read the book instead of listened!!

Has this narrator ever heard people talk?

I have never been so distracted from an audiobook by the narrator before listening to this. It’s unfortunate too because the book was well written and engaging from what I can tell, enough for me to stick through the terrible narration for 8 hrs. Who the hell let this guy read for this book!? Did they only do it in one take? There were moments when the narrator would be doing a character one way then seemingly forget how they had sounded previously, as well as just god awful impersonations on women and African Americans (almost insulting). Not only that but the narrator go from barely audible to yelling in sections as well as clearly not understanding the context of certain conversations or urgency’s. Please never let this guy narrate again.

Great Story; Narration Abysmal

This is the best story/dialogue by far of Matt Goldman’s Nils Shapiro. Great dialogue. However, the narration is horrible. Bronson Pinchot has a very limited range of voices and strange pacing and inflection. Most of his characterizations are in the bass level and so low-pitched as to be unintelligible and/or difficult to hear. I was constantly turning up the volume to try to hear those voices. MacLeod Andrews, the narrator of the first three books in this series was excellent. Not sure why he wasn’t narrating this book. I hung in there and tolerated Pinchot’s efforts, but barely. I will definitely not buy another Audible book if he is the narrator. The story/plot made this book enjoyable, but not a home run thanks to Pinchot.

Will the real Nils Shapiro Please Stand?

I can’t even continue to read this book! I want MacCleod Andrews back!! Bronson Pinchot is horrible.

Can’t wait for the next one!

I’ve been enjoying the Nils Shapiro series, and flew through all four in rapid succession. I love that they are set in Minnesota (except this one, which is mostly in L.A.).

The first three were enjoyable, but this one is a bit of a revelation. Is it Bronson Pinchot’s narration? The previous narrator did a good job, but Pinchot brought out a completely different side to nearly all the characters - especially Nils. His smart ass attitude was there in the previous books, but muted and a bit too deadpan. Here, it’s clear Nils views most people he meets with a jaundiced eye and his tongue firmly planted in his cheek.

Or is it something more? I’ll avoid spoilers, and just say there were a few elements that felt a little like something out of Douglas Adams or Umberto Eco.

And finally, I can’t help but wonder if the whole thing evolved from a trip (or 20) that the author took to Hollywood to discuss a possible movie deal. If so, Nils isn’t the only one with a snarky attitude. Great stuff!

I liked the new narrator.

I disagree with other reviews who disliked the new narrator. I think he did a great job with most of the characters, especially Nils, Brit and Vasily. Although I felt this was not the best book in the series, I enjoyed the pace of the story, the LA characters and the change of setting to LA, allowing for comparisons with Minnesota.

Great murder mystery series!!!

I’ve read all of the books in this series of murder mysteries Matt Goldman has published to date
Absolutely the best!! I hope there are more to come
His wit, sarcasm , interesting characters and plot lines, make each book pure joy to listen to

Mc cloud Andrews was the narrator for each book in this series up until Dead West. I was very disappointed in the narration of Dead West.

New Narrator

I am not a big fan of this narrator. His inflection and tone just annoys the hell out of me. I really like the author and this series just really don't like this narrator.

Took me a bit to warm up to Bronson but awesome !

love Nils ... and all of the gang ! Another fun adventure ...took me a bit to warm up to Bronson as I loved McCloud Andrew's as Nils and the gang but he grew on me ...of course i own all of the books and will continue to purchase ... this story got me thru 2 days with out power after a storm charging my phone in the car ... Thank you !!!!

Awesome Narration

This is a very good basic detective story, a murder mystery with some good plot twists and great characters. It’s a very entertaining read just on its own however what pushes it over the top & makes it truly an outstanding audible book is Bronson Pinchot’s absolutely incredible narration. Mr. Pinchot’s voice is soothing enough to make it relaxing and enjoyable listening but with the depth of feeling and outstanding acting ability to give individual voices to every character. It was such a delight listening to him speak that I immediately downloaded several more books narrated by him. Thank you Mr. Pinchot for plying your craft in this format!