Doboro the Bottlenecker

By: Kevin M. Kraft

Narrated by: Todd A. Thompson

Length: 7 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

Blind but not broken.

Trying to do the right thing costs Dave Granger his family, his sight, and his health. By the grace of God, he’s spirited away to South Korea to recover. There, he undergoes seven years of grueling martial arts training, learning the way of the Sulsa warriors.

He emerges as a new man with a new name: Doboro.

Upon his return to the States, Doboro makes a living as a street singer and cigar box slide guitarist. He’d be content to spend the rest of his days in peaceful anonymity, but evil people have other plans.

Will his new faith, indomitable spirit, and breathtaking combat skills save him and those dearest to him?

Doboro the Bottlenecker is the first book in Kevin M. Kraft’s faith-based, high-action, drama series. It’s available now in audio!

©2020 Kevin M. Kraft (P)2021 Kevin M. Kraft

Very well written and narrated

I found this book very intriguing, informative, well written and entertaining. Narrator did a fabulous job.

sacrifice and suffering

The old man teacher felt the school of hard knocks was the only way for Granger to learn, and I had a hard time with his abuses. I wss really ticked off when he threw Granger out. Crazy old man!! Grr... I empathized with Doboro's plight. He was so close to heaven and lost it all again. 😢 I voluntarily listened to a free copy of this and am giving an honest review. The narrator did a good job bringing it to life.

Powerful & Heartbreaking!

Wow this was a powerful and often heartbreaking story to listen to! There were times I had to just put it down and take a breather and wipe my tears, some scenes were that moving. This was a new author for me and I must admit that I was thoroughly impressed with the writing style. Although much of the story was emotional, it was addictive and certainly kept my interest and I couldn’t wait to see how it ended. I do confess that by the time it did end I felt a bit shattered, however I do understand why it had to end the way it did. It definitely leads into the next book of the series. There is plenty of action for those who desire that and I even giggled a few times. I was disappointed with how Doboro was treated by his martial arts master after seven years of being with him and felt it was cruel and a wee bit out of character. Though the master’s style of teaching seemed abusive at times, it did help in the long run & he did grow to love Doboro like a son (according to his daughter), so his actions were surprising. I did like the creativeness of the storyline and how the author brought some of the characters together. I thought the narrator did a fairly good job with the voices, though his female voices were a bit lacking. I received a complimentary copy of this audiobook, however I have voluntarily provided this unbiased review.

4.25/5 Stars Doboro the Bottlenecker by Kevin

Narrated by Todd A. Thompson
Run Time: 7 hrs and 59 mins.

Summary:
Dave Granger survives a devastating attack but is gravely wounded. The spiritual and emotional wounds are almost as deep as the physical ones.

Additional Comments:
- Don’t read the blurb. It pretty much spells out the story.
- I didn’t pick up on the fact that this was two books in one.
- The S. Korean subplot was pretty unique.
- Main Character 4/5: This guy definitely goes through a lot, but he also grows a lot along the way. The changes happen over enough time to be believable.
- Side Characters 3.5/5: The trouble with having realistic characters sometimes is that they’re annoying and rude. Sometimes, the attitude fit the moment and other times it seemed way out of place. Even the MC has a few bouts of being a complete jerk for no reason.
- Plot 4/5: It definitely stretched at points. Overall, that made for an exciting tale. A lot of the MC’s decisions are questionable. Several coincidences have to happen to get to certain plot points.
- Action 4/5: There are LONG stretches with no action, but the action included is well described and cool.
- Christianity integration 3.5/5: decent. The MC suffers through a lot. I kind of missed where he became a Christian though. That could just be because of the necessary time lapse.
- Narration/ Performance 4/5: I’m separating out the performance because there were some tech issues. Todd A. Thompson put in a solid performance.
- Song at the end was cool.

Conclusion:
A unique and enjoyable book.
*I received a free copy. I chose to review it. All opinions are my own.

Lost Everything, But Comes Back Strong! Engaging!

When a man gets entangled with the wrong people at the new, better job, he tries to do the right thing and it costs him his wife, his child, his old life, and his sight. Starting over is hard and painful, but it forges his character and leads him into a fresh start full of danger still and a bit of a surprise.

Trying new to me authors and narrators has always filled me with excitement as I get filled with anticipation that here might be new favorites. A storyline about a man who faces severe adversity and rises to meet it sometimes by grit alone while clinging to belief and hope really captured my imagination. Add to it, Korean martial arts and the eclectic cigar box guitar playing the blues had me excited to see Doboro’s story unfold.

Doboro is probably the average family guy trying to get ahead and not much to write home about until after he is left with a Korean doctor and martial arts’ specialist along with his daughter in their Korean town. The author took him from more dead than alive and let his time with this pair rebuild him brick by brick. Then his life takes another twist and he ends up as an itinerate blues musician with a cool persona. There is a twist at this point that didn’t completely surprise me and a second narrator came into story. Loved that.

There is good martial arts’ action when Doboro encounters his old enemy’s attempt to still get at him or the dangers out on the city streets. He is the only alive who ever defied a rich, powerful criminal after all. I love that he fights blind and in a style not even the most popular among Asians.

The strong music element with the unique instrument and music genre that comes from Doboro’s own African American history was part of his personality and not just what he did to earn his bread.

While this could be classified as Christian fiction, and Doboro’s faith is at the heart of what kept him going and drives his thoughts and actions, the story is not lost under any soapboxing.

The narrator, Todd Thompson, had a deep, full voice and he was versatile with pace, emotions, tone of the story, and changes in pitch. I loved listening to him tell the story, but I will admit that the Asian accents and the teen girl character was a stretch for him and not entirely convincing, though not bad. The production quality was also good.

Doboro the Bottlenecker leaves off in a good place and doesn’t leave the listener hanging, but it is obvious there is more to come and I am eager to press forward. I can definitely recommend Doboro the Bottlenecker as one of triumph with a good dose of action suspense and character-driven plot.

A good adventure story

I received this audible book free of charge for my honest opinion. I really liked the story. My only negative is the narrator. Sorry. I liked that the story addressed the true walk of Faith many Christians experience where their faith is challenged or even shaken to the core and the process of healing and walking that Christian Faith during those times is what makes it stronger. The primary character seems to have a Faith that has, until this time, been tested. He has had troubles, but has tried to "fix" situations in his life through his own devices, which brings him to a place where we find him - in trouble. The events that ensue, cause him to lose everything he's tried to protect. While he is in a process of healing - physical, emotional, spiritually - he is brought face to face with situations that challenge his current paradigm. Many of the Faith lessons he learns come from someone who is not a Christian, which shows that God can use anyone to teach us if we are willing to allow it. The story asks questions that are also answered through the many trials that our "hero" encounters. I liked the action and the road weary blues playing traveler. That was a very interesting take and almost makes the main character seem like a superhero. All in all, I would recommend this book to others.