Improbable Fortunes

A Novel

By: Jeffrey Price

Narrated by: Jonathan Davis

Length: 11 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's summary

In Improbable Fortunes, Jeffrey Price takes us on a wild ride into Vanadium, a dusty, down-on-its-heels mining town in Southwest Colorado where it would be fair to assume that nothing has ever happened. But you'd be wrong. As it turns out, quite a lot has happened, starting with a suspicious mudslide that destroys the town's Main Street and a cowboy, Buster McCaffrey, arrested for the death of one of the richest men in America, Marvin Mallomar.

As the soon-to-retire sheriff, Shep Dudival, investigates the circumstances surrounding the murder, it comes to light that Buster and Mallomar's young wife were having a Cowboy Always Rings Twice affair. From there Price takes this familiar story plot and turns it on its head - folding a rococo cast of Vanadium's characters into a time line that begins with Vanadium's post-WWII labor strife and ends with the Kulturkampf of present day.

While it may all seem humorous and surreal at first blush, one gets the feeling by Improbable Fortunes' unguessable conclusion that Price has used the fictitious town of Vanadium - a place without a recognizable gas station, a decent restaurant, or a clean bathroom - as the Rosetta Stone for something larger.

©2016 Jeffrey Price (P)2016 Audible, Inc.

Freaking Fantastic

This book should be a movie. Such a great story with tons of humor. Loved it!

Not For Me, But Give it A Try

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

this is a new and not for me author. I wanted to like it, but I kept changing to another audio book every time I tried to listen to this book by chapter 3.

note: I do use the new 1.25x speed, which helped

What was most disappointing about Jeffrey Price’s story?

Well the reviews were great, and of course I purchased due to Mr. Davis, the reader, but the humor is just a bit too constant, which for me, lost it's value. There is a story, but I kept missing it in the 3 chapters I attempted a few times.

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

I love J.D. as a reader. Unfortunately he reads lots of Sci Fi, so I purchase what I can that he reads. See Sandra Brown's Mean Streak. He does such a fab job!!

Was Improbable Fortunes worth the listening time?

No stopped at chapter 3 too many times.

Fantastic story line

I can't wait to start it all over again. What a great book. I had a hard time focusing on work since starting it.

Improbable

Yes, this book's storyline was full of improbabilities that sometimes bordered on the absurd or ridiculous. The narrator did a great job imitating all the different voices but there is a lot of vulgarity, so be prepared.

Not a bad listen,

I sort of view this as Carl Hiaasen meets the west!

I think that this is a very good listen if you are looking for a tongue-in-cheek western. Not quite as entertaining as most of Carl's works, but better than some of his. The story line was okay, not great, but good enough. I thought that Jeffrey Price did an excellent job with the narration, great vocals for each character. This is my first book for both the author and the reader. Worth a credit ....not the best but far from the worst that I have heard. I will probably try others by this author, hoping for a bit better. If you are looking for a new author, give it a try!

Must Listen for anyone ...

Where does Improbable Fortunes rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

... who has admired Tom Robbins or Tom McGuane or is aware of the complex and colorful collisions that inform the changing American West. Jonathan Davis stands on his head as he bring's one after another of Price's singular characters to life - often several in a single high rev interchange. Probably more laugh out loud moments listening this one than I've experienced in long while. The economic renaissance section is one of the smartest takes on capitalists going cowboy ever. Listen up.

Who was your favorite character and why?

The thrill of the listen is that new best characters continue to pour forth as the tale moves forward and their juxtaposition - old school law man to meth head to Wall Street master of the universe to cowboys and kinda-cowboys.

Which character – as performed by Jonathan Davis – was your favorite?

Jimmy and Sheriff Dutiful are tied.

B.A.D.

Boring and Dumb! I kept waiting for this book to become enjoyable based on reviews - didn't happen.