Rueful Regret

By: Steve Vernon

Narrated by: Charles Craig

Length: 3 hrs and 1 min

Publisher's summary

This is a story that sounds like a cross between Lonesome Dove and Twin Peaks.

Meet Bass Clayton, a bounty killer turned professional drunkard. Silver Grimes is the man who inadvertently turned Bass Clayton into a drunk; after Bass accidentally shot Silver's arm off with an eight gauge shotgun. Sally Jezebel has a secret that she is keeping from both of them.

Their lives are going to turn when Newt Gallagher comes riding into Willy Jake's bar on top of Pritcher Targate's prize sow.

What you have got to ask yourself is just how far one man will go for revenge?

©2013 Steve Vernon (P)2017 2017

Aside from the poultry beastiality.......

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I really liked this book. That particular scene did disturb me, though, but I am vegan. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes Twin Peaks.

Any additional comments?

You just never know just quite what is going to happen next. Very well written and very engaging. Very artistic. Clever and comical till the very end. The narration was very good.

Surprisingly slow-paced considering its length

Published by Stark Raven Press in 2017.
Narrated by Charles Craig.
Duration: 3 hours.
Unabridged.

Bass Clayton is a bounty killer, basically a paid assassin, in the Old West. He has had no qualms about doing this job - at least he didn't until he tried to kill Silver Grimes. He fired blindly into Grimes' cabin with a shotgun, wounding Grimes and splattering Grimes' girlfriend all over the bed.

Clayton walks away from his bounty hunter gig and becomes the town drunk in a town called Rueful Regret. His plan to slowly drink himself into oblivion is going well until Grimes walks into the bar...

I did not enjoy this audiobook. The book was full of too many folksy expressions and was surprisingly slow-paced considering that it was just a three hour audiobook. But, the worst aspect of the book was an overly detailed description of animal cruelty and bestiality that did nothing to advance the plot. All it did was provide a few minutes of padding in an already slow story in a misguided attempt to add a bit of humor.

Charles Craig was a good choice to read a Western. He has the correct sound for the genre.

I rate this audiobook 2 stars out of 5.

The Good, the Bad, and the Regretful

I want to make one thing clear right off the bat, the cover, as awesome as it is is a little misleading. This is a weird west (re: awesome) type tale, but there are no zombie gunslingers, cowboys, or madames.

No, this story is about a bounty hunter, who makes a bad decision and has to learn to live with the consequences of his actions. This is a pig ridin' good time fill of shooting. Indian magic, amputation, relations with some animals being mentioned, and a Mad Max style burial. Rueful Regret is the bounty hunters state of mind, and the name of the town he holes up in to drink himself into oblivion.

Vernon's writing is colorful, and full of coments that could have come right from that era. You certainly can feel and smeel the old west when he writes, and you might get thirsty just listening to them talk about dry mouth. Craig does a great narration, and he definately adds to the western ambiance. Even though I did receive a promo code for this review it in no way influenced my considerations of the material, and in fact, inspired me to be more honest. In fact, getting a code generally makes me harsher as a reviewer as I am more often concerned what someone like Me will decide based on my review.

If you enjoy westerns, the weird west, or a good ole story about pig ridin' give this here novella taste. It'll suit you right down to the ground.