Gambit

By: Rex Stout

Narrated by: Michael Prichard

Length: 5 hrs and 44 mins

Publisher's Summary

Jerin is a mental freak - a man capable of successfully playing a dozen simultaneous chess games against first-rate players while he himself is out of sight of any of the boards. It is while thus engaged that he is killed. A millionaire - his opponent in more realms than chess - is accused, and Nero Wolfe is given what appears to be the most hopeless case he and Archie Goodwin have ever tackled.

You need to know nothing about chess to follow this tale, but some understanding of beautiful mothers and daughters will help.

“It is always a treat to read a Nero Wolfe mystery. The man has entered our folklore.” (The New York Times Book Review)

A grand master of the form, Rex Stout is one of America’s greatest mystery writers, and his literary creation Nero Wolfe is one of the greatest fictional detectives of all time. Together, Stout and Wolfe have entertained - and puzzled - millions of mystery fans around the world. Now, with his perambulatory man-about-town, Archie Goodwin, the arrogant, gourmandizing, sedentary sleuth is back in the original 73 cases of crime and detection written by the inimitable master himself, Rex Stout. 

Stout fellow: listen to all of our Nero Wolfe mysteries, including classic radio programs!

©1962 Rex Stout (P)1996 Books on Tape Inc.

Critic Reviews

"Witty, urbane, conversational." (Publishers Weekly)
"The masterful Michael Prichard gives his all, raising the audio to a tier-one selection." (AudioFile)

Stout, late in his career, but still at his best!

Because Rex Stout, & his creation of Nero Wolfe, & more importantly Archie Goodwin, has been around for so long (Stout died in the 1970s), Reviews are not all that necessary, except for those who have not picked up one of his Nero Wolfe mysteries.

If you have not read a Nero Wolfe mystery, do yourself a favor and try one. The first and longest is "Fer-de-lance" published in 1934. Just about any of his full length stories will do. His short stories are just as good, but you don't get the full atmosphere of the Wolfe household of characters:

Archie, Wolfe's leg man. Fritz the world class chef. Theodore, the Orcard nurse that helps care for the 10,000 plants in the nursery on the top of Wolfe's double wide Brownstone in New York City.

fun but missing pauses

Great narrator, fast-paced story, but the natural and necessary pauses between chapters has been so completely edited out by software that it sounds like Mr. Prichard speaks over himself.

Favorite Wolfe mystery so far

This was my favorite Wolfe mystery so far. Perhaps it's because of my love for chess that made it all the more enjoyable. It's a great story with some fun twists at the end.

Good, Fair, First-Rate Nero Wolfe Mystery.

The story is good, the author plays fair, I managed to solve it a good bit before the revelation, and the story is clearly told so that solving the mystery is possible. The narration is solid and never gets in the way. The mystery itself is quite good and, if you pay attention, you can solve it before Wolfe. If you want to sample Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe, this is not a bad place to start.

Another great Nero Wolfe story

Another great story that Nero Wolfe solves. As smart as Wolfe is Goodwin carries the intrigue. I love this series.

Great work, editing isn’t so great.

The story is great, the performance is great, the editing is clumsy. This was originally on cassette and the A-B side changes are really abrupt.

Nero Wolfe: One of my favorite series of all time.

Rex Stout fails to disappoint once again. His characters, whitty dialogue, plots, and humor always delight me. When Michael Prichard narrates he is Nero, Archie, Cramer....

Good story tooooo much fowl language

I know everyone does not feel like I do but a good Nero Wolfe does NOT need fowl language to help in anyway. I'm not sure those bright idea it was too make Cramer's mouth so fowl but it was horrible. This book was with when people still had morals and self respect even in difficult times. I w in sh I could find the original work. So if you hate foul language like me this book is somewhat offensive. However without those words is a good listen away from young ones due to the foul words inserted.

Slow and tedious

The reader drones on terribly in this book (and he is normally more animated) which does not help the already tedious story. I rarely give up on a book but life is too short for this one. Half way through it was time to stop.