Into the Mystic

By: John G. Hartness

Narrated by: John Solo

Length: 3 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's Summary

Bubba's mama came to him for help, and now he's got absent mama drama!

Why did his mother abandon her family all those years ago?

What is this about a sister?

And what does she mean she's a fairy princess?

Does this mean Bubba is a fairy? That's just weird.

Bubba, Agent Amy, Skeeter, Uncle Father Joe, and Mama have to go to FairyLand to save Bubba's sister from Puck, the trickster from Midsummer. He's kidnapped baby sis and is going to use her as leverage against Mad Queen Mab. Or maybe against Titania and Oberon. Or maybe he's got some other plan up his squirrelly sleeves.

To get his sister back, Bubba has to travel all over the south to find a way to get Into the Mystic.

©2017 John G. Hartess (P)2017 Falstaff Books

As we sailed into the mystic, Bertha blasted away

I'm not from the government, but I am here to help. Bubba and co. return for yet another fun romp. This time around Bubba's momma shows up and drops a lot on his plate as she informs him that Robbie . . .ah, Bubba, has a baby sister who has been kidnapped by the Puck. Yeah, Old Robbin' Goodfella is back up to his kidnapping ways, only this time his mistake was that he made this personal to Bubba. So, the whole gang decides to lend a hand and Amy (love her sooooo much), Skeeter, Father Joe, Momma B, and a special refugee from fairyland all go along to save Bubba's sister.


Rest assured the story is packed full of bloody action, bullets, blasting, bad guys, bad puns, betrayal, business of the funny kind, blithe quips, and big adventure. The gang has to fnd a way into the land of fairies in order to do the rescue ranger thing. Of course, this being Bubba, nothing goes right. There are a few missteps along the way, one in particular that deals with pumpkin seeds, and the issue of where one should urinate when camping. By the time that they finally locate a viable entrance into Fairy another mess has broken out and needs fixing before they can go any further. I won't say if they make it there or not, only that this is looking to be a four part story, and this is only book one.


So, here's the bad. Nothing really. This is as good of a story as you can ask for, my issue comes in that Ido like a little diversity when it comes to my monster slaying. Bubba just wrassled with the Puck not so long ago, and from the looks of things we will be in Fairy for a while, a whole season by my bet. Still, I trust Hartness to keep this as fresh and fun as always.


The good. Hartness seems to really be trying to create a completely cohesive season for Bubba. The other seasons all had common factors, but have never really had a singular focus within each story. There were connectors, but here it is going to completely focus on a single solid narrative. So, good for us. What this does is essentially give us one really long Bubba novel! As far as the first story went the future is really looking bright. Hartness seems ready to amp things up slowly and steadily, since this was just about the journey getting to Fairy. We will have several more books that will take place there, and I can see the stakes raising higher and higher in succession.


Solo knows how to narrate craziness like this while keeping a smirk on his face and a smile in his voice. You can tell he is just having the time of his life telling this story, and it makes me happy that his joy is infectious, as it definitely carries over to the listener. He plays every character in a powerfully distinctive voice, and as I have said before, he embodies the spirit of Bubba. 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 this review helped, please press the YES below. Thank you immensely!!!

3 people found this helpful

Bubba's momma

John G. Hartness comes through again with another entertaining story of Bubba the Redneck Monster Slayer. This book provides more depth to Bubba's character and insight into his background. Not my favorite of the Bubba the Monster Slayer books as there is a lot about Bubba's momma, so it's not entirely about Bubba, which is what I enjoy the most. All in all though, it's a great book and narrated fantastically. If you enjoy the other Bubba books, you'll definitely enjoy this one as well.

1 person found this helpful

No surprise here, a GREAT Novella about Bubba!

I was given this free review copy audio book at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

So, if you've read/listened to the rest of this series, you'll love this one just as much. This follows right on the heals of the cliffhanger ending of the last season. I just wish this was longer and part of a 4th season so I could continue the story! John Solo did a great job as well with making you feel like you're watching an episode of a great TV show in your mind! Bring us more Bubba!!!!!

1 person found this helpful

a+++

more badassery from Bubba the monster Hunter. could have been longer. I'll be looking fwd to more

1 person found this helpful

Start of Book 3

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Yes, but I wish I waited. This is part one of the next Bubba Book. Most of the book how his mom came from her um home and Bubba trying to find a way to get back there. It has all the humor, action and heartfelt emotion I've come to expect.

That said I'm not sure it's time well spent. This is the first part of the next Bubba novel. I knew that going in but I still feel like it ended abruptly. I have no doubt that once the full book released it will be time well spent but I kind of wish I waited for the whole novel to be released.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

This series is a serial. I can't honestly evaluate the ending until the full novel is published. If I were to react to the ending now it would be very negative, it just ends as the book is getting started, but I knew going in this was only the first quarter of the next Bubba novel so that wouldn't be fair to the writer.

What about John Solo’s performance did you like?

He did a great job. My only quip is that he makes Bubba more redneck and stupid that the story calls for but it works so I can't complain.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

No. I can pay for a novel on the installment plan a movie not so much. Just a personal thing, even with tv shows I wait until the season is complete before I dive in.

Any additional comments?

There are continuity issues with this novel. I'm not deducting from my score because continuity isn't built into review scores but unless Skeeter lied and lied big to Bubba at the second novel the writer chose to recon Bubba's mother entire history. This is also an issue for me in the Quincy Harker books but this is my problem not the writer's. Still if continuity is important to you expect to be bothered if you are like me and you always go back to the old stories before tackling the new ones.

1 person found this helpful

Heartless all for the money and to hell with his fans

Great read, over priced, too many cliffhangers especially at the end. Either write a full novel or get out of the business- stop ripping fans off.