• Junk

  • By: Les Bohem
  • Narrated by: John Waters
  • Length: 10 hrs and 37 mins
  • 3.3 out of 5 stars (15,624 ratings)

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Junk  By  cover art

Junk

By: Les Bohem
Narrated by: John Waters
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Publisher's summary

In present day Los Angeles, the alien takeover has begun—but there’s no spaceship and no little green men. Rather, an epic conspiracy is slowly coming to fruition. Thousands of years ago, beings infiltrated our society, bred with humans, then died—leaving an untraceable, inexplicable anomaly in our DNA. Now that genetic code has activated, and chaos has erupted.

But private investigator Tom Lombard has his own chaos to face. His personal life is falling apart, and he just found his latest “missing person” dead in a dumpster. Suddenly he’s being chased by a woman with silver hair and two black-eyed goons with unnatural abilities. And what’s with all these people in masks—and the crazy girl ranting on the internet about the end of the world? Is humanity’s only hope a weird band of eccentrics and one down-on-his-luck, disgraced ex-cop badly in need of a win?

In this wild, souped-up apocalyptic vision of Les Bohem—the acclaimed, Emmy Award-winning writer of the Steven Spielberg miniseries, Taken—the reckoning begins, culminating in something truly unexpected. And who better to give voice to the wickedly weird world of Junk than transgressive art icon John Waters, whose simultaneously relaxed and dynamic delivery gives this Audible Original a cool, cinematic feel.

This title contains explicit language and depictions of physical and sexual violence that may be upsetting to some listeners. Listener discretion is advised.

©2018 Leslie Bohem (P)2018 Audible Originals, LLC.

Go Behind the Scenes with John Waters

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Publisher's summary

In present day Los Angeles, the alien takeover has begun—but there’s no spaceship and no little green men. Rather, an epic conspiracy is slowly coming to fruition. Thousands of years ago, beings infiltrated our society, bred with humans, then died—leaving an untraceable, inexplicable anomaly in our DNA. Now that genetic code has activated, and chaos has erupted.

But private investigator Tom Lombard has his own chaos to face. His personal life is falling apart, and he just found his latest “missing person” dead in a dumpster. Suddenly he’s being chased by a woman with silver hair and two black-eyed goons with unnatural abilities. And what’s with all these people in masks—and the crazy girl ranting on the internet about the end of the world? Is humanity’s only hope a weird band of eccentrics and one down-on-his-luck, disgraced ex-cop badly in need of a win?

In this wild, souped-up apocalyptic vision of Les Bohem—the acclaimed, Emmy Award-winning writer of the Steven Spielberg miniseries, Taken—the reckoning begins, culminating in something truly unexpected. And who better to give voice to the wickedly weird world of Junk than transgressive art icon John Waters, whose simultaneously relaxed and dynamic delivery gives this Audible Original a cool, cinematic feel.

This title contains explicit language and depictions of physical and sexual violence that may be upsetting to some listeners. Listener discretion is advised.

©2018 Leslie Bohem (P)2018 Audible Originals, LLC.

Our favorite moments from Junk

Junk
Suitcase in the driveway, that couldn’t be good
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Junk
He’d never seen a tattoo like it
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Junk
Her eyes were crystals of black
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Junk
About a third of the population was gone
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  • Junk
  • Suitcase in the driveway, that couldn’t be good
  • Junk
  • He’d never seen a tattoo like it
  • Junk
  • Her eyes were crystals of black
  • Junk
  • About a third of the population was gone
John Waters

About the Performer

Titan of trash and auteur of the absurd John Waters has written and directed 16 movies, including Pink Flamingos, Polyester, Hairspray, Cry-Baby, Serial Mom, and A Dirty Shame. In addition to his film work, he is an author of eight books and a photographer whose work has been shown in galleries all over the world. Waters also serves on the Board of Directors for the Maryland Film Festival and has been a key participant in the Provincetown International Film Festival since it began in 1999—the same year Waters was honored as the first recipient of PIFF’s Filmmaker on the Edge award. In 2014, Film Society of Lincoln Center honored his 50 years in filmmaking with a 10-day celebration and the following year Waters was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from the Rhode Island School of Design. He’d shortly thereafter be awarded a second doctorate from the Maryland Institute College of Arts. His contribution to cinema is so celebrated the British Film Institute honored his oeuvre with a program called The Complete Films of John Waters…Every Goddam One of Them in 2015. The same year the French Minister of Culture bestowed upon him the rank of Officer in the Order of Arts and Letters. In February, 2017, he was honored with the Writers Guild of America, East’s Ian McLellan Hunter Award, lauding his iconic body of work as a writer in motion pictures.

Les Bohem

About the Author

Les Bohem was part of the great Los Angeles music scare of the early 1980s. His band, Gleaming Spires, had a cultish hit with their single, Are You Ready For the Sex Girls. At the same time, he was holding down a day job as the bass player with the legendary band, Sparks. After this burgeoning career in rock and roll stopped burgeoning, Les started writing. He has written a lot of movies and TV shows including Twenty Bucks, Daylight, Dante’s Peak, The Alamo, and the mini-series, Taken, which he wrote and executive produced with Steven Spielberg and for which he won an Emmy award. He has had songs recorded by Emmylou Harris, Randy Travis, Freddy Fender, Steve Gillette, Johnette Napolitano, and Alvin (of the Chipmunks). His first solo album, Moved to Duarte, was released last year to rave reviews and absolutely no sales or downloads.

Photo by Bonnie Perkinson

What listeners say about Junk

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 3.5 out of 5 stars
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    3,798
  • 4 Stars
    3,985
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    3,367
  • 2 Stars
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Performance
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Story
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    3,534
  • 4 Stars
    3,360
  • 3 Stars
    3,021
  • 2 Stars
    1,875
  • 1 Stars
    2,472

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Flat narration on a boring story

This is my least favourite original I have listen to to date. I struggled through to the end, not wanting to give up and hoping it came together into something worthwhile.

In the end it doesn't. Its not good. Its not bad per we. It just is. I came away not having cared about a single thing that happened or a single character. There was no excitement, no interest, no engaging or different story here.

The story itself is about a hidden alien agenda, bringing about the end of the world as we know it. It follows a whole lot of people as they discover the conspiracy and try to prevent it.

The story introduces a lot of characters very quickly, none of which stayed with me or made me care about them. They do things. Or not. Who cares? Who remembers?

Half the things in the book that happen or are discussed have to barring on the story or the outcome. And other parts are undercooked, never fully explaining what is going on.

Maybe the writing would work for TV or screenplays, which is where I understand the author is from. Things could be seen don't need to be described. but here it is bland and/or lacking.

I have no particular issue with violence, sex or vulgarity in stories, but it has to serve a point. And here it does not. It is there for the sake or getting a reaction or being edgy.

The narration doesn't do it any favours either, with every person sounds the same. So its hard to follow conversations or tell who is who.

There is variation for action and emotion, but it matters little if you can't tell, or don't care about who is involved.

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300 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Consider the narrator, and buckle up

It's reasonable to say that JUNK is not for everyone, but the extreme nature of several negative reviews is bewildering. I acquired this as a free monthly original but would have paid for it gladly. The story is not profound or destined to be a classic. It's a rude, balls-out pulpy body-and-brain-horror romp through a city (and world) on the brink of total meltdown... or evolution? (which would be just as final and unpleasant). Imagine SCANNERS crashing headlong into THE HIDDEN with Tim Dorsey behind one wheel and Joe Dante behind the other. It's hyper-violent, often gross, and paced to move. The selection of John Waters to narrate this messy thrill ride in his distinctive bemused chuckle is a clue to the ultra-dark sense of humor underlying it all. If it sounds appealing so far, you'll be in all the way. Otherwise, evidently, you'll absolutely hate it. Don't be like that.

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249 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

The name fits the quality

Tries far too hard to be cool and edgy. All fluff, with very little substance. Don't waste your monthly credit or money.

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209 people found this helpful

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    1 out of 5 stars
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For the love of god, don't waste your time!

The combination of the terrible narrator, heavy-handed writing and insipid storyline left me feeling faintly nauseous. Admittedly, I only made it about a half and hour in before I had to shut it off. Thankfully I didn't pay for it. Seriously, don't waste your time.

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196 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Junk

Very poorly written.
Did you ever have the experience
of listening to someone trying to tell a story while this person is going off on tangents, describing unnecessary details and never really getting anywhere? That’s what this book was like.
The title is apt.

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109 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Got it as a freebie. Not worth it.

I wish freebies were returnable so I could at least remove it from my library. Yuck.

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88 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Don't read all the other reviews...

... as I did and almost didn't take the free member's offering. John Waters, IMHO probably wasn't the best pick for the narrator. He's an Icon, but not an actor or narrator. Not enough differentiation in the voices of characters. Wil Wheaton would have done an excellent job since he seems a more 'contemporary' voice.

The story was good and John just made it harder to follow, but about 1/2 way through he seemed to take off and actually brought some 'life' to it. Perhaps the producers had some effect to convince him to put some emotion into it. (at times he reminded me of a GrandPa reading a book to a child... and I shudder to think THAT thought!)

There are complaints in the reviews about the language and what seems gratuitous sexual violence. Again, in my opinion, it represents our current culture and the almost sociopathic trends some of us see, which 'the bad guys' in the book are intended to portray. All of these are not surprising for the theme of the book.

So, if some real gritty, nasty and somewhat revolting scenes bother you, don't even start it. If you believe, as I do, that our society has already hit Rock Bottom, and want to see what alien intervention could do with what we offer, this book does a pretty good job of serving that up.

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66 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Cynical and ugly worldview still...

It’s possible there’s an exciting story in there somewhere. Poor choice of narrators. He doesn’t change the tone for different characters, pause or place emphasis in the right places, dialogue and action all run together in one big, obnoxious rush. Seems like author is just trying to shock rather than entertain. Can’t recommend the audio book. It might come over better in paperback.

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62 people found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

don't do it

so I got this book and I regret it. This book is terrible but not only that the narrator just does not do it any justice. A good enough narrator can turn a subpar book into at least tolerable but this narrator took a subpar book and just made it unbearable. I got through about a chapter and a half before I had to just stop. I couldn't take it any longer and because it was one of the monthly Originals, I can't even return it or swap it out or anyting. just do yourself a favor and avoid this book if you can. If you're going to get this book anyway, just keep your expectations really low. and it just sits there and falls short of being interesting. It tries to sit there and rely so heavily on the shock value to keep reader interest but there's only so much you can do when it's a book. It's not like iMovie where you can sit there and throw a big name at it and a bunch of explosions and keep a lot of people occupied.

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48 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Didn't Care for this Book

Unfortunately, I did not care for this book, so much so, that I didn' t bother to finish it--a sin to me. Although the concept seemed interesting, the author's prejudices---and, I bet, he'll be the 1st one to say he doesn' t have any--came through to such a degree that it was disheatening. The use of sex and "ooo shocking" language is just gratuitous, as if the author used these as selling points for the book. The plot and certain character roles were easy to guess ahead of time. Thank God this was one of my free books, so I didn't need to demand my money back.

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42 people found this helpful