Loss

By: Tom Piccirilli

Narrated by: Chris Patton

Length: 1 hr and 32 mins

Publisher's Summary

Employing the unique, darkly humorous, and powerful noir voice that is his trademark, Piccirilli demonstrates why he's become a must-read author for admirers of both crime and horror fiction.

Loss concerns a failed writer working as a handyman in an old Manhattan apartment building with a strange history and numerous oddball tenants, not all of whom may be what they seem. The penthouse is owned by a bestselling novelist and his wife, the nameless narrator's longtime unrequited love, who soon goes missing. Is she dead or somehow trapped within the endless corridors of a lair full of twisted memories and half-forgotten ambitions? This is a haunting noir-ghost story fusion that not only spotlights the fear of missing out on one's greatest hopes and romantic dreams, but also features such memorable characters as Mojo the talking monkey and the corpse of the real inventor of aluminum foil.

©2007, 2010 Tom Piccirilli (P)2011 David N. Wilson

Enjoyed it

A decent ghost story made better by the characters
Well narrated and a good quick read
I received a free review audiobook and voluntarily left this review

Weird Story

Any additional comments?

This story was weird but entertaining. Some what of a mystery and I just love to listen to Chris Patton's narration.

Loss

This book grabbed my attention from the start. It was well written and the performance was good. I’m still trying to figure out the ending.

Loss

Interesting short book that kept me listening. Nothing ground-breaking, but I enjoyed it all the way through to the end.

great read

I received this book for free for a honest review.  I loved the characters and storyline.  it flowed very well and held together.  The narrator did an excellent job of bringing the characters to life.  reccomend

Not For Me

The story just couldn't hold my interest. I tried a few times to make it till the end, but the story just kept losing me. I will try another story by this author someday though, because I believe he may have others that fit my interest better.

The narrator was just not that great. He either was trying to hard or he just couldn't get the right emotions to fit the story. He would get to fast/excited in places where it just didn't seem to fit with that part in the story.

I'm so sorry, but it's just not my taste. I myself would not recommend this one. Again, it doesn't mean others won't like the story or narration....It's just my taste & the ppl I know.

I'm being honest here.

I was given this book for free at my request and I am providing this honest review voluntarily. I do my best to be honest & will not fib just to get a like or a free book!!

Great characters and writing, flat ending

Another Audible offering with a short novella from recent favourite, Tom Piccirilli. Loss, while enjoyable upto a point, didn't really work out for me as well as the others.

We have an interesting main character and narrator, name escapes me. He's a published author. He still struggles with his writing. He's been remarkably unsuccessful commercially. He resides in the basement of an old building in New York. He's the janitor/repairman and he looks out for his eccentric residents.

Among the residents, we have a man with a talking monkey; a man who falsely claimed to invent aluminium tinfoil; a severely disabled and incomplete man - courtesy of a stunt years ago where he lay for a day in a bath of toxic waste; and our narrator's childhood and adolescent best friend and his attractive wife.

There's a schism between this friend and our man. In fact they're now former friends. Janitor man's former friend is everything our man isn't....... a fellow novelist, successful, celebrated, famous, rich and he has the woman our man covets. The unspoken competition between the two has spoiled their relationship and now there is only awkwardness.

We see JM interact with the residents of the building, including the wife of his rival, but not the rival himself (until the end of the book) which is all very interesting and entertaining.

We have an attack (resulting in death and murder), an attack which reminded me of an incident in another Piccirilli book, a conversation with a dying man, a police investigation, a missing woman, a murder solved and a confrontation and an ending which I didn't really vibe. Some reviewers have alluded to a sort of supernatural-ghosty outcome but I didn't interpret that myself. I was just kind of scratching my bonce in puzzlement.

Great writing, interesting setting, interesting characters and dynamics, a bit of incident, it all just felt a bit flat towards the end.

3.5 from 5

The Last Deep Breath, The Nobody, Sorrow's Crown and The Dead Past have been enjoyed recently.

Read - (listened to) November, 2020
Published - 2010
Page count - 46 (1 hr 32 mins)
Source - Audible purchase
Format - Audible

Brilliant

A wonderfully written story, fluidly narrated to keep you interested and wanting to know what happens next. Looking forward to the next one by this author.