Men in Black

By: Steve Perry (based on the screen story, screenplay by Ed Solomon)

Narrated by: David Dukes

Length: 3 hrs and 1 min

Publisher's summary

While much of the world watches and waits for signs of alien life, a select group of men know the truth - that alien beings are here, today, walking among us in human form. These men are members of a top-secret agency dedicated to tracking and policing these aliens - an organization known only as Men in Black. James Edwards, a tough, tenacious New York City cop, has been recruited by Agent Kay to join the Men in Black, erasing his identity and protecting humanity from a fiery apocalypse. Based on the 1997 blockbuster movie, Men in Black is a fast-paced, funny, frenetic thriller, guaranteed to have you on the edge of your seat.

©1997 Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., All Rights Reserved (P)1997 by Dove Audio, Inc.

Men in Black

I loved listening to it. Thanks to seeing the movie first i could lie in bed and close my eyes and see in my mind everything.. loved it..

A legendary book

A wonderful book that I found to be developmental and maturative for a young man coming of age such as myself. I found this book to be highly intelligent and I found incredible relation to the protagonist. I further highly recommend this book.

As intriguing as the film

When I first heard the Audio version of Perry's screenplay-based novel of the film "Men In Black", it was originally on cassette tape. I had been excited to see a digital copy of it, but disappointed to find the audio quality was only as half as good as it could have been.

The book, read by David Dukes, comes off with almost the same wry, deadpan humor as the film did. His voice adapts well to characters like Kay and Zed, while being almost comical for Laurel and Jay. Never less, it is still very enjoyable.

The book is about a young police officer named James Darrel Edwards (the third), who is approached by Agent Kay after an incident involving an alien on the loose. Kay invites James to visit MIB HQ, where James gets his first taste of what the MIB are about. He accepts the offer after thought and signs away his life, becoming Agent Jay. For the MIB, there is no such thing as a quiet day on the job when an alien craft crash lands in upstate New York. This begins the hunt for a giant bug bent on finding the precious 'Galaxy on Orion's Belt'-- a bauble which is at the center of an interstellar war. This undocumented alien visitor to Earth stirs up trouble both on and off the planet, and it's up to the Men In Black to put things right, and save the Earth from the scum of the universe.

Perry's delightful descriptions of the people, aliens, and places of the book enchant the mind to imagine these fantastic events, even if one has never seen the blockbuster film. Both Rookies and seasoned fans of Men in Black will enjoy this novel of the screenplay.

One of my favorite movies, in book form

I am a big fan of the Men In Black movies, and enjoyed listening to the book. Did the book come first, or the movie? I don't know, but my experience is that movies and books work hand in hand to enrich each other, and that is certainly true with the book.The book lacked some of the detail in the movie, but contained details not in the movie. Both book and movie are full of great humor, and is all the funnier if you know anything about the history of Ufology, so you know where the author/screenwriters got their material--Men in Black is a hilarious spoof based on real life.

Regarding the star point system, I am often not sure how to use it. Compared to Tolstoy or Shakespeare, this is just a popular novel, deserving perhaps a 3, but in it's own genre of humor, popular books, etc., it's definitely a 5. The performance was really well done overall, but I found a glitch or two that kept it from being perfect, hence only 4 stars. But who cares! It's still plenty good enough for a fun read.