Montana Mobsters

By: Bill Ciccotti

Narrated by: Moose Matson

Length: 1 hr and 39 mins

Publisher's summary

Twenty years ago, an east coast mobster killed a connected hood. He took off with the mobster’s wife and the dead guy’s stash. The mob has been searching for him for years. And they came to the bad lands of Montana with an ax to grind.

Ultimately, the mob tracked him down and found him. But he wasn’t the same. That ruthless mobster had turned over a new leaf and was living a peaceful life in the hills of Montana. A humble rancher working hard in Big Sky. He had hung up his guns and found salvation.

But you can’t hide forever. And when the mob finds you there’s always payback of the permeant kind. Guns and torpedoes, Cowboys, and Indians. Us Marshals and Capo de Capos. East meets west at high noon. Montana mobsters and buffalo.

Death doesn’t stop looking and the Reaper is very patient. But he was hungry for Sal Bandino’s blood. And there was no going back. You can run from everything, except a bullet. It’s a hard ride to hell.

©2022 Bill Ciccotti (P)2022 William M Ciccotti

"He was Whipped, but not Broken"

Holy smoking guns!! (why does that make me think of the Boondock Saints?) This was totally rad. A bite sized but action-packed western themed mob story, (or mobster themed western?), I was absolutely riveted the entire time. It's nothing entirely new or original but the storytelling was gruff, gritty, in your face, and had plenty of tongue in cheek one liners and machismo, in the best possible way. The good kind of toxic masculinity, reminiscent of Clint Eastwood or John Wayne.

As usual though, this affordably priced short story narrated by the affably accessible Moose Matson hits all the right notes for an audiobook that I otherwise may never have read nor heard of. My previous experience with the exceptional narrator comes from his readings of the savage tales of sword and sorcery short stories, which are also just cheap enough that it's worth skipping the credit and just buying wholesale. I have no regrets. Matson, as always has a large number of accents and voices within his deep, smoky voice that he pulls off effortlessly as he switches from erratic henchmen to deadly mob boss and back to the somber, lone rider type marshal. I don't know why so many other readers stick with two dependable voices and leave it there, when it's so much more fun to just let go like Moose! I mean, who doesn't love that name?

The book was fun, well paced, I liked all the characters and really felt the authenticity of a modern western. The narrator and author worked in tandem to transport me there and keep me wanting more. All I can say is I'm waiting for more from these guys, 'cause at this point I'm sold.