Pigeon-Blood Red

Murder in Paradise, Reckoning on the Streets of Chicago

De: Ed Duncan

Narrado por: Dave Keyser

For underworld enforcer Richard "Rico" Sanders, it seemed like an ordinary job: retrieve his gangster boss' stolen goods and teach the person responsible a lesson.

But the chase quickly goes sideways and takes Rico from the mean streets of Chicago to sunny Honolulu. There, the hardened hit man finds himself in uncharted territory, when innocent bystanders are accidentally embroiled in a crime.

As Rico pursues his new targets, hunter and prey develop an unlikely respect for one another.

Soon, he is faced with a momentous decision: follow his orders to kill the very people who have won his admiration, or refuse and endanger the life of the woman he loves?

©2016 Ed Duncan (P)2022 Ed Duncan

Lots of Action

Pigeon-Blood Red is a fast-paced thriller about Rico, one of the best assassin’s out there. Rico is definitely an interesting character and I enjoyed getting a look inside his head! Also, as a Chicagoland native, I always love reading books set in the Windy City.

My main issue with the book was that it didn’t fully suck me in and it almost moved *too* fast. I didn’t have time to get super invested in or attached to any of the characters. I also felt like there wasn’t much of a mystery or many twists, since you get PoVs from just about every side of the story.

That said, if you like fast-moving and action packed assassin thrillers, you should check this book out! It’s also a series, so I wonder if I would get more attached and invested in the later novels.

Action packed

Blood Pigeon Red
4 ⭐️

Action packed quick read/listen very enjoyable. It was nice to listen to something different. My first action - crime book and it was pretty interesting. Mobster mentality type and the narrator did an amazing job with all the voices I knew which character was which. Rico is a definite character he would make a great character in a movie. This book would be great for a man or woman who loves action & who is trying to get into reading it will definitely get their attention.

Run this book in paperback right now is less than $5 on amazon! I recommend the audiobook as well.

Nice story line with some twists to keep you engaged.

New to Audible but an avid reader. Really enjoyed how the story progressed. Character development kept me following along and the narration was excellent. Reminded of the old Film Noir movies. Wasn’t expecting to be so invested in listening to a book but the inflection of Mr Keyser and the writing of Mr Duncan complimented each other. Would definitely recommend.

Different & Entertaining

Pigeon-Blood Red is a fast-paced, action-packed novel and the first book in the trilogy. The story features a classic, old-school mobster mentality that could only be set in Chicago.

We follow Rico, an enforcer, on what starts as an ordinary day until it takes an unexpected turn when he embarks on a journey to sunny Honolulu, where he might finally meet his match.

A thrilling cat-and-mouse game ensues, introducing us to many characters who initially seem unrelated. Once Rico returns to Chicago, he faces a critical choice: carry out his orders or stick to his code of honor.

The story has a clean ending but leaves a bit of a cliffhanger, and I'm curious to see what comes next for Rico...

Superb

Great book. Narration was awesome. I would listen to more books from the narrator. Had a Ray Liota esk sound to the voice.

No Muss, No Fuss, Just a Solid Thriller

★ ★ ★ 1/2 (rounded up)
An expanded version of this originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
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HOW WAS THE NARRATION?
My initial reaction to the thought was "absolutely fine," and I was prepared to move on. However brief that answer was.

But Keyser deserves a little more than that, I think. He really was a great match for this material—I wish I could find other audiobook credits for him to see how he does with other genres (and am a little discouraged to see that he's not attached to the rest of this trilogy). He could handle the lighter moments--the sweet moments--as well as the not-even-close-to-sweet moments when bullets are flying equally well (and we've all heard narrators that can't quite pull that off in the same book).

I really enjoyed his work and think he made a series of really smart choices and executed them well.

SO, WHAT DID I THINK ABOUT PIGEON-BLOOD RED?
After various and sundry delays, it was hard for me to remember some details that I wanted to, so I listened to a few bits again—and I really had a hard time forcing myself not to just listen to the whole book again (if I had one more day on a Libby book, I probably would've indulged myself). I think that says plenty about this book.

Duncan assembled this particular book very well, there were a lot of moving pieces—and plenty of backstories to bring in—and he managed to keep the reader engaged with all the characters while maintaining the pace and building the tension. I really admired that--in a longer book that might have been easier, actually, but this is a quick listen and to cram as much in as he does is no mean feat (and it never feels crowded, crammed, or rushed).

There's a scene that I've spent some time thinking about again and again since I listened to this--it's a pivotal scene toward the end. It could be a scene from a farce—it's full of mistaken identities, close calls, crazy chains of events, and so on. You add a jaunty, bouncy soundtrack and an exaggerated facial expression or two, and it could be seen as comical. If you ignore the blood, terror, and death, that is. I could see it all very clearly in my mind, and I think Duncan faked me out a little bit (see: mistaken identities). Duncan and Keyser both were spot-on during this scene/sequence and earned a lot of trust from me there.

I found something to like in all the primary characters, (other than Robert and unnamed persons from the above section), and got invested in the outcomes surrounding them. By the end of the book, I wasn't actually sure what character(s) the trilogy would follow and could see myself signing on to whatever ones Duncan stuck with. I was pretty sure it'd be Rico—and the title of the third book, Rico Stays gives it away. But that I'd have been open to some others, I think tells you a lot.

Was this a book that ever really blew me away? I don't think so—but I was engaged and entertained through it all. It was entirely satisfying (if you ignore the bump with Rico in the beginning, but I got over it). And now that I've finished this post, I can get to listen to the rest of the trilogy in short order. Be prepared to sign on to a trilogy if you start this (a quick-moving trilogy, I should stress).

An elevated experience for those who care to listen

Didn’t know what to expect listening to this audiobook but wow, the narrator, with his voice brings out the characters and story to a different level of imagination as it plays out in my mind. Would recommend you check this one out for yourself!

Solid Story

I enjoyed the premise, narration was good. Could tell female characters were written by a man, some descriptions of women made me roll my eyes but overall a fine book. (received for free for honest review)

Overall enjoyable

Some of the parts were a bit overwhelming and hard to follow, but overall the story was good

Performance

I could listen to the narration all day. The book had some twists and turns I did not see coming. I enjoyed this audio very much.