Remember Bowling Green: The Adventures of Frederick Douglass - Time Traveler

By: David Niall Wilson, Patricia Lee Macomber

Narrated by: Peter Berkrot

Length: 6 hrs and 57 mins

Publisher's Summary

Something very strange is going on in Bowling Green, Kentucky. A masked terrorist attacks a local politician and a news reporter at a minor league baseball game. A Gay Pride parade is bombed. A veteran's home is invaded and taken over by new ownership, and every resident that is not Caucasian has suddenly...disappeared.

Krump Enterprises, run by Ronald Krump and his assistant, Race Scanlon, have begun a systematic takeover of the city, spreading rumors about immigrant violence, tearing down horse farms to build a country club, blackmailing the mayor, and much, much worse.

It's up to Police Chief Hannity, Dr. Abner Brody, a reporter named Lauren Kelly, a stoner named Walt, and Frederick Douglass, time traveler, to track down the truth, and stop Krump before the city falls under his sway, and even darker days prevail.

Remember Bowling Green is a cautionary tale, first in the Crossroad Press series of Alternative History novels. Though we are not directly affiliated with the ACLU, 80 percent (our normal author share) of proceeds from this book will go to the ACLU to help fight for our rights and freedoms.

Let no one forget Bowling Green!

©2017 David N. Wilson & Patricia Lee Macomber (P)2017 David N. Wilson & Patricia Lee Macomber

Silly and irreverant political satire

Remember, Remember, the 10th of March
The Day of Ronald Trump's start
I see a reason, that time-traveling treason
Should make his campaign stop

Okay, I'm not exactly a poet but, fortunately, Frederick Douglass is. This is basically a political polemic inspired by the arrival of a certain controversial figure in the White House. However, if you don't mind heavy-handed political satire then I recommend this book in the same category that I recommend the Illuminatus Trilogy by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson. Just without the sex, which admittedly means the Illuminatus Trilogy wins in any contest. Despite this, it does feel like a really oft-kilter episode of Doctor Who and I can't say I disagree with the message being the Left-leaning trust-fund baby anarchist that I am.

The premise begins when a masked shooter massacres sports fans in Bowling Green, Kentucky. This ia a reference to the infamous fake news cited by Kellyanne Conway to justify the ban on Muslim immigrants to the United States in February 2017. While I suspect that event will be just one political gaffe in a long series of them, it was enough to spark the imagination of the authors. The Bowling Green Massacre turns out to be a false flag operation by caricature Roland Krump and his media baron Scanlon in order to buy up all of the city's property then gentrify it under the population's nose.

As evil plans go, it's mostly noticeable by the fact it asks us to believe anyone would want to buy Bowling Green since I've been there and know that's only slightly more believable than the Illuminati. *makes the sign of the Golden Temple that only the true followers of the Pyramid can perceive* However, Frederick Douglass is friends with H.G. Wells and has a time machine. Foreseeing that Krump will eventually destroy the world, he resolves himself to eliminate the politician before his plan can go off.

I also mean eliminate as, unlike the Doctor, Frederick Douglass has no problem straight up murdering Krump or his equally scummy relatives across the timeline. Unfortunately, unlike the Doctor, Frederick is actually quite bad at murder. He manages to screw up a number of his attempts to alter history despite his otherwise capable self and it's up to a group of Bowling Green residents to undermine Krump's over-the-top evil in the present. Ultimately, it all comes down to a single rally which has the potential to propel Krump to the highest office in the...well, county! Can our heroes stop him!? Well, they have Frederick Douglass and a time machine so if they can't then they really don't deserve to win.

I really enjoyed the supporting cast in this one and they could have carried the novel even without the space and time bending poet from the past. I also thought it was a nice fake-out to have one of the protagonists named Hannity and have him NOT turn out to be evil given the thinness of the caricatures. I also felt the most intelligent piece of satire in the book is that Krump's plans mostly succeed because they're so monumentally obvious and over-the-top crazy that no one is able to object before he's done. Much like his real-life counterpart.

The only real objection I have to the book is it feels the need to be more obvious with its caricature than it needs to be. There's a lot of references to President Drumpf, his candidacy, and plans which feel less clever than they needed to be. I think we all got who Krump was supposed to be from the beginning so we didn't need tiny hands or "Make America Awesome" to remind us. Also, real-estate scams are things Trump did in real life so it would have been nice to discover he was at the head of an alien invasion or was actually a human-suit for a colony of sentient spiders or something suitably over-the-top.

Peter Berkot does an impressive job on the audiobook, giving a low and fatherly tone to the narration which works well for the rural setting that's disrupted by the arrival of Krump. His voices are also excellent, especially the titular character and his opponent. While not the best performance ever, it really worked well for this book.

In conclusion, I very much enjoyed Remember Bowling Green and I hope people will check out this book. Obviously, some people will probably be offended by the politics but we've got plenty of right-leaning fiction out there too and this is just a bit of fun either way. If David Weber can have welfare lead to French Revolution Nazism in Space (see Honor Harrington) then the left can have this.

9/10

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Remember Bowling Green

This is a hilarious tale of Bowling Green Kentucky,where a maniacal tycoon is trying to buy up the city.His name is Ronald Crump...uh huh. He has everyone in his pocket save a few people who set out to find out what he is doing with the people disappearing from the places he takes over.Frederick Douglas appears to a druggie and they pop back and forth in time to get rid of Crump.It is a fun book.Peter Berkot was a fine narrator.I was provided this book by the author ,narrator or publisher.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Modern Day Satire - The bar has been lifted!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Seriously, I'd gift them all with this! It was a hilarious hoot! It's definitely a book I wish my friends and I had listened to/read together (like a movie) so we can pull excerpts from it to lightened conversations!

What did you like best about this story?

What did I like best?! That it was seven hours of entertainment, for starters. Couldn't you ask me what I liked least? At least that's a more simple and direct answer: it's •only• seven hours 😢

Which scene was your favorite?

"Making Bowling Green Awesome!" C'mon. Can't anyone imagine it? I bet the Prez of Social Media is kicking himself he hadn't thought of that as a tag line/greeting while visiting cities on his campaign (inserting each site, similar to how our entertainment musicians do at concerts). Who knows, maybe he did ... I never did follow him ....

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I'm totally kicking myself that I didn't anticipate I would want to. Thank goddess I have it to listen to again!

Any additional comments?

I review all ebooks & audiobooks, but I'm required to advise: "I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review."

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

A Good Performance And Story...

If you could sum up Remember Bowling Green: The Adventures of Frederick Douglass - Time Traveler in three words, what would they be?

A Gut Buster!

What does Peter Berkrot bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

He Brought All The Characters To Life In Its Own Way...Very Impressive Performance

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

There Were ALOT Of Similarities Of What Is Happening In Our Own Backyard Right Now Today... This Story Gave Hope Although Fiction That Hopefully There Is A Frederick Douglass Somewhere Willing To Bring Light To A Dark World...

Any additional comments?

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Very entertaining

I hate Trump so to me this was a great alternative history/parody! The alternate character based on him definitely got his strange way of talking down pat.
I love it when someone can be so creative with real events and people. I will be interested in reading or listening to the next book.
I loved the narration!
I was voluntarily provided this review copy at no charge by the author, publisher and or narrative.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Interesting Satire

I got this advanced reader copy via audiobook boom. This book is a result of what happens when right thinking people lose their way. They see gold and forget about people. Although satire is used it is a sad commentary of what America is today. We say bring me your tired, your poor and then we treat them and our returning military as if they are a nonimportant commodity.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Ronald Krump seems like someone familiar!

Bowling Green is a quaint town in Kentucky. Ronald Krump decides to move into to the town and start building big thing. great things, the best things. About the same time, strange things began happening. a murder at the local baseball game, bombs at the parade, and a missing float full of people. If this were not enough Dr. Brody gets kicked out of Veterans Home where he faithfully serves as director. He cares deeply for his patients and when some of the non-white patients begin to disappear he tries to figure out where they were taking. This book is full of some great characters like Ronald Krump with his tiny hands whose ultimate goal is to "Make Bowling Green Awesome", Barbie Conroy who is Mr. Krump's Public Relations officer, Frederick Douglass plays a comical role of instigator, to all of Krump's family.

Walt who takes care of the park in Bowling green and when is not doing that is usually getting drunk or stoned begins to turn his life around upon meeting Frederick Douglass. Douglas takes pride in educating people and gives Walt a couple of his books. Walt realizes it is time to grow up to throw away the carefree lifestyle and start living with a purpose.

Krump would have probably gotten away with everything from building a wall to keep people out of his country club, the deportation of non-white Americans, the complete screwing over of the city of Bowling Green. But when good people stand up against corruption they can truly keep America great.

eh

If you could sum up Remember Bowling Green: The Adventures of Frederick Douglass - Time Traveler in three words, what would they be?

i tend to like crossroads books, but this was kinda boring and a little to close to reality for my taste, not sure what else to say, you can kinda hear most of the story if you turn on the news most any given day.

Would you be willing to try another book from David Niall Wilson and Patricia Lee Macomber ? Why or why not?

maybe

Have you listened to any of Peter Berkrot’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

dont rememeber

This isn't as funny as it sounds.

This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.
From the beginning I thought this book would be hilarious and in some was it certainly is. That being said, I felt a kind of dread while listening rivaling that of an apocalypse story. Mimicking the devisiveness of todays current political divide, I found it kind of heartbreaking. Well written and narrated though.

0 of 1 people found this review helpful

Quirky

Any additional comments?

After reading the summary, I was expecting something different, maybe a little more about the story. I live near Bowling Green and was excited to hear an urban fantasy where I would be familiar with.the setting. The book is well narrated and at times somewhat funny. I feel the bad guys were so stereotypical and predictable as to be off putting. Not sure why the author picked Fredrick Douglas as a hero, was a poor choice IMO. I think the book did work as a satire, but was not exactly what I was expecting.

“I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.”

0 of 2 people found this review helpful

.Alternative History ..ya got that right lol :)

Remember Bowling Green: is now my favourite David Niall Wilson , Patricia Lee Macomber collaboration. It just grabbed at one minute in and stayed at full engagement until the final word. The premise for the book is there in the title and it's a less-used trope that I love. Not only that, the main characters charmed me with their personalities.David,Patrcia and Peter gently draws us into the world of wonder and alternative history with frederick. There are things happening that make us curious, but also builds the characters as people for us, and in doing this they build the world through them. We aren't blindly thrown into a new world, we learn it with Frederick.Peter Berkrot added just the right amount of,quirk,seriousness and I'd even say playfulness to the story and was ,In my opinion, it was better for having him narrate.I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.I received this title for free in exchange for an unbiased review.As always this is my honest opinion.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful