Spider-Man: The Gathering of the Sinister Six

By: Adam-Troy Castro, Marvel

Narrated by: Tim Paige

Length: 8 hrs and 52 mins

Publisher's summary

On several occasions, a half-dozen of Spider-Man's greatest enemies have banded together as the Sinister Six. Now, at the behest of a deadly benefactor known only as the Gentleman, the Chameleon has been tasked with assembling a new Sinister Six with the most ambitious scheme yet! Soon, he has recruited the Vulture, freed Electro and Dr. Octopus from prison, and been joined by the Gentleman's mysterious ward, Pity. That only leaves Mysterio, but the master of illusion has a plan of his own. 

A number of Hollywood people have been targeted for murder, including the cast and crew of Fatal Action 4, the latest acting vehicle for Spider-Man's wife, Mary Jane! Spidey must halt Mysterio's deadly rampage before more lives are claimed. But even that may not be enough to stop the gathering of the Sinister Six!

©2019 Marvel (P)2019 Marvel

First book in the trilogy

Great book, I was excited when I saw this title was coming to audible, I enjoyed the book in print and it was fun to experience it so well acted out. Hopefully they release the remaining 2 books in the Sinister Six trilogy soon!

Mostly Mysterio

The cover is misleading. The Six do not form and attack Spider Man. There is no Kraven. Electro and Doc Oc only appear briefly. The story is a Mysterio story.

Please get the next 2 books in the series

Please get the next 2 books in the series. I would love to listen to the whole story.

Awesome!!!!!!

Such a great way to “read” this book!
Love the way it was presented, kept me alert & wanting more each minute...

Literally the Title

Getting the band together, nothing more. The Sinister Six isn't even together until the epilogue.

all in all great.

it's going to be interesting on
how they bring it in the movies
I can't wait.

Marvelous Entertainment!

Reliving the Golden age of Marvel's favorite son.
Great adventure!
Wonderfully narrated!
Well written.
Looking forward to the next one.
Thank you.

Amazing!

I like the entire dynamics of this whole book. I can’t wait to hear about how Peter and Mary Jane are going to handle the next bout of fights and problems.

I

i really liked this story i will definetly recommend. it to other spiderman fans

Sequel?

The story is great and they wrote a sequel, are they creating a audio book version of the sequel?

Mysterio’s Hollywood Revenge!

Spider-Man: The Gathering Of The Sinister Six by Adam-Troy Castro

Hello again to my readers! I think it’s time I return to the realm of auditory superheroes. So why don’t I bring us back to the friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man? Unlike last time with Spider-Man: The Darkest Hours this isn’t an adaptation of a comic book storyline but – as far as I can make out – a storyline completely original to a trilogy of novels written by Adam-Troy Castro. Although said novels do appear to be inspired by some version of the Spider-Man comic universe (Possibly the comics from the mid to late 1980s or very early 1990s. In other words this is a different Spider-Man than the excellent Tom Holland version from the MCU.)

Once again Dreamscape Media has released a very entertaining audio adaptation. The original novels were released as a connected trilogy in 1999, 2001 and 2002 respectively. To date only the first part is available on audio although I hope that will soon be rectified – especially with the prevalence of Spider-Man in Dreamscape’s heroic output.

The plot is as follows: There is a figure in the underworld known as The Gentleman. He is very very rich. Very very dangerous. And alongside assistants of sorts such as The Chameleon and a few others, he is more than willing to finance the destruction of a certain wall-crawling nuisance. And The Sinister Six, such as they are, can be useful to his plans.

However there is one slight issue: One member of the Six – Quentin Blake – otherwise known as Mysterio has his own plans for revenge. But against who or what and how are his victims connected? Can Spider-Man connect the dots and save Mysterio’s targets before they become any more personal than they already have? Especially given the Hollywood connections to said crimes. Not to mention Mary Jane’s latest big action picture: Fatal Action 4. Spidey only has a matter of days and the clock is ticking!

This is definitely a fun listen! It very much feels like a true Spider-Man story managing to balance the superheroics with Spidey’s civilian life as Peter Parker. Mary Jane feels very much like her classic self with a definite bite to her when needed. Especially when the story becomes personal to her. Alongside MJ we have some entertaining appearances by J Jonah Jameson owner of The Daily Bugle and Spider-Man’s biggest ‘Fan’, various other members of the Bugle staff, Flash Thompson and a last minute assist from one particular fairly obscure D-List hero I suspect the writer may have a soft spot for.

Speaking of heroes, Spider-Man’s quips are quite entertaining when they appear although he knows when to joke and when to keep his mouth shut unlike certain other versions. Castro is also particularly adept at his descriptions for combat. Be it Spider-Man’s attempts to knock Mysterio silly, Mysterio’s frankly horrific illusions, or certain strikes from out of nowhere. You definitely find yourself caught up in the action and in the general plot. Just how will the Web-head get out of this one!?

When it comes to the narration for this release we have a different narrator than previously. Instead of Jack Meloche, Tim Paige is in the spandex and mask and performs quite well indeed. His Spider-Man and Peter both feel very believable especially when things get serious. I also loved his voice for The Gentleman who felt very intimidating unlike a fair few super villains. Also his Mysterio is excellently melodramatic with an appropriate level of arrogance and self-confidence for a stunt man with ideas above his talent level.

One fairly major plot critique is regarding the Sinister Six part of the plot. As much as I loved The Gentlemen, only a relatively small part of the storyline seems to directly involve The Six. Mysterio on his own is the vast majority of the focus. The Six’s part of the plot is definitely a lead in to the two other sequels that as I said aren’t on audio yet. I certainly hope that the sequel novels will appear on audio alongside those which have recently been released or released in the last year or so.

In conclusion I definitely consider this a very entertaining Spider-Man adventure for Webheads. Especially those who want to get an audio fix of Spidey and friends or want a flashback to an older period of Peter Parker’s costumed antics. I’ll certainly keep an eye and ear out for more. However I think next time I discuss superheroes on audio…perhaps I should discuss the Extremis problem?

Sayonara!

Nephrite

Superb! This is Spider-Man

Joy to listen too. Great use of all the characters but great to hear Spider-Man done well. The Villains are actually motivated and genuinely evil, not just the fouls of some of the comics. Introduction of some characters hugely from left field but flows well. Brilliant performance as well!

Gathering of sinister six review

I loved it. Brilliant story and narration. One of my favourite Spider-Man audiobooks.
Really enjoyable. Will listen to it again.