The Dagger Men

A Novel of the Clay Shamus

By: Michael Panush

Narrated by: William Turbett

Length: 10 hrs and 48 mins

Publisher's summary

Sickle City is a magnet for the bizarre and unholy. When a legion of dead Roman soldiers converges on the modern metropolis, its salvation will lie in the hands of three unique warriors employed by Herman Holtz, a corrupt, bootlegging Jewish rabbi. Emmet Clay is a golem built by Holtz' older brother, a powerful Russian rabbi. As Holtz' chief enforcer, he disguises himself as a detective. His two loyal allies are the beautiful and fiery Zipporah Sarfati, a deadly Sephardic swordswoman and the young Harvey Holtz, the rabbi's son; a devoted student of Jewish mysticism. Together the three of them must uncover the secret of the Dagger Men, a secret society of Jewish warriors that traces its origins back to the bloody destruction of Judea. Writer Michael Panush offers up a terrific, fast-paced supernatural thriller filled with some of the most original, fanciful characters ever imagined. The Dagger Men is roller-coaster pulp ride that doesn't slow down until the very end!

©2016 Michael Panush (P)2016 RadioArchives.com

not worth it

The premise was good however was extremely poorly executed. The story constantly reminds the listener how Jewish all the characters are while still coming off antisemitic at times. Character traits are repeatedly beat into the reader even if they have no bearing on the story. Very disjointed, halting prose, lots of short sentences and weak descriptions. The story lags until it hits an action point where things become too convenient and the situation is rushed. Many plot points revolving around magic and jewish lore/religious based magic deeply inaccurate in details. No real rising action/climax rather there are pockets where action spikes then falls , kind of like a heart monitor, up and down up and down. It's like event after event of deus ex machina situations. Flat characters and inorganic  interactions with no character growth. I wanted to like this story but I really couldnt.

Didnt like this narrator, he had a very nasally voice, poor enunciation and bad pacing. He had no vocal range or character differentiation so there were times you were uncertain who was actually speaking.

A series of Deus Ex Machinas in a row.

Wanted to like this one.
The story constantly reminds the listener how Jewish all the characters are. Character traits shouldn't be used as cudgels, but that happens here. Sadly, that's also almost the only character trait brought out.
The battles and fights and situations all seem to escalate quickly and then get resolved easily. Everything seems all too convenient. Lots of golems and other religious-based magic.
Listening to a bit more, just to check ... meeting of armies, a few of the leaders talk, and then one of the character's has a blade held to his throat. Nothing anyone can do, even though everyone is armed. The throat is cut and the body is dropped and the armies move away from each other. --- Every few minutes is like this. What was the point of describing how well armed everyone was when no-one else does anything? Minutes after that, main character Clay casually goes to Gehenna, the land of demons. He mentions he'll be back in a few minutes, then heads to visit Asmodeus, king of demons. Asmodeus gives Clay a helpful communication serpent and then he's back at where he was, just a few minutes later.
The narrator is fairly good, though.