This Is Life: Or Jack Unravels a Crooked Cop Ring and Stops a Big-Gun Shooter

Jack Palms Crime, Book 2

By: Seth Harwood

Narrated by: Seth Harwood

Length: 8 hrs and 35 mins

Publisher's summary

Jack Palms is more interested in tuning up his vintage Mustang than starring in action films these days. Along with his failed marriage and plenty of bad habits, Jack abandoned his acting career three years ago, and life’s just the way Jack wants it: boring.

But picking up where Jack Wakes Up left off, Jack now finds himself in the middle of a whodunit in the seedy red-light district of San Francisco’s North Beach. Young girls, shipped as merchandise from Balkan countries and sold to city heavyweights, are turning up dead, and no one knows why. And closer to home, a crooked cop steps out of Jack’s past and into his backyard, taking potshots from the bushes at midnight. Sergeant Mills Hopkins, SFPD, thinks someone big is responsible for the bodies and the bullet holes. And if Jack is going to find out who’s pulling the triggers, he’ll have to forget about the quiet life and act more like an action hero.

©2018 Seth Harwood (P)2018 Seth Harwood

I am Jack's Complete Amusing Action Thriller

I think that Jack constantly being asked when he is going to make another movie really was ironic as Jack’s story really plays out like a movie. Picture Michael Bay writing a crime noir story where good guys are loose cannons and the bad guys are crooked cops. Everything is quite unbelievable with the plot and although it is a bit over the top at times it was a fun ride. Even though this is a series it stands alone quite well.

The characters are all quite interesting and quite enjoyable, although don’t expect any great personal struggles or big character shifts. Jack is a man’s man with his classic Mustang, although I think my favorite character was Freeman. The bad guys are just as much fun as they are your typical Russian gangsters and some crooked cops.

The plot is fast paced and contains pretty much everything one would want from an action thriller like this. Very reminiscent of classic 80s and 90s detective whodunit style thrillers mixed with a lot of heavy hitting action. I’m not sure if this story is supposed to be taken seriously but I would say you shouldn’t and just enjoy the ride. Only complaint about the plot is that the setting isn’t as fleshed out as I would like but that isn’t the point of this story.

Much like most movies I don’t think they portrayed guns correctly. 50 caliber rifles aren’t that hard to get and are not that rare. Clip and magazine are not interchangeable, especially within the same sentence.

The narration perfectly matches the characters and the story itself. There are a few different people voicing the characters so you really get pulled into the story more and get to experience the different personalities each character has.

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

LOTS OF FUN!

An original hero, an original story, lots of twists and turns. Recommended. New and different!

Love novels based in SF - and this is a great crime novel

So few novels are set in SF, I love when I come across them. This is a violent crime novel, with a lot of swearing, so it may not be for everyone. I found it gripping ~ I really enjoyed the story and characters.

original palms daddy

first heard the palms books when you did them on podcast. live you left on voice characters. keep up the work and cranking out those great novels.

This Is (Jack’s) Life! Full Cast Audio

Wow. That’s all I can say after getting into this thriller from Harwood, one of my favorite writers. I loved listening to the different voices from various actors. This one played out like a full-cast audio with different people doing the voices, bringing their own accents and intonations to the characters. Really deepened the experience of listening for me. Great stuff!

Great story

I completely enjoyed this story. Great characters and the story was easy to follow. It is a story that you can just relax with and enjoy it without effort.
I was excited when I read that there were going to have different people doing the voices of the different characters. The voices weren’t great and it seemed the quality of the audio was not great. Sounds like they recorded it in someone’s basement on a Saturday afternoon.
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

A Good read / listen

This Is Life: Or Jack Unravels a Crooked Cop Ring and Stops a Big-Gun Shooter Jack Palms Crime, Book 2. Action packed fast paced crime thriller. It can be read as a stand alone novel - but I kinda wish I'd read book 1 in the series.
Seth's narration is very good,
A good read/listen I can recommend.
I was given a free copy of this audiobook at my own request, and voluntarily leave this review.

Jack Wakes Up 2: Jack Wakes Up Harder!!!

Loved the original podcast enough to pick up the book, and loved that enough to pick up the audiobook. The only thing missing was the feeling that I wasn't being told to get those earmuffs on those kids often enough, but that could be from originally listening to it weekly. Jack returns home from his road trip to find out that the city that seemed out to kill him in the first book hasn't forgotten about him. This book also introduces Jane Gannon, who'll get her own badass adventure in "In Broad Daylight." Alas, now I have to wait for Czechmate to come out in audiobook. Luckily, there's a Kindle version now, so I've got time to read it before once again listening to Palmsdaddimus Prime and his crew Shake 'Em Down a third time.

Good hard core crime drama

I found this to be a very good crime book. It felt like an old school type of book with all the hard core cop drama that kept my interest. The narration was good for this type of book. I was voluntarily provided this review copy audiobook at no charge by the author, publisher and/or narrator.

It's a Cold World and This Is Life; ... Lean Back

This Is Life was a good listen. It drew me in pretty fast and I had a hard time stopping it to go to bed. This is Jack Palms Crime, Book 2 and I was able to listen to it as a stand alone but now it made me want to hear book one. Jack is a well-rounded solid character who even with a bad habit or two is still quite likeable. The supporting character of Freeman was also excellent although a bit scary. I liked Jane too.

The setting in San Francisco was a good one and the story, location, and characters were all very cohesive. I like Seth Harwoods writing style, even the song he used. That was cleverly done.

The narration was very well done. The characters had distinct voices and personas but they weren't overkill. They were just right. The main ones being Jack and Freeman but there was also the character named Buddha plus I liked when Jane came in somewhere around halfway or more. All were really good.

Note: I also really like the cover art on this book.

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