You Only Live Once

A James Flynn Escapade, Book 1

By: Haris Orkin

Narrated by: Chris Ciulla

Length: 7 hrs and 48 mins

Publisher's Summary

From zero to hero....

James Flynn is an expert shot, a black belt in karate, fluent in four languages, and irresistible to women. He’s also a heavily medicated patient in a Los Angeles psychiatric hospital. Flynn believes his locked ward is the headquarters of Her Majesty’s Secret Service and that he is a secret agent with a license to kill. 

When the hospital is acquired by a new HMO, Flynn is convinced that the Secret Service has been infiltrated by the enemy. He escapes to save the day, and in the process, Flynn kidnaps a young Hispanic orderly named Sancho. 

This crazy day trip turns into a very real adventure when Flynn is mistaken for an actual secret agent. Paranoid delusions have suddenly become reality, and now it’s up to a mental patient and a terrified orderly to bring down an insecure, evil genius bent on world domination. 

Includes a special bonus note from the author.

©2020 Haris Orkin (P)2020 Podium Publishing

Interesting listen

I enjoyed this delightfully woven story which was performed superbly. I heard a/an (unintended?) message: follow your dreams of who you want to become and be at peace with the results. Tho we All, happily, will not be James Bond (or Flynn) we will have an amazing journey.

The Name's Quixote...James Quixote.

An escaped mental patient who images himself a double O with a license to kill is funny. Add an unwilling sidekick named Sancho, a lady love named Dulce, and a beat-up ’92 Ford Mustang that’s a mechanical equivalent of Rocinante, and you have a comic tour de force.

Of course, I’m not the first reviewer to notice this. And literary parodies are nothing new. But this is the first I’ve read that uses the premise of one book to sharpen the parody of another author’s work. And while there’s dark stuff here too, it all provides ample scope for James Flynn’s epic windmill-tilting.

I can’t agree with the negative reviews of Chris Ciulla. Besides a fine comic performance, his British secret service drawl seems to amalgamate the voices of every screen Bond, from Connery to Craig.

where's the next book?

Not bad, kinda funny.
Would listen to the next one if Audible had it.
word word

Enjoyable!

I typically listen to a lot of Military Scfi. This was a great change of pace. I was entertained the whole way. I recommend this story

Interesting and funny

Excellent except the "graphic" reading of the beginning, which almost turned me away. Glad that I didn't.

Absolutely Entertaining

I could not put this down. The opening grabbed your attention. Story line is suspenseful from start to finish.

fun, and very entertaining!

this is a modern El Quixote, ad just as ebtertaini ng, but with a modern twist! keep them coming ♡
....

What a fun ride!

Okay, so purists will have lots of questions about the hero in this story. How did he know the things he knows? Can you really learn those things from television? Honestly, I'm ok with suspending belief on those items because the story was just a lot of fun.

This poor traumatized and bullied kid grows up and has a split, and the split turns out to be a pretty cool guy with a penchant for justice. I love it, what an awesome premise. Yeah, ok, there were lots of coincidences and lucky breaks, but it was just such a fun ride that I loved it. I didn't get annoyed and have to play the end first. I listened to the story straight through. I am looking forward to the sequel!

Modern Day Don Quixote

James Flynn is a psychiatric patient who thinks he is a spy for Her Majesty's Secret Service. He escapes the hospital and picks up some side kicks to help him with his mission. Is he crazy or is he really a spy? He seems to know quite a lot about fighting, wine, the finer things and he seems to make several correct predictions about the bad guys. This story pays homage to Don Quixote with both character names (Dulcinea and Sanchos) and the story line (mad man takes on the world). But like Don Quixote, the reader often must question if he is really crazy. The story is hilarious and well written. It is a great mix of Don Quixote and James Bond. Absolutely fabulous. Great performance by the narrator. I'm definitely going to listen to the next one in the series as well.

Great fun, wierd and over the top.

Give it a few chapters and this story will take you on a fabulous journey. Really well perfomed/read. It is an over the top 00-story with winks to the movies and Bond attitudes.