Back to Brooklyn

My Cousin Vinny Series, Book 1

By: Lawrence Kelter

Narrated by: MerlinsVoice.com

Gambini is back! Hot on the heels of rescuing his cousin Bill and Bill's friend, Stan, from an Alabama electric chair, our wildly inappropriate hero, Vincent Gambini, heads home to Brooklyn, where he attempts to establish a successful law career. Meanwhile, Lisa aches to have a wedding band placed around her finger, and her biological clock is still ticking away like mad. Vinny and Lisa have been together 10 long years. She's waited so very patiently for him to complete law school and pass the bar. Winning his first case was the last piece of the puzzle, and now nothing can stand in the way of true love, except that between them they don't have two nickels to rub together, and Vinny is about as romantic as a box of frogs.

In the course of building his practice, Vinny is reunited with Joe, his walking, talking embarrassment of a brother; Lisa's nudging parents, Ma and Augie; and his dear old friend Judge Henry Molloy, who refers him the mother of all capital murder cases. Theresa Cototi is young and pretty but far from innocent, and darn her luck...her boyfriend has just been scraped off the pavement after taking a header from eight stories up. You'd better believe she's going to trial, charged with murder one.

Aided by Lisa and a ragtag team of misfits, Vinny defends his client against overwhelming odds. Our endearing neophyte attorney must match wits with a cunning DA and a formidable influence peddler who appears to anticipate his every move. In the balance hangs the life of a woman he believes to be innocent. Or is she? Yes, Vinny may have finally won his first case, but his and Lisa's story is far from over. Am I sure? Yeah! I'm pos-i-tive!

©2017 Twentieth-Century Fox Corporation (P)2017 Twentieth-Century Fox Corporation

Instant classic!

I was shocked at how good this was. I’m a huge fan of the movie, but this had such incredible character development that I think I enjoyed this even more. The acting in the audio version was excellent. PLEASE LET THERE BE A BOOK 2! I will buy it in a heartbeat.

Nobody fools a gambini!

Vinnie and his fiancé are back. The story picks up right where the movie left off. They are headed back to Brooklyn but have another small adventure in Alabama before they go. Vinnie is now practicing personal injury law in Brooklyn, taking small time cases for some extra cash and of course he had been handpicked to defend the ward of a close personal friend for, you guessed it, murder. The crazy shenanigans the wonderful courtroom scenes are all here Alice and well. Laughed my ass off the whole time I was listening to it. BE AWARE, it is not joe Pesci, it is not Marisa tomei. The voice actors however do a wonderful job conveying the accents and sarcasm that were presented by the original characters. Cannot wait for the rest of the series to see where this goes! Great great great story!!I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.

Funny Sequel Interesting Vocal Choices.

Back To Brooklyn was a very enjoyable sequel to an iconic movie. And is where the problem comes in for me. I loved the story. I will not spoil it for the audience but lets just say that Mr Kelter has captured the spirit of the original film and crafted a very worthy sequel. My only problem lies with the narration and the fact that the original movie is so well know that you expect to hear Joe Pesci and Marisa Tomei when Vinni and Lisa are speaking. When you hear someone else and the accents are wrong and not really close, for me it pulled me out of the story. Other than that this is very well done and a great audio book that I highly recommend. This review copy audiobook was provided by the author/narrator/publisher free of charge via Audiobook Boom.

A promising, if imperfect, start of a great series

Having enjoyed the original movie with its sterling reputation as one of the best-informed courtroom movies of all time, it was a treat to finally see Vinny and Lisa again in what promises to be a fun Italian-American working-class version of The Thin Man mysteries.

However, Kelter is doesn't really measure completely to the movie's original writer with Vinny coming off as too naive about the legal system on his home turf with goofs he really should have known better than to do after his Alabama case. In addition, the New York prosecutorial side comes off as laughably absurd with occasional legal moves that defy all common sense. The most glaring example is the ADA routinely requesting in arraignment court remand (a prisoner to be kept in jail until trial) for people indicted for misdemeanors when no rational prosecutor would incur such needless public expense for strictly minor criminals.

That said, there are laughs and tender moments aplenty while the plot builds to a spectacular courtroom showdown like the best of Perry Mason with a streetwise style.

"I Use the Word Awesome So Much That It Has Really

Diluted What Awesome Is. So let's just say this is f'ing fantastic. I had doubts that an audible sequel could pull off recreating my love for "My Cousin Vinny", but the author and narrators did a really fantastic job. This being a series I can't wait for the next installment.

A Fun Story

I kept closing my eyes and trying to get through the bad dialects especially Lisa’s Italian grandmother.
But after criticizing the dialects I really enjoyed the story and kept imagining if they made this into a movie it would of been a blast. I drive a lot and just loved listening to this and I think you will too. I’m going to start the next one now

Great story, but I suggest reading this one

Back to Brooklyn is a funny and skillful tribute to the 1990's screenplay "My Cousin Vinny". It picks up where the movie left off, and hilariously captures the voices and antics of Vinny and Mona Lisa perfectly as they leave Alabama and head home to new adventures. If you loved the movie -- and come on, who didn't? -- then this book is definitely for you.

Sadly, I must encourage you to actually read this one, rather than pick up the audio version. The team who performed the voices seemed to be trying so hard to nail the accents that their delivery was overly dramatic, deliberate and embarrassingly stilted. (Lisa's voice, for instance, reminded me of Janice from Friends, with her measured "Ohhh Myyyy Gawwwd") They weren't playing the parts as they read. Instead they were carefully pronouncing each word, as if they were seeing the pages for the first time.

Not great

If you're like me, and you have in your mind real Brooklyn Italians like Joe Pesci and Marissa Tomei in your head from the movie 'My Cousin Vinny' then this narration is not for you. The narrators impressions sound like a bunch of Canarsie or Williamsburg, Brooklyn Jews instead of Bensonhurst Italians making this a thoroughly disappointing narration.

Nasally

I'm sorry but I can't give an honest opinion of this book. Having never seen the movie I had no clue what to expect. But given the fact that everyone talked through their nose in what I would assume is supposed to be a Brooklyn accent is actually giving me a headache. The two hours that I did listen to were funny once you got past the nasally speech and I was having a hard time following the story.
I received this free for an honest review from the author or narrator.

Funny book, poor recording quality

Loved the book. It was a hoot.

The audiobook recording could use some better production and editing. Lots of audio artifacts, static, voices that sound like they were using bad microphones, etc. The narrators themselves were great, but the recording itself sounded amateurish as a result.