Darwin's Blade

By: Dan Simmons

Narrated by: Brian Troxell

Darwin Minor travels a dangerous road. A Vietnam veteran turned reluctant expert on interpreting the wreckage of fatal accidents, Darwin uses science and instinct to unravel the real causes of unnatural disasters. He is very, very good at his job.

His latest case promises to be his most challenging yet. A spate of seemingly random high-speed car accidents has struck the highways of southern California. Each seems to have been staged-yet the participants have all died. Why would anyone commit fraud at the cost of his own life? The deeper Darwin digs, the closer he comes to unmasking an international network specializing in intimidation and murder, whose members will do anything to make sure Darwin soon suffers a deadly accident of his own.

©2013 Dan Simmons (P)2013 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"A literary thriller like no other...A hard-charging, edge-of-the-seat tale." ( Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

Not Simmons' masterwork, but highly entertaining

This is nowhere near as deep and complex as "The Terror", or as sprawling and epic as "Carrion Comfort" or Dan Simmons' various SF novels. But it certainly is good fun, constructed with ease and elegance, and stuffed full of random and fascinating facts and sidetracks. It might seem daring to start a novel off with a four page (my estimate) technical description of a catastrophic brake failure; but he pulls it off, and keeps up the pace very enjoyably. This is also as close as I assume most readers will ever get to a novelization of a Darwin Awards Best Of. Fine and fittingly hardboiled narration. Recommnded!

why don't we have female narrators for the females

why don't we have female narrators for the female characters? it would really help the voices

with a straight face?

James Bond meets Sherlock Holmes with sprinkles of John Wick... because why not? this is a one or two start story at most, but the sheer chutzpah of writing this character and sending it out there with a straight face earned it the third star. good on you me Simmons, for not taking yourself too seriously.

Everything from Dan Simmons is amazing!

PI Lawyers will especially love this one. Very cool, great character development. I loved it.

A chocolate thriller in the land of vanilla

Most thrillers follow similar patterns and rules. And they're boring. Simmons did an excellent job using an accident reconstruction specialist as hero.

Not Simmon’s usual, but still good

Compared to Hyperion, Carrion Comfort, and Ilium, this is just ok. The story was fine, narration was fine, nothing was bad. It was just ok.

My biggest complaint was all the super specific details, particularly about guns. It’s as if Simmons read a Wikipedia article on guns and decided he knew it all. All this detail on the use of windage and elevation turrets and mildots, yet regularly he calls magazines clips. It was very inconsistent and felt disingenuous.

On the whole I enjoyed the book and Dan Simmons is still my favorite author, but it’s definitely lower on my recommendations list.

oh, the humanity of reviews

This is a great book! I read many reviews, and it saddens me to know that a well written, fast-paced, thrill ride of a book can be put down in society the same as a person simply for being created with a high intellect. Yes, the character of Dar is smart... Yes, it shows in the portrail of his thinking. No, you don't have to understand to his depth to appreciate the book. leave your inferiority complex behind & this book is a hell of a ride!

Probably Simmon’s Worst.

Long winded and pedantic. With about 8 hours to go I realized I hoped the protagonist would die and that I cared not one whit for any character, which is to me a statement on Simmons’ own. Last time I spend money on him.

Incredulous

If you an adult please don't waste your time . This over the top at all times book is really a shame . Its an awful story written by a brilliant author . Having read the Hyperion series at least that was an epic story . In that and this Dan has a way of typecasting everyone in the story as unchanging monoliths .This was cheezy beyond belief. If you like substance and depth in things you read chuck this.

A first.

This is the first time I have been unable to finish a book on Audible. With 8 hours left I have to walk away and wonder if Simmons actually wrote this story. Never have I wanted the protagonist to get punched in the face. Between puking physics equations and being an expect to the highest degree in everything (...had to sand off paint ridges that effected the lift at 54knots...) it is impossible to find a connection with Dar. I hope Simmons one whatever wager was made to get this to print.