Good Guys

By: Steven Brust

Narrated by: Kevin T. Collins

A snarky, irreverent tale of secret magic in the modern world, the first solo stand-alone novel in two decades from Steven Brust, The New York Times best-selling author of the Vlad Taltos series

Donovan was shot by a cop. For jaywalking, supposedly. Actually, for arguing with a cop while black. Four of the nine shots were lethal - or would have been, if their target had been anybody else. The Foundation picked him up, brought him back, and trained him further. “Lethal” turns out to be a relative term when magic is involved.

When Marci was 15, she levitated a paperweight and threw it at a guy she didn't like. The Foundation scooped her up for training too.

“Hippie chick” Susan got well into her Foundation training before they told her about the magic, but she's as powerful as Donovan and Marci now.

They can teleport themselves thousands of miles, conjure shields that will stop bullets, and read information from the remnants of spells cast by others days before. They all work for the secretive Foundation...for minimum wage. Which is okay, because the Foundation are the good guys. Aren't they?

©2018 Steven Brust (P)2018 Tantor

Brust is always fun.

I enjoy this kind of Light reading. If I had a complaint I would say that as an audiobook sometimes you was trouble keeping track of what character was where or doing what or who they were. Sometimes that's just me and I'm too busy to really listen and pay attention

A good detective style novel.

It's what I expect from Steven Brust. good solid storytelling. A modern mystery with magic.

Another Brust Adventure

And I mean that in the best of ways! There’s not a lot of focus on world-building but who cares when you’ve got these characters and this plot? I highly recommend this and really wish there was news of a follow-up.

An unexpected surprise!

It was different than what I usually read or listen to but I was pleasantly surprised. I did love the book and the present day them pushed it over the top.

Brust sets a high bar for himself

I've been a long time Brust reader. I prefer his Vlad Taltos first person noir style, but this is an engaging set of characters and a decent story line. While Collins does an admirable job distinguishing voices, I didn't get some his heavyily-accented choices for characters Brust said spoke flawless English. Which made those choices distracting to me.

great book a solid read fun and exciting

a familiar plot in a different environment show some real growth in the author's writing style

Great narrator, simple but interesting story

Narrator had strong character voices, easily differentiated. The the story was not very complex yet it was interesting

It’s rare to see a true original.

It’s rare to see a true original non-derivative book. This is one. The characters are also interesting. Loved this book. I wish there were more.

Tarantino-ish plot deserved more distinctive MCs

“Not my circus; not my monkeys.”
Overall a fun, original story with interesting characters and a magical twist to this modern day mystery.
Nothing is too graphic and F bombs are kept to a minimum.

“If we were bad guys, we’d be getting paid more than minimum wage.”
I went in expecting something MIB-ish, but it was nothing like that. No aliens. No super hero schticks. Instead, it had the feel of Tarantino’s earlier works, where you need to pay attention and aren’t clear on who’s on whose side, or what exactly is going on, but you dig the style nonetheless. It’s also a slow buildup to a bloody, Reservoir Dog-ish, finale.

“Catch and release- that’s what makes us the good guys.”
The three MCs are Donovan, Marcy, and Susan. They have very distinctive powers, however two things kept them from leaping off the page like, say, Vincent and Jules in Pulp Fiction. First, this author tends to skimp on describing his characters. Tall or short? Lithe or muscular? Flashy style or office practical?
If there’s any description at all, it will happen once, so listen carefully. Second, the narrator doesn’t differentiate enough between the MCs and the somewhat large cast of supporting characters. Although Donovan’s voicing was distinct, I often couldn’t tell Becker from Matt, or Marcy from Susan. Any accents were reserved for characters with far less screen time. This would be fantastic in graphic audio.

“We’re the good guys … we hope.”
I’m still not sure I understood the magic system, or why Donovan survived getting shot, or why some of the people were motivated to do the things they did. But, I understood enough to be entertained and would look forward to a sequel, if there ever was one.

enjoyable listen

I did struggle with the bouncing back and forth between the various characters within the story. likely this was in part due to my surroundings but also the voice talent. Not wanting to complain because he does a fine job.