Mannheim Rex

By: Robert Pobi

Narrated by: Peter Berkrot

Recently widowered and grieving, Gavin flees New York City for the quiet of the country. His new home on Lake Caldasac has surprisingly few visitors, and the author soon learns why: a suspiciously high number of people have gone missing in the small town. The deaths have all been ruled accidents, but Finn Horn, a handicapped boy obsessed with fishing, knows the truth. There’s a monster in the lake. And it wants to feed.

Thirteen-year-old Finn, who is dying of cancer, has only one last wish: to go down in the record books for catching a real-life monster. Battling demons of his own, Gavin joins Finn on his perilous quest to slay the nightmarish leviathan.

An homage to the blockbuster Jaws and the classic American novel Moby-Dick, Mannheim Rex is a deep dark thriller that switches seamlessly between heartwarming friendship and heart-stopping action.

©2012 Robert Pobi (P)2012 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

What could it be?

Yup, I'm a sucker for a monster book/movie, but that doesn't always mean I like it, this one overall wasn’t too bad. Just like in fishing there is a lot of waiting for the good parts to happen, and in the meantime there is a secondary plot with a different type of monster involved. While interesting and I like the characters I'm only going to only give this 3 stars because there was some unnecessary parts to the story that was added that in my opinion detracted from the main story. I felt the story would have been better without it, especially the last five minutes of the book. Also some of the parts with the sheriff could have been deleted, especially the cockroach parts, that just didn't fit the story well. If you liked this book I recommend The Terror by Dan Simmons. Narrator does a good job, easy to listen to.

Monsters!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Reminiscent of Stephen King's writing, it is a great horror story. But, it is so much more than that.

Gavin Corlie is a renowned horror writer on the brink of suicide after his wife's untimely death. At the suggestion of his assistant, Gavin purchases a possibly haunted house in New Mannheim and situated on the shores of Lake Cadusac. He soon finds himself becoming friends with a young boy, Finn Horn, who is in a wheelchair and suffering from cancer.

Finn tells Gavin that there is a monster in the lake and gets Gavin to help him try to capture this leviathan, hoping to gain fame from the effort. The friendship between Finn and Gavin is heartwarming as they learn from each other. Gavin sees the possibility of another book and quickly gets excited about life for the first time since his wife's death.

But, there is more than one kind of monster lurking in the area. And, as with most human monsters, this monster is much more terrifying than the one in the lake. The story is well developed, the characters likeable and the tension moves the book at a fast pace.

The narrator does a great job. with perfect pacing and great voices for the different characters. His performance added a lot to an already great read.

Not Just a Fish Story- A Worthy Listen

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, it held my interest and was well written. At times it seemed the author was on the fence between on what kind of story he wanted tell-- it is not exactly a straight horror, monster story. It is multi-layered without being complex. However, if you are squeamish about violence or blood and guts you might want to skip this one. It is not gratuitous but there are some pretty vivid passages.

What other book might you compare Mannheim Rex to and why?

Jaws (the opening scene is unnerving) and a Dean Koontz type villian and mystery.

Have you listened to any of Peter Berkrot’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I don't think so but his reading was fine.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

There were several. Almost every character was flawed in some way including Finn, the tween with cancer and the protagonist, a recently widowed writer who is wallowing in self-pity. This added to the realism of the story. And the sherriff-- a truly evil piece of work.

Interesting and fun

This is a fun read. At the same time it is a good mystery with a great story line with some interesting twists. I was hesitant but highly recommend spending a credit on it.

Slick and more fun than you'd expect

More than a Jaws rip-off by a mile. the stories and people in this book are great and show a very smart writer working thr genre just right.
Only criticism comes with the human villain. he really feels like he belongs in another story. Evil people are out there, sure. But this level of cartoon character evil becomes a little bit ridiculous.

Excellent

Really good story and performance. A lot better than i expected. Looking for more by the author.