New Yorked

By: Rob Hart

Narrated by: Alexander Cendese

Ashley McKenna is a blunt instrument. Find someone, scare someone, carry something; point him at the job, he gets it done. He generally accepts money upon completion, though a bottle of whiskey works, too - he's comfortable working on a barter system. It's not the career he dreamed about (archeologist) but it keeps him comfortable in his ever-changing East Village neighborhood.

That's until Chell, the woman he loves, leaves him a voicemail looking for help - a voicemail he gets two hours after her body is found. Ash hunts for her killer with the grace of a wrecking ball, running afoul of a drag queen crime lord and stumbling into a hard-boiled roleplaying game that might be connected to a hipster turf war.

Along the way he's forced to face the memories of his tumultuous relationship with Chell, his unresolved anger over his father's death, and the consequences of his own violent tendencies.

©2015 Rob Hart (P)2015 Audible, Inc.

Not really a thriller

I continued to read because I wanted to know if he found the killer. However the story was pretty much him running around New York dealing with friends all pretty shady, druggies etc all pretty low life people.

Hendo

Predictable story. A lot of cliches. Good reading. The voices of the different characters were done well.

One-Man Wrecking Crew

Endlessly pummeled by all manner of blunt objects—fists, pistols, whatever's available, really—the protagonist of Rob never-a-dull-moment Hart's now classic modern noir novel, New Yorked (as in, I got New Yorked), absorbs all manner of punishment as he attempts to solve the mysterious murder of his beloved beauty, the unattainable, Chell. It's a classic case of journey-not-destination as our tragic hero snorts, drinks, and punches his way through every obstacle, lobbing sarcastic comments as he goes. It's all in good fun—except when it's not: even at his most cartoonish, Hart's writing charms and insists upon itself as it always does and never settles for formulaic or cliche endings. New Yorked goes to some weird places, seemingly fueled more by agonizing loss and self-destruction than by the actual mystery itself; however, solving the former means solving the latter, providing a satisfying and unexpected bit of clarifying symmetry to the chaotic and action-packed gauntlet of pain that proceeds it.

The story is read (performed is a better word) by Alexander Cendese, with whom you may be familiar as the narrator of the post-apocalyptic Future Reborn series. Cendese employs a kind of man's man vocal style, here—it's deep but not baritone, raspy but still sharp, and cool but not dudebro; he's a perfect fit and reads all five novels in the series, which, if I'm being honest, at an average run-time of just over six-and-a-half hours each, is a little shorter in length than I would have liked, but who can resist?

Great NYC crime story, well performed

Solid, seamless, engaging. A total page-turner. More than once I sat in the driveway listening because I had to know what was going to happen next. This book moves and moves the reader through each scene, slowing down just enough to let you catch your breath. There are enough clues to keep you interested, but not in a way that makes the whodunit aspect too obvious. The reader does justice to the work and gives it life. Well worth the read.

All I was expecting and more!

Bought this on a whim and it blew me away. More from Mr. Hart please!