The Barkeep

By: William Lashner

Narrated by: Luke Daniels

Justin Chase is the perfect barkeep, tending bar as he lives his life, in a state of Zen serenity, until Birdie Grackle, a foul-mouthed alcoholic, walks into his bar and makes a startling confession.

Six years ago Justin’s life was ripped apart when he discovered his mother’s bludgeoned corpse. Now Justin’s father is serving a life sentence and Justin drowns his emotions in a pool of inner peace. But when Birdie claims he murdered Justin’s mother for cash, Justin is hurled back to the emotions, back to the past, and, most frightening of all, back to the father he tried to leave behind. Who hired Birdie Grackle to kill Justin's mother? As Justin pieces together the truth, a killing machine stalks Justin, leaving a trail of dead in his wake. Someone wants to bury the truth, and maybe Justin, too. Justin had better find some answers quick, because murder is just not Zen.

©2013 William Lashner (P)2013 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

The Tao of Bartending and murder solving

The mystery is given to the listener in the first few minutes of the story. A crazy sounding old man approaches the barkeep and tells him he killed his mother and his father is falsely imprisoned. The charm for the story lies elsewhere. The barkeep uses one book as his guide book, "The Tibetan Book of the Dead" and embraces the Tao of that book giving him a Zen like detachment from the rest of the world. The barkeep also keeps the code of the bartender and knows how to separate himself from patrons of the bar.

There's a lot to like with this story: the dialog between characters was full of witty repartee, the code that any barkeep (or for that matter, any person) needs to keep ones distance from others, the process of discovery one learns about oneself while focusing outside of oneself , finding the actual murderer of the barkeeps mother, and the problem with detachment all add to a very fun story to listen to in spite of the serious nature of the crimes under investigation.

I enjoyed the narrator. He gave voices to most of the characters, exaggerated voices and emotions, and really let the theater of my mind go to town. The author and the narrator made for a good diversion and helped me detach further from the world much in the same way that the barkeep was in the beginning of the story.

A cuddly bunch of bastards! Great Book!

At first I disliked the main character so much I was going to stop listening to this. But the Narrator Luke Daniels has that happy dog voice I like so much I just kept going. Then the Barkeep has some really good insights to drunks that I just kept going some more, then I was hooked by the whole bunch of just-missed-being-likeable characters. It was a bit hard to follow, it's a big gang of losers in this book but they were all written very human, but never quite making it to the likeable mark with the exception of the old policeman who follows people around most of the time till the ending. It was pretty thrilling though at the halfway point and is very well wrapped up. With the exception of whatever happened to the first girl with the slutty shoes? Did she ever find true love? They should have murdered her I guess, then I wouldn't wonder what her roll was for. I think I recommend you to give this a try, let me know if you figure out the girl with the slutty shoes.

wasn't an i can't wait to get back to it

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I didn't feel there was 12 hours of story to the book. Lots of twists and turns, but I wish a few of the loose ends had been tied up.

Would you recommend The Barkeep to your friends? Why or why not?

No. It just want as thrilling as many of the other books I've read/listened to.

Did Luke Daniels do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

Yes, he did different voices and was consistent with them. I've listened to others that are better.

Was The Barkeep worth the listening time?

For me, not really.

Great narration!

I enjoyed both the story and narrator. Not to give anything away, but I can see this happening in real life. I will look for more stories and narration from both.

Good every thing.

What made the experience of listening to The Barkeep the most enjoyable?

Luke Daniels.

What does Luke Daniels bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

He can bring the characters to life. He has quite a range of voices to offer. He is my favorite narrator next to Ray Porter.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes

Any additional comments?

No

Luke Daniels is an amazing Narrator.

The story of Justin Chase and his murderous father. The story was a good paced thriller with the scorned son and he is looking for his mothers killer. I give it 5 stars for the story and the narration.

A must read

This book is very exciting and a very good read. I highly recommend it.. It has an ending that I didn't see coming.

The Barkeep

Entertaining. Good not great.... As a former bartender, I appreciated the many references to the world "behind the board".

Wow, what a read !!

This book was a total surprise for me. At the very beginning I didn't think I would enjoy it. After a slow start, for me that is, it captivated me and kept me enthralled. It kept me guessing until almost the very end. I think Mr. Lashner has gained another fan.

Loved it!!

The narrator was great and I loved the book overall! I would definitely recommend to anyone considering this author...it was great!