Telepathic Talking & Listening
Review of the Audible Studios audiobook (February 27, 2018) narrated by Marc Vietor released simultaneously with the Cemetary Dance Publications hardcover original.

I'd never read anything from Robert McCammon previously, but after reading a recent enthusiastic 5-star review of Boy's Life (1991) from GR friend Debbie Y I decided I had to check him out. Coincidentally a mid-March 2024 Audible 1/2 price sale provided this copy of The Listener shortly afterwards, so I dipped in with this shorter work.

This was a completely engaging crime story set mostly in 1934 New Orleans during the heart of the so-called "public enemies" era. The Lindbergh kidnapping (1932) and Bonnie & Clyde's rampage (ended in 1934) are reference points. A trio of small-time grifters come together to stage a double-kidnapping from a wealthy family. The villains are cold-blooded and merciless but unbeknowst to them, one of their victims has a special talent of telepathy which is connected to a similarly gifted teenage Red-Cap porter who works at the local railway station. As the porters in that era were exclusively Black-Americans this book also somewhat ties in to my recent read of Suzette Mayr's The Sleeping Car Porter (2022).

The story is harrowing enough on its own and may not have needed the supernatural connection element, but obviously some method of tracing and solving the crime was needed, so you just have to accept that sort of Stephen Kingish element to the story. I thought all of this was well done, and the narration by Marc Vietor in all voices was excellent as well.

There was an further element of peril added towards the end which did take it over the top somewhat though and a bit of a downbeat ending kept it out of 5-star territory for me. Still McCammon is terrific in atmosphere and scene setting and in the portrayal of the culprits who are chilling in the extreme (some of them more than others). I look forward to further McCammons in the future!

Trivia and Links
The foggy grey-white cover of both the English language hardcover and the audiobook editions has to be one of the dullest ever designed. Foreign language edition cover designs such as Момчето, което чуваше всичко and Słuchacz and Слышащий did so much more. ( )

Well shit. Colour me surprised.

Robert R. McCammon dug deep and actually spit out a decent book for a change. It's been quite a while since I enjoyed anything from this author, but this one actually is really good.

The last time I truly felt that was with Boy's Life, and after the last couple of crap books by him, I swore I was done. But this one was getting enough positive feedback that I thought I'd give it a shot.

Does it rest on a pile of coincidences? Hell yes. But is it engaging enough to allow the reader to push past them? Also, hell yes.

Go ahead, if you, like me, have felt burned by McCammon, this is a decent one. Give it a shot. ( )

What a great story this is! Set in the American south during the Great Depression, The Listener is a unique tale. Starting with a man we'll call Pearly and ending with the opening of a free clinic, Robert McCammon sucked me in as he always does and now I have another book to add to my All Time Favorites shelf!

With a young black man as the protagonist and a few visits to characters we've met in the past, (I want to say so much more about them, but I can't spoil the surprise for you!),
I wasn't sure for the longest time where this story was going. But when Pearly meets Ginger LaFrance, and joins her cold quest for riches, I knew I was in for the long haul.

Not since the book MINE, has Robert McCammon created such a cunning female villain. Crafty and OH SO cold, Ginger is capable of anything. When she concocts her evil plan with Pearly as her back up, you just know it's not going to go well. And when another of her family members joins their crew, you cannot help but feel that it was a mistake on Ginger's part. You also hope that Ginger doesn't succeed.

At a certain point in The Listener, you just have to hold on for dear life because this tale races to the denouement and you HAVE to know what happens. I recommend shutting yourself in a room for the last 50 pages so you can read it without being bothered. Trust me on this! You will be rewarded with an ending so poignant, yet so perfect and totally satisfying that you might find yourself with a tear in your eye. Not saying that happened to me, (it TOTALLY happened to me), but you know, prepare yourself. Perfection in an ending is so rare, but I think McCammon achieved it here.

The only bad thing about getting an ARC, (and in this case it's a REAL ARC, that I can hold and hug tight to my chest, not that I did that), is that there isn't anyone to talk to about this story. I can't wait for you to read it so we can talk about Curtis and Pearly and good old Nilla.

In February when it's released, I hope you will remember my words here today and hop on the opportunity to read The Listener. Please come and share your thoughts with me when you're done. I hope that Curtis invades your mind space as he has invaded mine, and we can talk about how much we both love him. Or perhaps we can talk about THAT character that was such a memorable part of another GREAT, (maybe the best?) Robert McCammon book, and how much we loved seeing them again? I sure do hope that we can, my fellow readers. I sure do hope we can.

The Listener has earned my highest recommendation!

*Thanks to Cemetery Dance for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review. This is it!* ( )

Another excellent read by Robert McCammon. Suspenseful and well written, I could not stop listening. Highly recommended. ( )