Brett Gets Hammered by David D’Aguanno narrated by Travis Henry Carter

Audible Release Date: May 4, 2018

Brett Cornell is called to action when someone with absolutely no morals or limits is needed. In this case, Tammy and Andy Rankin’s father has died and their stepmother stands to inherit the estate. Tammy and Andy need to pin the death on their stepmother – doesn’t matter if she had anything to do with it or not –  and there’s no better man for the job than Brett Cornell.

Brett gets Hammered is the sixth book in the Brett Cornell series.

I received a copy of this audiobook from the author in exchange for an honest review. I then did not review this book for a few years and for that I deeply apologize to this author. 

 

Brett is back and brash as ever. The self-acclaimed unscrupulous bastard is ready to break heads and bed ladies. Brett has standards though an old hag of 40 may have a shot (Brett is 36) but Tammy Rankin is right in his lane. She’s a woman he’d spend a few fun times with but the contentious bruiser at her side is a fly in the ointment so Brett is ready to focus on what he likes best – the money. Tammy’s wealthy father has died and left all of his money to his young wife cutting Tammy and her brother completely out so Tammy needs someone to dig up – or make up – dirt on the young widow. Is there anyone more fitting for the job than Brett?

It’s been a while since I last read a Brett book but his signature verbal effluence self aggrandizing in Brett gets Hammered brought it all back. Brett is always going to be the ultimate unreliable narrator. As smooth as he thinks he is and as easily as he plays it off, we see the discomfort of the people in his environment when he sits down with Tammy, stares at her chest and orders a “pair of Heinekens.” His retelling to us has him pulling off his explanation but he manages to relate the awkwardness of his audience which he attributes to anything other than his charm. 

Brett gets Hammered is a very linear read and the story is very structured. There’s a feeling that D’Aguanno knows Brett very well now (and perhaps always has). We also get the sense of the narration that Carter is quite comfortable in his role. Brett gets Hammered is the 5th books he’s narrated for this author (subsequent to this release, he narrated Beach Bum Brett). When Carter is in character, Brett is someone we all knew in the 70’s or perhaps who was a throwback to that time. Brett is a man who wants to be a caricature and as much as he tries to pull it off, as the story goes on, we see right through him. He mentions his childhood when dealing with cops later in the book and questioning why he should continue to pretend things don’t bother him. There is real growth in this character. 

Brett’s macho man throwback is going to be a lot for some readers. If you observe the people around the narrator and observe his few honest moments we are led to a potential understanding of why he’s a jackass in much of the narrative. As per usual, reality meets Brett and in this story it seems especially poignant. Got to say, once I started listening to the characterizations presented by Carter, I got a bit swept away and this was one audiobook that I wasn’t rewinding because I felt I missed something.

Well produced and well written, Brett gets Hammered is just a really solidly good story. Brett’s malapropisms are engaging. Was “said the spider to the cucumber” in a previous book because that was one that I just had to stop the book.  Is that part of my vocabulary now? It remains to be seen.

It’s a holiday weekend here in Canada. Pick this one up today. Its a great listen for sunning outside or puttering around the house. 

 

Listen and buy Brett Gets Hammered by David D’Aguanno on

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If She Dies by Erik Therme

Publication Date: February 21, 2021

The drunk driver that killed Tess’ daughter got two years in prison but why should his daughter, Eve,  live when hers had died. Tess obsessively stalks Eve and when the young girl goes missing, Tess is the obvious suspect but what if it wasn’t her? 

I received this book for review from the Book Club Reviewer Facebook group.

 

If She Dies is a study in grief. Because Tess is telling us this story, we never really know how honest she’s being with us. What the reader learns early on is that Tess avoids reality with the exception of the loss of Lily which she sees as her loss alone. Tess is wrapped in sorrow and an unfocused need for vengeance that leaps from the page. What the first person method does is create a connection to the character for a reader. Tess can be a lot but we understand, she’s lost what she saw as her purpose. She feels that her husband doesn’t feel the loss as deeply as she does but then she doesn’t ask because, frankly, she’s too lost in herself to care. A twist changes the Continue reading If She Dies by Erik Therme

No Way to Treat a Lady by William Goldman

Noted novelist and screenwriter, William Goldman, died today at the age of 87. Goldman’s first original screenplay was Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1967) which he followed with some of his well-known scripts that include The Princess Bride (1973) and Marathon Man (1974), which were originally novels. One of my favorite Goldman novels is No Way to Treat a Lady (1964), so I’ve chosen that work to share with you. If this novel doesn’t appeal to you, look into this very diverse author’s body of work. There is something out there perfectly suited for your tastes.

Publication Date: 1964

 

No Way to Treat a Lady by William GoldmanNo Way to Treat a Lady was originally published under the name Harry Longbaugh and written over a two week period, No Way to Treat a Lady imagines that there were two Boston Stranglers who were aware and deeply jealous of each other and follows the investigation to track them down.

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Brett Enters the Square Circle by David D’Aguanno (author) and Henry Travis Carter (narrator)

Publication Date: April 12, 2018

 

Stacey Ashton has disappeared. While Melanie Foster thinks she may have run off with Melanie’s husband. It soon becomes clear that there’s a good chance that she was murdered. But by who? Can suave, handsome, best-butt-in-the-nation, man-for-the-ages Brett Cornell solve the case Brett Enters the Golden Circle is the fifth book in the Brett Cornell series.

 

 

Continue reading Brett Enters the Square Circle by David D’Aguanno (author) and Henry Travis Carter (narrator)

Wedding Bells for Brett by David D’Aguanno

Publication Date: March 15, 2018

 

Wedding Bells for Brett by David D'AguannoIn Wedding Bells for Brett by David D’Aguanno, Brett Cornell, a heartthrob for the 1980s, once again finds himself in hot water. A young woman that Brett married as a proxy of sorts is found dead in a hotel room under suspicious circumstances. Can Brett solve the case and dodge the sentence for which he seems destined. Wedding Bells for Brett is the fourth book in the Brett Cornell series. Continue reading Wedding Bells for Brett by David D’Aguanno

The Earth Bleeds Red by Jackson Baer, narrated by Dan Carroll

Publication Date: January 29, 2018

 

In The Earth Bleeds Red by Jackson Baer, Scott Miller’s daughter, Ashley, is kidnapped and presumed dead. Her boyfriend is the only witness and is, to the police, the obvious suspect until three other missing girls are found dead bearing the mark of a serial killer known to the FBI. With the clock ticking on Ashley’s life, will she be found in time?

 

 

 

 

Continue reading The Earth Bleeds Red by Jackson Baer, narrated by Dan Carroll

Divine Justice (Camel Club Series) by David Baldacci

Publication Date: September 1, 2009 | Audio Release Date: November 4, 2008

 

David Baldacci Divine Justice

Oliver Stone (code name of John Carr) is the most wanted man in America. To evade authorities, he flees to a small coal-mining town in West Virginia with a big drug problem and a supermax prison. This is an audio book review of “Divine Justice”, the fourth book in Camel Club series.

 

 

 

 

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