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    The Barkeep
    The Barkeep
    The Barkeep
    Audiobook12 hours

    The Barkeep

    Written by William Lashner

    Narrated by Luke Daniels

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Edgar Award Nominee

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

    Six years ago Justin’s life was ripped apart when he discovered his mother’s bludgeoned corpse in the foyer of the family home. Now Justin’s father is serving a life sentence and Justin, after a stint in an asylum, drowns his emotions in a pool of inner peace. But when Birdie Grackle claims to be the hit man who murdered Justin’s mother for the money, Justin is hurled back to the emotions, the past, and, most frightening of all, the father he tried to leave behind.

    Who hired Birdie Grackle to kill Justin’s mother? Was it Annie Overmeyer, the sexy young woman with whom Justin’s father had been having an affair? Was it Justin’s brother, who took advantage of his father’s conviction to take control of the family business? Was it someone from his mother’s secret life, the shocking details of which Justin is only learning now? Or was it maybe his imprisoned father, to whom Justin is suddenly growing dangerously close? For all of Justin’s efforts to banish emotion and attachment from his life, this searing journey into his past affects him in ways he could never have anticipated.

    As Justin pieces together the truth, a merciless killing machine begins stalking him, leaving a trail of dead in his wake. Someone wants to bury the truth, and maybe Justin, too. As the terror closes in, Justin had better find some answers quick, because the stakes have been raised—his life is on the line and murder is just not Zen.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrilliance Audio
    Release dateFeb 1, 2014
    ISBN9781480538535
    The Barkeep
    Author

    William Lashner

    New York Times bestselling author William Lashner is the author of seven suspense novels that have been published in more than a dozen languages throughout the world. A graduate of the University of Iowa's Writers' Workshop, he lives with his family outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

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    Reviews for The Barkeep

    3.5/5

    46 ratings4 reviews

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    • 3/5
      An entertaining read, for sure. I was drawn in from the startling revelation at the end of the first chapter, and held, for the most part, through the majority of the book. While some of the other reviews cite the characters as being flat and stereotypical, I found it to read more like a noir book from Hammett or Cain. I am not comparing the quality to these authors, merely the style. The one problem I had with the book, and keeping me from a hearty recommendation, was the plot. It became so convoluted and ultimately unbelievable that, if the end was not already in sight, I may have put this one down. I agree with another reviewer that "the plot became overly complicated in an effort to give us surprise twists". As a matter of fact, I am still not sure exactly what happened or who the true murderer was. Unfortunately, I wasn't invested enough to reread to find out. Since there are so many other great mystery/thrillers available, this one is not recommended.
    • 2/5
      At the heart of this book, there's an interesting story, and it moves quickly enough, but it really needed a bit more work writing-wise. Even aside from the fact that it's incredibly over-written, both the characters and the writing are heavy on clichés, stereotypes, and bits that are simply unbelievable--the only word to use is cheesy, which isn't something I'd ever search out in a novel. At a certain point, I was plodding through the novel because of my dismay at the writing (his heart sings? really?) and my growing frustration with how flat the characters remained. The story itself had plenty of twists-and-turns, enough to keep me guessing until the end did, finally, become entirely predictable, but the book really suffered from a lack of character development and a lack of attention to editing.All in all, this is more mystery than thriller, and probably not something I'd recommend unless you like a lot of cheesiness mixed into your entertainment.
    • 3/5
      Easy read, no real in depth character development. Entertaining yes, but this book does not make me want to read another book by the same author.
    • 3/5
      This book left me with mixed feelings. Lashner's writing style is certainly engaging. His storytelling is such that it's easy to get lost in the pages. The characters and their world feel real. The action plays out well, allowing readers to visualize what goes on.Despite this, I'm left not really caring much about any of those characters. They felt a little too stereotype, too forced. There was often too much information on needless things. For instance, I sometimes felt more like I was reading a cocktail recipe book than a novel. And the plot became overly complicated in the effort to give us surprise twists. I did not like the ending, not because of anything that happened, but because of everything that didn't happen. Too much was left dangling. Holes remained in the plot that had yet to be filled in and connected. I understand leaving a thread to pull on for a sequel, but this just felt unfinished, as if the author himself wasn't sure how to connect all those dots.In the end, the book for me was a muddled jumble of good and bad that leveled off to an okay read.