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Unabridged Audiobook: 9 CDs (11 hours)
Read by George K. Wilson
Literary sleuths come in all shapes, sizes, time periods, and personalities. But I think it’s safe to say that you’ve never encountered a sleuth (or, rather, a pair of sleuths) like you’ll find in the audio version of author W. Bruce Cameron’s The Midnight Plan of the Repo Man.
The story follows college football star turned repo man Ruddy McCann as he attempts to steal cars, solve murders, and get the girl in the small town of Kalkaska, Michigan.
Ruddy is dealing with an especially difficult repo job when he starts hearing voices—or, more specifically, one voice. The voice belongs to Alan Lottner, a dead real estate agent who’s determined to solve his own murder. Ruddy is pretty sure that he’s losing his mind. Some suggest that he’s suffering from the dreaded “repo madness.” But the voice in his head is pretty persistent—and, before long, Ruddy finds himself in the middle of a deadly investigation.
The Midnight Plan of the Repo Man tells an enjoyably odd story about a man who fears that his sanity might be slipping away. After all, he’s had a pretty tough life, and it was probably just a matter of time before he cracked. Still, Ruddy handles his growing insanity with a wry sense of humor. He’s laid back and relaxed until circumstances call for him to be otherwise—and he has a sarcastic comeback for everything.
Alan, on the other hand, is the exact opposite: straight-laced and high-strung, with a tendency to freak out at the most inconvenient of times. Put the two of them in the same body, and you’ve got one amusing—and unusual—battle of wits.
Unfortunately, though, the characters don’t get the narration that they deserve. While George K. Wilson’s read mixes in the right amounts of drama and humor, his voice sounds much older than the characters are supposed to be. Ruddy is supposed to be thirty years old, yet he sounds a little too much like Wilford Brimley—and Alan could be his senile sidekick, complete with suspendered pants and too-large glasses. With audiobooks, the voice can make or break a story, and Wilson’s read can be distracting—especially when Ruddy talks about the beautiful young girl he’s just met. It can be a tough obstacle to overcome, but the intriguing story and the cast of lovably quirky small-town misfits is so irresistibly entertaining that you’ll be more than willing to give it a try.
The Midnight Plan of the Repo Man does have its flaws and distractions, but it’s also a wildly amusing adventure, complete with an easy-going mystery, a plethora of eccentric characters, and a solid sense of humor. It’s just the kind of comic adventure that you’ll want to have handy before you set out on your next road trip.
Listen to the review on Shelf Discovery:
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