GUTSHOT STRAIGHT

Narrator Edoardo Ballerini not only keeps pace with this bullet-speed debut thriller—he’s ahead of it. "Shake" Bouchon gets out of a California prison, having served a sentence for grand theft auto, and within 48 hours he manages to get into a load of trouble. First, he's offered a simple job: Drive to Vegas, deliver a car, pick up a briefcase, and return. However, there's a woman in the car's trunk, and it becomes Shake's job to keep away from a host of characters who want his head—and he doesn't even know why. This book is full of crooks, murderers, Mafiosi, strippers, and assorted villains, and Ballerini gives each character his or her own identity. This book is smart and sexy, and easily could be turned into a movie. Nonetheless, with Ballerini's performance, you don't need a screen—you can see it come together just by listening. A.L.H. © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine [Published: MARCH 2012]