Braineater Jones Review (Supernatural Mystery)

Braineater Jones wakes up face down in a swimming pool with no memory of his former life, how he died, or why he’s now a zombie. With a smart-aleck severed head as a partner, Jones descends into the undead ghetto to solve his own murder.

But Jones’s investigation is complicated by his crippling addiction to human flesh. Like all walking corpses, he discovers that only a stiff drink can soothe his cravings. Unfortunately, finding liquor during Prohibition is costly and dangerous. From his Mason jar, the cantankerous Old Man rules the only speakeasy in the city that caters to the postmortem crowd.

As the booze, blood, and clues coagulate, Jones gets closer to discovering the identity of his killer and the secrets behind the city’s stranglehold on liquid spirits. Death couldn’t stop him, but if the liquor dries up, the entire city will be plunged into an orgy of cannibalism.

Cracking this case is a tall order. Braineater Jones won’t get out alive, but if he plays his cards right, he might manage to salvage the last scraps of his humanity. – Goodreads

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Braineater Jones Review

Braineater Jones is one of the first audio books I have listened to where the narrator went utterly cheesy with the voices . It could have failed horribly but it was actually the perfect choice. Steve Rimpici had me cracking up, and yet somehow managed to still get me invested in the story.

Braineater Jones was an entertaining listen both for the story and the narration. While the basic idea of a dead guy walking and investigating what happened to him has been done before (Down Solo), the twists that the author put on it were refreshingly unique. I enjoyed seeing how things were going to play out and found myself constantly surprised. There was a section at the end that I re-wound and listened to like three times just to make sure I was perfectly clear on what had happened. A hazard of driving and listening, I guess.

This is not a book to listen to if you are easily offended. There are multiple elements that could offend. If you are sensitive to abortions/ miscarriages/thoughts of dead babies, you may want to give this a pass. However, I’ve lost a child, and I had no problem with it. The way it was used was disturbing and weird enough that it never really ‘clicked’ as a problem for me.

I think this was a great job overall. I’m definitely going to keep the narrator in mind for when I’m looking for something dramatically voiced. Stephen Kozeniewski crafted a novel that is definitely memorable in both characters and atmosphere.

Add to Goodreads:

Title: Braineater Jones | Author: Stephen Kozeniewski (site) | Publisher: Red Adept Publishing LLC | Pub. Date (for audio): 2014-3-6 | Length: 5 hours 55 Minutes | Narrator: Steve Rimpici | Triggers: Abortions, Miscarriages, Dead Babies | Language: English | Rating: 4 out of 5 | Source: I received a copy of this book free from the author for review consideration