The Black Mountain

By: Rex Stout

Narrated by: Michael Prichard

When Marko Vukcic, one of Nero Wolfe's closest friends, is gunned down in cold blood, the great detective takes it personally, pledging to do everything in his considerable power to bring the killer to justice. But Wolfe's reckless vow draws him to the most lethal case of his career, propelling the portly P.I. and his faithful factotum, Archie Goodwin, four thousand miles across the ocean to the hazardous mountains of Montenegro. Communist cutthroats and Albanian thugs have already disposed of Wolfe's friend and Wolfe's adoptive daughter . . . now they're targeting the world-famous detective himself.

Introduction by Max Allan Collins

“It is always a treat to read a Nero Wolfe mystery. The man has entered our folklore.”—The New York Times Book Review

A grand master of the form, Rex Stout is one of America’s greatest mystery writers, and his literary creation Nero Wolfe is one of the greatest fictional detectives of all time. Together, Stout and Wolfe have entertained—and puzzled—millions of mystery fans around the world. Now, with his perambulatory man-about-town, Archie Goodwin, the arrogant, gourmandizing, sedentary sleuth is back in the original seventy-three cases of crime and detection written by the inimitable master himself, Rex Stout.©1954 Rex Stout; (P)1995 Books on Tape Inc.

Nero Wolfe chases a murderer across the globe

Amazing narration: more fun to listen to than to read for myself and I love to read.

The Black Mountain

Loved it! Michael Prtchard is by far the beet voice next T Hudson. Others just donr have ut.

Another brillant Wolfe

If you could sum up The Black Mountain in three words, what would they be?

Different from others

What did you like best about this story?

I like how Archie and Wolfe are forced into odd roles. Archie does not speak any language but English so then they go to Montenbegro Wolfe has to do all the talking and just trust that Archie can just guess what going on.

What does Michael Prichard bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

He does individual voices so well.

one of my favorite nero wolfes!

i have loved nero wolfe books for a couple of decades now. (the originals, not the radio shows. shudder.) this is one of my favorites! at first, it was just getting to learn his background. then after a couple of listens, i grew to love the crazy montenegran names. the book is so accurate, you can follow Archie and Wolfe's paths on google maps!
there's not as much clever detection in this one, but you can definitely see where Wolfe hone his skills of talking circles around even the most cunning criminals.
as always, Michael Prichard does a fantastic job with the reading. there are a couple of places i would read the emphasis differently, but that's always a hazard with written text. im most impressed with how he tackles those foreign names!

The Farthest Adventure of Nero Wolfe

There are a number of stories where Nero Wolfe leaves home. But never further from home then this one, where he returns to his boyhood home, with Archie in tow, to catch a murderer.

This is the only Nero Wolfe story, which brings both him and Archie, as well as their stenographer, Rex Stout, back to his roots, as a writer of adventure novels (which were not very good), as well as the roots of his main character.

This is as much, if not more and action adventure story, as it is a mystery. There is danger present at almost every moment. And we get to see both Nero Wolfe and Archie, as action heroes.

Lots of fun, entertainment, and exploration of The titular "Blackmountain", Montenegro, Which Is Also where Wolfe gets his name.

Archie is out of his element, and Wolfe is at least in his element from his youth. Archie has to depend on Wolfe's knowledge and experience of the countryside, as well as Wolfe's reporting all the conversations in foreign languages.

A great story which takes both detectives out of their comfort zone.

Michael Prichard's performance is typically outstanding.

Highly recommended