Stick

By: Elmore Leonard

Narrated by: Frank Muller

“A little beauty of a story….A hot, fast read with pungent characters.”
—Los Angeles Times

“A slam-bang, no-bull action thriller…and nobody but nobody writes better dialogue.”
—New York Daily News

It’s an established fact: Elmore Leonard is “the uncontested master of the crime thriller” (Washington Post ) who “does crime fiction better than anyone” (Cleveland Plain Dealer), and nowhere is this more obvious than in the pages of Stick. One of his most acclaimed noir masterworks, it is the story of ex-con Ernest “Stick” Stickley who’s nudged from the straight-and-narrow path when a big time drug dealer randomly selects him to die and a perfect revenge/payday opportunity presents itself. The author of Raylan, featuring U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens, the sometimes trigger-happy protagonist of TV’s Justified, Leonard is indeed the king, holding court with the best of the best, including Coban and Connally, and the late great John D. MacDonald, Dashiell Hammett, James M. Cain, and Robert B. Parker.

Classic Elmore Leonard with fantastic narration.

Where does Stick rank among all the audiobooks you???ve listened to so far?

Right up at the top of all my Audible experiences.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Stick?

When he took the Rolls Royce to visit his daughter.

Have you listened to any of Frank Muller???s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I know that I've heard Frank Muller before but this time it was memorable. His command of accents, syntax and nuance are just unbeatable.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Oh, the laughs just kept coming.

Any additional comments?

I was extremely sad when it ended.

Quick Fun Read

Leonard rarely disappoints with his mix of weird characters and fun plots. I am now an age where I can reread the books I read years ago and it’s like reading them for the first time.

Great story

One of Leonard’s best. Frank Mueller does it perfectly. This story is the follow-on to “Swag” and Ernest “Stick” Stickley’s adventures.

Fun, short story.

Fun, short story. Good narration for the multiple characters. Would listen to similar work by the author and narrator

Just as funny this time around

I read this novel years ago and, as it turned out, I remembered a lot of it. Even so, certain passages made me burst into laughter. The reader is very very good most of the time, though I don't get his voices for Chuckie and Moke. I think he was trying to do the human equivalent of mean yappy little dogs, but I found the high-pitched whiny business annoying. Still, such a fine funny book.