Crown Vic

By: Lee Goldberg

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

From Lee Goldberg, #1 New York Times bestselling author, comes the darkest, most hard-boiled work of his career...

This hand-grenade of pure noir features two, never-before-published crime stories about Ray Boyd, an ex-con traveling the open road in a used, black-and-white, Ford Crown Vic Police Interceptor. Ray is the anti-Reacher. He doesn't help people in trouble. He helps himself.

Fair warning, these two violent, sexually explicit stories -- Ray Boyd isn't Stupid and Occasional Risk -- mark a sharp departure from the police procedurals and fast-moving thrillers that Goldberg is known for, though they feature the same ingenious plotting, colorful characters, and outrageous wit of his best-loved work. They are, as he says in his lively introduction, a test run. If there is an enthusiastic response to the stories, he says that Ray Boyd will be back...

In the meantime, Ray Boyd returns in Crown Vic 2: "If I Were a Rich Man," a new novella that was originally published as part of the acclaimed collection Eight Very Bad Nights.

Praise for Crown Vic

"Diamond hard noir. No holds barred, no punches pulled. There's a whole lot of fun to be had. Clever stories that riff on the classics. Sharp, to-the-point, and briskly-written. More Ray Boyd please, Mr. Goldberg." CrimeTime FM

"Crown Vic’s stories are a marvelous mash-up of Dan J. Marlowe’s early Earl Drake novels – The Name of the Game is Death, Endless Hour – and the erotic thrillers so popular in video stores during the 1990s. But Ray, even with all his failings, is a Lee Goldberg character: observant, witty, at times downright funny – for the reader at least – and a heck of a good escape for all of us drab work-a-day slobs." Gravetapping

"And here I thought that Lee Goldberg was such a nice boy…I mean, the man wrote episodes of Diagnosis Murder! And its tie-ins! But in Crown Vic, Goldberg unleashes the beast with two violent, sexually explicit and previously unpublished stories that just reek of 1950s pulp paperbacks." The Thrilling Detective

*****"A fun departure for Goldberg and a throwback to the thrilling and erotic men’s adventure novels of the 1970s." Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine

"Goldberg is pretty tricky with the plot of this one, springing twist after twist. It’s very well-written & very, very entertaining... Ray may not be the most admirable character around, but he does make for compelling reading." Rough Edges

Praise for Lee Goldberg's Books

"Goldberg is a master of his craft.” Library Journal

"Thriller fiction at its absolute finest." Lee Child

"Goldberg’s thrillers are some of the wittiest around." CrimeReads

"One of crime writing’s true pros. Elmore Leonard and Donald Westlake would’ve loved this wild heist.” Ace Atkins

"Goldberg is every bit the equal of Michael Connelly.” Providence Journal

"One of America’s greatest crime and thriller writers." Garry Disher

"A cut above the rest.” Philadelphia Inquirer

"“Lee Goldberg puts the pro in police procedural." Meg Gardiner

"A cop novel so good it makes much of the old guard read like they’re going through the motions until they can retire." Booklist

"A heroine for the ages." Michael Connelly

"Goldberg proves again that he is a master storyteller.” Mystery & Suspense Magazine

"Goldberg walks a tightrope between suspense and humor and never slips.” Linwood Barclay

"Goldberg’s fast-paced prose should put this one on the radar of every crime-fiction fan.” National Public Radio

virtual voice kept mispronounced words.

It was enjoyable, but if he writes a full novel, or longer collection, with this character, he needs to use a real narrator. I even volunteer to do it.

AI narration is unlistenable

Loved the character. Loved the story. Artificially voiced narration is utter and complete garbage. No inflection, constant mispronunciation, garbled syntax, sometimes no pause between phrases and other times pauses where they don’t belong … unlistenable mess.

The Anti Jack Reacher

This was a couple of stories about an amoral drifter named Ray Boyd and his adventures. The anti Jack Reacher, he lives only for himself. The stories are still good, the finales interesting. This book has virtual voice narration.

Gritty

Fun listen, enjoyed how the story was crafted and the character is someone I’d definitely like to hear more stories about

Easy, engaging listen

Do not like AI narrator- doesn’t differentiate voices of characters well. Pauses aren’t always correctly placed.