Done Deal

By: Les Standiford

Narrated by: Ron McLarty

Les Standiford has won the Frank O’Connor Award for Short Fiction, and has received a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship for Fiction. Done Deal is filled with gripping characters, unforgettable encounters and unexpected twists. As the Miami sun shines down on a brutal world of corruption and violence, Johnny Deal is salvaging what is left of his family’s contracting business. His four-plex will be completed once he pays off a few more inspectors, and he is rejoicing in his wife’s pregnancy. But he’s about to find himself standing in the way of investors who will do anything, and eliminate anyone, that keeps them from the property they want. Fast-paced, gritty, and tough, Les Standiford’s novel grabs you by the throat and shakes away all daydreams of paradise. Ron McLarty’s skillful performance brings out the full range of emotional surprises and physical conflicts that assault Johnny Deal.

©1993 Les Standiford (P)1998 Recorded Books, LLC

Great story

I enjoyed the way the story originated and it follows a logical path. Flawed heroes and terrible villains !

Disappointing Storyline...

The disappointing part was (without giving too much away) Standiford relying on physically impossible situations simply to carry the story. One character sustains an immediately mortal wound, yet carries on for minutes, attacking and re-attacking. THAT lost me. I love listening to Ron McLarty, and will probably get the next book in this series only because he is the narrator, no other reason, as Standiford has proven himself unequal to the task of writing a story which gives readers the opportunity to suspend disbelief. If you go into this series understanding the High-School-Lunchroom style of the author, then you will probably enjoy it. If you go in expecting the second coming of Baldacci... forget it.