Lightning in a Bottle

By: Monte Dutton

Narrated by: Jay Harper

Barrie Jarman is the hope of racing’s future because he is a link to its past.

The teen-aged native of Spartanburg, South Carolina, is talented, articulate, intelligent, brash, and mischievous. To the image-conscious brain-trust that runs the sport, Barrie is a wild Mustang - and, yes, he drives one - who must be broken.

Ain’t no way.

The yarn is told mostly through the narration of Uncle Charlie, a racing veteran who took in Barrie at age 16 and helped him get a shot at the big time. Only Charlie, it seems, can nudge Barrie in the right direction, and only Charlie knows when it’s time to get out of his way.

Monte Dutton's sixth novel is an ode to his acknowledged field of expertise. For 20 years, Dutton crisscrossed the country, writing about automobile racing.

©2017 Monte Dutton (P)2018 Monte Dutton

Had trouble really getting into the story

Lightning in a Bottle by Monte Dutton is the story of Barrie Jarman, who is, as it turns out, a really great race car driver. The description says that the narration is mostly told through his Uncle Charlie, who is a race car veteran and pretty much raised Barrie. That being said, I had a really difficult time getting into this story for a variety of reasons. First off, the story is just that. It's the story of Barrie, but nothing throughout the story really grabbed my attention or kept me wanting to hear more. In addition, though Jay Harper has a great voice for narration, I just don't feel that he was the right narrator for this story. Jay has a solid older cowboy voice and would be perfect narrating a number of other books that I've listened to in the past. Though the narration may be mostly told through Barrie's older Uncle Charlie, much of the dialogue is Barrie and a lot of his younger racing buddies and friends. The voice just didn't fit.

I'm the first one to review this audiobook, so I'd definitely recommend reading a handful of reviews and listening to the audio sample though before deciding if this is the right book for you. Maybe I'm just totally off, who knows?! I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher for an honest review.

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