The Driver

A Novel

By: Hart Hanson

Narrated by: Ari Fliakos

From the creator of the TV show Bones comes a smart and funny debut thriller.

“Everything a great thriller should be—always smart, often funny, and relentlessly exciting. I loved every page.”—Scott Turow

Michael Skellig is a limo driver waiting for his client in the alley behind an upscale hotel. He’s spent the past twenty-eight hours ferrying around Bismarck Avila, a celebrity skateboard mogul who isn’t going home any time soon. Suddenly the wind begins to speak to Skellig in the guttural accent of the Chechen torturer he shot through the eye in Yemen a decade ago: Troubletroubletrouble. Skellig has heard these warnings before—he’s an Army Special Forces sergeant whose limo company is staffed by a ragtag band of wounded veterans, including his Afghan interpreter—and he knows to listen carefully.

Skellig runs inside just in time to save Avila from two gunmen but too late for one of Avila’s bodyguards—and wakes up hours later in the hospital, the only person of interest in custody for the murder. Complicating matters further is the appearance of Detective Delilah Groopman of the LAPD, gorgeous and brash, for whom Skellig has always held a candle. As for Avila? He’s willing to help clear Skellig’s name under one peculiar condition: that Skellig become Avila’s personal chauffeur. A cushy gig for any driver, except for the fact that someone is clearly trying to kill Avila, and Skellig is literally the only person sitting between Avila and a bullet to the head.

Clever, Fast Paced, and Fun

What made the experience of listening to The Driver the most enjoyable?

Former Army Special Ops Sergeant Michael Skellig owns a limo company, in part to hire wounded veterans. They include a paranoid mechanic, a legless dispatcher, and an Afghan interpretor he smuggled illegally into the States. They each suffer severely from Post Tramatic Stress. Together, much like Baldacci's Camel Club, they make a formidable and endearing team.

If you’ve listened to books by Hart Hanson before, how does this one compare?

This is my first. It is fast and fun, so I intend to listen to more from him.

Which scene was your favorite?

Every scene with Michael and Delilah, the detective. Their banter was funny and smoldering in sexual tension.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I did listen in one day!

Any additional comments?

Ari Fliakos' narration was outstanding.

Great story. Great Narration.

This is my new favorite writer and new favorite narrator. I hope there are more.

Fantastic!

I absolutely loved this! It is well written, fast paced, and filled with wry humor. The best part is the narrator. He did much more than simply narrate, he delivered a stellar performance. His voices for each character were perfect and really enhanced the story. I enjoyed it tremendously! Highly recommended.

Immensely entertaining

Hart Hanson's writing is smooth and polished. (No surprise there since he's a screen writer for many popular television shows.) His story is populated by interesting, realistic three dimensional characters, many of whom are extremely likable. It's set in Los Angeles and the location is as much a character as the others are. Hart captures the rhythm of city, its upsides, downsides, quirkiness and idiosyncrasies as well as going further afield into the surrounding countryside. The juxtaposition of affluent residences, urban sprawl, rural locales and the desert makes for interesting travels.

The main character is a veteran. Mike Skellig, formerly an Army Special Ops Sergeant, now owns a start up limo service that he's staffed with other war vets (that suffer from many post war issues making employment difficult for them) and also the Afghan interpreter assigned to his unit, when he was stationed overseas. He smuggled him stateside when US troops left the country. Rescued actually. From certain torture and death if he remained behind. So, Mike Skellig's intelligent, loyal, brave, compassionate, street savvy, an accomplished fighter and a smart ass. His dialog (as well as everyone else's) is a pleasure to listen to throughout the adventure. It's utterly believable, completely immersing you in the story.

Which brings me to the narration. It's fantastic. How have I not heard of Ari Fliakos before this? The accents, the delivery, the timing, all of it. Wow. So vivid. The characters are stepping off the page from the first word spoken. His wide range is a pleasure to listen to and his emoting is perfect. (I searched out anything else he's narrated, regardless of genre, and put it on my TBR list.)

The Driver is in the 'gem' category in my library, to be listened to again and again. I'm fervently hoping there'll be more Skellig & Co adventures in the future.

Well worth the credit.

overwritten

The opening chapters are so overwritten the narrator fumbled to find how to read the amped-up language and find the thread of a tale. Eventually, though, things settled down, and it's a pretty good story with some interesting (if overdrawn) characters and a plot that rambles into some interesting territory while eventually arriving someplace. It's good enough to keep reading . . .