Friday, June 3, 2011

Wild Ride.

Title/Author: Wild Ride by Jennifer Crusie & Bob Mayer.

Performed by: Angela Dawe.

Genre: Thriller, comedy/horror.

Publisher: Brilliance Audio.

Source: Library.

Favorite character: Mab, Weaver , Fuhflunz, Cindy…too many to name!

Favorite quote: “You’re not brave. I liked that in a man.” ~Mab.
“The universe bends towards justice.” ~Oliver.
“You should see someone about that rolling eye problem. It makes you look rude and patronizing.”~Mab.
“Feeding on desperation gives me gas.” ~(one of the demons).

All in all:  Very funny and entertaining.

Synopsis: Mary Alice Brannigan doesn’t believe in the supernatural. Nor does she expect to find that Dreamland, the decaying amusement park she’s been hired to restore, is a prison for the five Untouchables, the most powerful demons in the history of the world. Plus, there’s a guy she’s falling hard for, and there’s something about him that’s not quite right.

But rocky romances and demented demons aren’t the only problems in Dreamland: Mab’s also coping with a crooked politician, a supernatural raven, a secret government agency, an inexperienced sorceress, an unsettling inheritance, and some mind-boggling revelations from her past. As her personal demons wreck her newfound relationship and real demons wreck the park, Mab faces down immortal evil and discovers what everybody who’s ever been to an amusement park knows: The end of the ride is always the wildest. ~Goodreads.com

My Thoughts: I picked up this audio book to listen to because what’s better than scary Carnivals and Amusement Parks? This one has demons! Cooool! I was expecting horror and perhaps homages to B-movies of the 80s, but I got something totally different. Wild Ride has demons, sure, but it’s wacky, just wacky I tell ya’! I’m not sure if it would have read as funny as a print book, but the narrator does an AMAZING job. Her inferences of the characters and delivery is excellent and I have never laughed out loud so much during an audio book, or any book really. I did have trouble with her doing male voices at first, but then got used to it as the book played on. I do have to give kudos of course to the authors. The characters and how they act when put in these odd and dangerous circumstances, their banter, is just hysterical.

The main character is Mary Alice Brannigan, or Mab for short. At first, I didn’t really like her. I didn’t find her believable. She was too work oriented, too much of a loner and pushed people away and was always saying or thinking things like, “I don’t need people, I have my work.” And “I don’t do music. There’s no room for it in my work.” However, after finding out the reason behind this, it made a bit more sense to me.

Mab grew up kind of isolated and this led to her self-sufficient, sarcastic, snarky, personality and dry observations on what is happening around her, which are hysterical. When she finally accepts what is going on and that her life will be changed forever, she doesn’t lose any of her feisty behavior, but applies it to her new situation. Also, because of the new events in her life, she realizes that she has grown close to the people she’s working for and with. Some of it has been shoved upon her, but some of it has happened naturally. She becomes connected with the people at the park through their trials and tribulations and realizes that she loves them and they are her family.

There were a lot of characters, but the story was only told in about 3 or 4 points of view, with emphasis on the two main protagonists. There was one character that didn’t ring true for me (Ursula). She seemed very much a caricature, but perhaps the authors were staying true to the silly factor that seemed to be a thread throughout the book. Also, she is a minor character so this is a minor complaint.

The last third of the story seemed a bit bogged down to me, or maybe I was just zoning out while driving. I’m not sure if editing out parts would solve this, or explaining things more clearly, but towards the end I feel like the story began to be more cohesive again.

The mythology on the demons is also interesting. Nothing outlandish and off the charts, but simple and to the point. I also liked that a lot of questions the reader may ask, such as “Why don’t you just do a, b or c?” are answered. Clever and funny.

One thing I learned from this novel is that, whether human or demon, Hell really, really, REALLY hath no fury like a woman scorned.


6 comments:

Savannah said...

Hmmmm, love carnivals! And horror stuff, this book sounds good! Nice review!

Jennifer said...

Sounds like a fun read. Have you read Koontz's The Funhouse? I think you'd love it.

Midnyte Reader said...

The plot of Funhouse sounds familiar, but I can't remember if I read it or not. But I did read Twilight Eyes (another carnival premise) by him and I loved it!

Jenny said...

This sounds like a fun book! I've heard good things about Jennifer Crusie but I haven't read anything by her yet:) The demon quote at the top made me snort my breakfast.

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