Good story, great narrator.

Received this book for an honest review. I liked the premise of the story, but it lacked in the sexual excitement, the description was very clinical and at times confusing. I liked the actual story and the mystery. I would recommend this audible to someone that likes more story less sex. Narrator was new to me, and I enjoyed him.

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4 people found this helpful

Unique & Interesting Cast of Characters

Charles Puccia here gives us a panoramic view of a segment of the lives of a group of unique and interesting characters. While some listeners may prefer their stories to be primarily plot-driven, I personally enjoyed the several "detours" that took place during the course of the novel. And at the very least, we now have a very clear idea of what the word "stenolagnia" means and how it pretty much affects the lives and relationships of at least 3 of the main characters.

Since I always have a "soft spot" for the so-called villains in a story, I especially enjoyed the way Bill is presented, even with his coarse laughter which, in fact, emerged as an outstanding feature in Derrick McClain's always excellent narration. And while I found that the focus seemed to linger perhaps for too long a period of time on some of the sex scenes, the writing per se was exemplary.

All in all, if after reading and/or listening to a book, I find myself looking forward to the next installment in the series, it's definitely one that I would recommend, especially since I found the bittersweet ending to the whole novel to be quite touching.

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2 people found this helpful

Bodybuilding corporate intrigue

suspensful. Enjoyed characters. mature audience sexual content
body building and muscle development is a focus

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3 people found this helpful

lol you must love the humor

the book is hilarious a lovely and funny story I liked it very very much a beautiful story with amazing characters each and everyone of them and nice story to behold and listen to

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review."

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4 people found this helpful

Twisty Plot Never Fails!

There's something for everyone in The Ice Cream Man--crime, sex, love and and exploration of sthenolagnia (google it). Charles Puccia, a twenty-first century Dashiell Hammett introduces us to soon-to-be-PI Vinnie Briggs, a young gay man from Queens who is caught up in office intrigue and organized crime hits. The twisty plot never fails to hold the reader's attention and the mood alternates between hot and super-hot. Audio-listeners will delight in the excellent voice characterizations by narrator Derrick McClain.

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Hit and Miss

This book has me so conflicted. There were things I liked. One or two things I loved, and a fairly long list of irritations. So where to start?

I liked Vinnie. He’s earnest and his heart is in the right place. His loyalty (and affection and love) for his boss Dan is adorable. That his loyalty lands him in a heap of trouble is inevitable. Pretty much everything about Vinnie was endearing. That he fancies himself a PI and goes on the internet to learn what to do is laughable and yet fits the earnest young man. He sees wrong in the world – injustice – and he believe it is his responsibility to fix it. Nice in theory, horrible in reality. I’m happy he got his HFN (Happy For Now) and am interested in the next two books.

The women who work in the firm with Vinnie and Dan are also a hoot, especially Blanca. These women are accepting of Vinnie and protective of each other. Catty? Of course. But only toward those who deserve it.

I loved Ben the body builder. He could have been a stereotypical meathead body builder, but author Charles Puccia gave the character depth. Once I learned Ben’s backstory, I wanted to wrap him in a big hug. His honesty was wonderfully refreshing – he has no artifice. He’s a genuinely good guy.

Ben is selfless, offering help even when he has no obligation. He feels this might provide redemption for a past wrong. He listens to Maria Callas perform Madame Butterfly and quotes The New Yorker.

At this point, I want to mention the narration. Derrick McClain is one of my favourites and I’m always pleased to see his name attached to projects. His performance with this book was admirable. Aside from a few mispronounced words, he shines. His laughter for the character Bill, “har har, har har,” drove me nuts. But it was supposed to, so that was a good job. That he managed to say some of the lines without cracking up is also admirable.

So, now the complaints. These aren’t spoilers, but the next section is very explicit – which I think necessary. As I listener, I think you deserve a warning. First of all, the ‘c’ word used to describe a part of a woman’s anatomy is dropped at least twenty times by the villain. Appropriate? Possibly… Excessive? Absolutely. Some listeners are offended by the word when used to refer to a woman in derogatory terms. When used in certain contexts – BDSM and erotic books – and used in a sexual context, it can be hot and sexy. There are some women who are trying to reclaim the word. This author’s gratuitous use of it feels like a cheap trick. J.D. Robb, for instance, does use the word – but only in rare circumstances and only once. Judicious use provides it with impact. Repeated use is just icky.

Then there are the physical descriptions. Ginny has sthenolagnia, a compulsive obsession with muscles – usually other peoples’. I swear this illness was just an excuse for the writer to wax poetical about bulky, muscular men. It was just too much (unless you have the same obsession). I’m also not a fan of endless repetition. How many times do characters have to admire and squeeze Ben’s biceps? I don’t think there was one person who met Ben and didn’t feel him up. Vinnie was a breath of fresh air because bulging veins and huge muscles were a turn-off for him.

Here is a sample of some of the descriptions of women:
- Torpedo tits, hubcap derriere, vulva (which wouldn’t be so bad except in the middle of the sex scene, every part of the female anatomy is listed as if the author was following pictures in an anatomy textbook. The two lines that almost did me in were: “she wanted him to insert…her vagina was ready,” and “she felt his squirt on her cervical wall”. My notes said respectively: GAG and GROSS. (For the record, the cervix does not have nerve endings.)

I’ve read hundreds of erotic novels: male/female, male/male, female/female, m/m/m, m/f/m, and several other combinations, so it’s pretty hard to annoy me. For the record, I have never read anything like these lines. I don’t know if it’s because the author is male and he thought this was sexy, or he really thought readers would enjoy this.

Some may.

Not me.

The men aren’t spared:
-Mushroom tip, throbbing penis, pulsating penis, pulsing penis, double decker bus (Ben). Given the level of crudity in this book, the repeated use of penis was jarring. C*@k would have worked much better. Also, gyrating walnut balls and a pectoral cleft (whatever that is) left me…unimpressed.

So can you separate the writing from the story and narration? No, I don’t think so. Plus, the ridiculous sex scene between Dan, Ginny, and Ben is just beyond over-the-top. Literally.

Okay, characters I didn’t like. Ginny. She was just plain irritating. Yes, fetishes and obsessions are real. Yes, some of them border on pathological. So, to be clear, I am not belittling her illness. How she tries to ‘cure’ herself? I don’t think there is a single psychological professional who would approve. The devastation left in her wake is staggering. And her treatment of Dan, her husband? Blowing hot and cold, depending on how ‘manly’ she perceives him to be – in that moment! Uh, not good for any relationship.

There are lots of flashbacks into the courtship of Ginny and Dan. Why warning bells weren’t going off in his head…for a guy who’s so smart, he can be clueless. Now, Ginny’s mother’s explanation of sthenolagnia might, perhaps, explain her daughter’s obsession. The Ice Cream Man story does feel a little far-fetched, though.

At first, I was excited about the length of the audiobook. A good thriller or mystery can easily carry ten or more hours. Unfortunately, this was not a good thriller or mystery. At one point, the group of administrative assistants were trying to retrieve some information. It is nice that the author made it so detailed…but fifteen minutes to find some information? The back and forth was just, frankly, boring. A reader can be trusted to believe a character can accomplish something without having been shown each little tiny step.

Also, there are a lot of interior monologues that do nothing to develop the character or advance the plot. Candidly, it’s just characters whining. A point of warning – this is a head-hopping point-of-view narrative without any clear delineation, so sometimes you’re not sure whose point-of-view you’re supposed to be in.

There were some good parts – the use of the Prisoner’s Dilemma, for example. The theoretical ideas about economies rebounding after crashes was also informative. I like books that make me think and sometimes this book fit the bill. Other times, I had to push through.

Remember, though, that this is only my opinion. I know there are listeners out there who will enjoy this book. It’s a little campy and often funny. I might even consider reading the next book because I love how Vinnie’s relationship is developing and I can’t wait to make sure he gets his Happily Ever After.

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4 people found this helpful

Overly long with a strange side story

Alternately good and strange. I liked Vinnie's story in this book. Vinnie was an interesting character - a young gay man who acted like he was in the mob and cussed like a sailor. He has a thing for his boss, who is straight and happily married. That's where the strange part comes in - Dan's wife Ginny has a disorder that has her obsessed with men with muscles, making Dan obsessively jealous. This is the part of the story I could have done without. Outside of that storyline, the rest was a decent story in which two of the higher ups in the company that Vinnie and Dan work for are plotting to steal millions from the company. As part of this strategy, Linda is given a promotion that Dan was up for and was seen to be the natural for the position. But his head is out of the game at the time because of Ginny and his presentation is off. Linda gives a fantastic presentation, full of bullshit numbers forecasted from information that Linda's partner in crime, Bill Barrington, kept Dan from obtaining that would have made his presentation sing.


Bill and Linda discover that Vinnie may know what they were up to and may have evidence. So Bill hires a gangster to kill Vinnie. The gangster beats him to a pulp and leaves him for dead, but the police find Vinnie and take him to the hospital. He is still alive, though barely hanging on. He is in a coma for weeks, which Bill and Linda are happy with, since their plan can continue. But Vinnie finally pulls through, and with the help of Dan and Ginny, he is secreted away where Bill and Linda can't find him. In the meantime, the pair decide that they must get rid of Dan, too and set him up to take the fall.


Vinnie was a great character, and his female co-worker's were hoots. Dan and Ginny were bland, even with their obsessive disorders. Then there was Ben, the gym owner that Ginny is obsessed with and wants to have him do a muscle strip show while she and Dan have sex. Very strange! Ben is a gay man with some tragedy in his past. He falls for Vinnie, but with Bill and Linda and the gangster's after Vinnie to get rid of him for good, this relationship may have a long way to go.


Derrick McClain did well as the narrator, doing voices for each character. His voice for Bill was extremely irritating, though. I think it was meant to be that way because Bill was an irritating character, but I thought it was a little much. Everything Bill said ended with "Har, har, har, har."
After a few "hars", I couldn't stand to listen to the voice.

This is supposed to be book 1 of a series about Vinnie. I'll have to read some reviews on the next one to see whether I want to give it a listen or not.

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

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ok

I have really mixed feeling about this book. The writing is fine, as is the narration, but the story seemed to go off the rails at some point and I still can't quite finger it's location on the genre spectrum. There is a mystery to be solved by the characters (the reader knows who done it), but there is too much focus on relationships and sex to be a mystery novel. There is focus on a relationship, but not the right sort of focus to be a romance. There is erotica-level sex (in fact, the last 1/4 or so of the book is basically just sex), but it's clearly not an erotic novel. In the end, I'm not sure what it is. All the disparate pieces just don't fit together quite right. The graphic sex especially seemed out of place. And I say that as someone who loves a good, dirty erotica.

Similarly, this is a "Vinnie Briggs" novel, but Vinnie isn't the main character. In fact, he's in a coma for most of the book. (Though I did find him by far the most endearing character.)

Lastly, some aspects of the book simply made me uncomfortable. Some of the language grated. I know bad guy characters can be expected to use derogatory language. But I didn't enjoy having it scrape against my backbone, thus it detracted from my enjoyment of the book as a whole. There are gay characters and they're represented well. But I also felt that there was a certain discomfort with them. It was in some of the subtleties of language and the way they themselves are used by straight characters. Lastly, Ginny has a sexual obsession that she clearly coerces others into participating in. If she was a male character, treating female characters as she does Dan and Ben there would be outrage. As it was, I hated her throughout the whole book.

In the end, I didn't dislike the book. But I think I'd only continue the series if I found the next book free. So, I liked it enough to read, but not enough to allocate funds for it. That makes it a fairly middle of the road read.

Note: I received a free copy of this audiobook. But I chose to listen and review it.

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3 people found this helpful

Funny and weird...

Four stars because I hated it. I got lots of feels from this audiobook.
Would consider this more an FM with some MM thrown in.
A woman fixated with muscles. She pushes around the men in her life.
Ginny sets herself up for failure. She just rubs me all kinds of wrong. I continued listening for her husband Dan. Also Vinny's filthy mouth and the numerous office scandals. Well played manipulations all over keeps this an entertaining listen.
Dan loves Ginny. Ginny craves Ben (mostly his muscles).Ben wants straight man Dan. Vinny crushes on Dan but that changes to Ben.
The most Man Love going on is fantasies. Most of the sex is with Dan and Ginny. Leave you guessing about the MM love.
The truly best thing about this audiobook is the great narrator..
Derrick McClain. His portrayal of Bill is great. Ohhh the laugh is ..
You really need to hear it. Just perfect. The whole narration gave this audiobook the four stars.
Story was well written. Sex is mostly FM, with a side of MM. Derrick did an excellent job with all the characters and is the star of this audiobook.
(Given a copy for an honest review) (thanks)

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