Big Machine Audiobook By Victor LaValle cover art

Big Machine

A Novel

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Big Machine

By: Victor LaValle
Narrated by: Sean Crisden
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Ricky Rice is a middling hustler with a lingering junk habit, a bum knee, and a haunted mind. A survivor of a suicide cult, he scrapes by as a porter at a bus depot in Utica, New York, until one day a mysterious letter arrives, summoning him to enlist in a band of paranormal investigators comprised of former addicts and petty criminals, all of whom had at some point in their wasted lives heard what may have been the voice of God.

Infused with the wonder of a disquieting dream and laced with Victor LaValle's fiendish comic sensibility, Big Machine is a mind-rattling mystery about doubt, faith, and the monsters we carry within us.

©2009 Victor LaValle (P)2017 Tantor African American Genre Fiction Horror Literary Fiction Suspense Thriller & Suspense

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Thought-provoking Story • Surprising Plot Twists • Perfect Narrator • Biting Wit • Intriguing Flashbacks
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Will take awhile of mulling it over before I decide about the book - overall it is a great story and kept me listening! The narration is good- well paced, great voice!

Really enjoyed this narrator !

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The story had me fully engaged until the end. I was ultimately left with frustration, due to loose plot threads.

Peters out at the end

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Have you ever known failure so deep, it feels biological?”

I like Victor LaValle. The dude is crazy good. I didn’t read anything about this one prior to picking and digging right in. I don’t really need to with LaValle. I know it is going to be weird, interesting, entertaining and smart. I also know that most of the time I won’t know wtf is going on or where it’s going. The only thing I’ll know for sure is that it won’t be what I think it is…and that’s a good thing.

Cockeyed gospels, soul eating cats, chaffing nipples, heavenly voices, churches made from Clay and an epic road trip with the Grey Lady.

There were elements and concepts here that were truly superb and others that felt a little forced and flat. I still liked it though. Not my favorite of Victor’s, but even that is better than a lot of guys (gals) can do.

Victor LaValle is good. Real good.

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I do love this piece. Not quite as much as some of his later works, but this one is solid. The character development is thorough and some of the twists are alluding plot lines are downright surprising. Those washer women…

Great work by an amazing author

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This is the last Victor Lavalle book I will read for a while. Amazing writer. The plot just doesn’t quite do it for me though. It feels like a huge build up into … nothing really special in the end. Too many unaddressed points and questions. Was not a fulfilling read.

No more

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TBH, took me more than a few tries to get into this one. I love Lavalle's work but I do feel like he likes a good slow burn beginning. However, once I felt things started to pick up, I found myself engaged. Weirdly, it wasn't the central/main story that I was invested in. It was the flashbacks/"How we got here" b stories that held my interest more than anything. There was a point where I was only listening to the central story so I could get back to the flashbacks.

Overall though, I liked this book. The narrator's reading & performance were superb. I liked it, not loved it like I did "The Changeling" but it was good & I loved the very deep & thought provoking sentiments surrounding the topics of trauma, religion/faith, redemption, recovery, & second chances.

I just hate that it ends on something of a cliffhanger and I'm pretty certain that from when the book was published, there doesn't seem to be a sequel in the works. So I'll just have to sit with that I guess.

Another Good One From Mr. Lavalle

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solid book but they just kinda Yada Yada the ending. the book as a whole is good though. the ending feels rushed and unfulfilled

Great narrator

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Really enjoyed this. Reminded me a lot at points of Murakami's, "Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World." Kind of wacky at points, but very good.

Doubt is a big machine.

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Victor is amazing author but I wished he always wrote something longer, this book covers that! There is plenty to digest between each chapter and character. I’m hoping there is a second book coming or a series of his anytime soon! All his books leave you wanting more. From the changling, to Ballad of Black Tom, this book is no different and leaves you wanting more.

My favorite by this author!

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"Empathy is important, it's the only thing separating humans from teenage boys"
The most enjoyable book I've listened to in a long time. Filled with wry observations, clever turns of phrase and a truck load of metaphors.
Mystery upon mystery, strangeness upon strangeness this book draws you in and makes you question everything.

Part X-Files, part Lost, part Blue Velvet

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