Not My Genre But Great Writing/Performing Drew Me

I don't really get into the "dystopian near – future" sort of thing. This focuses on a nurse working on the night shift in Denver at the hospital. Everyone in the book seems to be armed. A knife for the nurse's daughter who does not yet have the strength to handle a gun, like her brother. The nurse wears Kevlar scrubs.

A "normal" night at the hospital turns into a fast action, gory situation. This was a little bit out there for me, but by the end I wished it had lasted a little bit longer. If you like this genre this is a fast-paced and chock full of adventure.

Annika Conner's performance is really good. I did speed it up a little bit, as is my preference.

Thank you for taking the time to read my review. *I was provided the unique opportunity to receive an advance copy of this book to listen to in exchange for my unbiased review.

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2 people found this helpful

A Day In the Life

'Friday Night Knife & Gun Club' is almost two stories jammed together. The first two thirds is a 'slice of life' type story covering the ins and outs of a nurse in the hospital. It is clearly written by someone with nursing or hospital experience, as it goes into detail on the sort of things that happen, the medical procedures required, and the thoughts of the medical staff. However, it doesn't have much of a narrative drive. It's just going through what happen in a hospital.The last third feels almost separate, when someone with a gun comes into the hospital and turns the 'slice of life' story into an over the top action thriller. And it does feel rather over the top.

The writing itself is pretty good. Some parts get clunky due to the amount of medical info and exposition that the main character puts in, but some parts of it are almost poetic and lyrical.

Narration is 3.5/ 5

Annika Connor does well with the narration, giving a clear, well paced performance. She imparts personality into the main character and really brings her off of the page. The timing for the jokes, or the exacerbated sighs, all work really well Some of the main narration (or possibly the production) is a little off at times. There is a line here or there that sounds like it was recorded at a separate time and fit into the recording, as the levels, pace or general vocals are off slightly. Overall, it was good though.

I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.

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This Was an Excellent Short Story--Loved it

Friday Night K&G Club was an awesome listen. This was a fresh but darkish/noirish short story. I loved the first person female character. It reminded me in a way of an action-packed storyboard. It was a visual listen. A very enjoyable audiobook by L.S. Collison. Recommended.

Annika Conner's performance was excellent. She portrayed the character very well. She had great voice inflections and sound effects. She was THE perfect narrator for the story.

I hope there's more to come in this story.

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Wow, just wow!

This short story was something special. Not only do we get a fully-developed and well-rounded main character, but we get an Indiana-Jones-meets-Dirty-Harry-esque ending. Just, wow.

This was a quick thrill ride with a very emotive and effective narrator. Connor had great material to work with but she definitely worked with it!

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Great story, not so great narration

I enjoyed the story, especially as a former third shifter and emergency personnel, I enjoyed the humor. However, the narration left a lot to be desired. If the story had been longer, I’m not sure I would’ve finished it due to the narration. I liked the actual story, though. I received a review copy at my request and voluntarily reviewed.

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More Please. Great short story.

Excellent and interesting story. The world that she created in just a short time could easily be expanded on and made into a full length story or series. Very rich in description and character. I like that the story was told by someone who took everything in stride and excepted the way things were. She learned to adapt. The author definitely nailed the terms and descriptions of the medical side of the story. Very well researched or experienced.
I could easily see this story in a collection of medical sci-fi shorts along with Ronald Kelly’s Flesh Welder. Looking forward to more from this author.

The narration was top notch and enjoyable, right down to the rapping. Great job.

I requested a free review copy of this book and I am leaving a voluntary and honest review.

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3 people found this helpful

? Futuristic Nurse

I really enjoyed this short listen and wished it was longer. You can really tell author is a nurse or in the medical field. At first I did not see the purpose of the guns until there was a shooter in the hospital. I would listen to more of the author especially medical thrillers. This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review. Thank you

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A very cool short story!

This is a such a neat story and I would be absolutely shocked if L.S. Collison is not/was not (at least at some point in her life) a nurse...it reads like something written by an insider. As a medical doctor (who was once a surgical tech, a med student, an intern, and a resident) I have a keen understanding of the strangely intense dynamic that develops between hospital staff, particularly at night and especially in the most intense units (ER/trauma ICU, etc). LS Collison has hit the nail on the head with this creative short in which she manages to do a fantastic job developing several characters and illustrating their unique interpersonal dynamics in such a short amount of time..only a real RN would be able to describe what it's like with this much attention to detail and nuance. Friday Night Knife and Gun Club is a great quickie look into the life of the hospital's skeleton crew (pretty much spot on minus the whole vigilante angle where everyone's packing heat). For me, the excessive use of weaponry (coupled with the bleak backdrop of extreme harsh weather conditions and even harsher life circumstances for many of the characters) made this story seem like it was just slightly skewed left of reality...maybe in some sort of pre-apocalyptic version of the US (like just on the verge of everything going really, really wrong for everyone). Maybe the shooter was a nod to this grim outlook as well. The staff's reaction to the shooter made it seem like this wasn't an entirely unusual event for these people in this particular place at this exact moment in history. Anyhow, I would have loved to have read more about what was going on in the world at the time of the event...what lead up to all of this. And I would have loved to have read more backstory on many of the characters, especially the main character. The end scene was really neat; the symbolic use of the unit chief howling like a coyote in response to a fallen pack member. That ending was actually quite emotionally provocative given the aforementioned intense dynamic between these characters. I'm not sure if a non-medical lay reader would have enjoyed this story as much as I did but as an avid reader and consumer of high quality movies and television I can say beyond a shadow of a doubt that this short can and should be expanded upon...it is compelling and left me wanting more. Annika Conner did a fantastic job narrating - I was 100% convinced that she was this tough as nails nurse. And her cover art is awesome to boot. Thank you to LS Collison, Annika Connor, and Audiobook Boom for this complimentary copy of Friday Night Knife and Gun Club in exchange for my fair and unbiased review.

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Not Your Everyday Nurse!

Friday Night Knife & Gun Club by L.S. Collison and narrated by Annika Connor is a very short story. This is something that listeners need to consider and not be upset about as this has a very short running time of under one hour. During that hour the listener is taken for a dark thrill ride into a dystopian near-future where nurses are armed with handguns for self-protection while wearing Kevlar body armor specialized scrubs.

The story is set in Denver, Colorado at the High Plains Trauma and Medical Center. The nurse is set to for another night shift in the ICU. With no sitter, she arms her kids with a knife and a handgun. She heads into the hospital in stormy conditions leaving them home alone but able to fight back. This title right now may be a little taboo with events that are now going in 2018. The humor of the nurses is a dark, gritty gallows humor. As someone who worked as an EMT, I got it. I have the same sense of humor it’s a coping mechanism.

The story is clear and concise. The details so sharp and accurate you know that the author has been there done that no B.S. no fake TV dialogue like heard often heard on many medical shows. Even down to the descriptions of the ventilators and monitors. For a short story about armed hospital staff, many will have preconceptions about the author’s intent and opinions but if you listen to the story with an open mind and pay attention to the critical details you may surprise yourself with a really great short story. Things are not always what they seem.

This story does a great job of holding a person attention. If listener will listen to with an open mind and no preconceived opinions. You be on the edge of your seat through this short story from beginning to end and then take a look at the events in the story and start to ask yourself questions. Why did the author write it this way? If this happens you know the author did a great job of holding your attention as the audiobook did with me.

The narration by Annika Connor in this short audio novella is truly enjoyable. Her vocal performance just perfect for this character in this gritty near future dystopian piece of fiction. From the little nurse rap to the panic and utter fear later in the performance Ms. Conner just nails it. Fiction House, Ltd. provided the production of this audiobook and did an excellent job. The audio quality was crisp and clear through the entire production.

Audiobook was provided for review by the author/narrator/publisher.
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Great!

Wow! This was a lot of story for 45 minutes! I really enjoyed this and can't wait to check out more by this author. Fantastic narration!

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review. The fact that I was gifted this book had no influence over my opinion of it.

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