The Painted Gun
Written by Bradley Spinelli
Narrated by Gary Tiedemann
4/5
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About this audiobook
With pitch-perfect dialogue, an exquisitely crafted plot, and a stylized, deadpan nod to classic hard-boiled writers like James Ellroy, Elmore Leonard, and Dashiell Hammett, The Painted Gun introduces Bradley Spinelli as a force to be reckoned with in contemporary noir fiction.
Bradley Spinelli
Bradley Spinelli is the author of the novel Killing Williamsburg, and the writer/director of the film #AnnieHall, which the Village Voice called “fascinating.” He contributes regularly to Bedford + Bowery and lives in Brooklyn. The Painted Gun is his latest novel. Visit his website at 13spinelli.com.
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Reviews for The Painted Gun
516 ratings36 reviews
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Hours of listening... and then the ending... are you kidding me????? Uggggg
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Loved the book. Hated the end
Want more send them - Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5So much detail. Loved it. Need more like this book
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Loved it, very entertaining, well worth the time, you will enjoy it
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Excellent. Superbly narrated.. My first reqd by this author, shall look for more.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Good main character. Keep it interesting. Now for what’s next?
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5This was okay. An interesting idea, but various plotholes and illogical reasoning leaps in the narrative.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A well-paced, thrilling and all round intriguing story that kept me listening right to the end. Some odd little bits that didn’t quite add up but didn’t survive willing suspension of disbelief. Thank you Mr Spinelli. And thank you to the narrator (who’s name escapes me now, sorry) who was well matched to the story.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Excellent. Unique story. Moves at a good pace. Great narration.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This is the first mystery audiobook I’ve listened to and it has set the bar high!
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This is a great read especially if you’ve spent time in SF. Lots of references to neighborhoods and streets. Highly recommend.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Amazing plot, down on his luck loser turns into a badass
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cliched and insubstantial, requires much suspension of disbelief. However, entertaining as a beach read
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This taut thriller is well written, with a plot that moves at bullet speed and keeps you reading. This book has it all the FBI, CIA, Hitmen, Double Crosses, Frames, Technology, History, Violence and even manages to fit an implausible romance that quickly becomes obsession. Our chief protagonist David “Itchy” Crane is hired to find a missing women with nothing more than a first name for a clue and what starts out as mere investigation that turns into an obsession.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Good book well narrated and Great writing by the author.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Fun listening. The reader is excellent. He gives a real sense of the atmosphere and does the characters authentically as well as humorously. A really fun plot with colorful language which is both poetic and street smart. A very fun audio book.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The plot and main character are interesting and engaging. The voice actor was perfect for this book. The voice can make or break even the most well written story.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Easy to get "into" and enjoyable read. A short read, but author utilizes lots of avenues of intrigue, which are fun to explore. Would definitely read this author again.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Plot was strong but so was the misogynistic vernacular. “I had to say something. I’m a man” - ugh.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5It started out strong but the ending was a little disappointed but it is worth the time to listen to or read
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The plot on the whole was good, but the second half was full of romance, which just isn’t what I’m looking for in a mystery. Enough with the soul-mate, “I could sense her there”, staring-into-each-other’s-eyes stuff.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Great narration, but the writing is a little silly at points. Old fashioned, sexist, toxic masculinity etc
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Not a real page-turner. Thinly constructed. I did not buy the premise, and the prolonged Guatemalan tangents felt unnecessary. Also, the touch-guy alcoholic schtick really didn’t work.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wow, what an adventure! I was expecting the ending line to say that this was all a drunken dream in Guatemala.
This fast-paced story follows a journalist who drinks too much. His business is drying up and yet he’s given a chance from an old pal private investigator who is willing to pay him a lot of money to find a girl ... unknowingly walking into a deadly cat and mouse game with some really shady guys. It’s 1997 and the technology isn’t all that great yet so the investigation takes some time to dig through the mysterious details.
The ending is really the only reason I knocked a star off. It was abrupt and only partially wrapped the story up.
Gary is an excellent narrator! It felt as if this was an old-time radio mystery.
TW: violence1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Interesting story marred by appalling character development. The relationship and the female character sound like they were thought up by a 12 year old boy.
2 people found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Great book by an author previously unknown to me. The story has interesting (and refreshing) characters; the plot development and “twists” keep the narrative moving along! Nothing is contrived (a rarity these days!). Story 5 stars; Writing Quality 5 stars; Narration 5 stars. Definitely a winner - I’m looking forward to more from this author!
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I received this for free from Early Reviewers.I enjoyed this book. The premise is a P.I. gets involved in a missing person case but it winds up he is the one trying not to get killed. Everyone who interacts with the main character winds up dead and he has to figure out why. It kept me interested to see what would happen next. By the way I really did not care for the history of Guatemala (skimmed through that section). I felt that was not needed in the storyline. I did not guess the ending and was pleasantly surprised.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I've come to associate Akashic Books (the publisher) with solidly decent Noir, and with The Painted Gun, their track record continues. Bradley Spinelli takes a genre that has been arguably beat to death and infuses new life into it--first, by setting his tale in a somewhat disused time period for detective fiction (the early 90's). Second, by throwing a neat hook at the reader from the get-go (see the book's accompanying back-cover blurb to see what I mean). He adheres to most of the tried and true tropes of the genre while still projecting a voice all his own. Altogether a great read.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I cannot recommend this book enough. A fantastic hard-boiled story taking place in San Francisco in the late 90s. We have an engaging narrator, (an information broker whose journalist career was ruined and his current business is threatened by the internet), a intriguing plot (a missing persons case that involves portraits of our narrator), and a driving plot with plenty of action along the way. Lots of surprises throughout. I look forward for more from Bradley Spinelli.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I wasn't sure what to expect of this, but I grew to enjoy spending time with Itchy. I'm hoping we shall see more of him in the future! I was afraid it would be too old school crime for me (Chandler era) but surprisingly it was very well written and kept me reading, definitely recommend reading this!