AUDIOBOOK REVIEW: The Dirty Streets of Heaven
Title: The Dirty Streets of Heaven
Author: Tad Williams
Audiobook Narrator: George Newbern
Series: Bobby Dollar
In Bobby Dollar’s world, everyone who dies either goes to Heaven or Hell (with an occasional third option of purgatory), but before they get there every soul needs to stand trial. Bobby is an Advocate, the Angel version of a lawyer, whose job is to defend a recently deceased soul and do his best to get them into Heaven. Then one day, Bobby shows up to a death scene and discovers that the soul is missing. Now both Heaven and Hell is atwitter, trying to figure out where the missing soul has gone. Bobby decides to do some investigating of his own, but will he be prepared for the truths he discovers?
The Dirty Streets of Heaven is my first Tad Williams book, and it feels strange to admit that given that he’s such a big name in the fantasy field. Interestingly, I picked a rather atypical Tad Williams book to start off with, as it’s an urban fantasy book, instead of the more traditional or animal fantasy he is known for. Upon picking up The Dirty Streets of Heaven, I was immediately reminded of Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files Series, as it mixes paranormal elements with noir, and starts a wise cracking, well-meaning protagonist who constantly finds himself pulled into events that probably too big for him to handle. Although Bobby Dollar did feel like a poor man’s Harry Dresden at first, and there were parts of the book I didn’t like as much, I have to admit that The Dirty Streets of Heaven was a pretty fun ride, filled with plenty of action and some really neat worldbuilding.
Despite the setting, The Dirty Streets of Heaven is far from a religious (or, for that matter, anti-religious) book. The author simply uses the larger than life concepts of Heaven and Hell as a backdrop. The Angels presented here aren’t holy and pure, but deceased souls themselves with no memories of their human lives. Bobby Dollar is a pretty good guy, but he has plenty of very human flaws (such as drinking too much). The epic fight between good and evil may be the ultimate battle that’s typically presented, but it’s also just people doing their jobs, which I thought was really interesting. The characters are pretty likable (especially Bobby, although it took a little while for me to warm up to him), although I couldn’t help but feel that some side characters, such as Bobby’s fellow Advocates, came off as a little underdeveloped. As far as flaws go the biggest would have to be the romantic storyline. I’m not saying that Bobby’s romantic partner isn’t an interesting character (she one of my favorites actually), but the dialogue between the two of them is so cheesy that I couldn’t take a second of it seriously. The ending, although it satisfyingly solves the mystery of where the souls are going, and who is responsible, was also a tad predictable. Those who prefer their novels pretty standalone might be disappointed to see that there’s a lot left to resolve in future books, something that irritated me only marginally but really bothered my fiancé, who read the book around the same time I did.
Thoughts on the Audiobook: George Newbern is not a narrator that I’ve experienced before, but I was pretty impressed with his work here. I think he captured the noir-style of the book well, and made some of the darker moments even more gripping. He does have the same problem that you can find in a lot of male narrators, where his female characters sound pretty similar (female narrators can often have this problem with male characters), but I was happy with his work on a whole.
Final Thoughts: If you’re looking for an exciting urban fantasy series along the same lines as The Dresden Files, then you may want to give Bobby Dollar a try. The Dirty Streets of Heaven is an action packed novel filled with a likable cast of characters, great worldbuilding, and even some nice humor. It certainly has its flaws (such as the eye role worth romance) and those who like their books to be self-contained may want to look elsewhere, but I found the book to be a satisfying read overall. Four Stars
Next I will be Reviewing Dragon Flight by Jessica Day George
Author: Tad Williams
Audiobook Narrator: George Newbern
Series: Bobby Dollar
In Bobby Dollar’s world, everyone who dies either goes to Heaven or Hell (with an occasional third option of purgatory), but before they get there every soul needs to stand trial. Bobby is an Advocate, the Angel version of a lawyer, whose job is to defend a recently deceased soul and do his best to get them into Heaven. Then one day, Bobby shows up to a death scene and discovers that the soul is missing. Now both Heaven and Hell is atwitter, trying to figure out where the missing soul has gone. Bobby decides to do some investigating of his own, but will he be prepared for the truths he discovers?
The Dirty Streets of Heaven is my first Tad Williams book, and it feels strange to admit that given that he’s such a big name in the fantasy field. Interestingly, I picked a rather atypical Tad Williams book to start off with, as it’s an urban fantasy book, instead of the more traditional or animal fantasy he is known for. Upon picking up The Dirty Streets of Heaven, I was immediately reminded of Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files Series, as it mixes paranormal elements with noir, and starts a wise cracking, well-meaning protagonist who constantly finds himself pulled into events that probably too big for him to handle. Although Bobby Dollar did feel like a poor man’s Harry Dresden at first, and there were parts of the book I didn’t like as much, I have to admit that The Dirty Streets of Heaven was a pretty fun ride, filled with plenty of action and some really neat worldbuilding.
Despite the setting, The Dirty Streets of Heaven is far from a religious (or, for that matter, anti-religious) book. The author simply uses the larger than life concepts of Heaven and Hell as a backdrop. The Angels presented here aren’t holy and pure, but deceased souls themselves with no memories of their human lives. Bobby Dollar is a pretty good guy, but he has plenty of very human flaws (such as drinking too much). The epic fight between good and evil may be the ultimate battle that’s typically presented, but it’s also just people doing their jobs, which I thought was really interesting. The characters are pretty likable (especially Bobby, although it took a little while for me to warm up to him), although I couldn’t help but feel that some side characters, such as Bobby’s fellow Advocates, came off as a little underdeveloped. As far as flaws go the biggest would have to be the romantic storyline. I’m not saying that Bobby’s romantic partner isn’t an interesting character (she one of my favorites actually), but the dialogue between the two of them is so cheesy that I couldn’t take a second of it seriously. The ending, although it satisfyingly solves the mystery of where the souls are going, and who is responsible, was also a tad predictable. Those who prefer their novels pretty standalone might be disappointed to see that there’s a lot left to resolve in future books, something that irritated me only marginally but really bothered my fiancé, who read the book around the same time I did.
Thoughts on the Audiobook: George Newbern is not a narrator that I’ve experienced before, but I was pretty impressed with his work here. I think he captured the noir-style of the book well, and made some of the darker moments even more gripping. He does have the same problem that you can find in a lot of male narrators, where his female characters sound pretty similar (female narrators can often have this problem with male characters), but I was happy with his work on a whole.
Final Thoughts: If you’re looking for an exciting urban fantasy series along the same lines as The Dresden Files, then you may want to give Bobby Dollar a try. The Dirty Streets of Heaven is an action packed novel filled with a likable cast of characters, great worldbuilding, and even some nice humor. It certainly has its flaws (such as the eye role worth romance) and those who like their books to be self-contained may want to look elsewhere, but I found the book to be a satisfying read overall. Four Stars
Next I will be Reviewing Dragon Flight by Jessica Day George