“The Devil can be a man or a woman...”

The Listener by Robert McCammon is the story about an evil duo who in the 1930s set out to con many people including a rich businessman. In doing so the lives of two children are affected and also of a man named Curtis Mayhew. This man has a strange gift where he can hear things which aren’t spoken.

This book is a thrilling suspense story set in the back drop of the depression during 1930s Texas. The incorporation and the reality of this era is a reminder to what life was like during this historical time. Its with this setting the story is brought to life and it works so well and on more than one occasion pulled at my heart strings. This for me was an emotional read. There are many moments of triumph and extreme tension which keeps you on your toes and reading further. As with his previous book which I’ve read the themes of parenthood, love, loss, struggle, society, and the supernatural are present. The prose is executed perfectly where not only does is bring the characters and the setting together it draws the reader in and keeps them there till the end.

The interconnected encounters of the characters was my favourite element. Our protagonist is a sweet man called Curtis Mayhew. He works as a redcap, is a loving son to his mother who is troubled and a caring man. We have John Partlow who looks like a preacher but he is a con artist. At times his character came across as almost sympathetic but not quite. He is selfish but not as bad as his partner Ginger LaFrance. She is a wicked and evil person and my new favourite female villain.

The Listener is a clever and cunning novel set against the backdrop of the 1930s and tells you of a group of individuals who are on a course to improve their lives but how they do it is a measure of their characters. Beautiful story told in a way that will leave you thinking about it for a long time. I would highly recommend this book. It has become one of my favourite reads of this year.

It's not that the book isn't well written or that the story is terrible, but rather that the book spent so much time in the mind of someone who was rather awful. He wasn't even interestingly evil -- more impulsive, not very introspective, and -- especially for an experienced conman -- not very good at understanding his compatriots. Now, there was another protagonist -- the hero -- who sits dangerously close to the "Magical Negro" trope. Or maybe he's firmly immersed? Particularly as his real role seems to be walking out of his own life to rescue a random little girl.

I'm assuming that the novel purposely has quite a few nods to King's "The Shining."

Solid story. Mr. McCammon rarely disappoints.

Southern literature + Robert McCammon = compelling fiction. McCammon must be one of the most unappreciated authors of our time. Another great story with colorful likeable and hatable characters. Fast paced but easy to follow. Not all happy endings like IRL but satisfying. I particularly appreciated the wrap up of what happened to the characters after the main story was concluded.

McCammon's still got it. I mean, the last book of his I read was They Thirst, and it didn't do much for me, but I remember how much I enjoyed The Wolf's Hour, and that was a book with a premise that made me think it was going to be horrible.

The Listener is more historical crime than horror, but there's a lot of darkness here, enough to satisfy the older McCammon fans. His skills at characterization and setting are spot on, enough to make me want to bump his other historical fiction higher on my list.

This would be a five-star book for me, save for a couple of minor quibbles. There are a few events that happen near the end of the novel that feel tacked on to show the horrors of the Jim Crow era, which in turn makes me realize this is a book that (in part) talks about the Black experience in 1930s America, written by a white dude. McCammon's take feels accurate, and even genuine, but it still makes me think that white folks just aren't the people to write about the Black experience AT ALL. I know writers should be able to write about any experience without having lived it themselves, but for something as personal as that, I feel like it's best left to the BIPOC writers.

I don't think there will ever be a story-teller that I love more than Robert McCammon.
McCammon has a way with characters, where they just take the reigns from the start and don't let go 'til the very last sentence of the very last page.
Another fantastic story by a truly talented author!

Boom! What a page turner. I loved everything about it. What more can I say? Probably lots more, but I don't want to ruin it. 320 pages, so it's short and sweet. Very sweet. Very sweet indeed. *creepy smiles*.

This is a very spoilerific review, because I Have Thoughts About This Book. Be warned.

I've read Robert McCammon books since the late 80s/early 90s. I know pretty much what I'm getting into with his books. But this one didn't work for me as well as some others have.

For one thing, there are children in peril. I don't have kids, so I don't have the reflexive dread that parents often have whenever children are threatened, even in fiction. But as I've gotten older, the idea of ANYONE helpless being threatened by Really Bad People really bothers me. I don't watch/read stalker stories, where women are in trouble and helpless. I just don't have the stomach for that stuff anymore. Too much of that happens in real life, and I just don't need to have it in my fiction. And make no mistake: there are REALLY Bad People in this book. Like, cartoon bad. The only way I got through it was to know that the kids were mostly okay. Mostly.

And then there was the character of Curtis, the titular Listener of the title. I kinda think that McCammon might have been trying not to fall into the Magical Negro trope, but I'm not really sure he avoided it very well. Curtis can communicate telepathically with Nilla, the 11-y.o. girl of the kidnapped pair. This telepathy seems to be a rare gift, just something that folks are born with, nothing weird or nasty at all. This telepathy helps Curtis to communicate with Nilla, and to pass word to her father and to help to save the children. It's what ultimately saves the kids.

But Curtis is a gentle soul, someone who can't imagine hurting anyone. He's relentless in working to save the kids. And, because this is set in the 1930s in Louisiana, he runs afoul of white people. There is a section I can only call torture porn, where three rednecks that Curtis had tried to flag down for help absolutely savage Curtis and leave him where they are certain he'll die. They'd have lynched him if they'd had any rope. But they didn't, so they left him with a boxcar full of rattlesnakes.

So naturally Curtis is too pure to survive. His death conveniently removes any question of what would happen to a black man who broke into a store to steal clothes after he'd been beaten to a pulp, stripped naked and left for dead, and who might have been blamed for the death of one of the Very Bad (White) People in that time and place. At every turn, Curtis is a tool for the White People In DANGER!!!!!1!!1! Seriously. O.o And he's good and sweet and steadfast (his heroes are the characters from Le Morte D'Arthur, ffs), so naturally he's doomed to die for the white kids. Jeezopete.

I dunno. I think the book was well put together, but Curtis deserved better. I just had issues, especially with the beating scenes, so I can't be as positive as I wish I could be. Though there is one lovely little bit of description close to the end, as Curtis's soul leaves his body.

Disappointed.

There was lots of potential here, but characters and plot points felt rushed and not really fleshed out. Boys Life from McCammon is one of my favorite books, but this one, even with a cool connection with that book, falls well short. Decent read, but nothing special.