"He was Whipped, but not Broken"

Holy smoking guns!! (why does that make me think of the Boondock Saints?) This was totally rad. A bite sized but action-packed western themed mob story, (or mobster themed western?), I was absolutely riveted the entire time. It's nothing entirely new or original but the storytelling was gruff, gritty, in your face, and had plenty of tongue in cheek one liners and machismo, in the best possible way. The good kind of toxic masculinity, reminiscent of Clint Eastwood or John Wayne.

As usual though, this affordably priced short story narrated by the affably accessible Moose Matson hits all the right notes for an audiobook that I otherwise may never have read nor heard of. My previous experience with the exceptional narrator comes from his readings of the savage tales of sword and sorcery short stories, which are also just cheap enough that it's worth skipping the credit and just buying wholesale. I have no regrets. Matson, as always has a large number of accents and voices within his deep, smoky voice that he pulls off effortlessly as he switches from erratic henchmen to deadly mob boss and back to the somber, lone rider type marshal. I don't know why so many other readers stick with two dependable voices and leave it there, when it's so much more fun to just let go like Moose! I mean, who doesn't love that name?

The book was fun, well paced, I liked all the characters and really felt the authenticity of a modern western. The narrator and author worked in tandem to transport me there and keep me wanting more. All I can say is I'm waiting for more from these guys, 'cause at this point I'm sold.

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