Start gifting
Libro.fm for Business
Start a membership, get two free audiobooks
Almost ready!
In order to save audiobooks to your Wish List you must be signed in to your account.
Log in Create account
Shop the sale
In celebration of Independent Bookstore Day, shop our limited-time sale on bestselling audiobooks from April 22nd-28th. Donāt miss outāpurchases support your local bookstore!
Shop nowThe Comedy is Finished
This audiobook uses AI narration.
Weāre taking steps to make sure AI narration is transparent.
Learn moreThe year is 1977, and America is finally getting over the nightmares of Watergate and Vietnam and the national hangover that was the 1960s. But not everyone is ready to let it go. Not aging comedian Koo Davis, friend to generals and presidents and veteran of countless USO tours to buck up American troops in the field. And not the five remaining members of the self-proclaimed People's Revolutionary Army, who've decided that kidnapping Koo Davis would be the perfect way to bring their cause back to life.
This is the final, previously unpublished novel from the legendary author Donald Westlake.
Richard StarkĀ (1933ā2008), wrote dozens of novels under his own name and a rainbow of other pseudonyms. Many of his books have been adapted for film, most notably The Hunter, which became the 1967 noir Point BlankĀ and the 1999 smash Payback.
Peter Berkrot, a forty-year veteran of stage and screen, has voiced over 450 audiobook titles, winning Earphones Awards, a 2012 Audie Award nomination, and a 2016 Audie Award.
Reviews
āOne of the best Westlake novels Iāve read.ā
āA terrifying sprint for redemption and rescue with the reader kept in agonizing suspense until the literal last page. Not to be missed.ā
āWeāre all in the presence of the master one last time.ā
āHalfway into January and we already have the first great book of 2012ā¦some of the finest work of the authorās career. And that is truly saying something.ā
āMWA Grand Master Westlake shows his skill and versatility as an author in this posthumous crime novelā¦Sharply written and insightful, this ālostā novel is a worthy addition to Westlakeās lengthy catalogue.ā
āThe characters are well drawn, the dialog flows, and the chapters speed by, making for a breezy, solid read. This late discovery is a welcomed treat for Westlakeās many fans. A natural for all mystery collections.ā
āThe Comedy Is Finished is a tense, compelling story of captive, captors, and an FBI agent, but itās also a painfully insightful portrait of a very dark period in US history. All the main charactersā lives have been affected by the war or Watergate, and Westlake, who wrote the novel in the late 1970s, gives each plenty of opportunity to lament what happened to them and relive some of this countryās darkest years. Itās very different from Westlakeās beloved comic crime capers, and although readers old enough to remember those years may find the memories dredged up to be unpleasant, they will probably be hard-pressed to put the book down.ā
āThe story is fascinating and compelling as can certainly be expected from Westlake. Narrator Peter Berkrotās flat California accent is well suited to the action. His pacing moves the story along, and his characterizations are terrificāespecially his voice for the kidnapped comic. Verdict: Although the 1970s setting seems dated, the writing is crisp and the story moves quickly. Westlakeās numerous fans will be thrilled to have this final novel. A fine addition to twenieth-century mystery collections.ā
āPeter Berkrotās narration is compelling, and he doesnāt let the story lagā¦His voices are suited to the well-drawn charactersā¦An absorbing narration.ā
Expand reviews