I was amazed at how well the characters were brought to life with such a simple format and how well the story was brought together at the end. I truly enjoyed it.
Overall, a very mediocre book. Just good enough to warrant finishing it, and was a decent way to pass time in the car. The ending was pretty strong and the highpoint of the book. There's definitely better stories out there, but there's also a lot worse ones too.
The Failed Cities Monologues is one of the finest well crafted story(ies) and podcasts I ever had the plesure to enjoy and listen too. The individual stories and well developed chararcters themselves alone are worth the listen but the overall experience along with the subtle but excenletly executed production values makes this podcast a rare treat even in an underground media dominated by talented names such as Sigler, Morris, Ballentine, and Ellis just to name a few. This is noir at its best and while neo noir has been done or at least attempted before TFCM rises above the rest. While one reviewer wrote TFCM off as simply being clever, noir as a genre is about cleverness and TFCM goes beyond that. Every characater and therefore each story by extension is a result of something more just than clever writing technique these stories and characters have heart. No character is a simple archtype. Each one is an authentic well writen and developed individual who stands apart from the vast majority of their fictional counterparts. Each indivdual story or monologue perfectly reflects their primary character and narrator. With that said its hard to find one character in most book as amazingly crafted as the 8 in TFCM. Last but not least there is a sequel of shorts called TFCM: Hath A Darkness sponsered by Varient Frequencies and is defenitly worth the listen but is only a tasty morsel of the feast that is TFCM as a whole. Matt Wallace, WE NEED MORE
Couldn't hack this one. This author wants to plumb the depths of human depravity but doesn't have sufficient knowledge or understanding, so he resorts to cleverness. You remember what Dostoevski said about cleverness, don't you? No probably not.
I loved this book! The way it bounced from one charaters point of view to another was fantastic. I loved how they also intertwined. I'd love to see a second book to see if a certain person (or persons) get their revenge. (Evil laugh!)
Matt Wallace wrote an intriguing must listen to podcast. The acting, music and production make this book one of the best I have discovered. If you are a fan of sci-fi this podcast is a must have. I cannot wait until his next book. Thanks Matt.
