Their Wildest Dreams [Audiobook, Unabridged] [Audio Cassette]

Peter Abrahams (Author), Laural Merlington (Reader)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2003

"Mackie dreaded the mail." From the simple beginning, Peter Abrahams opens the curtains on a mesmerizing world down on the Mexican border, a world of complex and passionate people whose ambitions will lead them on a relentless collision course, a desert world that rises to the mythic in Their Wildest Dreams. The suspense will grab you and not let you go, the surprises will shock you, but in the end it will be the wonderful characters who remain in your mind. Characters like Mackie Larkin, a suburban mother desperate for money, who finds she can earn it as a stripper; Kevin Larkin, her ex-husband whose get-rich-quick schemes left her with a mountain of debt, and who now dreams up an even better one; Lianne, their beautiful, impulsive teenage daughter, for whom almost anything, even bank robbery, is possible; Jimmy Marz, the wrangler Lianne loves, who gets a dangerous one-time offer that could take him to the life he's always wanted; Buck Samsonov, the charismatic strip-club owner building a southwestern empire in the lawless style of a nineteenth-century robber baron; Clay Krupsha, a twenty-first century captain of detectives in a border town where no crime is what it seems; and Nicholas Loeb, a struggling mystery writer whose encounter with an unstable muse entangles him in a web of true crime more mysterious than anything he imagined.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

After two less-than-stellar outings (The Tutor; Last of the Dixie Heroes), Abrahams is once again at the top of his game in this wildly inventive, captivating caper. Make that several capers-this novel's multiple plot threads and unlikely assortment of characters carom off each other like so many carnival bumper cars. In typical fashion, Abrahams places a gaggle of ordinary folks in what gradually become distinctly unordinary scenarios, with an ever-so-creepy edge. In Arizona, divorc‚e Helen MacIsaac (Mackie) takes up stripping to make ends meet. Meanwhile, her 17-year-old daughter, Lianne, hooks up with a wrangler at nearby Ocotillo Ranch, the site of her dad's latest get-rich-quick scheme. Back east, Nick Loeb, a writer whose latest crime caper isn't up to snuff ("of course, that was only the opinion of Publishers Weekly") finds an unlikely muse in Mary Jane Krupsha, an amateur critic on Amazon.com. Suggesting that Loeb get some on-the-job experience, she takes him to the Mexican border town of Agua Fria, where her ex-husband is captain of detectives. And where do you suppose Mackie is honing her ecdysiast routine? In Agua Fria, of course, at a boate called Buckaroo's, which boasts "a towering sign with two red nipples in the os." Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the wrangler is enlisting Lianne's aid with a proposed bank hold-up in-of course-the busy burg of Agua Fria. And we haven't mentioned Mr. Samsonov, the owner of Buckaroo's, who's friendly with some nice Russian mafiya fellows, and who's taken a shine to dancer Red (aka Mackie). The author's up-to-the-minute pop-culture references lend an easygoing immediacy, and his wry humor is spot on-when one character wants to borrow a cell phone, he's answered, "Mind waiting a bit? Off-peak starts in three minutes." Off-peak, however, need not be a concern to readers of this bravura thrillfest.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From the Inside Flap

?Peter Abrahams is my favorite American suspense novelist.?
?STEPHEN KING

?Mackie dreaded the mail.? From this simple beginning, Peter Abrahams opens the curtains on a mesmerizing world down on the Mexican border, a world of complex and passionate people whose ambitions will lead them on a relentless collision course, a desert world that rises to the mythic in Their Wildest Dreams. The suspense will grab you and not let go, the surprises will shock you, but in the end it will be the wonderful characters who linger in your mind.

Characters like Mackie Larkin, a suburban mother desperate for money, who finds she can earn it as a stripper; Kevin Larkin, her ex-husband whose get-rich-quick schemes left her with a mountain of debt, and who now dreams up an even better one; Lianne, their beautiful, impulsive teenage daughter, for whom almost anything, even bank robbery, is possible; Jimmy Marz, the wrangler she loves, who gets a dangerous onetime offer that could take him to the life he?s always wanted; Buck Samsonov, the charismatic strip-club owner building a southwestern empire in the lawless style of a 19th-century robber baron; Clay Krupsha, a twenty-first-century captain of detectives in a border town where no crime is what it seems; and Nicholas Loeb, a struggling mystery writer whose encounter with an unstable muse entangles him in a web of true crime more mysterious than anything he imagined.

Utterly original, multilayered, and marked by the gripping suspense, sharp wit, and fascinating psychological insights for which Peter Abrahams has been acclaimed, here is a major work?a riveting story of modern-day desperadoes living their wildest dreams. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio Unabridged; Unabridged edition (August 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590869826
• ISBN-13: 978-1590869826
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 6.4 x 2.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,803,258 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Peter Abrahams - "criminally gifted" according to the New York Times Book Review - is the author of 27 novels. These include the New York Times bestselling Echo Falls mystery series for middle-graders (DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE, BEHIND THE CURTAIN, INTO THE DARK) and REALITY CHECK (2009) for teens. Among his adult books are OBLIVION (Shamus prize finalist), THE FAN (made into a movie with Robert DeNiro) and LIGHTS OUT (Edgar award finalist). DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE was a finalist for the Edgar best young adult mystery award and won the Agatha in the same category. BEHIND THE CURTAIN and INTO THE DARK were Agatha finalists. In her Cleveland Plain Dealer review of NERVE DAMAGE (2007), Michelle Ross wrote: "I swear, if one more literary person says in that oh-so-condescendng tone, 'Oh, I don't read ... mysteries,' I'm going to take a novel by Peter Abrahams and smack him on his smug little head." REALITY CHECK won the best young adult mystery Edgar award in 2010. ROBBIE FORESTER AND THE OUTLAWS OF SHERWOOD STREET, January 2012, is first in a new middle-grade series about a twelve-year-old Robin Hood in contemporary Brooklyn.
As Spencer Quinn, Abrahams also writes the New York Times bestselling Chet and Bernie mystery series: DOG ON it, THEREBY HANGS A TAIL, TO FETCH A THIEF, and THE DOG WHO KNEW TOO MUCH. He has a website - peterabrahams.com; and so does Chet - chetthedog.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Character rich increasingly fast paced novel, February 26, 2004

By 

Larry Gandle (Tampa, Florida) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Their Wildest Dreams (Hardcover)

Several stories of varied characters converge in a literally explosive climax in this extraordinarily well written novel. On the Mexican US border outside of Tucson, lives Mackie Larkin, a divorced housewife who dreams of owning a dance studio but after a failed real estate deal, desperately needs money just to make ends meet. Her daughter, Lianne falls for an older man who works at the same ranch her father does. Nicholas Loeb is a mystery writer who travels to rural Arizona to get hands on experience in law enforcement. Buck Samsonov is a crime lord who runs a couple of strip joints in the region. All their paths converge in this very clever crime novel. The question is who will be on top in the end.
After a slow start the plot becomes increasingly fast paced once we get to know each of the characters and their separate problems. Alternate chapters are used initially to reveal the individual characters. Part of the change in momentum occurs when the characters' lives converge making the separation by chapter no longer necessary. The characters, a major strength of the work, are all original creations. The conclusion is a bit problematic and unrealistic. However, this one is well written and very much worthy of a reader's time.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars bittersweet and brutal, August 21, 2011

By 

MV (East Bay, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Their Wildest Dreams: A Novel (Mass Market Paperback)

RAther odd suspense/love story that is typical of Abrahams and makes his novels more interesting than the usual suspense. Mackie, a single mom, takes up stripping to make ends meet after her husband divorces her and manages to lose all their money. Her daughter strikes up a romance with a not so bright ranch hand on the ranch where her father has gotten a job. Her father ruins his job prospects, not surprisingly, but the daughter sticks with the ranch hand, despite his obvious limitation in the brains department. This is not funny but bittersweet.

The boyfriend is convinced to commit a bank robbery and in the process Mackie ends up with the money and the boyfriend ends up dead. Meanwhile, Mackie has developed a relationship with Nick, a writer, who has come to town to immerse himself in the police for some research for the book. The cops are investigating a crime ring which ends up wanting the money that is stolen from the bank.

All the lives collide when the crime boss (who reminds me of characters from elmore Leonard's books) kind of funny but also very brutal beats up Nick and Mackie's husband and kidnaps Mackie and her daughter. It is Mackie's daughter that ultimately is able to free them through using one of the tricks her boyfriend taught her (thus redeeming him and his stupidity)

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars memorable suspense thriller, August 3, 2003

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Their Wildest Dreams (Hardcover)

Mackie learned what a louse her husband was after she discovered he was cheating on her and divorced her. The housing development they were creating went into foreclosure and the bank took possession of it leaving her and her daughter Lianne barely able to afford the payments on the model house. When she gets a notice from the IRS saying she owes over $100,000, she finds out Kevin did some financial maneuvering that make her liable for the bill.

Her friend gives her the idea of stripping as a way of getting back on her feet financially and the Tucson resident travels to the border town of Aqua Fria where she gets hired on as an exotic dancer at Buckaroo's. The owner of the club Buck Samsanov also owns the local bank. He has a scheme where one of his workers robs the place and he gets the money back plus the insurance. Through a quirky set of circumstances, Mackie winds up with the money, Lianne's boyfriend is dead, and Kevin is kidnapped. A crime writer looking for inspiration winds up in the middle of the whole mess and manages to make matters worse.

This suspense thriller is a memorable reading experience due to the cast of characters who are unique and believable. Peter Abrahams has a colorful writing style and his prose is a work of art even with plenty of farcical humor that lowers the tension level when the reader needs a bit of relief from the almost non-stop action. Once again, Mr. Abrahams proves he is one of the grandmasters of suspense.

Harriet Klausner