The Roach by Rhett C Bruno Narrated by RC Bray
The Roach by Rhett C Bruno is an excellent
example of Noir fiction. Set in the 1980s
in Iron City, The Roach, or Reese Roberts is a vigilante who prowled the
streets and took care of the criminals in the city. After making a rescue, he is shot and
paralyzed. This is where we meet him, on
the river’s edge in his wheelchair contemplating suicide. A cry for help diverts him, and from this
point on, the story develops into an adrenaline-pumping grungy thriller. After again sustaining immense injuries while
saving a little girl, Reese wakes after a month in a coma to find that someone
had stolen his identity and was killing in the city. Reese, in his wheelchair, solicits the help
of a young man he tried to help and embarks on the search for the one scumbag
reporter that may have answers. Reed
makes the comic book heroes look like little girls playing dolls as he races
through the city in his wheelchair to try and catch up with the imposter who is
out to harm the two people that matters most to Reese.
Rhett C Bruno has written a page-turner; it is
impossible to put down once you start the story. The descriptions of Reese wheeling around and
even fighting from his chair is impressive, and one can vividly imagine the
hardened crime-fighter who will not let paralysis get him down. Child abuse is
a very relevant and clear theme throughout the story; the primordial ooze
formed Reese and motivated him in his actions. I like the book because Reese
did not try to justify his actions; in his heart, he knew that killing was
wrong, but he had something inside that drove him to kill in his cause to save
innocents.
RC Bray must be one of the best narrators
around. He has the voice that “Sounds like he hugged a handle of whiskey, ate a
box of cigarettes, then decided to try narrating.” According to Rhett C. Bruno.
Which is precisely what I imagined Reese to sound like. RC Bray uses his voice successfully in
portraying a damaged and vulnerable man out to do what he thinks needs to be
done. You can conjure up an image of the
poorly shaven, beat up but strong man in the wheelchair confronting the ghosts
from his past. The narrator makes the
book even more believable than it already was. He has received multiple rewards
and has done more than 200 audiobooks in varying genres.
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