The Opening Salvo - Dick Winchester, Book 1 by Stephen A. Roddewig in Review

Confession time, I have still to read the book version of The Opening Salvo, but will do so in good time and provide another review for it, based on that experience.

Dick Winchester is a character that many of you may be familiar with if you have read the piece on Vocal that introduced him to the world. Here is a link to that story.

With the second book in the three-part series out, The Counterattack, and the third one on the way at the end of the year, there is no better time to jump on the Winchester express.

Stephen A. Roddewig is a class-act when it comes to weaving a ridiculous, adrenaline-packed, and witty story. After reading A Bloody Business, the review of which you will find at the following link, I was looking forward to a character I knew he had become very fond of.

Not that I really believe I need to, I would point out that Stephen is a friend and been great source of encouragement and inspiration for my own writing journey. That has not played much into this review.

Be warned, it's a bumpy ride, but one oozing with charisma.

The Actual Review

For this review, I will be focusing on the audiobook experience of Dick Winchester Book 1, The Opening Salvo. Dick Winchester is a gun-toting delivery service provider who has had enough of the various start-ups, that each have hilarious punny names inspired by their "our world" counterparts. It seems that the whole business is one that is as shady and deadly as working for the DEA.

Even though I have no real grounded knowledge of Arlington, Virginia beyond movies and TV shows I've seen, the book reads as a love letter to the city. There are lots of Googleable real-world reference points and "Easter eggs" in there.

I have to admit that I was quietly impressed that Stephen had decided to go down the audiobook route. Audiobooks are incredibly popular, so it makes sense, but there is a lot of additional work that goes into making them, and for a self-published author to put that much care and attention in to bringing the world of his creation to life in accessible ways for all potential readers/listeners, is a mark of creativity and passion for sharing his work.

I knew going in that the success of the audiobook as a immersive experience, would be down to the voice artist responsible for bringing the hilarious misadventures of such a unique character like Dick Winchester to life.

Jonathan Kilgore breathes life, sass, sarcasm and a heft dose of Leslie Nielsen, Bruce Campbell and the great Humphrey Bogart into Dick that it's hard not to be rooting for the arrogant son of a, from the first chapter. As a fan of Police Squad, Airplane!, the Naked Gun films, Bruce Campbell and The Maltese Falcon, these inspirations only served to make the character more lovable to me.

I did have my concerns that for a self-published author to do be doing an audiobook with a small budget, it might sound unprofessional. I was so very wrong, it pains me to even admit that. Johnathan's performance and technical knowhow really let Stephen's words jump off the page.

While there is not too much variation in different character's voices, Dick definitely sounds like Dick and the female characters have all kinds of interesting twangs and higher octave voices to set them apart. It gives the book a very old-time radio series feel, which just adds to the overall experience because that was in part what inspired the character and his escapades in the first place.

When I say it was an absolute joy to indulge and let Jonathan do the talking, I am not exaggerating. If anything I am underexaggerating.

Don't get me wrong, the book is a winner in itself and if there was not an audiobook option, I'd be singing the praises of the creativity, wit, understanding of capers and just the little nuances that Stephen brings to everything I have read by him so far. However, as there is an audio version available, it seems fair to state that it was not a wasted "extra cash grab" gimmick gone wrong. This book reads like it was made for the radio or a podcast as much as it reads like a classic bit of comic literature.

What's more, without giving away too much about the book as I don't want to spoil it, there are certain elements and chapters that really come alive in audiobook form. The Screenplay, for instance, is one of my favourite chapters of the book, because of how well it comes off the page and fully fleshed out, or voiced out, by Jonathan and his masterful voice and comic timing. Stephen wrote the jokes, wrote the lines, created the fast-paced narrative, but Jonathan gives it personality beyond the words. It's a match made in audible heaven. Or something.

Sometimes if there are too many gimmicky elements in a book it is because they distract from the poor quality of the actual writing. That is not the case here, The Screenplay is written as a screenplay and Johnathan reads it as such. There is even some music which helps just add a bit of class to that chapter and a few others.

The man, Mr Kilgore even does voice work for the bird in the story (Sorry, Dick, rose-ringed Parakeet).

https://www.acx.com/narrator?p=A1I4CFXXUMPN7S (for some reason, the embedding didn't work)

My Final Verdict

For me it's an easy 5/5 for the book itself and the audio version. I understand that audiobooks are not everyone's cup of tea, however, it really makes the difference with this book.

I would say that even if you have read the book, it is a worthwhile experience investing in the audiobook. It adds an extra dimension to everything and I honestly can't say enough to applaud Stephen and Jonathan's work on the project. The action is fast-paced, the dialogue snappy and sassy and you can't help but root for Dick Winchester and start believing his own hype, that there are not enough men like Dick Winchester in this world.

I look forward to listening to the second book in the series, The Counterattack, soon and will be sharing my views on that.

Below is another link to the Audible version, and one to the Amazon page.

If you do buy it – you should review it, as the reviews make a lot of difference. Not just for the author but for Amazon and other online retailers and may make all the difference between someone deciding to click Buy Now and not. It doesn't need to be much, but even a small review can have a big impact.

Next up is Jogger's Trail by Donna Fox (HKB) and Is this all we get?: True Love, Death & Terrible Poetry by Celia and River In Underland.