The Big Seven, Jim Harrison
The Big Seven, Jim Harrison
List: $19.95 | Sale: $13.97
Club: $9.97

The Big Seven
A Faux Mystery

Author: Jim Harrison

Narrator: Jim Meskimen

Unabridged: 9 hr 39 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 02/03/2015

Synopsis

Jim Harrison is one of our most renowned and popular authors, and his last novel, The Great Leader, was one of the most successful in a decorated career: it appeared on the New York Times extended bestseller list and was a national bestseller with rapturous reviews. His darkly comic follow-up, The Big Seven, sends Detective Sunderson to confront his new neighbors, a gun-nut family who live outside the law in rural Michigan.Detective Sunderson has fled troubles on the home front and bought himself a hunting cabin in a remote area of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. No sooner has he settled in than he realizes his new neighbors are creating even more havoc than the Great Leader did. A family of outlaws, armed to the teeth, the Ameses have local law enforcement too intimidated to take them on. Then Sunderson's cleaning lady, a comely young Ames woman, is murdered, and black sheep brother Lemuel Ames seeks Sunderson's advice on a crime novel he's writing, which may not be fiction. Sunderson must struggle with the evil within himself and the far greater, more expansive evil of his neighbor.In a story shot through with wit, bedlam, and Sunderson's attempts to enumerate and master the seven deadly sins, The Big Seven is a superb reminder of why Jim Harrison is one of America's most irrepressible writers.

About Jim Harrison

Jim Harrison (1937–2016) was the author of over thirty-five books of poetry, nonfiction, and fiction, including Legends of the Fall, The Road Home, The English Major, and The Farmer’s Daughter. His writing appeared in the New Yorker, Esquire, Sports Illustrated, Playboy, and the New York Times. He earned a National Endowment for the Arts grant, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and the Spirit of the West Award from the Mountains & Plains Booksellers Association. His work has been recognized worldwide and published in twenty-two languages.

About Jim Meskimen

Jim Meskimen is a stage, film, and television actor who has appeared in many well-known movies and television shows. He acted in Apollo 13 and Frost/Nixon for director Ron Howard, both of which were nominated for Best Picture Oscars. His television appearances include The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Friends, Lie to Me, Criminal Minds, and Parks and Recreation. He is also a painter, award-winning audiobook narrator, and audiobook director for Galaxy Audio.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Jim on August 10, 2023

I love Jim Harrison. I hated this book. A long apparent apologia for alcoholism and old men having sex with young women (and girls), the protagonist’s excuses and mild self-condemnation prevented neither his doing such things repeatedly nor a sense of distaste in the reader. I really looked forward......more

Goodreads review by Bookbeaver on January 13, 2015

I find it somewhat surprising that of the few reviews posted here so far the majority are from first-time Harrison readers. As a long, long time fan of JH, and one who has read nearly every word the man has written, including his wonderful poetry, I have to say this is not the best book to judge as......more

Goodreads review by Larry on November 08, 2021

Now that I have listened to this book in the audible format I have upgraded my star count from 3 to 4 actually primarily based on the last 20 or 30 pages of this book which I think finally rate some thing better than a mediocre appreciation. I have been reading Jim Harrison books back to back to back......more

Goodreads review by Lee on February 28, 2015

Great characterization. Reminds me of a cross between John Irving and Jack Cady (two of my favorite writers.) Looking forward to more by Jim Harrison.......more

Goodreads review by Simon on April 09, 2018

This is more retired detective Sunderson awash in butts&nuts as he wades through a reckoning with the seven deadly sins as backdrop to more post career detective type savior escapades this time in France where he can also bludgeon us with food, drink, sex and art. What else but more Harrison gone wi......more

Quotes

“This one is even less of a mystery than its predecessor, but who cares when you can watch and listen to a character who somehow combines the boisterous spirit of Falstaff with the neurotic soul of Woody Allen, a randy, boozing backwoods philosopher who sins with raucous abandon, frets about what it means, and then comes back for more, all with a life-loving romantic streak that makes you, well, want to put a little sin back in your own life.” Booklist (starred review)

“Characters from the detective’s previous adventure return, including sidekick Mona, who assists Sunderson by scraping together information on the Ameses, and Diane, the ex-wife he still fancies…When our hero is neck deep in his quest for justice, snooping while also considering the seven deadly sins (hence the title), Harrison proves once again that he is an inimitable, inexhaustible talent.” Publishers Weekly

“A treat for curious and speculative mystery readers.” Library Journal

“Reader Jim Meskimen…adds a general tone of bemusement to Sunderson’s speech that accurately reflects the character’s usual reaction to nearly everything, be it news of murder or incest or a killer who spends his days birdwatching. There are angry flare-ups, mainly when the detective confronts men who mistreat women, as well as moments of bliss, especially when he is fishing, dining and sharing the joys of sexual delight with, as the author would have it, every woman he meets.” Mystery Scene

“Ex-cop Sunderson is as bemused as ever in Harrison’s follow-up to The Great Leader…You can’t help but like feckless, unpretentiously intellectual Sunderson, inclined to tie himself in metaphysical knots when not fishing or otherwise engaging with the natural world whose splendors, movingly described, succor him in a way nothing else can…After a lifetime of deep, dark fiction like Dalva and True North, Harrison is entitled to relax with these autumnal ramblings.” Kirkus Reviews

Awards

  • New York Times   Bestseller
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