Book Rating: ★★★☆☆ (2.75/5 stars)
Audio Book Rating: ★★★★★ (5/5 Stars)
Total Rating: ★★★☆☆ (3/5 stars)
Tom Stranger, Intergalatic Insurance Agent, is here to be the very best for the customer! His goal: 5-star performance during all insurance claims, whether your galaxy is sucked into a black whole or aliens destroy your planet. When Wendell the Manatee goes missing, Tom and his group of junior associates and interns must find the manatee before an intergalatic war breaks lose.
Tom and his inadequate intern, Jimmy, go on the hunt for Wendell in an amusing 2-hour listen that keeps the reader engaged. They poke fun at current popular figures, fads, and politics along the way; after all, how can some Earths in the multiverse be so bizarre? They use our Earth as the base of this joke: man-buns, weird slang, as well as our current political environment on both ends of the spectrum.
While it was amusing to listen to, after awhile the jokes became cumbersome, taking away from the actual issue at hand: where is Wendell the Manatee? In addition, some of the jokes are very current to today (or 3 years ago) that I wonder how it is going to age. Already some of the jokes on Donald Trump have not aged as well since this was written during the first year of his presidency. Also, if you are easily offended, as the book like Saturday Night Live and South Park does make jokes about both sides of the spectrum, then you probably will want to pass on listening to this.
I can picture this book as an episode of South Park, Rick and Morty, or the Simpsons though. It’s silly and fun, although maybe it should dial back some of its jokes just a bit to keep the reader fully engaged.
So if you want something quick and fun to listen to, check it out! If anything, Adam Baldwin gives a great performance!
What’s it about?
When half your galaxy is unexpectedly sucked into a black hole – when a hitherto-unknown species of space aliens lays waste to your home planet – when disaster rears its ugly head (or heads) – who can you call for faster-than-light appraisals and best-in-the-multiverse customer service? Just one man – Tom Stranger, Interdimensional Insurance Agent.
In this latest chapter of his interstellar exploits, Tom is about to deliver a crushing performance evaluation to Jimmy the Intern when the unimaginable happens: The beloved Wendell the Manatee has been kidnapped! Armed with his battle mechs and his elite corps of junior associates, can Tom find Wendell before he’s canned in oil? And can Jimmy, at long last, channel his inner agent?
Performed by Adam Baldwin, the sci-fi Audible Original A Murder of Manatees will make you quiver with fear, laugh uncontrollably, and wonder whether your deductibles are too high.
E.S. Barrison 