Cody Rexell and the Death Worm

By: Michael Bray

Narrated by: S.W. Salzman

Length: 2 hrs and 35 mins

Publisher's summary

Montana, 1959.

When an earthquake strikes, it unleashes a horror in the shape of a 60-foot flesh-eating worm, which has existed away from humanity for centuries. With the military unable to stop it, President Eisenhower is forced to take drastic if unorthodox action.

Meet Cody Rexell, a dangerous criminal, womanizer, and former bounty hunter who was legendary for his no nonsense, no remorse methods used in order to get the job done, who after finally being captured waits in Alcatraz where faces death via execution. President Eisenhower offers Rexall a deal, one which will see him go free if only he can use his unorthodox methods to destroy the worm and keep the country safe.

Together with his trusty Alsatian, Magnum, Rexell steps out into a world in which he has been given full authority to do whatever it takes to destroy the worm and try to win back his freedom in the only way he knows how....

©2015 Michael Bray (P)2015 Michael Bray

Fun listen

If you need a short but fun listen, this is it! President Dwight Eisenhower enlists the help of Cody Rexell, an Alcatraz inmate. The president has tried all of the conventional means at his disposal to kill the death worm. Nothing worked. Now he needs Cody to do what he does best! Great narration by Salzman, although I could have done without some of the sound effects.

so one day Dwight Eisenhower gives you a choice

lead character is bad ass with nothing to lose. president Eisenhower has a need for a man of his special skills, and with full plausible deniability.
good story with anti hero with knight complex.
ending was meh but look forward to 2nd book

Escape from NY meets Tremors

😂 what a wild ride. It’s as if Snake Plisken were to be sprung from prison to battle a larger version of the tremor worm something more akin to the ones from Dune. It’s would make a great sci-fi action movie without a doubt. You have a hero, his dog, the guy who’s been keeping his weapons and resources safe, the government agent assigned to make sure he gets the job done, the love/lust interest and
Of course, the worm. Great listen. I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator or publisher

So bad it's funny.

The story opens in 1959 Montana. Bill Simms wants to develop his land into a kind nature resort but he needs an investor. He taps his rich friend John Rogers. Together, they go out to the land by Simms’s lake and find more than they expected. There’s a localized ground disturbance and then a giant worm! A death worm! So obviously, after enough people have disappeared down into this wormy hole in the Montana ground, the government authorities are called in. They decide they need expert assistance, like the assistance that only Cody Rexell can provide.

Have you ever watched one of those movies that is so bad that it’s good in a ‘let’s poke fun at it’ kind of way? I bet you have a list in your head. Well, this book is like those movies. Nothing about it is plausible at all and there are cliches all over the place. Still, for most of it I was amused because I felt I could freely groan away at it.

Cody Rexell, the bad boy hero of this story, is a large muscly man who has a no non-sense attitude and is currently incarcerated at Alcatraz. He gets to face off with President Eisenhower as he negotiates the terms of his assistance in the matter of the Montana Death Worm. He’s given a subcutaneous tracker, a minder, and the freedom to call the shots. So off to Texas they go to a grungy bar for a steak. The story turns into one brawl after another as Rexell visits old haunts and gathers a few allies (like his big dog Magnum).

There was only one female character in this story, Marion, a waitress at the bar that was being hassled by some bikers. While that was predictable for this story it was still a disappointment to see the female gender so under represented. Then there was hardly any giant worm. Finally, after all the brawling is done, we head back to Montana and the giant worm. Things happened very fast and before I knew it, the problem was resolved. I was really hoping for more Death Worm. sniffle.

I won a copy from the narrator in a giveaway contest.

Narration: S. W. Salzman did a good job on this book. He had a variety of regional accents for the characters and he kept them all distinct. There was some music at the start and end of the story that was exciting and set the tone. However, there’s this scene where Rexell is stalking something large and dangerous and the music is suspenseful, but then the scene moves into pure action while the music stayed with this slower, suspenseful track that no longer suited what was happening in the moment.

The Death Worm

Short, fun pulp story. It was over the top and decent. It started getting old in the end for me. There were no surprises, the story spent most of the time building to the anticlimactic ending. I can take these types of stories in small doses so this wasn't really a problem.

Left a ton to be desired

Everything was rushed. It was just one encounter to the next. Story had potential. Writing was fine.