Interstate Dreams

By: Neal Barrett Jr.

Narrated by: Jeff Hays

Length: 8 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's summary

Dreamer came back to Austin, Texas from a bad banana war with a souvenir slug in his head. No big deal, just a minor side effect: Now, every safe, every lock, every fancy alarm takes a nap when he's around.

Dreamer's not tempted. He's straight arrow and doesn't need the dough. He's happy selling guppies, hanging out at Mama Lucy's Vishnu and Esus Barbecue. And, when the days are long and the AC's blowing cool, spending lazy afternoons with his breathtaking, irritating, mean-mouthed over and big-time attorney, Eileen. Still, a secret like Dreamer's doesn't stay secret long. A lot of people want to know what his talent's all about.

©1999 Neal Barrett Jr. (P)2014 David Wilson

A gangster novel with some superpowers thrown in

This Audiobook was provided by the narrator at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review.

Dreamer has a souvenir in his head from the war which affects any form of security. Locks open to his touch and alarms just ignore him allowing him to break into the most secure locations. His abilities don't go unnoticed and some despicable people want to use him for their own means.

The book is reminiscent of a gangster novel, with many villains trying to get a piece of Dreamer and understand how he does what he does.
The story is interesting, and the title does the story justice as I kept wondering if everything going on was just a dream due to the inexplicable events that happen now and then.

On occasions the book will introduce new characters and fill in a lot of details rather quickly. This did not work so well for me in audio format (as I have a tendency to forget names), so I found myself rewinding back a few times to try and take it all in. It may be wise to get the book as a companion for such cases.
I was also a bit disappointed that Dreamers unique abilities were more talked about than actually used.

The final part of the book is very unpredictable, very dream like and very enjoyable.

Narration by Jeff Hays is excellent with great acting and a bit of effects thrown in which add to the immersion, his voice (when not acting as one of the characters) also adds to the 'dreamesque' feeling of the story to wrap the deal.

To summarize - A gangster story with a twist, many intertwining characters, some anomalies and a blast ending with great narration.

Stunning in all elements

Have you listened to any of Jeff Hays’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have not, but I will be in the future if they are anything comparable to his performance presented here.

Any additional comments?

I found the first twenty minuets or so to be a little hard to get interested in. After that I was hooked on a nonstop ride that I found hard to put down. Had I not finished the book in about two days I am certain that my wife would have found me sitting in my car in the driveway more than just once. Hays performance has brought out the already brilliant writing by Barrett. I went searching for news of a sequel only to find that Barrett passed away earlier this year. I think I will pick up any more of his books I can find and try to finish them in the little bit of time this year has remaining.

I Liked It

The characters were very believable and the storyline flowed very nicely, and there was just the right amount of humor in this story,,,I would recommend this story to everybody. The narrating done by Jeff Hays was spot on, I received this audiobook in a promo for free and this is my voluntary unbiased review.

Wonderful Narration and Amazing Writing

If you could sum up Interstate Dreams in three words, what would they be?

Fun, engaging and exciting

What did you like best about this story?

Neal Barrett Jr. has a way of bring the main character, Dreamer, into focus so well that I felt as though I was hanging out with him rather than listening to his story.

What about Jeff Hays’s performance did you like?

Hays does a great job of reflecting the characters in his voices. The voice differentiation in dialogue helps a lot and the characteristic southerness is something I can only imagine that the author intended in his characters.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Something happens with the mix of humor in the writing and witty delivery in narration that makes several parts in the book feel as if they were intended solely for you.

Any additional comments?

I highly recommend this book and this narrator.

Different, but entertaining

Overall it was ok. Some parts were actually very funny too. Jeff Hays narration was great.