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    Sin Killer
    Sin Killer
    Sin Killer
    Audiobook7 hours

    Sin Killer

    Written by Larry McMurtry

    Narrated by Alfred Molina

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    From Pulitzer Prize–winning author Larry McMurtry comes the first in a four-volume epic journey through the early American frontier, featuring the Berrybender family, English nobility adrift in the American West in the 1830s.

    It is 1830, and the Berrybender family—rich, aristocratic, English, and hopelessly out of place—is on its way up the Missouri River to see the untamed West as it begins to open up. Lord and Lady Berrybender have abandoned their home in England to broaden the horizons for themselves and their three children. With irascible determination—and a great deal of outright chaos—the party experiences both the awesome majesty and brutal savagery of the unexplored land, from buffalo stampedes and natural disasters to Indian raids and encounters with frontiersmen and trappers, explorers, pioneers, and one part-time preacher known as "the Sin Killer." Sin Killer, the strong, silent Westerner, captures the heart of the strong-willed, beautiful Berrybender daughter, Tasmin. But their fast developing relationship can only bring more trouble for the Berrybender's.

    Packed with breathtaking adventure, charming romance, and a sense of humor stretching clear over the horizon, Sin Killer is a truly unique view of the West that could only come from the boundless skill and imagination of Larry McMurtry.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSimon & Schuster Audio
    Release dateMay 1, 2002
    ISBN9780743567152
    Sin Killer
    Author

    Larry McMurtry

    Larry McMurtry (1936–2021) was the author of twenty-nine novels, including the Pulitzer Prize–winning Lonesome Dove, three memoirs, two collections of essays, and more than thirty screenplays. He lived in Archer City, Texas.

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    Reviews for Sin Killer

    3.5/5

    207 ratings10 reviews

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      In Larry McMurtry's Sin Killer, the first novel of a major four-volume work, it is 1830, and the Berrybender family, rich aristocratic English, and fiercely out of place, is on its way up the Missouri River to see the American West as it begins to open up. At the core of the book is daughter Tasmin's relationship with Jim Snow, frontiersman, ferocious Indian fighter, and part-time preacher (known up and down the Missouri as the "Sin Killer"), the strong, handsome, silent Westerner who captures her heart. Larry McMurtry has created a wonderfully engaging family confronting every bigger-than-life personality of the frontier as the Berrybenders make their way up the great river, surviving attacks, discomfort, savage weather, and natural disaster. At once epic, comic, and as big as the West itself, it is the kind of novel that only Larry McMurtry can write.
    • 3/5
      I listened to this via audiobook. The narrator made a good job considering how many different accents he had to cover -- American, upper-class English, working class English, Irish, Welsh.If you enjoy stories in which you're invited as reader to sit back and watch a cast of crazy characters, this may well be your ticket. Personally, I prefer stories in which I can identify with one of the main characters.With all of Lord Berrybender's amputations, this would have to be the definition of 'dark humour'. McMurtry does dark humour well. But I'm slightly squeamish. I preferred the dark humour of Buffalo Girls.
    • 4/5
      In Larry McMurtry's Sin Killer, the first novel of a major four-volume work, it is 1830, and the Berrybender family, rich aristocratic English, and fiercely out of place, is on its way up the Missouri River to see the American West as it begins to open up. At the core of the book is daughter Tasmin's relationship with Jim Snow, frontiersman, ferocious Indian fighter, and part-time preacher (known up and down the Missouri as the "Sin Killer"), the strong, handsome, silent Westerner who captures her heart. Larry McMurtry has created a wonderfully engaging family confronting every bigger-than-life personality of the frontier as the Berrybenders make their way up the great river, surviving attacks, discomfort, savage weather, and natural disaster. At once epic, comic, and as big as the West itself, it is the kind of novel that only Larry McMurtry can write.
    • 3/5
      First in the Berrybender series of four books about an aristocratic family that adventures into the new American West in 1832. Some lively characters, and as befitting Mr. McMurtry, quite a few of them end up dead. A few historical figures also pass through the pages.
    • 4/5
      A strange tale about a bizarre, very rich English family group traveling by river through the western part of the USA in early 1800s. Part one of a four part series of books, each one on a different river. I can't imagine how the story continues considering the mayhem occurring in the first book. Intriguing is a good word to describe it.
    • 3/5
      Enjoyable listen of 1832 tale of English Aristocrats river boating up the Missouri to the Yellowstone. Indian encounters and mountain men.
    • 3/5
      LM is always readable, even if you don't love the story per se. The Berrybender books are almost a satire of themselves. That said, I keep reading them.
    • 4/5
      This was a good listen, but I have to admit I admire McMurtry's LONESOME DOVE series much much better. I can't remember ever wanting to reach inside the book and smack any of the characters as much as I wanted to smack some of the Berrybender family around. Lord Berrybender was the worst. As a wealthy member of the English aristocracy, he was used to having everything in his whim made so and quickly. One part that had me laughing as much as wanting to smack upside the back of his head with a castiron skillet was his demand that his valet go up and herd the antelope closer so that he could ensure a better shot. And he wanted to know why someone hadn't thought to landscape the prairie with more bushes so that he had someplace to hide behind for hunting. I felt so bad for the American frontiersmen and ship captain for all that they had to put up with these fops. Tasmin had more sense than her father and most of her family, but not as much as she should have had to navigate the frontier alone as she thought she could. She mostly wanted escape from her family and Jim Snow, Sin Killer, was her answer. Jim Snow is amenable for the most part, but it has to be on his terms and his are pretty harsh. He's a good person, but he has rules he lives by and Tasmin has to follow them, too. I will likely listen to the rest of the series or read them since DH and I collect all of McMurtry's books, but it's going to be a while before I will be ready to put up with more of the Berrybender antics. Four frontier beans....
    • 1/5
      While I enjoyed Lonesome Dove, I found this one childish and silly. The concept is an original, fresh take, but the story line and writing take the easy way out. It reads like a pulpuy TV show, and the end of book one doesn't really end anything at all- more of a "to be continued" sort of ending, which I don't buy into at all. I get that it's a part of a series, but I think it should be able to stand alone.
    • 4/5
      This is a refreshingly original western, documenting the western experiences of an extremely upper class English family undertaking the ultimate adventure of the time. As the story progresses through succeeding volumes, it gradually runs out of steam and becomes a novella cash grab, but the original shows promise and is highly recommended.