Aaron Frale

Pete is a very simple man whose life goal is to make a perfect burrito. His life is turned upside down when he gets sucked up by a time travel experiment gone wrong. That doesn't change his primary goal at all, though.

This book is an absurdist time travel adventure, which means what is most important is for the reader to have fun. Which I didn't have, not at the beginning at least.

Most of the jokes in the first half were centered on Pete being very stupid and they weren't particularly funny. While I was slightly interested in the story and the other main character's POV, I decided to DNF as it felt like a waste of my time. I would have been fine continuing with an audiobook, but there isn't one. Then I got the idea of trying to use text-to-speech and finish the book that way. (The AI emotionless voice kind of worked with the absurdity of the story). And I am kind of glad I did.

The second part was way better. Pete stopped being just the dumb guy to make jokes about and gets acknowledged as a useful part of the group. Consequently, I started having more fun with the book and actually enjoyed the jokes too. Somewhere along the way, the characters grew on me and I started to care about the story.

Also, the cat is indeed part of the story, although it appears only toward the end, and it's super cute.

This book is part of a series, but works as a standalone.… (más)

A book with a cover of a calico cat seated on a burrito flying at full speed in outer space? Count me in!

The gags start immediately in Time Burrito. Within the first two pages, we know our unlikely hero Pete Jaramillo is the struggling owner of the worst burrito food truck in New Mexico's State University. Rumored to be made of rat meat and reeking of piss, Pete's burritos are so bad that frats use them for pranks. The only reason why he doesn't go out of business is because even a horrible burrito food truck can stay afloat when the burritos are priced at 1 dollar.

I like the idea of having a good natured but (usually) clueless middle aged overweight guy as a book's hero for a change. What Pete lacks in looks and common sense are compensated by his bravery, friendliness and good intentions. Also, he loves Metallica and is knowledgeable about all sorts of obscure music history facts. His hidden smarts help him more than once in the story.

Things get weird when he sees a college professor thrown into the air and presumed deceased. Worse, a mysterious machine sucks him and a young female scientist named Clare inside. Whoa! Time machine story! And yes, Time Burrito takes some good homages to a few of the good tropes of Back to the future with lots of don't screw up the future by leaving stuff behind and... did Pete bring a caveman into the future? Unk's POV chapters are very funny. And oh, oh, are they now in a future where justice is imparted from reality tv shows?

I won't spoil much more of the plot. Just a head's up, this story has a sapphic romance. ;)

With danger lurking in every corner, Pete's constant screw-ups and a male calico cat that makes the best flour tortillas in the world, maybe Pete's dream of creating the world's best burrito is attainable after all!

This book is great and I am certainly interested in reading the sequels soon. 5 stars!… (más)

My original Atmospheric Pressure audiobook review and many others can be found at Audiobook Reviewer.

Olson is an eleven year old kid who lives in a sealed city. The world has become so contaminated that the air outside is so poisonous that it can kill in seconds. In Olson's society people have friends and acquaintances but nothing closer than that. Olson will gain citizenship soon and start working on a job that has already been decided. Everything changes one day when one of Olson's teachers commits suicide just in front of the kid. Soon after, Olson will meet Natalie, one of the citizens from the top floors, where people have families and know where they came from. Together they will try to find out the truth behind a society which seems quite different for each of them.

This was a very interesting dystopian story, one of those which seem realistic enough to imagine our own society evolving in the same way. This aspect, linked to the search for the truth hooked me to the story from the beginning. The characters are not fully developed, but they are believable enough to make this book quite enjoyable.

Something that was not credible enough for me was how mature Olson and Natalie were despite their short ages. I found also unrealistic the grade of development described for one year old kids. Maybe with their genetic engineering they improved this too. It is not mentioned in the book, but since it is written from Olson's point of view, I find it difficult to make the comparison between their and our babies.

Aaron Frale repeats several times that the key for this society to work and not to break was that each part of it had just a piece of the puzzle. I agree with this, but there was one of the pieces that I had troubles to swallow. The fact that he repeated the sentence about the pieces of the puzzle at least three times seemed excessive and an attempt to convince the reader about it despite the flaws of those pieces.

Considering these remarks, the book is very well-written, and the story is interesting and original, keeping the listener's attention until the end. Just be prepared for the cliffhanger and some unanswered questions. I would definitely continue with the story if Frale publishes a continuation.

Mike Alger's narration was quite good, making clear differences between character's voices and expressing their feelings. The audio production was also correct.

Audiobook was provided for review by the author.… (más)