Audiobook of 'Cherry' by Nico Walker

I would’ve never even noticed this “breaking” news out of Hollywood —  “Apple Films shells out $40 million for “Cherry”” — if I hadn’t just happened to be listening to the audiobook version of “Cherry” right now.

I can tell you this: There’s no way I would’ve loved this novel like I do if I’d been reading it and not listening to it. It’s fantastic!

A bit about the book. “Cherry” is Nico Walker’s thinly fictionalized story of how a Cleveland born-and-raised Iraq War vet ended up robbing banks to support his opioid and then heroin addiction. Walker wrote the novel in federal prison.

Sounds kind of grim, doesn’t it?

But as Alexandra Alter wrote in her review for the New York Times, “The strange story of how Mr. Walker — a war hero with no criminal history — became a serial bank robber who evaded police for months sounds like the plot of a heist movie or thriller. Instead, Mr. Walker wrote an unsettling literary novel.”

Agreed. But I’m a sucker for great narration and Jeremy Bobb in the voice of Nico Walker is terrific. He captures both the laconic yet kinetic quality of Walker’s prose.

My Thread Must-Read — and this week's Must-Listen — is the audiobook version of Nico Walker’s “Cherry.”

Apple Films says the movie will debut in early 2021 so it can be considered for next year’s Academy Awards.

—  Kerri Miller | MPR News