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Review of The Adventures of Tom Stranger, Interdimensional Insurance Agent
Audio Book by Larry Correia, Performed by Adam Baldwin
Review by Kerey McKenna

Welcome dear Nerds Who Read regulars to my new series of reviews, “I Read This…With My Ears,” where I will be reviewing audio dramas and audio adaptations of literature, as a change from my usual reviews of graphic novels. My first review will be of an odd little sci-fi farce I came across during an audiobook sale for my Amazon Fire, The Adventures of Tom Stranger, Interdimensional Insurance Agent. Written by Larry Correia, it is read by Adam Baldwin, who for Firefly fans is the man they call Jayne, and for followers of The Last Ship, XO Mike Slatterly. Tom Stranger works because of Baldwin's vigorous, over-the-top dramatic reading.

What happens if assassins from a parallel dimension are coming after you as a way to get at your much more successful parallel dimension doppelganger? Is your dimension being invaded by platoons of Nazi dinosaurs? Then you better hope that you’re covered by Stranger & Stranger Interdimensional Insurance. In providing consummate customer service, Tom Stranger serves as actuary, bodyguard, and general man of action to defend his clients from bizarre dangers from all around the multiverse. And it is a bizarre and dangerous multiverse indeed, brimming with more over-the-top testosterone-fueled spectacles than John Cena juggling chainsaws while riding a dirt bike over a pit of alligators. Unfortunately, a clerical error has saddled Tom with Jimmy the intern, a slacker coasting his way to a degree in Gender Studies who would be better suited to the soul-numbing drudgery of a telemarketing call center operator than the mental and physical rigors of an interdimensional man of action.

It is said that comedy is one of the hardest forms of drama to pull off and I have to credit the chuckles that Tom Stranger does get to Baldwin’s narration. Whether playing the taciturn Tom Stranger, his helpless slacker sidekick, a smarmy business man, a manatee CPA, or himself (in a parallel universe where Baldwin's TV role as a “libertarian cowboy” led him to the Oval Office), Baldwin performs with an infectious sense of fun. Baldwin is an outspoken conservative in left coast Hollywood, and his and Correia’s regular jabs against leftist politics and the Obama administration are not so much vicious barbs as big lemon meringue pies to the face lobbed by self-professed clowns.

As far as sci-fi satire audio dramas go this will not challenge the audio adaptations of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy but with a run time of just over two hours (which is brisk as far as audio books go) and priced to move on Audible, it might be worth a listen if you are in the mindset for a bit of mindless fun.

The Adventures of Tom Stranger, Interdimensional Insurance Agent is available on Audible.

Kerey McKenna is a contributing reviewer to Nerds who Read and SMOF for the annual Watch City Steampunk Festival. Learn more at www.watchcityfestival.com.