Murder on the Orient Elite

Grimnoir Chronicles #3.5

by Larry Correia, Bronson Pinchot (Narrator)

In this brand-new Grimnoir Chronicles story written exclusively for Audible, it's 1937 - four years after the Grimnoir Society defeated the magical alien force known as The Power. "Heavy" Jake Sullivan is summoned by his oddest ally, Dr. Wells, to stop the bombing of a new ultra-luxury airship. Amid the glitz, the gambling, and the high-society types, Sullivan races time to hunt for the saboteur. But surrounded by a blimp-full of Germans, Russians, Imperium Iron Guard, and other magical enemies - where can he even begin?

Murder on the Orient Elite is available free through 01/01/15.

Genres: Fantasy, Audiobook, Urban Fantasy, Fiction, Alternate History, Science Fiction, Short Stories

2 pages, Audible Audio

First published December 1, 2014

About the author

Larry Correia (born 1977) is the New York Times bestselling author of the Monster Hunter International series, the Grimnoir Chronicles, and the thriller Dead Six.

Reviews

[✨Susan✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jake is taking on a job by himself to thwart a maniac from blowing up a dirigible. I love all of the Grimnior stories and in this addition a bit of what has been going on with he and Faye is reveiled. Great short.

[Skylar Phelps · Rating 5 out of 5]

I miss this series! If you haven’t read the Grimnoir books, I recommend them with the zeal of a preacher on a soap box. Repent! And read them all!

This short was quick and fun. I only wish it was longer

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

This short story, set after Correia's Grimnoir trilogy, was an Audible freebie, and will be quite enjoyable to anyone who enjoyed the previous Grimnoir books. Jake Sullivan is back, and by fairly arbitrary plot manipulation, he's hanging around in Casablanca doing a bad Bogie impersonation when his old "friend" Dr. Wells, the sociopathic mastermind who's now running China's organized crime syndicates, asks if Sullivan wouldn't mind hopping a ride on his expensive new zeppelin full of international high-rollers and figuring out who's brought a bomb on board before it blows up.

Sullivan agrees, with the sort of reasoning that makes sense when the GM is telling you, "Look, if you say no, we're just gonna have to play Munchkin or something tonight instead." Thus semi-railroaded into the plot, the Player Character proceeds to sniff out the villains, of whom there are plenty to choose from, since Wells's zeppelin is carrying Imperium agents, NKVD spies, a mysterious German working for a more mysterious organization which is apparently being set up as a future nemesis for the Grimnoir Society, and various other rich, powerful scoundrels.

Correia enjoys inserting historical figures into his alternate history: here, Lavrenti Beria (one of the original Soviet secret police chiefs) makes an appearance. The story is short but of course ends with a super-powered battle and hints of future conflict with the real Big Bad (or rather, the minion of the real Big Bad) getting away. Nice to see that the Grimnoir series will continue.

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four years after the Grimnoir Society managed to save the world, Jake Sullivan is in Casablanca minding his own business when his old (kinda, sorta, occasional) ally Dr. Wells requests his help in preventing the destruction through sabotage of Wells's luxurious new airship which is currently undertaking its maiden voyage around the world.
Fastpaced and entertaining as ever. I just wish we'd get a Grimnoir short featuring some of the other characters at some point, too.

[Leslie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 *
I was pleasantly surprised by this sci fi alternate history thriller. I had put off listening to this because I was afraid that this short story wouldn't be understandable to someone who was unfamiliar with the Grimnoir series (such as myself) but that turned out to not be the case.

Bronson Pinchot was an excellent narrator. His voices for the characters were so distinctive that at first I thought perhaps different people were reading them!

[Lynn Davidson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a short audio fantasy story, a novella which follows the first three books in the series. Apparently, in this book there are spoilers for anyone who hasn't read the three before it.
The action occurs on a luxury air ship (zeppelin) when Jake Sullivan is hired to keep the ship from being blown up. He encounters enemy agents and they use some kind of magical power against one another.
Interesting.

[Twainy · Rating 5 out of 5]

They had me at air ships.

Fights in & on a blimp? Yesss!

This is even better that Tokyo Raider but … Kaiju …

Great narration. Love Sullivan.

[John Sturges · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25/5 Good novella. It made me want to read/ listen to a regular novel of the main character.

[Abby Goldsmith · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's got the Correia flair, and I enjoyed it. Jake Sullivan is a fun character. But I'm not sure how enjoyable it will be to someone who hasn't read the Grimnoir trilogy, although there's a lot of set-up in the beginning to establish the world and powers. It ends with a tantalizing hint that there might be to come in the Grimnoir universe.

[Graham Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not sure how to rate it, in that it was a cool little continuation of the Grimnoir world. Dunno if I want to five-star it but at the same time, anything less seems incomplete. Eh. It was cool to get a little taste of Sullivan's world again, I suppose. Hungry for more down the road!

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

I went with four stars only because a short story has a very high bar for five with me. That being said, get this story, read it and have a great time doing it. But only if you have already read all three Grim Noire books.

[Scott S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great short story set in the already completed Grimnoir universe. A welcome surprise from a series I enjoyed and had already said goodbye to.

As usual Bronson Pinchot's narration was amazing.

[Kevin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very short but it was free from Audible so I am not complaining and I did kind of like most of this. There were a couple of points that threw me off though. The repeated use of "Japs" and the fact that the title claims there is a Murder on the Orient Elite. Minor Spoiler... some people die in a small(ish) explosion but there is not exactly a capital M murder as expected given the title. Technically the death by explosion is also murder but I'm sure you know what I mean.
Given that, the story was fun enough and I was very interested in this magical world and all of the various abilities of some of these characters.
The weakest part of this story for me was that the protagonist and supporting characters all seemed pretty stuck in the 1940s. Yes I know... Steam Punk. I get it, but it is possible to do that without resorting to outdated mindsets (at least for our hero) from what was not exactly one of our most enlightened periods in history.
I will probably listen to the (also free) next short story in the series to see if this world expands it's view on different cultures. Fingers crossed

[Chris Esposo · Rating 5 out of 5]

The second (or first?) Of the two short stories that take place after the Grimoire Trilogy. This one takes place just a few years after the conclusion of the trilogy and does prelude Tokyo Raiders. Jake Sullivan is incognito on a luxury dirigible trying to locate a bomb on the ship which is placed there for some unknown reason.

For fans of the series, this book fleshed out the alternative history setting of the world even more, becoming in characters from the Soviet Union as well as Otto Skorzeny, who was a SS commando in real history, but is a magical agent representing some unknown interest/nation (Germany was mostly destroyed in this world after their wizard lost his mind and converted a significant portion of their armies to undead during the World War of 1914-1918).

Looking forward to seeing these threads continued in future stories. Recommend

[Angie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun little comfort read. It's a companion piece to the Grimnoir Chronicles. Set in an alternate version of 1937, this story follows Jake Sullivan as he is hired to investigate a bomb threat aboard an airship. I like the character's voice and the general noirish-fantasy atmosphere of the story, I could do with a little more worldbuilding (which I think is possible, even in a short piece), but it was a good read.

I should also mention that this is a special audio-only production with Bronson Pinchot as the narrator. I like Pinchot as a narrator--he's good with the different accents, and he gave me a clear picture of the characters.

[Gilbert Stack · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jake Sullivan is back for another adventure as the world moves into a sort of Cold War mentality after the events of the Grimnoir Chronicles. A new ultra extravagant airship has been created and the richest of the rich wish to be seen aboard it for its maiden flight. Unfortunately, some are on board for criminal or espionage-style activities and it's up to Jake to figure out the schemes and stop them. Part of the fun is that everyone has a scheme and some of them conflict with each everyone else's. This is a nice quick reminder of the world of the Grimoire.

[Alex Shrugged · Rating 3 out of 5]

This short story reads mostly like a mystery which probably explains the title. It moves a lot slower than "Tokyo Raider: A Tale of the Grimnoir ChroniclesTokyo, but I enjoyed it nevertheless.

[gee ☽ (IG: momoxshi) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dove into this without having read any Grimnoir Chronicles so I might not have appreciated it that much. But the setting is intriguing - an alternate version of 1937? Count me in. Writing is also good and very descriptive. Adding the Grimnoir Chronicles into my ever growing pile of TBR and will revisit this when I had a chance to explore the rest in the series.

[BookLever · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great little inbetween story that follows "Heavy" Jake Sullivan some years after the events of Warbound. It was fun to see Jake gumshoeing again and to catch up with some other favourite characters from the Grimnoir series.

[Vaclav Kocian · Rating 5 out of 5]

[audiokniha]
Svižná, akční a krásně vypointovaná povídka ze série Grimmnoir. Jake Sullivan pátrá po sabotérovi na palubě luxusní vzducholodi, na které se sešlo až příliš mnoho mocenských zájmů. Anglická audiokniha je navíc skvěle namluvená, rozhodně doporučuji!

[Jon · Rating 1 out of 5]

Didn't like this at all. Listened via Audible, maybe it would have been better in writing but Pinchot's terrible accents made the story impossible to listen to and distracted me away from the story entirely.

[James Winduss · Rating 2 out of 5]

Like a cheezy 80's action movie except in every scene you can visibly and prominently see the writer sucking the protagonists dick while all the other characters shower him in complements, including the villains.

[Priscilla · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short story post book 3 of the Grimoir Chronicles. Audiobook only. Loved that we get one more action packed story of Jake Sullivan. I wish Larry Correia would write more of these kinds of adventures with these characters, even if they are just short stories

[Bob · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was not nearly as much fun as the other Grimnoir novels.

[cherubEagleEyes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Got this on Audible. It was quite enjoyable, past an nice 1hr listening cos how clear the narrator, Bronston Pinchot, was. Must of listened to it about 3 if not 4 times.

[John Stone · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was fun to return to alt-history WWII era of the Grimmoir, even if it was only for a short story.

[JazzRizz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved everything about this short story.

[Dave Hay · Rating 4 out of 5]

A treat for those who have finished the full series. Short quick tale about Jake Sullivan. Fun, but do leave it till after finishing the rest:-)

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting and very short audible read. Great narrator. Enjoyed listening on a road trip. Wish it was longer.

[Ronald J. Pauleus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting story.