Johnny is a twenty-three year old man still living at home. Although he is bright, he works as a stockboy at a local grocery along with his best friend, Goat. His older brother, Artie, is on the spectrum and also lives at home. He is obsessed with cleanliness and order and wants nothing more than to be allowed to work at his job at a local laundromat where he knows everything about each machine and how to best launder any piece of clothing.

Johnny knows he needs to take care of Artie but he doesn't know what else he needs to do with his life. He is stuck in a dead-end job and doesn't have any other ideas about what to do or how to get there. When the owner of the laundromat tells Johnny that he's selling out, Johnny knows it will ruin Artie's life. He and Goat come up with a plan for buying the laundromat so that Artie will always have a job there.

This is the first work I've read by Jocko Willink. He is known for his time in the SEALs military group and his books on leadership and discipline. In this short novel, he turns to the relationship between brothers. Artie is a joy for the reader to discover but I had a hard time warming up to Johnny. Although he seems to have good intentions, his decisions are hasty and not well thought out, leading to disasters. I listened to this book and the author read it as well. This book is recommended for readers of Willink's and those interested in brotherhood.

*received for free from netgalley for honest review* wow, fast paced for sure lol pretty good but very wild read, still just like "what" lol

As someone who has been a fan of Jocko Willink for many years, I really enjoyed Final Spin. I love a good thriller, and I thought Jocko did a great job pacing out the story and developing the characters. I found the book enthralling from start to finish, and the narration of the audiobook really added another layer of intrigue to the experience. It was emotional, interesting, and eye-opening in many ways, and I'll definitely be a longtime support of everything Jocko continues to write in the future.

Fresh writing style that had me listening intently to a great story. It was very well read by the author. He brought the characters alive with nuances in the speech. I really enjoyed and highly recommend this 5 star book !
Johnny and Artie are brothers living with an alcoholic mother. She is never seen in the story. I’m not sure why not ? Johnny hates his convenience store stock job with a burning passion. Johnny and his buddy, George,aka Goat, commiserate on the job’s downfalls and their dislike of their belittling supervisor.
Artie has some sort of autism and is nicknamed the Cleaner. He lives for his job at the Laundromat. He marvels at fabric softeners and takes pride in spot removal and starch. All he wants in life is to work there forever except the Laundromat’s owner has decided to sell his shop for forty thousand dollars
This is the basis for the young men who must buy out the owner and keep Artie happy. Thrown in the mix is a pregnant girlfriend whom Johnny loves. The news comes at a very bad time for Johnny , but being a good guy at heart , he only wants the best for everyone he loves. Johnny is tired of his low level dead end job. He has no real hopes or dreams for the future yet is not cynical.
From there the story is fast paced, heart breaking and sincere. The bond of two brothers is reverberated in every conversation between the men and the actions of Johnny .
I pondered what year the book took place ? In a time of pay phones and the ability to buy a business for 40k.
Thanks to NetGalley and Book outre

I was unaware this is Willink's first foray into adult fiction and really enjoyed this story. The characters are compelling and as a reader, I could sense the hopelessness of both Johnny and Goat, but I wanted more. The best way for me to describe my experience is that this story had great bones. I just wanted it fleshed out more. I wanted Willink to 'go there', wanted to know why their mother was an alcoholic, what that family life looked like, why Johnny felt he really had nothing to make of his life at only 23. This topic is briefly touched upon and I think the sacrifices Johnny makes along the way would have felt deeper if I as a reader knew his background, and had a better connection to his hopelessness. I think this speaks volumes to the characters Willink has created, as if they weren't compelling and the story wasn't engaging, I wouldn't want to know more. Willink has done a great job creating an immersive story and complex characters that I think anyone would enjoy reading about.

Wow, what a wild ride! Looking back, it's hard to tell if the protagonist is completely mentally unstable or just so blinded by a desire to take care of his special needs brother that he loses all control. Very fast-paced short novel.

Two thumbs up! Exactly what I expected from Jocko, a to-the-point thriller with a great set of characters. It is a short read but still manages to keep you guessing what will happen next. If you are already a fan of Jocko's non-fiction leadership books, you will enjoy his first foray into adult fiction.

'Final Spin' by Jocko Willink may be short in length, but it packs one heck of a punch from start to finish. The story centers around 23-year-old Johnny, his beloved (eccentric) older brother Arty, best friend Goat, and girlfriend Jessica.

Johnny acts as his brother's primary caregiver - their mother is incapable of being a responsible parent due to alcoholism - and Arty's main joy in life is working at the local laundromat. Boy, can he starch, fold, crease and press like nobody's business. Meanwhile, Johnny and Goat work as stock boys - with a bullying weasel for a boss. Johnny cannot fathom the prospect of spending the rest of his life in a dead end job with no hope of getting out from under. He knows he has only himself to blame, too. One particular scene which made quite an impression on me was when Johnny told Jessica being born rich or poor does not decide if you a have successful and fulfilling life. The onus is on him alone for not caring about school, and working towards the future he could have had if he didn't choose running around and partying instead.

Only when Johnny hears the heartbreaking news that Arty's beloved laundromat is being sold does he set into motion a plan which seems to be the solution to all their problems. What ensues leaves them running to stay outside of prison walls - and that is just the beginning of their troubles.

I especially appreciated the post interview segment of the audiobook with Mr. Willink and learning about the inspiration for 'Final Spin', his writing style, and getting to know a little bit about what led him to where he is today as an author. Good stuff.

Author Jocko Willink is also the narrator and he does a tremendous job bringing his written words to life for the listeners imagination. Highly recommend.

With much thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the free audio download in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. #NetGalley #MacmillanAudio #FinalSpin #JockoWillink

“Nothing is ever as good as you think it is going to be, Arty.“ Like this book? Ha! Sorry that was just too easy.
But in all seriousness. Torn. I’m so torn. (I’m considering writing this whole review
the way the book
is written.
Or would that annoy
everyone who read it?
Okay, but really, I am torn by this review. But I listen to the audio AND read the ebook at the same time. And the audiobook has a fantastic interview with the author at the end, that honestly I wish was at the beginning so I could have enjoyed the book better. And I wish it was included in the physical book too, because again, readers would appreciate some of the thing about the book
So
Much
More.

He explains where the idea came from, who just so happens to be the person the book is dedicated to. And he talks about who he wrote the book in a way that usually only poetry is written, in some fragments, but not only in fragments, in page and line placement (just as my review is above). And I think if I had understood some of that, it would have better prepared me to take it all in.
Because just going straight into the book, I was so thoroughly confused. This is the author of Extreme Ownership and Way of the Warrior Kid. This is a Navy Seal guy. Why the heck is he writing a book about a loser guy, with a dead end job, who takes NO ownership of his life and turns criminal and sees no way out and self-sabotages everything in his life. Like sure the guy is going to find his way out and learn his lesson. But there is really little to no redeeming points for this guy. Not really, IMO.
But then again, maybe that’s the message the author is trying to get across. This is the mindset of too many. Anyway, it just wasn’t at all what I expected.
But after the author’s interview in the audiobook, I couldn’t help but bump the stars up to 3 from my original 2. And while I had little to no interest in reading any future fiction he wrote for about 3/4 of the way through the book…..now i probably will.

The author reads the audio, and in fact I preferred it. He did a great job. No overacting or trying to do female voices awkwardly. Just real human emotion and storytelling. I actually with more narrators we’re like this.

I also greatly appreciate the length of the book. Nice and to the point. Some of the writing style (besides the prose) reminded me of some John Grisham. To the point. No fluff. Just story and character. I can appreciate that style.

Full disclosure, I love Jocko Willink, so when I saw that he had written an adult fiction novel I jumped at the chance to request it.

Other than taking care of his brother Arty, Johnny lives a pretty meaningless existence. He works a dead-end job, and spends most of his spare time at the local bar. When Johnny hears that the laundromat where Arty works is to be sold, he decides to recruit his best friend Goat and they take matters into their own hands.

I enjoyed this one quite a bit. I listened to the audiobook, and also read a little bit in the kindle version. It was a very quick read, and I would recommend it for teen boys or young men that might be reluctant readers. I also enjoyed the structure of the writing in the print version. Very reminiscent of poetry-type novels.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARCs.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio (St. Martin's Press for the arc) for the early listen. I was lucky enough to be approved for the ebook and the audiobook. I did listened to most of the book since I wanted to "read" it while on the road and was able to finish during my drive time.
This is the author's first adult fiction and I have to say I really enjoyed listening to the author read his story. He did a great job narrating.
Loved reading about the brothers and all those involved in this story.

Final spin is a classic crime novel that is written in what I can only describe as an experimental way. This style will be loved by some and hated by the rest.

It felt like this was a first or second draft to me. Lots of great dialogue, interesting characters, vivid scenes… then what appears to be notes. Post-Its reminding the author “come back and finish this scene.” However, he never came back to finish it.

I’m torn with my feelings on the book… I really enjoyed the story. But hated the writing style. I’m going to say 4/5 stars overall!

Maybe this book must be experienced as a physical book and not an audiobook. (Spacing reference is from an interview with the author.)

For the audiobook fans out there the author is the narrator of the story… I know what you’re thinking, “ugh, I hate when they do that!” It’s OK!!! He did a great job!