"The Man on the Mountain Top," an Audible Original by Susan Trott

The Man on the Mountain Top is an Audible original drama based on Susan Trott's The Holy Man and Holy Man's Journey.  The book was provided as a free Audible original download in January of 2019 and features an ensemble cast.  The story follows "Holy Man Joe," as he approaches the end of his life.  Over the course of the book, we are introduced to many who seek the wisdom of the holy man, including those who make the long journey to his hermitage and his disciples.

Pros

• The story reads like a novelization of a lot of mindfulness and self help books that I have read over the years.  In many ways, this is a double-edged sword (see: cons).
• For the most part, the characters are either likable or have a redemption arc of some kind.  Joe as a character is a pleasure to spend time with, even if he often comes across more as an idea than as a person.
• There are a number of really powerful quotes and ideas interspersed throughout the text.  Two of my favorite examples are: "obsessiveness is a symptom of unexpressed creativity," and, "If you treat every man as through he were holy, you will live a happy life."

Cons

• Many of the characters feel like they exist to get a point across.  This isn't a bad thing, per se, but I also think it means that expectations going into the work should be set accordingly. 
• The plot and the characterization can come across as a touch hackneyed and predictable.  This is not the work for you if you are looking for a complex narrative.
• The entire work passes with few references to "real world" locations and people.  In my mind, this lack of tethering to the real world only further serves to highlight the fact that the entire story reads like an extended parable.

Conclusion
There is a lot to like in this work: the characters are (generally) a pleasure to spend time with, there are truly valuable lessons to be learned, and the book was available free of charge (or it was when I downloaded it).  Despite everything the book has going for it, though, I cannot give it a higher score because the simple plot and lack of characterization means that the proceedings read more like a morality lesson than a story.

Final Score
3.5 / 5