Lu
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- helpful votes
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Thrill Switch
- By: Tim Hawken
- Narrated by: Molly Secours
- Length: 11 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Detective Ada Byron is pumped to be assigned her first murder case–until she sees the crime scene. Someone has been killed exactly the same way as her father was seven years earlier. But, impossibly, he died using VR and the programmer responsible is still in prison. To see if this is a copycat or something more sinister, Ada must confront her father’s killer: the enigmatic Jazlin Switch. What she discovers will change the face of both the real world and the metaverse forever...
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Superbly written cyberpunk thriller
- By Lu on 05-01-24
- Thrill Switch
- By: Tim Hawken
- Narrated by: Molly Secours
Superbly written cyberpunk thriller
Reviewed: 05-01-24
Thrill Switch is a gripping page-turner that kicks off with a brutal murder and rarely slows down. It also comes with a lengthy list of content warnings, but if blood and viscera doesn’t faze you, you’ll love this fast-paced cyberpunk thriller.
Detective Ada Byron’s first murder shakes her world to the core. The victim’s demise mirrors the way her father was killed seven years earlier. Hardly possible- the notorious virtual world serial killer, Jazlin Switch, is behind bars with no computer access.
The investigation forces Ada and her partner to consult Jazlin and to navigate the treacherous waters of future Las Vegas politics. Casualties pile up as the conflict between anarcho-libertarians and power-hungry politics escalates.
I prioritise character development over world-building, and I’m rarely impressed by the latter. Not a case here. Hawken captured a nuanced socio-political landscape of a world in which virtual serves as an escape from the harsh realities of overpopulation and limited career opportunities. The virtual reality allows people to experience full freedom without facing consequences for their actions. The thing is, the line between complete freedom and anarchy is thin and easily crossed. Also, when you get killed or raped in a digital world, it doesn’t happen to your physical body, but your mind experiences it fully. This raises the question: what defines “reality” in such circumstances?
The accessible writing and short chapters filled with action and tension make this book gripping. I found myself wanting to know what happens next. Before I realized it, the story concluded (loved the ending), leaving me craving more.
The characterization impressed me. Ada is one heck of a protagonist. Smart, determined, and with a troubled past, just as I like it. She starts off as an eager newbie detective, but the events force her to grow fast and use all of her skills to survive and solve the case.
And while I liked Ada, it’s Jazlin who steals the spotlight whenever she appears. The comparison to Silence of the Lambs holds true, particularly regarding Jazlin’s character.
Thrill Switch is a superbly written cyberpunk thriller that pulls no punches. It’s brutal, so be sure you’re in the right frame of mind. But if you’re game, buckle up and enjoy the thrill.
Audiobook narration: Molly Secours has done a stellar job here. I loved her narration.
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The Tainted Cup
- A Novel
- By: Robert Jackson Bennett
- Narrated by: Andrew Fallaize
- Length: 13 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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In Daretana’s greatest mansion, a high imperial officer lies dead—killed, to all appearances, when a tree erupted from his body. Even here at the Empire’s borders, where contagions abound and the blood of the leviathans works strange magical changes, it’s a death both terrifying and impossible. Assigned to investigate is Ana Dolabra, a detective whose reputation for brilliance is matched only by her eccentricities. Rumor has it that she wears a blindfold at all times, and that she can solve impossible cases without even stepping outside the walls of her home.
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Really fun fantasy whodunnit
- By Jay Turton on 03-11-24
- The Tainted Cup
- A Novel
- By: Robert Jackson Bennett
- Narrated by: Andrew Fallaize
Brilliant
Reviewed: 04-27-24
It's my favorite book of 2024 so far! Bennett knows how to blend multiple genres while maintaining stakes high, characters compelling, and the world intriguing. In "The Tainted Cup," he incorporates elements of fantasy, murder mystery, and coming-of-age, all seasoned with some body horror (trees erupting from bodies), and I loved every second of it.
Dinios Kol lands a job as the new assistant to Ana Dolabra, an eccentric and brilliant investigator who solves cases blindfolded and from the confines of her home. Their first case together is complex, involving members of the wealthy Haza clan, empire politics, and a potential contagion. Trees tearing apart human bodies are an interesting take on weird ecology :)
Kol is augmented to remember things photographically, while Dolabra is a riot: sassy, eccentric, and with a fierce temper. I thoroughly enjoyed their dynamic as a detective duo. There's more to their skills than I've mentioned, but why spoil the joy of discovery? I’m not doing this to anyone.
I loved the book and hope it sells well enough to compel the publisher to shower Bennett with gold to keep the series going!
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This Wretched Valley
- By: Jenny Kiefer
- Narrated by: Megan Tusing
- Length: 8 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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This trip is going to be Dylan’s big break. Her geologist friend Clay has discovered an untouched cliff face in the Kentucky wilderness, and she is going to be the first person to climb it. Together with Clay, his research assistant Sylvia, and Dylan’s boyfriend Luke, Dylan is going to document her achievement on Instagram and finally cement her place as the next rising star in rock climbing. Seven months later, three bodies are discovered in the trees just off the highway. All are in various states of decay.
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More of a thriller.
- By Alexandra P. Fors on 04-24-24
- This Wretched Valley
- By: Jenny Kiefer
- Narrated by: Megan Tusing
Solid
Reviewed: 04-27-24
trengths:
- Good opening
- interesting premise (climbers trapped in a remote area, getting stuck in a loop of sorts)
- concise writing style
- strong moments of horror (including body-horror)
Things that didn't work for me:
- characters: on the flatter side, unlikable (except for the dog)
- uneven pacing
- the resolution; I understand why some will love it, but it felt slightly too gory. I guess I prefer my horror subtler :)
In all, a solid horror read inspired by the Dyatlow Pass mystery.
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Walking to Aldebaran
- By: Adrian Tchaikovsky
- Narrated by: Adrian Tchaikovsky
- Length: 3 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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My name is Gary Rendell. I'm an astronaut. When they asked me as a kid what I wanted to be when I grew up, I said, "astronaut, please!" I dreamed astronaut, I worked astronaut, I studied astronaut. I got lucky; when a probe exploring the Oort Cloud found a strange alien rock and an international team of scientists was put together to go and look at it, I made the draw. I got even luckier. When disaster hit and our team was split up, scattered through the endless cold tunnels, I somehow survived. Now I'm lost, and alone, and scared, and there's something horrible in here. Lucky me.
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Recommended
- By pamela on 10-17-19
- Walking to Aldebaran
- By: Adrian Tchaikovsky
- Narrated by: Adrian Tchaikovsky
A solid story
Reviewed: 04-27-24
Hilarious, manic, and terrifying. In short, Tchaikovsky is in his element. Gary Rendell and his crew were sent to check an ancient and alien artifact. The crew was split, Gary managed to survive, but for how long?
If you enjoy first-person narration spiced with some madness, you’ll love this one.
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All the Sinners Bleed
- A Novel
- By: S. A. Cosby
- Narrated by: Adam Lazarre-White
- Length: 13 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Titus Crown is the first Black sheriff in the history of Charon County, Virginia. In recent decades, quiet Charon has had only two murders. But after years of working as an FBI agent, Titus knows better than anyone that while his hometown might seem like a land of moonshine, cornbread, and honeysuckle, secrets always fester under the surface. Then a year to the day after Titus’s election, a school teacher is killed by a former student and the student is fatally shot by Titus’s deputies. As Titus investigates the shootings, he unearths terrible crimes.
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Visceral, gripping, thrilling and entertaining
- By Victor @ theAudiobookBlog dot com on 06-26-23
- All the Sinners Bleed
- A Novel
- By: S. A. Cosby
- Narrated by: Adam Lazarre-White
Great
Reviewed: 04-27-24
I liked this Southern noir story. It may lack three-dimensional characters (other than Titus, our protagonist), but the pacing and twists kept me engaged throughout. Anyway, fans of darker stories and all things gritty, should check this one out.
Audiobook narration: excellent.
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The Prestige
- By: Christopher Priest
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 12 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1878, two young stage magicians clash in the dark during the course of a fraudulent séance. From this moment on, their lives become webs of deceit and revelation as they vie to outwit and expose each other. In the course of pursuing each other's ruin, they will deploy all the deception their magician's craft can command. Their rivalry will take them to the peaks of their careers, but with terrible consequences.
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One of a Kind.
- By Andrew on 06-22-07
- The Prestige
- By: Christopher Priest
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
Brilliant
Reviewed: 04-27-24
The Prestige is full of twists and surprises. The story opens with Andrew Westley, manoeuvred into meeting a young woman who claims to have watched him die at her father’s hand when they were children. Say what? Anyway, the two dive into their respective families’ history and delve deeper into the written records of their ancestors, Alfred Borden and Rupert Angier.
The records reveal two stage magicians engaged in obsessive rivalry started in 1878 when Borden tried to expose Angier as a fraud during a seance. Angier’s pregnant wife got hurt in the process and lost their baby. Things got out of control for the two. Things got crazy when each of them perfected an inexplicable feat of “bilocation” - the ability to appear in two places at the same time. The inability to comprehend how the other achieves the ‘prestige’—the moment the trick happens- fuels their mutual obsession.
Their relentless pursuit of greatness has disastrous consequences, and Priest takes his time to build the suspense. I loved watching their obsession with outdoing each other spiral out of control, and the story’s unique structure allows readers to experience certain events twice.
How?
Most of the story is told through journal entries of two prestidigitators engaged in a bitter and deadly feud. The novel works almost as an act of illusion - it tells the truth (or, rather, a version of the truth) while simultaneously misdirecting readers :)
Now, I’ve seen The Prestige adaptation and loved it. I wasn’t sure if the novel could still surprise me. The outline of the two versions is similar, but the book has better characterization and sheds more light on Augier’s point of view. It also adds a present-day struggle of Borden and Augier’s descendants. Andrew, for example, feels he has a twin brother, but his birth certificate contradicts it. Is he wrong?
Anyway, if you’ve seen the movie first, you’ll know most big twists. Will it decrease your enjoyment? I can’t promise anything, but it didn’t spoil the fun for me.
Some readers might say The Prestige is a slow burn, and they wouldn’t be entirely wrong. But trust me, every moment of buildup is worth it for the payoff you get in the end. Priest takes his time setting the stage, slowly ratcheting up the tension until it reaches a brilliant climax.
The characterization is simply extraordinary. The strength of the voice is unforgettable.
“The Prestige” is excellent. It tells an unputdownable story of obsession, deception, and blurred boundaries between reality and illusion.
Audiobook narration: Simon Vance has done a stellar job here. If you’re into audiobooks, I highly recommend this version of the story.
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The Book That Broke the World
- Library Trilogy, Book 2
- By: Mark Lawrence
- Narrated by: Jessica Whittaker
- Length: 15 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Evar and Livira stand side by side and yet far beyond each other's reach. Evar is forced to flee the library, driven before an implacable foe. Livira, trapped in a ghost world, has to recover her book if she's to return to her life. While Evar's journey leads him outside into the vastness of a world he's never seen, Livira's destination lies deep inside her own writing, where she must wrestle with her stories in order to reclaim the volume in which they were written.
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Excellent sequel
- By Lu on 04-27-24
- The Book That Broke the World
- Library Trilogy, Book 2
- By: Mark Lawrence
- Narrated by: Jessica Whittaker
Excellent sequel
Reviewed: 04-27-24
Mark Lawrence is an excellent, quotable writer. In The Book That Broke The World he ups the stakes and delivers a fast-paced and surprising sequel. The story shifts between four POV characters (including two new) and different points in time.
It’s also darker than the first book in the series, shockingly so in places. Livira and Malar aren’t happy with their new circumstances. Rather unpleasant insectoids and a mechanical monster try to kill Evar and his siblings. New POV characters can’t can't complain about boredom either.
In short, it’s well-written, engaging, and wildly imaginative.
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The Last Sword Maker
- The Course of Empire Series, Book 1
- By: Brian Nelson
- Narrated by: Bradford Hastings
- Length: 12 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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In the high mountains of Tibet, rumors are spreading. People whisper of an outbreak, of thousands of dead, of bodies pushed into mass graves. It is some strange new disease...a disease, they say, that can kill in minutes. The Chinese government says the rumors aren't true, but no one is allowed in or out of Tibet. At the Pentagon, admiral James Curtiss learns that satellite images prove that a massive genocide is underway. This is no disease. It's a weapons test. Chinese scientists have developed a way to kill based on a person's genetic traits.
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Scary Future Possibilities of China VS USA
- By Kris on 09-12-20
- The Last Sword Maker
- The Course of Empire Series, Book 1
- By: Brian Nelson
- Narrated by: Bradford Hastings
Pretty good
Reviewed: 06-17-23
I’m not sure how to rate it. For all its addictive action and cool ideas, The Last Sword Maker has some faults.
It is a well-researched page-turner with non-stop action. Fans of techno-trillers will appreciate how it combines science, espionage, personal drama, and global politics. It truly has it all. Furthermore, it’s genuinely immersive - I simply had to know what happens next.
So, why the rating? First, like many action-driven page-turners, it may not withstand brutal scrutiny, as some plot points feel far-fetched, to say the least. Moreover, the book portrays a very black-and-white world, depicting the USA as inherently good and China as unequivocally bad. I identify with progressive Western values, but I also appreciate complex narratives and oversimplifications like the ones present in this book don’t thrill me.
It changes nothing. I’ll read the sequel shortly.
Narration: the audiobook version is excellent.
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The Three-Body Problem
- By: Cixin Liu
- Narrated by: Luke Daniels
- Length: 13 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Set against the backdrop of China’s Cultural Revolution, a secret military project sends signals into space to establish contact with aliens. An alien civilization on the brink of destruction captures the signal and plans to invade Earth. Meanwhile, on Earth, different camps start forming, planning to either welcome the superior beings and help them take over a world seen as corrupt, or to fight against the invasion.
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They create a computer using a 30 million man Army
- By Josh P on 12-07-14
- The Three-Body Problem
- By: Cixin Liu
- Narrated by: Luke Daniels
Great ideas but lacks emotional core
Reviewed: 05-07-23
I totally get why people love it and give it 5*, really. It has amazing ideas and themes. But to me, it felt more like a set-up for sequels (that as far as reviews claim are excellent). I had a good time with it BUT I wasn't really emotionally engaged. I've finished it more out of intellectual curiosity than anything else.
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Bone White
- By: Ronald Malfi
- Narrated by: Charles Constant
- Length: 10 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Paul Gallo saw the report on the news: a mass murderer leading police to his victims' graves in remote Dread's Hand, Alaska. It's not even a town; more like the bad memory of a town. The same bit of wilderness where his twin brother went missing a year ago. As the bodies are exhumed, Paul travels to Alaska to get closure and put his grief to rest. But the mystery is only beginning. What Paul finds are superstitious locals who talk of the devil stealing souls, and a line of wooden crosses to keep what's in the woods from coming out.
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Excellent! Atmospheric and creepy.
- By Bill on 08-10-17
- Bone White
- By: Ronald Malfi
- Narrated by: Charles Constant
Pretty good
Reviewed: 05-07-23
“The Bone White” is a slow-burn horror set in a small city with dark secrets. It takes its time to get where it’s going and doesn’t really have a solid impact. That said, the narrator of the audiobook is doing an excellent job at creating the suspense and building the bone-chilling atmosphere. So… I didn’t exactly dislike it, but I’m not impressed, either.
Is it worth your time? That depends. If you’re looking for a slow-burn horror with good character work and an eerie, remote setting, try it.
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