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Dark Places
- A Novel
- By: Gillian Flynn
- Narrated by: Rebecca Lowman, Cassandra Campbell, Mark Deakins, and others
- Length: 13 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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Libby Day was seven when her mother and two sisters were murdered in "The Satan Sacrifice of Kinnakee, Kansas". As her family lay dying, little Libby fled their tiny farmhouse into the freezing January snow. She lost some fingers and toes, but she survived, and famously testified that her 15-year-old brother, Ben, was the killer. Twenty-five years later, Ben sits in prison, and troubled Libby lives off the dregs of a trust created by well-wishers who've long forgotten her.
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Riveting but brutal
- By Gray on 12-09-12
- Dark Places
- A Novel
- By: Gillian Flynn
- Narrated by: Rebecca Lowman, Cassandra Campbell, Mark Deakins, Robertson Dean
Definitely worth the time.
Reviewed: 06-09-24
This was a really good story with strong characters and a decent plot. The narrators—particularly Libby’s—were great and did right by the characters. The only “complaint” I have is there are a few coincidental things in here that I thought were a bit of a stretch. By no means were they ridiculous or overdone. Just, for my taste, when they surfaced, I was like, “ehh…that was a bit forced” or “… a bit convenient.” That does not, however, mean I wouldn’t recommend this audiobook. It really was, overall, enjoyable and was fairly minimal on slow (ie., non-compelling) parts. Gillian Flynn is definitely someone whose work I’ll be revisiting, for sure. Really good story teller. You won’t be disappointed with Dark Places.
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The Mugger
- 87th Precinct, Book 2
- By: Ed McBain
- Narrated by: Dick Hill
- Length: 6 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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A beat cop winds up on the trail of a deadly mugger, but when it suddenly gets personal, his own life might be the next thing to be snatched….
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50's Cop Series
- By Aaron on 11-30-14
- The Mugger
- 87th Precinct, Book 2
- By: Ed McBain
- Narrated by: Dick Hill
Good up until…[no spoilers]
Reviewed: 01-06-24
It took me a little bit to get used to the narrator (I’d just come off two other books with excellent narration and this wasn’t as good), but the more I listened, the more I thought he was the right narrator for a story along these lines that takes place in the 50s. His manner fit with some of the kind of exaggerated storytelling from that era I’ve seen in movies and TV.
The story grew on me as did the characters; but I thought the payoff was A) predictable (figured it out a good ways from the end), and B) too easy. There was virtually no level of complexity to the ending, as if the author was just ready to be done with it. Obviously, McBain had a lot to say about the 87th Precinct and continued to pump out the tales with regularity but it just felt too neat at the end for my taste. And maybe this is what the hard boiled cop novels of the time were. This is my first foray into that genre and I’ll continue with McBain’s stuff. I thought the first book was all right. I just need to set my expectations for the story resolutions a little more realistically.
I wouldn’t NOT recommend this book, audio or otherwise. I just wouldn’t overhype it.
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Project Hail Mary
- By: Andy Weir
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 16 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission - and if he fails, humanity and the Earth itself will perish. Except that right now, he doesn't know that. He can't even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it. All he knows is that he's been asleep for a very, very long time. And he's just been awakened to find himself millions of miles from home, with nothing but two corpses for company.
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Bazinga
- By Davidgonzalezsr on 05-04-21
- Project Hail Mary
- By: Andy Weir
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
Great recommendation.
Reviewed: 11-11-23
I found the suggestion for this audiobook on Reddit. The main selling point was the collective agreement that the narrator did a really good job with it. He did an excellent job. His seamless transition between voices was terrific and his inflection was so great. I’m really glad I opt d to listen to the story instead of reading it.
The story was good. Of Andy Weir, I’m only familiar with the movie, the Martian, based off his book by the same name (which I’m reading now). I’ve never really been into space travel books, so though I’m growing more fond of them (I’m reading a lot of Bradbury and he wrote a TON of them). What I like about Weir is his ability to explain, to someone who is not left-brained at all, scientific concepts in a graspable way, and do it in the midst of a compelling narrative. This story is definitely worth the time. Again, can’t say enough good things about out narration.
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Needful Things
- By: Stephen King
- Narrated by: Stephen King
- Length: 25 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Leland Gaunt opens a new shop in Castle Rock called Needful Things. Anyone who enters his store finds the object of his or her lifelong dreams and desires: a prized baseball card, a healing amulet. In addition to a token payment, Gaunt requests that each person perform a little "deed", usually a seemingly innocent prank played on someone else from town. These practical jokes cascade out of control, and soon the entire town is doing battle with itself. Only Sheriff Alan Pangborn suspects that Gaunt is behind the population's increasingly violent behavior.
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Please! No Distracting Keyboard Music
- By Andrea on 04-23-16
- Needful Things
- By: Stephen King
- Narrated by: Stephen King
Not his best work but far from a waste of time
Reviewed: 12-21-20
I’ve always enjoyed Stephen King novels more so for his writing style, but that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy his stories. I do. Particularly when you take into account the timeframe within which the best of them were written: pre-Internet, when we could still be shocked and awed by the surreal. I’ve tried several times to read Needful Things, but for whatever reason it just never gripped me like some of his other works (Misery, the Green Mile, Christine and The Shining, just to name a few). And so, inevitably I would put it down and go on to something else. But I always came back to it because the premise is so tantalizing that I wanted it to be his best novel. I finally opted for the audiobook because I could passively enjoy the story while tending to other things (driving, folding laundry, etc.). It comes as no surprise that King’s attention to detail and the seemingly natural and seamless way he intertwines his character arcs are absolutely flawless. But, for me, there was just something missing. I think it was that I found it hard to become emotionally invested in the characters. With a concerted effort to not spoil anything, take Polly’s story, for example. The payoff just didn’t rise to my expectations. While admittedly a difficult and delicate thing, I found myself questioning her hesitance to share more with Alan. King did better with Alan’s story, but it still fell short of the mark for me. Leland Gaunt is an interesting character, and having Max Von Sydow from the movie as a reference for him definitely brought him more to life, but as the antagonist, his wickedness didn’t grip me in the way that Jack Torrence’s or Annie Wilkes’s did. I could go on but I don’t want to belabor the point. I think you get where I’m coming from. I would still recommend it to interested listeners, perhaps providing my insight but still encouraging them to judge for themselves. I’ve come to realize over the years that even when King is at his worst, he still bests the best of them. Give it a shot. Perhaps Needful Things will give you that thing you need and compel you to turn each page with nervous anticipation. If there is one thing Gaunt doesn’t lack, it’s a knack for persuasion.
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