
Always the First to Die
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $14.03
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Petrea Burchard
-
By:
-
R. J. Jacobs
About this listen
After her husband's death, Lexi has refused to return to the Pinecrest Estate on the Florida Keys because there are too many hard memories on that strip of land, including the memories of meeting her husband on the set of an iconic horror movie, being cast as an extra, watching herself get killed on screen, and scoffing at the rumors of the Pinecrest Estate curse...until she witnessed a cast member die that very summer. But when her daughter sneaks away to visit her grandfather, legendary horror-movie director Rick Plummer, Lexi is forced to face her past. That's when a Category Four hurricane changes course and hits the southern coast.
Unable to get through to her daughter, Lexi drives to the Keys in the wake of the storm. What she finds is an island without cell service, without power, and with limited police presence. The land is desolate, with only a few remaining behind: the horror director, the starlet once cast as the final girl, the young teenager searching for clues about her father, the mother determined to get off the island, and the person picking them off one-by-one.
Soon enough, Lexi's life begins to resemble Rick's most famous horror film, and she must risk her life to save her daughter before someone, or something, destroys them all.
©2022 R. J. Jacobs (P)2022 Dreamscape Media, LLCListeners also enjoyed...
-
Somewhere in the Dark
- By: R.J. Jacobs
- Narrated by: Eileen Frances Stevens
- Length: 8 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jessie doesn't hate singer Shelly James - quite the opposite. One summer, she followed Shelly's tour everywhere. But Shelly wasn't flattered; she was terrified by Jessie's devotion - especially after Jessie was arrested. But after a year of therapy, Jessie understands what happened. She's not the same person anymore. Jessie keeps her head down, but when Shelly is found dead, Jessie's troubled past comes tumbling out, and she quickly becomes a suspect in the high-profile murder.
-
-
Good just not Great
- By Bailey Rose on 07-16-24
By: R.J. Jacobs
-
Christmas Presents
- By: Lisa Unger
- Narrated by: Jennifer Pickens
- Length: 5 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Harley Granger has a gift for seeing things that others miss. He wasn't much of a novelist, but his work as a true crime author and podcaster has earned him fame and wealth—and some serious criticism for his various unethical practices. Still, visiting Little Valley to be closer to his dying father has caused him to look into a case that many people think is closed—and some want reopened.
-
-
The Christmas story i didn’t know i needed
- By Kindle Customer on 12-12-23
By: Lisa Unger
-
The Engagement Party
- By: Finley Turner
- Narrated by: Jennifer Jill Araya
- Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Kass Baptiste is newly engaged to her fiancé Murray Sedgemont after a whirlwind romance. Before they even get to share the news, an invitation arrives via messenger—to an engagement party hosted by Murray’s parents. When Kass and Murray arrive at the Sedgemont Estate, she is astonished to learn that Murray’s family is one of the most powerful families in North Carolina. As Kass’s future mother-in-law, Beatrice, whips herself into a frenzy over the perfect party for the state’s elite, Kass begins to receive anonymous threatening social media messages.
-
-
Awesome novel!!
- By Amazon Customer on 11-09-23
By: Finley Turner
-
Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six
- By: Lisa Unger
- Narrated by: Vivienne Leheny
- Length: 12 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What could be more restful than a weekend getaway with family and friends? An isolated luxury cabin in the woods, spectacular views, a hot tub and a personal chef. Hannah’s generous brother found the listing online. The reviews are stellar. It'll be three couples on this trip with good food, good company and lots of R & R. But the dreamy weekend is about to turn into a nightmare.
-
-
Awful. Boring. A big nothing burger
- By HailtoTheVictors on 11-11-22
By: Lisa Unger
-
A Flicker in the Dark
- A Novel
- By: Stacy Willingham
- Narrated by: Karissa Vacker
- Length: 11 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Chloe Davis was twelve, six teenage girls went missing in her small Louisiana town. By the end of the summer, her own father had confessed to the crimes and was put away for life, leaving Chloe and the rest of her family to grapple with the truth and try to move forward while dealing with the aftermath.
-
-
Enjoyable story and narrative
- By Patricia on 01-14-22
By: Stacy Willingham
-
The September House
- By: Carissa Orlando
- Narrated by: Kimberly Farr
- Length: 13 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Margaret and her husband Hal bought the large Victorian house on Hawthorn Street—for sale at a surprisingly reasonable price—they couldn’t believe they finally had a home of their own. Then they discovered the hauntings. Every September, the walls drip blood. The ghosts of former inhabitants appear, and all of them are terrified of something that lurks in the basement. Most people would flee. Margaret is not most people. Margaret is staying.
-
-
Insufferable.
- By Jeremy Brandon on 09-23-23
By: Carissa Orlando
-
Somewhere in the Dark
- By: R.J. Jacobs
- Narrated by: Eileen Frances Stevens
- Length: 8 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jessie doesn't hate singer Shelly James - quite the opposite. One summer, she followed Shelly's tour everywhere. But Shelly wasn't flattered; she was terrified by Jessie's devotion - especially after Jessie was arrested. But after a year of therapy, Jessie understands what happened. She's not the same person anymore. Jessie keeps her head down, but when Shelly is found dead, Jessie's troubled past comes tumbling out, and she quickly becomes a suspect in the high-profile murder.
-
-
Good just not Great
- By Bailey Rose on 07-16-24
By: R.J. Jacobs
-
Christmas Presents
- By: Lisa Unger
- Narrated by: Jennifer Pickens
- Length: 5 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Harley Granger has a gift for seeing things that others miss. He wasn't much of a novelist, but his work as a true crime author and podcaster has earned him fame and wealth—and some serious criticism for his various unethical practices. Still, visiting Little Valley to be closer to his dying father has caused him to look into a case that many people think is closed—and some want reopened.
-
-
The Christmas story i didn’t know i needed
- By Kindle Customer on 12-12-23
By: Lisa Unger
-
The Engagement Party
- By: Finley Turner
- Narrated by: Jennifer Jill Araya
- Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Kass Baptiste is newly engaged to her fiancé Murray Sedgemont after a whirlwind romance. Before they even get to share the news, an invitation arrives via messenger—to an engagement party hosted by Murray’s parents. When Kass and Murray arrive at the Sedgemont Estate, she is astonished to learn that Murray’s family is one of the most powerful families in North Carolina. As Kass’s future mother-in-law, Beatrice, whips herself into a frenzy over the perfect party for the state’s elite, Kass begins to receive anonymous threatening social media messages.
-
-
Awesome novel!!
- By Amazon Customer on 11-09-23
By: Finley Turner
-
Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six
- By: Lisa Unger
- Narrated by: Vivienne Leheny
- Length: 12 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What could be more restful than a weekend getaway with family and friends? An isolated luxury cabin in the woods, spectacular views, a hot tub and a personal chef. Hannah’s generous brother found the listing online. The reviews are stellar. It'll be three couples on this trip with good food, good company and lots of R & R. But the dreamy weekend is about to turn into a nightmare.
-
-
Awful. Boring. A big nothing burger
- By HailtoTheVictors on 11-11-22
By: Lisa Unger
-
A Flicker in the Dark
- A Novel
- By: Stacy Willingham
- Narrated by: Karissa Vacker
- Length: 11 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Chloe Davis was twelve, six teenage girls went missing in her small Louisiana town. By the end of the summer, her own father had confessed to the crimes and was put away for life, leaving Chloe and the rest of her family to grapple with the truth and try to move forward while dealing with the aftermath.
-
-
Enjoyable story and narrative
- By Patricia on 01-14-22
By: Stacy Willingham
-
The September House
- By: Carissa Orlando
- Narrated by: Kimberly Farr
- Length: 13 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Margaret and her husband Hal bought the large Victorian house on Hawthorn Street—for sale at a surprisingly reasonable price—they couldn’t believe they finally had a home of their own. Then they discovered the hauntings. Every September, the walls drip blood. The ghosts of former inhabitants appear, and all of them are terrified of something that lurks in the basement. Most people would flee. Margaret is not most people. Margaret is staying.
-
-
Insufferable.
- By Jeremy Brandon on 09-23-23
By: Carissa Orlando
-
The Family Guest
- By: Nelle Lamarr
- Narrated by: Lynn Norris, Cecily Bednar Schmidt
- Length: 9 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Long blonde hair. Sparkling dark eyes. Perfect pearly white teeth. I’ve never met her before, but I know exactly who she is as I spot her through the crowds of the terminal. Because our new guest is the spitting image of the daughter we lost. And that’s exactly why I chose her.
-
-
Loved it
- By Anonymous User on 10-10-23
By: Nelle Lamarr
-
The Family Game
- A Novel
- By: Catherine Steadman
- Narrated by: Catherine Steadman
- Length: 10 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It’s the holiday season and Harriet Reed, a novelist on the brink of literary stardom, is newly engaged to Edward Holbeck, the heir of an extremely powerful family. And even though Edward has long tried to sever ties with them, news of the couple’s upcoming marital bliss has the Holbecks inching back into their lives with one invite after another.
-
-
Why do she have to use “Jesus Christ” all of the time
- By Kells Bells on 03-11-23
-
Daisy Darker
- A Novel
- By: Alice Feeney
- Narrated by: Stephanie Racine
- Length: 11 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After years of avoiding each other, Daisy Darker’s entire family is assembling for Nana’s 80th birthday party in Nana’s crumbling gothic house on a tiny tidal island. Finally back together one last time, when the tide comes in, they will be cut off from the rest of the world for eight hours. The family arrives, each of them harboring secrets. Then at the stroke of midnight, as a storm rages, Nana is found dead. And an hour later, the next family member follows…
-
-
Ok story idea; juvenile writing
- By will33 on 09-01-22
By: Alice Feeney
-
The Only One Left
- A Novel
- By: Riley Sager
- Narrated by: Christine Lakin, Dawn Harvey
- Length: 12 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Now reduced to a schoolyard chant, the Hope family murders shocked the Maine coast one bloody night in 1929. While most people assume seventeen-year-old Lenora was responsible, the police were never able to prove it. Other than her denial after the killings, she has never spoken publicly about that night, nor has she set foot outside Hope’s End, the cliffside mansion where the massacre occurred.
-
-
Can't take it anymore
- By Amazon Customer on 06-28-23
By: Riley Sager
-
Everyone Here Is Lying
- A Novel
- By: Shari Lapena
- Narrated by: January LaVoy
- Length: 9 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Welcome to Stanhope. A safe neighborhood. A place for families. William Wooler is a family man, on the surface. But he’s been having an affair, an affair that ended horribly this afternoon at a motel up the road. So when he returns to his house, devastated and angry, to find his difficult nine-year-old daughter, Avery, unexpectedly home from school, William loses his temper. Hours later, Avery’s family declares her missing. Suddenly Stanhope doesn’t feel so safe. And William isn’t the only one on his street who’s hiding a lie.
-
-
boring and repetitive
- By SB on 07-27-23
By: Shari Lapena
-
All the Dark Places
- By: Terri Parlato
- Narrated by: Christina Moore, Stephanie Cozart
- Length: 10 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Snow falls softly outside Molly Bradley’s home on a frigid January night. Inside, half a dozen close friends are gathered to celebrate the fortieth birthday of Molly’s psychologist husband, Jay. Candlelight gleams against dark wood, wine flows, and the house rings with laughter. Everybody loves Jay, Molly most of all. Yet next morning, Molly discovers Jay dead on the floor of his office, his throat brutally slashed.
-
-
Story meh, Rita was GREAT
- By Monica on 01-21-23
By: Terri Parlato
-
What Have We Done
- A Novel
- By: Alex Finlay
- Narrated by: Brittany Pressley, James Patrick Cronin, Jon Lindstrom, and others
- Length: 8 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From Alex Finlay, the author of Every Last Fear and The Night Shift, comes an action-packed new thriller What Have We Done, about the lives we leave behind and the secrets we carry with us forever.
-
-
Alex Finlay does it again!
- By A. Lotuaco on 04-03-23
By: Alex Finlay
-
You Can Trust Me
- By: Kiersten Modglin
- Narrated by: Pete Cross, Laura Jennings, Kelli Tager, and others
- Length: 6 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mae Barlowe’s annual beach trip is anything but a vacation. It’s the anniversary of the worst day of her life. When her husband and best friend surprise her with a last-minute itinerary change in the form of a couples’ cruise, she struggles to hide her reservations about the new plan. A week spent cruising around in a tropical paradise sounds like a dream come true to everyone else, but for Mae, it’s an eerie reminder of chilling memories from her past. Once on board the ship, a mysterious stranger causes confusion among the group, leading them to ask unsettling questions of one another.
-
-
No resemblance
- By s.tarr on 03-15-25
By: Kiersten Modglin
-
The Bone House
- By: Brian Freeman
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 11 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hilary and Mark Bradley are trapped in a web of suspicion. Last year, accusations of a torrid affair with a student cost Mark his teaching job and made the young couple into outcasts in their remote island town off the Lake Michigan coast. Now another teenage girl is found dead on a deserted beach... and once again, Mark faces a hostile town convinced of his guilt. Hilary Bradley is determined to prove that Mark is innocent, but she’s on a lonely, dangerous quest.
-
-
Straight up soap opera.
- By Richard Delman on 02-08-14
By: Brian Freeman
-
The Intern
- A Novel
- By: Michele Campbell
- Narrated by: Sarah Mollo-Christensen
- Length: 11 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Madison Rivera lands the internship of a lifetime working for Judge Kathryn Conroy. But Madison has a secret that could destroy her career. Her troubled younger brother Danny has been arrested, and Conroy is the judge on his case. When Danny goes missing after accusing the judge of corruption, Madison’s quest for answers brings her deep into the judge’s glamorous world. Is Kathryn Conroy a mentor, a victim, or a criminal? Is she trying to help Madison or use her as a pawn? And why is somebody trying to kill her?
-
-
Another Terrific Michele Campbell Novel
- By William G. Stuart on 11-15-23
By: Michele Campbell
-
Fortune
- A Novel
- By: Ellen Won Steil
- Narrated by: Jane Oppenheimer, Jennifer Aquino, Lauren Ezzo, and others
- Length: 10 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One drop of blood for a chance at a multimillion-dollar windfall. Is it a philanthropic gesture from a billionaire widow? Some suspect a darker motive behind the DNA lottery—one tied to the eighteen-year-old mystery of an infant’s unidentified remains that mars the history of idyllic Rosemary Hills, Iowa. Right after the blood lottery is announced, three local women fall under suspicion of knowing something about that night, and their carefully kept secrets threaten to spill out too.
-
-
Well written
- By Mary on 04-01-25
By: Ellen Won Steil
-
Hush, Hush
- Hush, Hush Trilogy, Book 1
- By: Becca Fitzpatrick
- Narrated by: Caitlin Greer
- Length: 8 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Romance was not part of Nora Grey's plan. She's never been particularly attracted to the boys at her school, no matter how hard her best friend, Vee, pushes them at her. Not until Patch comes along. With his easy smile and eyes that seem to see inside her, Patch draws Nora to him against her better judgment. But after a series of terrifying encounters, Nora's not sure whom to trust.
-
-
Inklings Read Reviews: Hush, Hush
- By Sarah on 01-25-12
What listeners say about Always the First to Die
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Theamanda4
- 09-20-22
What a ride!
Having read the author’s first two novels, I knew to expect a gripping ride, expert character development, and a protagonist to die for. What I couldn’t have predicted was just how unpredictable the crescendo would be… Always the First to Die is the twistiest, most irresistible whodunnit I’ve read. The revelatory references to some of my favorite horror movies and psychological thrillers were the cherry on top. Hoping for more from this compelling author!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- jennifer
- 08-21-24
Interesting Story
This was an interesting story. It was a bit confusing for me at times, but ultimately I found it enjoyable. The timeline jumped around quite a bit and I feel like there were questions that never got answered. I did not guess the ending which added to my enjoyment. The narration was okay, not my favorite, but definitely not the worst.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amber Jackson
- 07-05-23
Thought my theories were legit..
I had two theories and I believed I was correct based on the descriptive writing from the author, I was wrong. It started a little slow, but once it picked up the twists and turns had me hooked.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful