Ape House
A Novel
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
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $18.00
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Paul Boehmer
-
By:
-
Sara Gruen
About this listen
Sam, Bonzi, Lola, Mbongo, Jelani, and Makena are no ordinary apes. These bonobos, like others of their species, are capable of reason and carrying on deep relationships - but unlike most bonobos, they also know American Sign Language.
Isabel Duncan, a scientist at the Great Ape Language Lab, doesn’t understand people, but animals she gets - especially the bonobos. Isabel feels more comfortable in their world than she’s ever felt among humans...until she meets John Thigpen, a very married reporter who braves the ever-present animal rights protesters outside the lab to see what’s really going on inside.
When an explosion rocks the lab, severely injuring Isabel and “liberating” the apes, John’s human interest piece turns into the story of a lifetime, one he’ll risk his career and his marriage to follow. Then a reality TV show featuring the missing apes debuts under mysterious circumstances, and it immediately becomes the biggest - and unlikeliest - phenomenon in the history of modern media. Millions of fans are glued to their screens watching the apes order greasy take-out, have generous amounts of sex, and sign for Isabel to come get them. Now, to save her family of apes from this parody of human life, Isabel must connect with her own kind, including John, a green-haired vegan, and a retired porn star with her own agenda. Ape House delivers great entertainment, but it also opens the animal world to us in ways few novels have done, securing Sara Gruen’s place as a master storyteller who allows us to see ourselves as we never have before.
©2010 Sara Gruen (P)2010 Random HouseListeners also enjoyed...
-
Water for Elephants
- By: Sara Gruen
- Narrated by: David LeDoux, John Randolph Jones
- Length: 11 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Why we think it’s a great listen: Some books are meant to be read; others are meant to be heard – Water for Elephants falls into the second group, and is one of the best examples we have of how a powerful performance enhances a great story. Nonagenarian Jacob Jankowski reflects back on his wild and wondrous days with a circus. It's the Depression Era and Jacob, finding himself parentless and penniless, joins the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth.
-
-
Rosie the bull elephant?
- By Randall on 07-22-07
By: Sara Gruen
-
The Art of Racing in the Rain
- By: Garth Stein
- Narrated by: Christopher Evan Welch
- Length: 6 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The New York Times best-selling novel from Garth Stein - a heart-wrenching but deeply funny and ultimately uplifting story of family, love, loyalty, and hope - a captivating look at the wonders and absurdities of human life...as only a dog could tell it.
-
-
5 out of 3000
- By Roger on 02-23-10
By: Garth Stein
-
Go as a River
- A Novel
- By: Shelley Read
- Narrated by: Cynthia Farrell
- Length: 9 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Seventeen-year-old Victoria Nash runs the household on her family’s peach farm in the small ranch town of Iola, Colorado—the sole surviving female in a family of troubled men. Wilson Moon is a young drifter with a mysterious past, displaced from his tribal land and determined to live as he chooses. Victoria encounters Wil by chance on a street corner, a meeting that profoundly alters both of their young lives, unknowingly igniting as much passion as danger. When tragedy strikes, Victoria leaves the only life she has ever known.
-
-
Great character development
- By ALB on 11-22-23
By: Shelley Read
-
The Invention of Wings
- A Novel
- By: Sue Monk Kidd
- Narrated by: Jenna Lamia, Adepero Oduye, Sue Monk Kidd
- Length: 13 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the celebrated author of The Secret Life of Bees, a magnificent novel about two unforgettable American women. Writing at the height of her narrative and imaginative gifts, Sue Monk Kidd presents a masterpiece of hope, daring, the quest for freedom, and the desire to have a voice in the world - and it is now the newest Oprah’s Book Club 2.0 selection. Hetty “Handful” Grimke, an urban slave in early nineteenth century Charleston, yearns for life beyond the suffocating walls that enclose her within the wealthy Grimke household. The Grimke’s daughter, Sarah, has known from an early age she is meant to do something large in the world, but she is hemmed in by the limits imposed on women.
-
-
If it Weren't True, I Wouldn't Have Believed it
- By FanB14 on 03-04-14
By: Sue Monk Kidd
-
West with Giraffes
- A Novel
- By: Lynda Rutledge
- Narrated by: Danny Campbell
- Length: 10 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Woodrow Wilson Nickel, age 105, feels his life ebbing away. But when he learns giraffes are going extinct, he finds himself recalling the unforgettable experience he cannot take to his grave. It’s 1938. The Great Depression lingers. Hitler is threatening Europe, and world-weary Americans long for wonder. They find it in two giraffes who miraculously survive a hurricane while crossing the Atlantic. What follows is a twelve-day road trip in a custom truck to become Southern California’s first giraffes. Behind the wheel is the young Dust Bowl rowdy Woodrow.
-
-
Gritty, sweet, amazing, sad, uplifting
- By FL Bird Woman on 02-19-21
By: Lynda Rutledge
-
A Keeper
- A Novel
- By: Graham Norton
- Narrated by: Graham Norton
- Length: 7 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Elizabeth Keane returns to Ireland after her mother’s death, she’s focused only on saying goodbye to that dark and dismal part of her life. Her childhood home is packed solid with useless junk, her mother’s presence already fading. But within this mess, she discovers a small stash of letters — and ultimately, the truth. Forty years earlier, a young woman stumbles from a remote stone house, the night quiet except for the constant wind that encircles her as she hurries deeper into the darkness away from the cliffs and the sea.
-
-
Satisfying twists & compelling cadence
- By Sarah.Quinn on 08-19-19
By: Graham Norton
-
Water for Elephants
- By: Sara Gruen
- Narrated by: David LeDoux, John Randolph Jones
- Length: 11 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Why we think it’s a great listen: Some books are meant to be read; others are meant to be heard – Water for Elephants falls into the second group, and is one of the best examples we have of how a powerful performance enhances a great story. Nonagenarian Jacob Jankowski reflects back on his wild and wondrous days with a circus. It's the Depression Era and Jacob, finding himself parentless and penniless, joins the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth.
-
-
Rosie the bull elephant?
- By Randall on 07-22-07
By: Sara Gruen
-
The Art of Racing in the Rain
- By: Garth Stein
- Narrated by: Christopher Evan Welch
- Length: 6 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The New York Times best-selling novel from Garth Stein - a heart-wrenching but deeply funny and ultimately uplifting story of family, love, loyalty, and hope - a captivating look at the wonders and absurdities of human life...as only a dog could tell it.
-
-
5 out of 3000
- By Roger on 02-23-10
By: Garth Stein
-
Go as a River
- A Novel
- By: Shelley Read
- Narrated by: Cynthia Farrell
- Length: 9 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Seventeen-year-old Victoria Nash runs the household on her family’s peach farm in the small ranch town of Iola, Colorado—the sole surviving female in a family of troubled men. Wilson Moon is a young drifter with a mysterious past, displaced from his tribal land and determined to live as he chooses. Victoria encounters Wil by chance on a street corner, a meeting that profoundly alters both of their young lives, unknowingly igniting as much passion as danger. When tragedy strikes, Victoria leaves the only life she has ever known.
-
-
Great character development
- By ALB on 11-22-23
By: Shelley Read
-
The Invention of Wings
- A Novel
- By: Sue Monk Kidd
- Narrated by: Jenna Lamia, Adepero Oduye, Sue Monk Kidd
- Length: 13 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the celebrated author of The Secret Life of Bees, a magnificent novel about two unforgettable American women. Writing at the height of her narrative and imaginative gifts, Sue Monk Kidd presents a masterpiece of hope, daring, the quest for freedom, and the desire to have a voice in the world - and it is now the newest Oprah’s Book Club 2.0 selection. Hetty “Handful” Grimke, an urban slave in early nineteenth century Charleston, yearns for life beyond the suffocating walls that enclose her within the wealthy Grimke household. The Grimke’s daughter, Sarah, has known from an early age she is meant to do something large in the world, but she is hemmed in by the limits imposed on women.
-
-
If it Weren't True, I Wouldn't Have Believed it
- By FanB14 on 03-04-14
By: Sue Monk Kidd
-
West with Giraffes
- A Novel
- By: Lynda Rutledge
- Narrated by: Danny Campbell
- Length: 10 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Woodrow Wilson Nickel, age 105, feels his life ebbing away. But when he learns giraffes are going extinct, he finds himself recalling the unforgettable experience he cannot take to his grave. It’s 1938. The Great Depression lingers. Hitler is threatening Europe, and world-weary Americans long for wonder. They find it in two giraffes who miraculously survive a hurricane while crossing the Atlantic. What follows is a twelve-day road trip in a custom truck to become Southern California’s first giraffes. Behind the wheel is the young Dust Bowl rowdy Woodrow.
-
-
Gritty, sweet, amazing, sad, uplifting
- By FL Bird Woman on 02-19-21
By: Lynda Rutledge
-
A Keeper
- A Novel
- By: Graham Norton
- Narrated by: Graham Norton
- Length: 7 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Elizabeth Keane returns to Ireland after her mother’s death, she’s focused only on saying goodbye to that dark and dismal part of her life. Her childhood home is packed solid with useless junk, her mother’s presence already fading. But within this mess, she discovers a small stash of letters — and ultimately, the truth. Forty years earlier, a young woman stumbles from a remote stone house, the night quiet except for the constant wind that encircles her as she hurries deeper into the darkness away from the cliffs and the sea.
-
-
Satisfying twists & compelling cadence
- By Sarah.Quinn on 08-19-19
By: Graham Norton
-
Sea of Tranquility
- A Novel
- By: Emily St. John Mandel
- Narrated by: John Lee, Dylan Moore, Arthur Morey, and others
- Length: 5 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Edwin St. Andrew is eighteen years old when he crosses the Atlantic by steamship, exiled from polite society following an ill-conceived diatribe at a dinner party. He enters the forest, spellbound by the beauty of the Canadian wilderness, and suddenly hears the notes of a violin echoing in an airship terminal—an experience that shocks him to his core.
-
-
An excellent listen.
- By Mark on 04-11-22
-
The Echo of Old Books
- A Novel
- By: Barbara Davis
- Narrated by: Vanessa Johansson, Steve West, Sarah Zimmerman
- Length: 13 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Rare-book dealer Ashlyn Greer’s affinity for books extends beyond the intoxicating scent of old paper, ink, and leather. She can feel the echoes of the books’ previous owners—an emotional fingerprint only she can read. When Ashlyn discovers a pair of beautifully bound volumes that appear to have never been published, her gift quickly becomes an obsession. Not only is each inscribed with a startling incrimination, but the authors, Hemi and Belle, tell conflicting sides of a tragic romance.
-
-
Couldn’t finish it
- By Lady Chaps on 03-31-23
By: Barbara Davis
-
The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece
- A Novel
- By: Tom Hanks
- Narrated by: Tom Hanks, Peter Gerety, Natalie Morales, and others
- Length: 15 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the legendary actor and best-selling author: a novel about the making of a star-studded, multimillion-dollar superhero action film...and the humble comic books that inspired it. Funny, touching, and wonderfully thought-provoking, while also capturing the changes in America and American culture since World War II.
-
-
I could never stay married to an actor,
- By PattyQB on 05-11-23
By: Tom Hanks
-
Sing You Home
- A Novel
- By: Jodi Picoult
- Narrated by: Thérèse Plummer, Brian Hutchison, Mia Barrow, and others
- Length: 17 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the aftermath of a series of personal tragedies, Zoe throws herself into her career as a music therapist. When an unexpected friendship slowly blossoms into love, she makes plans for a new life, but to her shock and inevitable rage, some people - even those she loves and trusts most - don’t want that to happen.
-
-
The singing ruins it!
- By Amazon Customer on 06-27-19
By: Jodi Picoult
-
The Confusion of Languages
- By: Siobhan Fallon
- Narrated by: Jorjeana Marie, Lauren Fortgang
- Length: 10 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Both Cassie Hugo and Margaret Brickshaw dutifully followed their soldier husbands to the US embassy in Jordan, but that's about all the women have in common. After two years Cassie's become an expert on the rules, but newly arrived Margaret sees only her chance to explore. So when a fender bender sends Margaret to the local police station, Cassie reluctantly agrees to watch Margaret's toddler son. But as the hours pass, Cassie's boredom and frustration turn to fear.
-
-
Miserable
- By Julie on 06-15-18
By: Siobhan Fallon
-
Poster Girl
- By: Veronica Roth
- Narrated by: Anna Caputo
- Length: 10 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What's right is right. Sonya Kantor knows this slogan—she lived by it for most of her life. For decades, everyone in the Seattle-Portland megalopolis lived under it, as well as constant surveillance in the form of the Insight, an ocular implant that tracked every word and every action, rewarding or punishing by a rigid moral code set forth by the Delegation. Then there was a revolution. The Delegation fell. Its most valuable members were locked in the Aperture, a prison on the outskirts of the city. And everyone else, now free from monitoring, went on with their lives.
-
-
Little bit preachy, but still very good.
- By Kindle Customer on 10-23-22
By: Veronica Roth
-
The Fifth Season: Booktrack Edition
- The Broken Earth, Book 1
- By: N. K. Jemisin
- Narrated by: Robin Miles
- Length: 15 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is the way the world ends...for the last time. It starts with the great red rift across the heart of the world's sole continent, spewing ash that blots out the sun. It starts with death, with a murdered son and a missing daughter. It starts with betrayal, and long dormant wounds rising up to fester. This is the Stillness, a land long familiar with catastrophe, where the power of the earth is wielded as a weapon. And where there is no mercy.
-
-
I would give this less than one star if I could.
- By Christin on 02-12-20
By: N. K. Jemisin
-
Artemis
- By: Andy Weir
- Narrated by: Rosario Dawson
- Length: 8 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jazz Bashara is a criminal. Well, sort of. Life on Artemis, the first and only city on the moon, is tough if you're not a rich tourist or an eccentric billionaire. So smuggling in the occasional harmless bit of contraband barely counts, right? Not when you've got debts to pay and your job as a porter barely covers the rent. Everything changes when Jazz sees the chance to commit the perfect crime, with a reward too lucrative to turn down.
-
-
A ferrari with no motor
- By will on 11-18-17
By: Andy Weir
-
Truly Madly Guilty
- By: Liane Moriarty
- Narrated by: Caroline Lee
- Length: 17 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sam and Clementine have a wonderful, albeit, busy life: they have two little girls, Sam has just started a new dream job, and Clementine, a cellist, is busy preparing for the audition of a lifetime. If there’s anything they can count on, it’s each other. Clementine and Erika are each other’s oldest friends. A single look between them can convey an entire conversation. But theirs is a complicated relationship, so when Erika mentions a last minute invitation to a barbecue with her neighbors, Tiffany and Vid, Clementine and Sam don’t hesitate.
-
-
seriously, stop analyzing and enjoy the ride
- By patty mastracco on 08-01-16
By: Liane Moriarty
-
Luckiest Girl Alive
- A Novel
- By: Jessica Knoll
- Narrated by: Madeleine Maby
- Length: 11 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ani FaNelli seems to have it all: a glamorous job at a glossy magazine, an enviable figure with the wardrobe to match, and a handsome fiancé from a distinguished blue-blood family. But Ani FaNelli is an invention, that veneer of perfection carefully assembled in an attempt to distance herself from a shocking, sordid past.
-
-
Strange, unnerving, confusing.
- By Candice on 12-06-15
By: Jessica Knoll
-
Uprooted
- By: Naomi Novik
- Narrated by: Julia Emelin
- Length: 17 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Agnieszka loves her valley home, her quiet village, the forests and the bright shining river. But the corrupted Wood stands on the border, full of malevolent power, and its shadow lies over her life.
-
-
Great story, hard to listen to.
- By Rej on 05-21-15
By: Naomi Novik
-
Wicked
- The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West
- By: Gregory Maguire
- Narrated by: John McDonough
- Length: 19 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Heralded as an instant classic of fantasy literature, Maguire has written a wonderfully imaginative retelling of The Wizard of Oz told from the Wicked Witch's point of view. More than just a fairy tale for adults, Wicked is a meditation on the nature of good and evil.
-
-
It's not easy being green
- By PangaeaReads on 07-30-08
By: Gregory Maguire
Critic reviews
Related to this topic
-
The Kill Clause
- By: Gregg Hurwitz
- Narrated by: Peter Friedman
- Length: 6 hrs and 5 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tim Rackley, a deputy U.S. marshal, watches helplessly as his daughter's killer walks free on a legal technicality. He is suddenly forced to explore his own deadly options, a quest that leads him into the welcoming fold of "The Commission".
-
-
Did not realize it was abridged
- By David Kindell on 11-13-18
By: Gregg Hurwitz
-
A Nail Through The Heart
- A Poke Rafferty Thriller
- By: Timothy Hallinan
- Narrated by: Victor Bevine
- Length: 10 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Poke Rafferty was writing offbeat travel guides for the young and terminally bored when Bangkok stole his heart. Now the American expat is assembling a new family with Rose, the former go-go dancer he wants to marry, and Miaow, the tiny, streetwise urchin he wants to adopt. But trouble in the guise of good intentions comes calling just when everything is beginning to work out.
-
-
Ever been to Bangkok?
- By Richard Delman on 12-11-11
By: Timothy Hallinan
-
Vow of Silence
- By: Chris Patchell
- Narrated by: Emily Cauldwell, Kevin Stillwell
- Length: 10 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Five years after the brutal slaying of her husband, software technology executive Jill Shannon is finally ready to take the next step in her life. With her wedding to Phoenix Arizona prosecuting attorney Conner Manning just eight weeks away, the only cloud on Jill's horizon is her future father-in-law's political ambitions for his son. Jill has dark secrets in her past. Secrets she can't afford to have exposed under the relentless lights of a political campaign.
-
-
Chillingly Different
- By Lia on 03-10-18
By: Chris Patchell
-
All We Ever Wanted Was Everything
- By: Janelle Brown
- Narrated by: Rebecca Lowman
- Length: 14 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A smart, comic pause-resister about a Silicon Valley family in free fall over the course of one eventful summer from the author of Watch Me Disappear and Pretty Things. When Paul Miller’s pharmaceutical company goes public, making his family IPO millionaires, his wife, Janice, is sure this is the windfall she’s been waiting years for - until she learns, via messengered letter, that her husband is divorcing her (for her tennis partner!) and cutting her out of the new fortune.
-
-
The Perfect Life Ain't So Perfect
- By Theresa on 12-28-08
By: Janelle Brown
-
Riding Lessons
- A Novel (The Riding Lessons Series, Book 1)
- By: Sara Gruen
- Narrated by: Maggi-Meg Reed
- Length: 9 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As a world-class equestrian and Olympic contender, Annemarie Zimmer lived for the thrill of flight atop a strong, graceful animal. Then, at 18, a tragic accident destroyed her riding career and Harry, the beautiful horse she cherished. Now, 20 years later, Annemarie is coming home to her dying father’s New Hampshire horse farm. Jobless and abandoned, she is bringing her troubled teenage daughter to this place of pain and memory, where ghosts of an unresolved youth still haunt the fields and stables.
-
-
Love the book but what’s with the random music?
- By Anonymous User on 07-31-24
By: Sara Gruen
-
Double Feature
- A Novel
- By: Owen King
- Narrated by: Holter Graham
- Length: 16 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Unraveling the tumultuous, decades-spanning story of the Dolan family’s friends, lovers, and adversaries, Double Feature is about letting go of everything - regret, resentment, ambition, dignity, moving pictures, the dead - and taking it again from the top. Combining propulsive storytelling and mordant wit against the backdrop of indie filmmaking, Double Feature brims with a deep understanding of the trials of ambition and art, of relationships and life, and of our attempts to survive it all.
-
-
Worst book ever! Well maybe.
- By Randall on 08-11-17
By: Owen King
-
The Kill Clause
- By: Gregg Hurwitz
- Narrated by: Peter Friedman
- Length: 6 hrs and 5 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tim Rackley, a deputy U.S. marshal, watches helplessly as his daughter's killer walks free on a legal technicality. He is suddenly forced to explore his own deadly options, a quest that leads him into the welcoming fold of "The Commission".
-
-
Did not realize it was abridged
- By David Kindell on 11-13-18
By: Gregg Hurwitz
-
A Nail Through The Heart
- A Poke Rafferty Thriller
- By: Timothy Hallinan
- Narrated by: Victor Bevine
- Length: 10 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Poke Rafferty was writing offbeat travel guides for the young and terminally bored when Bangkok stole his heart. Now the American expat is assembling a new family with Rose, the former go-go dancer he wants to marry, and Miaow, the tiny, streetwise urchin he wants to adopt. But trouble in the guise of good intentions comes calling just when everything is beginning to work out.
-
-
Ever been to Bangkok?
- By Richard Delman on 12-11-11
By: Timothy Hallinan
-
Vow of Silence
- By: Chris Patchell
- Narrated by: Emily Cauldwell, Kevin Stillwell
- Length: 10 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Five years after the brutal slaying of her husband, software technology executive Jill Shannon is finally ready to take the next step in her life. With her wedding to Phoenix Arizona prosecuting attorney Conner Manning just eight weeks away, the only cloud on Jill's horizon is her future father-in-law's political ambitions for his son. Jill has dark secrets in her past. Secrets she can't afford to have exposed under the relentless lights of a political campaign.
-
-
Chillingly Different
- By Lia on 03-10-18
By: Chris Patchell
-
All We Ever Wanted Was Everything
- By: Janelle Brown
- Narrated by: Rebecca Lowman
- Length: 14 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A smart, comic pause-resister about a Silicon Valley family in free fall over the course of one eventful summer from the author of Watch Me Disappear and Pretty Things. When Paul Miller’s pharmaceutical company goes public, making his family IPO millionaires, his wife, Janice, is sure this is the windfall she’s been waiting years for - until she learns, via messengered letter, that her husband is divorcing her (for her tennis partner!) and cutting her out of the new fortune.
-
-
The Perfect Life Ain't So Perfect
- By Theresa on 12-28-08
By: Janelle Brown
-
Riding Lessons
- A Novel (The Riding Lessons Series, Book 1)
- By: Sara Gruen
- Narrated by: Maggi-Meg Reed
- Length: 9 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As a world-class equestrian and Olympic contender, Annemarie Zimmer lived for the thrill of flight atop a strong, graceful animal. Then, at 18, a tragic accident destroyed her riding career and Harry, the beautiful horse she cherished. Now, 20 years later, Annemarie is coming home to her dying father’s New Hampshire horse farm. Jobless and abandoned, she is bringing her troubled teenage daughter to this place of pain and memory, where ghosts of an unresolved youth still haunt the fields and stables.
-
-
Love the book but what’s with the random music?
- By Anonymous User on 07-31-24
By: Sara Gruen
-
Double Feature
- A Novel
- By: Owen King
- Narrated by: Holter Graham
- Length: 16 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Unraveling the tumultuous, decades-spanning story of the Dolan family’s friends, lovers, and adversaries, Double Feature is about letting go of everything - regret, resentment, ambition, dignity, moving pictures, the dead - and taking it again from the top. Combining propulsive storytelling and mordant wit against the backdrop of indie filmmaking, Double Feature brims with a deep understanding of the trials of ambition and art, of relationships and life, and of our attempts to survive it all.
-
-
Worst book ever! Well maybe.
- By Randall on 08-11-17
By: Owen King
-
Lie Still
- A Novel
- By: Julia Heaberlin
- Narrated by: Rebecca Gibel
- Length: 12 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nursing the faded scars of a long-held trauma, Emily Page and her husband, awaiting the arrival of their first child, move from New York City to the uber-wealthy Clairmont, Texas. There, Emily is swept into a world of opulent privilege and shifting loyalties. But the secrets she keeps follow her south, and with them comes the danger that her new friends can't protect her from, and her new enemies will not hesitate to use to destroy her once and for all.
-
-
Lie Still
- By Mary K on 06-27-17
By: Julia Heaberlin
-
Superheroes
- By: Peter S. Beagle, Daryl Gregory, James Patrick Kelly, and others
- Narrated by: Oliver Wyman, Joe Barrett, Christina Delaine, and others
- Length: 17 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Modern gods and goddesses, remote, revered - and like the pantheon of heroes and heroines of ancient myth - possessing great power tempered with flaws. Now, find within this anthology great tales by gifted and award-winning authors who move superheroes from the four-color panels of comic books to the fantastic pages of fiction, stories that will remind anyone who ever wanted to wear a cape or don a cowl of the extraordinary powers of the imagination!
-
-
Pretentious tired old concepts
- By BookofJoy on 12-29-14
By: Peter S. Beagle, and others
-
So Close
- By: Emma McLaughlin
- Narrated by: Emily Durante
- Length: 8 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Amanda Beth Luker has spent her whole life desperately looking for someone who can show her the way out of her trailer park Florida town. And then, finally, help arrives - in the form of Tom Davis, a successful lawyer with political aspirations who grew up just a few towns over from Amanda. But it's his wife, Lindsay, who really captures Amanda's imagination. Strong, smart, and determined, she gives Amanda something she's never had: a role model.
-
-
I've never been so mad at a book before.
- By Stacie on 06-15-16
By: Emma McLaughlin
-
Ten Beach Road
- By: Wendy Wax
- Narrated by: Amy Rubinate
- Length: 13 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Madeline, Avery, and Nikki are strangers to each other, but they have one thing in common. They each wake up one morning to discover their life savings have vanished, along with their trusted financial manager - leaving them with nothing but co-ownership of a ramshackle beachfront house. Throwing their lots in together, they take on the challenge of restoring the historic property. But just as they begin to reinvent themselves and discover the power of friendship, secrets threaten to tear down their trust.
-
-
Terrible narrator
- By Kindle Customer on 10-17-18
By: Wendy Wax
-
The Drowning Girls
- By: Paula Treick DeBoard
- Narrated by: David Atlas, Amy McFadden
- Length: 10 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Liz McGinnis never imagined herself living in a luxurious gated community like The Palms. Ever since she and her family moved in, she's felt like an outsider amongst the Stepford-like wives and their obnoxiously spoiled children. Still, she's determined to make it work - if not for herself, then for her husband, Phil, who landed them this lavish home in the first place, and for her daughter, Danielle, who's about to enter high school.
-
-
Did the author run out of paper?
- By grandparent on 06-06-16
-
The Archangel: An Azrael Story
- The Soul Summoner Companion Stories, Book 3
- By: Elicia Hyder
- Narrated by: Joel Richards
- Length: 2 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Archangel of Death is the master of taking human life. But keeping mortals alive? Not exactly Azrael's forte. For thousands of years, Azrael’s greatest enemy has been silent. Leaving him in relative peace for the first time since the great angel war. Now that silence has been broken, and the Morning Star has returned with a dangerous ultimatum: Azrael can join, or watch everything he loves be destroyed. Two lives hang in the balance - Azrael’s beloved human wife, Nadine, and their unborn, part-angel son...Warren.
-
-
Phenomenal!
- By Sam on 04-02-20
By: Elicia Hyder
-
The Devil in Silver
- By: Victor LaValle
- Narrated by: Victor LaValle
- Length: 13 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Pepper is a rambunctious big man, and, suddenly, the surprised inmate of a budget-strapped mental institution in Queens, New York. He's not mentally ill, but that doesn't seem to matter. On his first night, he's visited by a terrifying creature who nearly kills him before being hustled away by the hospital staff. It's no delusion: The other patients confirm that a hungry devil roams the hallways when the sun goes down. Pepper rallies three other inmates in a plot to fight back: Dorry, an octogenarian schizophrenic; Coffee, an African immigrant with severe OCD; and Loochie, a bipolar teenage girl.
-
-
Not a horror/thriller
- By Matilda Luk on 03-17-18
By: Victor LaValle
-
The Opportunist
- By: Tarryn Fisher
- Narrated by: Andi Arndt
- Length: 8 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Olivia Kaspen has just discovered that her ex-boyfriend Caleb Drake has lost his memory. With an already lousy reputation for taking advantage of situations, Olivia must decide how far she is willing to go to get Caleb back.
-
-
overall: irritating book
- By DD on 02-14-17
By: Tarryn Fisher
-
The Vanishing Season
- By: Joanna Schaffhausen
- Narrated by: Lauren Fortgang
- Length: 8 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ellery Hathaway knows a thing or two about serial killers, but not through her police training. She's an officer in sleepy Woodbury, Massachusetts, where a bicycle theft still makes the newspapers. No one there knows she was once victim number 17 in the grisly story of serial killer Francis Michael Coben. The only victim who lived. When three people disappear from her town in three years, all around her birthday - the day she was kidnapped so long ago - Ellery fears someone knows her secret. Someone very dangerous.
-
-
Engaging mystery debut!
- By robbie mcgraw on 06-15-18
-
Learning to Swear in America
- By: Katie Kennedy
- Narrated by: Aaron Landon
- Length: 8 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An asteroid is hurtling toward Earth. A big, bad one. Maybe not kill-all-the-dinosaurs bad but at least kill-everyone-in-California-and-wipe-out-Japan-with-a-tsunami bad. Yuri, a physicist prodigy from Russia, has been recruited to aid NASA as they calculate a plan to avoid disaster. The good news is Yuri knows how to stop the asteroid - his research in antimatter will probably win him a Nobel Prize if there's ever another Nobel Prize awarded. But the trouble is, even though NASA asked for his help, no one there will listen to him.
-
-
An Absolute gem of an audiobook. Well worth buying
- By Amiesbookreviews on 03-30-17
By: Katie Kennedy
-
All That's Left of Me
- A Novel
- By: Janis Thomas
- Narrated by: Angela Dawe
- Length: 11 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It starts with a simple wish, and Emma Davies hardly notices when it comes true. She’s too preoccupied with a life she isn’t happy in - the spark in her marriage has fizzled, her career is headed nowhere and her boss is a misogynist. Her teenage daughter has grown distant, and her heart breaks daily for her teenage son with cerebral palsy. But soon Emma discovers her wishes are coming true, and she realizes that she has been given the power to change her life. Either that, or she’s going insane.
-
-
MADE ME THINK ABOUT MY LIFE . . . .
- By TONYA on 06-29-19
By: Janis Thomas
-
The Poison Tree
- By: Erin Kelly
- Narrated by: Jennifer Ikeda
- Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Successful journalist Erin Kelly has electrified readers and critics alike with her debut novel The Poison Tree. In this scintillating work, Karen and her daughter Alice have established a safe, happy life free from the madness of Karen’s past. But when Karen’s former lover Rex is released from prison, her old associations intrude upon the present - and threaten everything she holds dear.
-
-
I couldn't stop listening the book.
- By Gladys on 07-29-15
By: Erin Kelly
What listeners say about Ape House
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Patricia B Tripoli
- 02-27-12
One Hit Author
This is the 3rd book of Sara Gruen's that I have read. Obviously, Water for Elephants was the best. Riding Lessons was the worst and this was inbetween. I did not see good character development. There are a high number of insignificant side issues that add nothing to the story: a meth lab that blows up, a possible illegitimate child, family issues galore. None are developed to much detail.
The female characters seem to be weak and wimpy. Both lead females crumble in terror and become helpless in times of stress. Although they each come out of it, evidence of this "woose" factor remains visible. It does not make them endearing people.
Where there could (and should) have been a lot of danger and suspense surrounding the end of the book, especially due to all the side issues, there wasn't. It is such a dud.
Then there is the narration. The timing, or pauses, are infuriating. Female voices are insulting. The punk kids sound more like brahmins than street smart characters. None of it meshes with the story line.
I really was looking forward to this book. I heard Ms. Gruen speak after the success of WFE. But this just wasn't a worthy result. Even the adorable bonobos could not salvage this wreck.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
- Fred
- 10-28-10
A disappointment after Water for Elephants
I was very anxious to listen to Ape House after Water for Elephants, one of my favorite books. To me, Water for Elephants had a near classic style that was enhanced by the author's attention to character development and detail of the period. Not so with Ape House, which is set in today's world. Ape House reads like the script from an ABC Mini-Series, a genre that I personally dislike.
The characters are near cartoon-like in their predictability and lack of depth. It has them all, seemingly borrowed from recent paperbacks: a greedy and corrupt scientist; a good-hearted, protective female lead scientist with a wisecracking assistant; a journalist striving for the truth in the face of insurmountable obstacles; the hard but kind, warm-hearted Russian prostitute; but most of all the almost human group of apes who are exploited by the cruel, ambitious, pornographer. And it all ends with everyone getting what he deserves, good and bad.
I know the author can do better, and would encourage her to redirect her efforts into books that don't seem to pander to the lowest type of readership. Maybe this will be popular, and may become a movie or mini-series and make Sara a lot of money. I hope with all that money she can again concentrate on more quality work that I know she can do.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Vincent
- 09-11-18
slow at first but worth it
This purpose flour 1st took me a while to really like the characters but once it crept me I couldn't stop listening. The story of the bonobos was addictive I think I love to the more than the human characters
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
- Carolyn L Smith
- 02-12-17
The Ape House
I loved everything about this audio book. So much so that after I finished the first time, I started it over and listened again.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Sharon
- 10-21-11
An author I've added to my MUST read list.
I truly enjoyed Water for Elephants and so I was anxious to read this book, also written by Sara Gruen. And she didn't disappoint. I like her characters very much, and am glad there were no relationship cliches to have to forgive. The research was great and the story refreshingly different. What will be next from her??
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
- Don M
- 10-08-10
Great fun
The book is great fun. The reader was serviceable but detracted from the story. His tone of voice is more suitable for a fairy tale or young adult book. The story carried me through. Wonderful description of animals. Some funny and pointed commentary on contemporary culture.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
- Ella
- 09-20-10
Just OK
Once you set the bar with a book like Water for Elephants, it is hard to surpass it. Ape House had potential, but ended up being too much about the humans and not enough about the Bonobos.
The story revolves around two couples, a journalist John Thigpen and his wife Amanda, a book author. The other couple is Isabel Duncan and Peter, boyfriend and girlfriend. Isabel is a scientist and the human connection to the Bonobos at the Great Ape language Lab. The apes all have their own unique personalities and attachments to her. As the story progresses it brings these two couples together. Can’t say how without revealing spoilers. I really enjoyed the part about these great apes, but there just wasn’t enough of it. The story about the humans, overshadowed the reason I was interested in this book in the first place…the bonobos, because of their ability to communicate with humans using ASL (American Sign Language) and computers. I have to admit to being disappointed.
After Water For Elephants I expected a much more complex and magical story from Sarah Gruen with this fascinating subject!
The narrator Paul Boehmer was excellent. He certainly added some depth to the characters, even the apes!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Friend
- 06-02-24
Amazing apes
The sex made me cringe but it was needed to make the point. The exploitation that occurred is probably exactly what would happen
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
- Pamela Harvey
- 09-10-10
Interesting Premise
The lives and loves of the Bonobo apes were appealing and compelling, especially, for the purposes of fiction, their use of ASL. The reality show "Ape House" was an awesome invention, and the reader couldn't help getting pulled in by the thoughts and behavior of the apes. But...and why does there have to be a "but"? The action just became too frenzied towards the end, too many change-ups, creating narrative whiplash. It's almost as if the novel was being tweaked by editors, and the real work by Sara Gruen is only there at the beginning. It's unfortunate that "Water for Elephants" was so good, as all Gruen's other novels will suffer by comparison, unless she comes up with something better. Which this novel was most definitely not, lacking the depth, detail, measured pace and multi-leveled characterization of the first novel. This book is definitely a good read, but it's primarily an "action" story, and nothing like "Water for Elephants", which is on another plane entirely.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
26 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Bonnie
- 08-27-12
Funny, compassionate, entertaining, educational
For a minute at the beginning I thought I smelled a gushy romance. Thank God I was wrong. I read Sara Gruen’s “Water for Elephants” so I should have known better.
This was a story of the bonobos, a primate I had never known about until now. I loved the detailed descriptions of their language learning, their distinct personalities and interpersonal relationships amongst themselves, their environments and human associates.
As a mystery, the book had many twists and turns but it was also compassionate, entertaining, and very educational. It made me want to meet the hilarious bonobos.
Like “Water for Elephants” I would recommend this book to all.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!