Down River Audiobook By John Hart cover art

Down River

A Novel

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Down River

By: John Hart
Narrated by: Scott Sowers
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The New York Times bestselling and Edgar Award-winning novel with from an author whose "prose is like Raymond Chandler's, angular and hard" (Entertainment Weekly).

Adam Chase has spent the last five years in New York City trying to erase his worst memories and the scorn and abandonment of his family. Then a phone call from his best friend awakens in him a torrent of emotion and pain. Having left North Carolina and its red soil for good, he never thought returning would be easy—but being remembered as a murderer doesn't help much. Adam is beaten, accosted, and hostilely confronted by his family, including Grace, the young woman whose abandonment torments him still.

Then people start turning up dead.

Within this small Southern town, John Hart explores the lengths to which people will go for money, family, and pure greed—and whether or not forgiveness is ever attainable.

©2007 John Hart (P)2007 Audio Renaissance, a division of Holtzbrinck Publishers LLC Genre Fiction Psychological Suspense Thriller & Suspense Fiction

Critic reviews

“Southern writer John Hart's work has a lyrical quality that Scott Sowers narrates with a growling weariness...The combination of Hart and Sowers provides the perfect marriage of prose and voice. Together they enable the book to transcend genre fiction and become something exceptional.” —AudioFile, Earphones Award Winner

“Scott Sowers delivers a solid performance reading Hart's powerful second novel…Hart writes with an intimate sense of melancholy and loss that Sowers resonates perfectly. Using a low-key, Southern accent to good advantage, Sowers draws the listener into the story from the very beginning with his simple, earnest delivery, and holds them tight.” —Publishers Weekly

“There hasn't been a thriller as showily literate since Scott Turow came along.” —The New York Times
Intriguing Mystery • Complex Characters • Rich Voice • Unexpected Twists • Compelling Plot • Southern Atmosphere
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I loved this book. It kept my attention completely. I love the narrator. He is perfect for this book. Being from Texas, his accent seems totally appropriate to me and certainly adds to the book. The dialog sounded spot on and very familiar coming from the South. I am happy to see that this author and narrator teamed upon another selection. Can't wait to listen to it.

Excellent! A winner for me.

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Good story with a compelling cast of characters. Keeps you guessing till the end. Love Hart's economy of dialogue. Very real.
Great narrator, too!

Totally Satisfying

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Southern gothic murder mystery at its finest!! The character and story development are incredible. I downloaded his next book before finishing this one.

Wonderful deep prose.

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Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

I like my books to not feel like a chore. This felt like it more times than not. Seemed a bit predictable and all but the twist at the end were so so.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

Surprised, but felt like the author was reaching

Would you listen to another book narrated by Scott Sowers?

I guess so. It was the book not the reader I had issues with

Did Down River inspire you to do anything?

Yes, to not feel compelled to finish a book just because I paid for it when I really don't like it.

ok, but...

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Very well written; I wish almost I had read the book instead of listening, as there were some great thoughts, lines here. For instance :” the preachers words followed him down into the grave”. A wonderful writer is Mr Hart.
I found myself ready for this book to be over towards the end.. it was a bit too dark for me, but wonderfully done.

Great author

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John Hart never disappoints! Couldn’t stop listening! I devoured this one in a weekend. Added John Hart to my list of favorites.

Great Story and Narrator

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Well worth listening to. Seemed slow at first, but then; I at least, was hooked. Surprising ending.

A Great Read

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I liked the murder mystery & characters and their paths & plot twists. Excellent narration as well.

Good book!

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I came close to giving this book five stars but decided not to because of the absence of a character you could feel good about. Try as I might, I couldn't make myself like Adam. The author combined the elements of an intriguing tragedy with mystery and kept me involved for the entire read. Well worth a credit.

Very well written

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I haven't finished the book--in fact I've just started it, but I've discovered something about the narration that may be helpful:

I generally listen to a book with the speed at about 1.10 or even 1.15, because it somehow suits my own weird rhythm.

Scott Sowers' narration does NOT lend itself to higher speeds. At 1.10, while it didn't seem like he was speaking quickly, the very slight rushing of his words made the sentence structure monotonous, and changed the tone and music of his voice, making it sound abrupt and perfunctory.

The narration was beginning to grate on me, when I thought to slow it to normal speed. At 1.0, Scott sounds just like the man he portrays, and I'm very eager to dive into this story again.

I gave five stars on faith, and I'll be back with a full review when I've heard the whole book!

About the narration---

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