First Thrills
High-Octane Stories from the Hottest Thriller Authors
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Narrated by:
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Jim Bond
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Nick Podehl
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Luke Daniels
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Joyce Bean
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Dick Hill
About this listen
New York Times best-selling author Lee Child has teamed up with the International Thriller Writers for First Thrills, a showcase of many of the organization’s best-selling authors as well as rising stars in the genre.
First Thrills includes never-before-published stories by New York Times best-selling authors including Lee Child, Stephen Coonts, Jeffery Deaver, Heather Graham, Joan Johnston, John Lescroart, Alex Kava and Deb Carlin, Michael Palmer (with Daniel James Palmer), Karin Slaughter, and Wendi Corsi Staub.
This collection also serves as a great introduction to those whom the ITW has christened its rising stars, including Sean Michael Bailey, Ken Bruen, Ryan Brown, Bill Cameron, Rebecca Cantrell, Karen Dionne, JT Ellison, Theo Gangi, Rip Gerber, Gregg Hurwitz, C. J. Lyons, Grant Mackenzie, Marc Paoletti, Cynthia Robinson, and Kelli Stanley.
©2010 Lee Child (P)2010 Brilliance Audio, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
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- By: Christina Dodd
- Narrated by: Vanessa Johansson
- Length: 5 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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"Families and Other Enemies": Can Kellen Adams triumph against the greatest challenge of her life - her family? "Hard to Kill": All Kellen has to do is break a code and find a long-lost fortune...or die trying. "Hidden Truths": His new bride, Kellen, hovers between life and death. A convicted serial killer threatens their child. Max Di Luca goes on the hunt....
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do not listen to these in order
- By MsKate on 07-22-20
By: Christina Dodd
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The Best Horror of the Year, Volume 4
- By: Ellen Datlow - author/editor, Stephen King, Peter Straub
- Narrated by: Meredith Mitchell, Rebecca Mitchell, Michael Healy, and others
- Length: 16 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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With tales from Laird Barron, Stephen King, John Langan, Peter Straub, and many others, and featuring Datlow’s comprehensive overview of the year in horror, now, more than ever, The Best Horror of the Year provides the petrifying horror fiction readers have come to expect - and enjoy.
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Only a few decent stories in this bunch.
- By Jerry on 12-06-14
By: Ellen Datlow - author/editor, and others
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Pacific Beat
- By: T. Jefferson Parker
- Narrated by: David Colacci
- Length: 14 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Ex-cop Jim Weir thought he'd seen it all during his years on the force. That is until he saw the body of his sister Annie, brutally used by a monster in human form, then carelessly discarded. He'd never seen such grief ravage the face of his friend and brother-in-law Ray Cruz, a good cop on the Newport Beach Police Department. When Weir learns that the only witness swore the killer made his escape in a Newport Beach squad car, his disbelief turns to confusion and outrage.
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Bad, bad, bad...
- By Robert E. Orlando on 11-19-14
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Zombies: More Recent Dead
- By: Neil Gaiman, Carrie Vaughn, Caitlin R. Kiernan, and others
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt, Marguerite Gavin
- Length: 20 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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The living dead are more alive than ever! Zombies have become more than an iconic monster for the 21st century: They are now a phenomenon constantly revealing as much about ourselves - and our fascination with death, resurrection, and survival - as our love for the supernatural or post-apocalyptic speculation. Our most imaginative literary minds have been devoured by these incredible creatures and produced exciting, insightful, and unflinching new works of zombie fiction.
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A well blended mix
- By The Lone Mopper on 07-30-15
By: Neil Gaiman, and others
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In the Bleak Midwinter
- By: Julia Spencer-Fleming
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
- Length: 12 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Clare Fergusson, St. Alban's new priest, fits like a square peg in the conservative Episcopal parish at Miller's Kill, New York. She is not just a "lady"; she's a tough ex-Army chopper pilot, and nobody's fool. Then a newborn infant left at the church door brings her together with the town's police chief, Russ Van Alstyne, who's also ex-Army and a cynical good shepherd for the stray sheep of his hometown.
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Ice Cold Complex Small Town Police Procedural/Mystery
- By Sara on 12-27-14
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The Last Policeman
- The Last Policeman, Book 1
- By: Ben H. Winters
- Narrated by: Peter Berkrot
- Length: 8 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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What’s the point in solving murders if we’re all going to die soon, anyway? Detective Hank Palace has faced this question ever since asteroid 2011GV1 hovered into view. There’s no chance left. No hope. Just six precious months until impact. The economy spirals downward while crops rot in the fields. Churches and synagogues are packed. People all over the world are walking off the job—but not Hank Palace. He’s investigating a death by hanging in a city that sees a dozen suicides every week—except this one feels suspicious, and Palace is the only cop who cares.
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Not your regular mystery
- By Victor @ theAudiobookBlog dot com on 09-20-16
By: Ben H. Winters
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You Don't Want to Know
- By: Lisa Jackson
- Narrated by: Christina Traister
- Length: 17 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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In Ava’s dreams, her son, Noah, looks just the way she remembers him: a sweet two-year-old in rolled-up jeans and a red sweatshirt. When Ava wakes, the agonizing truth hits her all over again. Noah went missing two years ago, and his body has never been found. Almost everyone, including Ava’s semi-estranged husband, Wyatt, assumes the boy drowned after falling off the dock near their Church Island home. Ava has spent most of the past two years in and out of Seattle mental institutions, shattered by grief and unable to recall the details of Noah’s disappearance.
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Can't stop listening....
- By Ronda Snyder on 08-15-12
By: Lisa Jackson
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Playing Dead
- A Novel
- By: Julia Heaberlin
- Narrated by: Madeleine Lambert
- Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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The perfume-scented letter that turns Tommie McCloud’s world upside down arrives from a stranger only days after her father’s death. The woman who wrote it claims that Tommie is her daughter—and that she was kidnapped as a baby thirty-one years ago. Tommie wants to believe it’s all a hoax, but suddenly a girl who grew up on a Texas ranch finds herself inextricably linked to a horrific past: the slaughter of a family in Chicago, the murder of an Oklahoma beauty queen, and the kidnapping of a little girl named Adriana.
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I tried but I just couldn't
- By Kathryn on 09-17-12
By: Julia Heaberlin
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The Two Deaths of Daniel Hayes
- By: Marcus Sakey
- Narrated by: Christopher Lane
- Length: 11 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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The only sign of life for miles is an empty BMW. Inside the expensive car he finds clothes that fit perfectly, shoes for his tattered feet, a Rolex, and an auto registration in the name of Daniel Hayes, resident of Malibu, California. None of it is familiar. How did he get here? Who is he? Who was he? While he searches for answers, the world searches for him - beginning with the cops that kick in the door of his dingy motel with guns drawn. Lost and alone, the man who might be Daniel Hayes flees into the night. All he remembers is a woman’s face, so he sets off for the only place he might find her.
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A Never Ending Soap Opera
- By Lu on 06-20-11
By: Marcus Sakey
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The Vanishing Season
- By: Joanna Schaffhausen
- Narrated by: Lauren Fortgang
- Length: 8 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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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.
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Engaging mystery debut!
- By robbie mcgraw on 06-15-18
What listeners say about First Thrills
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
- Ladyfire
- 08-27-10
A Good Anthology
If you are a fan of short stories, this is a rare collection of thrillers. Until I found this collection, I wasn't aware that thriller writers had their own genre organization, International Thriller Writers (ITW). Some of the stories may not seem to be proper thrillers, lacking international intrigue or violence. Listening carefully to the Introduction and Afterword, I learned that a thriller must have four key elements: facing danger, searching for truth, avoiding despair and finding hope. Defined thus, these are definitely thrillers!
This is a meaty collection. It showcases a wide variety of approaches by both new and established authors. I only found one story truly disappointing.
I've read negative reader reviews of other ITW collections. If you are considering this collection because you are a fan of one of the big-name authors, please remember that these are short stories, not novels. A short story does in less than 7500 words what a novel needs 50,000+ words to do. One of the best short story examples I can think of is Arthur C. Clarke's "The Star", which won the Hugo Award for 1956. If a novel is a full course meal, think of a good short story collection as a plate of hors d'oeuvres...tasty morsels that make you go, "Wow!"
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16 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Honest Abe
- 01-24-11
kept me wanting more
ok so there were a few authors who were just -ok.
but by in large i had my phone with me, audible loaded, and whenever i had a break especially on the ride home, i was always entertained,
i want to see MORE of these kind of short story anthaologies from various authors, very addictive!
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6 people found this helpful
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- Robert
- 08-02-15
a very good book
my only complaint is why do they have to talk about 6he book at the end of the recording. i mean, i just finished listening to it, yet they think it is necessary to recap the entire book.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Debb
- 04-07-15
Great Collection
Nonstop thrills in bite sized nuggets. Great for short commutes or long rides. Loved how it made each trip to/from work something to look forward to.
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Overall
- Jerry
- 03-30-11
Only a few decent stories in the bunch...
I was amazed to hear the credits of some of these writers -- NYT bestsellers time and time again, but the fiction was pretty rank. There are only a few stories worth listening to. If you like the thriller/mystery genre and want some entertaining short fiction, I'd recommend checking out Jefferey Deaver's short story collections (Twisted, More Twisted, Nocturne). His was one of the better written stories in this collection, and it's not the best of his short fiction.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Dana
- 09-26-21
Whiners and losers mostly
Just a few enjoyable stories here, first story was cool, then maybe 2,3, 8 and a few others. The more famous authors put in their throwaways it seems. Many stories start with someone complaining about their lot in life. Most are overly seedy or gritty or otherwise distasteful. Many end without a conclusion, either the author never finished or there’s an implied ending that’s a twist but maybe it’s meant to be ambiguous but unfulfilling.
Narration is spotty. Dick Hill did some ridiculous voices. Accents were likewise also silly much of the time. Woman readers seemed scornful or victimized.
I don’t know what defines a genre but “thriller” seems to be devolving to a litany of the faithless and evil aspects of humanity with just a very few examples here to show that it doesn’t have to be that way.
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- David T. Adams
- 09-02-11
About as thrilling as toast
This book fell far short of living up to what the title claims. High octane stories? I don't think so. As an example, one story, "Chloe", was about a son helping his gangster father on the run go to the bathroom at a service station - that was the whole story. Oooh, I was on pins and needles - NOT! I figured with the multiple authors and stories, I'd be sure to get some good ones, but alas, it was just one mundane story after another. There was only one stand-out story that actually had a decent plot (Michael Palmer). I wish I could get my credit back.
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4 people found this helpful