Old Soul Audiobook By Susan Barker cover art

Old Soul

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Old Soul

By: Susan Barker
Narrated by: George Blagden, Jill Winternitz, Olivia Vinall
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About this listen

The Historian meets Under the Skin in this searingly provocative literary horror novel about one woman’s determination to stay alive at any terrifying cost.

In Osaka, two strangers, Jake and Mariko, miss a flight, and over dinner, discover they've both brutally lost loved ones whose paths crossed with the same beguiling woman no one has seen since.

Following traces this mysterious person left behind, Jake travels from country to country gathering chilling testimonies from others who encountered her across the decades—a trail of shattered souls that eventually leads him to Theo, a dying sculptor in rural New Mexico, who knows the woman better than anyone—and might just hold the key to who, or what, she is.

Part horror, part western, part thriller, Old Soul is a fearlessly bold and genre-defying tale about predation, morality and free will, and one man’s quest to bring a centuries-long chain of human devastation to an end.

©2025 Susan Barker (P)2025 Penguin Audio
Editors Select Horror Psychological Supernatural Thriller & Suspense Exciting Scary

Critic reviews

“A haunting story of grief and ghosts and the ways the past stays with us.” —Lit Hub

"[A] sweeping work of literary horror. . . The slow-burning tension and lush, atmospheric prose build a creeping sense of dread that lingers long after the final page. Fans of both the deeply personal speculative horror of Carmen Maria Machado and the subtle, character-driven mystery of Haruki Murakami will be enthralled.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Old Soul is perfect read for the chilly depths of winter: a clever, spooky metaphysical mystery that spans continents—and even planets. Susan Barker’s novel kept me guessing until the end. You’ll never look at Venus quite the same way again.” Chloe Benjamin, author of The Immortalists

Dear Listener,

What drew me to write Old Soul, and what am I excited for you to discover?
"I wrote Old Soul out of a love of many things: horror and the supernatural, monstrous women, darkly romantic love stories, and novels that contain stories-within-stories, spiraling across decades and continents. The novel is about one man’s quest to track down a mysterious woman who destroyed the lives of many, including his closest friend. It’s about the tug-of-war between our self-centered desires and the obligations we owe to others, especially to those we love. At the center of it all is the question: Without human connection, is life—even eternal life—worth living at all?
My hope is that listening will be an exhilarating ride. I would love for you to experience all the heart-thudding, spine-chilling escapism of the horror genre as you move through time and place with our appalling antihero, witnessing her deeds through her victims’ eyes. And if Old Soul leaves you feeling scared, maybe even too nervous to turn out the lights ... then my job as an author is done."– Susan Barker, writer of Old Soul

What listeners say about Old Soul

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Stunning

Best new novel I’ve read in years. I will read anything Barker writes going forward.

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Creepy and good

Loved that I was surprised at the end. Looking forward to more by this author.

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Never Heard Anything Like It

Through several different POVs, we are told the story of a woman who is an agent of The Tyrant, a Venusian god, for whom she procures sacrifices and in return has eternal life.

I love how this book almost makes the reader feel empathy for such a woman.

Great narration and pace. Loved this one.

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Good story but…

The story definitely kept my interest but I couldn’t help but be distracted by the “German accent” that was much more of a Russian accent. Strange.

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