-
On the Beach
- Narrated by: James Smillie
- Length: 8 hrs and 54 mins
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 $22.01
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Publisher's summary
Australia is one of the last places where life still exists after nuclear war starts in the Northern Hemisphere. A year on, an invisible cloak of radiation has spread almost completely around the world.
Darwin is a ghost town, and radiation levels at Ayres Rock are increasing. An American nuclear-powered submarine has found its way to Australia, where its captain has placed the boat under the command of the Australian Navy. Commander Dwight Towers and his Australian liaison officer are sent to the coast of North America to discover whether a stray radio signal originating from near Seattle is a sign of life.
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
A Town Like Alice
- By: Nevil Shute
- Narrated by: Robin Bailey
- Length: 10 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jean Paget is just twenty years old and working in Malaya when the Japanese invasion begins. When she is captured she joins a group of other European women and children whom the Japanese force to march for miles through the jungle. While on the march, the group run into some Australian prisoners, one of whom, Joe Harman, helps them steal some food, and is horrifically punished by the Japanese as a result.
-
-
An all time favorite I have read many times...
- By Peyton on 03-16-10
By: Nevil Shute
-
Alas, Babylon
- By: Pat Frank
- Narrated by: Will Patton
- Length: 11 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This true modern masterpiece is built around the two fateful words that make up the title and herald the end - “Alas, Babylon.” When a nuclear holocaust ravages the United States, a thousand years of civilization are stripped away overnight, and tens of millions of people are killed instantly. But for one small town in Florida, miraculously spared, the struggle is just beginning, as men and women of all backgrounds join together to confront the darkness....
-
-
One apocalypse--hold the zombies
- By Lesley on 01-07-14
By: Pat Frank
-
Trustee from the Toolroom
- By: Nevil Shute
- Narrated by: Frank Muller
- Length: 8 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Keith Stewart, a retiring and ingenious engineer, could not have been happier in his little house in the shabby London suburb of Ealing. There he invented the mini-motor, the six-volt generator, and the tiny Congreve clock. Then a chain of events sweeps him into deep waters and leads him to his happiest discovery yet.
-
-
Hologram of a Decent Man
- By Jim In Texas! on 05-28-12
By: Nevil Shute
-
The Breaking Wave
- By: Nevil Shute
- Narrated by: Patrick Tull
- Length: 8 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Allan had been away from Coombaragana, flying in the Royal Air Force. Now he has returned, wounded and disillusioned, to his ancestral home. Days before, Jessie Proctor had taken her own life. Why? Allan looked at the young face in the photograph in Jessie’s passport and froze. He knew who she really was.
-
-
A Touching Tale
- By Jim In Texas! on 05-05-12
By: Nevil Shute
-
Beyond the Black Stump
- By: Nevil Shute
- Narrated by: Davina Porter
- Length: 9 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Stanton Laird, American geologist, goes prospecting for the Topeka Exploration Company in the savage Australian outback, he finds something a good deal more precious than oil.
-
-
Davina Porter is a wonderful narrator
- By Brian PDX on 07-26-14
By: Nevil Shute
-
Pastoral
- By: Nevil Shute
- Narrated by: Frank Muller
- Length: 8 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
She was from the hills of Yorkshire, country born and bred. He was a city boy. By the stream where they fished they were two young people falling in love. Overhead, the bombers roared, threatening to blow their idyllic world, so young, so fresh, to smithereens.
-
-
Historical romance set in WWII England.
- By Stan on 06-19-12
By: Nevil Shute
-
A Town Like Alice
- By: Nevil Shute
- Narrated by: Robin Bailey
- Length: 10 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jean Paget is just twenty years old and working in Malaya when the Japanese invasion begins. When she is captured she joins a group of other European women and children whom the Japanese force to march for miles through the jungle. While on the march, the group run into some Australian prisoners, one of whom, Joe Harman, helps them steal some food, and is horrifically punished by the Japanese as a result.
-
-
An all time favorite I have read many times...
- By Peyton on 03-16-10
By: Nevil Shute
-
Alas, Babylon
- By: Pat Frank
- Narrated by: Will Patton
- Length: 11 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This true modern masterpiece is built around the two fateful words that make up the title and herald the end - “Alas, Babylon.” When a nuclear holocaust ravages the United States, a thousand years of civilization are stripped away overnight, and tens of millions of people are killed instantly. But for one small town in Florida, miraculously spared, the struggle is just beginning, as men and women of all backgrounds join together to confront the darkness....
-
-
One apocalypse--hold the zombies
- By Lesley on 01-07-14
By: Pat Frank
-
Trustee from the Toolroom
- By: Nevil Shute
- Narrated by: Frank Muller
- Length: 8 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Keith Stewart, a retiring and ingenious engineer, could not have been happier in his little house in the shabby London suburb of Ealing. There he invented the mini-motor, the six-volt generator, and the tiny Congreve clock. Then a chain of events sweeps him into deep waters and leads him to his happiest discovery yet.
-
-
Hologram of a Decent Man
- By Jim In Texas! on 05-28-12
By: Nevil Shute
-
The Breaking Wave
- By: Nevil Shute
- Narrated by: Patrick Tull
- Length: 8 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Allan had been away from Coombaragana, flying in the Royal Air Force. Now he has returned, wounded and disillusioned, to his ancestral home. Days before, Jessie Proctor had taken her own life. Why? Allan looked at the young face in the photograph in Jessie’s passport and froze. He knew who she really was.
-
-
A Touching Tale
- By Jim In Texas! on 05-05-12
By: Nevil Shute
-
Beyond the Black Stump
- By: Nevil Shute
- Narrated by: Davina Porter
- Length: 9 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Stanton Laird, American geologist, goes prospecting for the Topeka Exploration Company in the savage Australian outback, he finds something a good deal more precious than oil.
-
-
Davina Porter is a wonderful narrator
- By Brian PDX on 07-26-14
By: Nevil Shute
-
Pastoral
- By: Nevil Shute
- Narrated by: Frank Muller
- Length: 8 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
She was from the hills of Yorkshire, country born and bred. He was a city boy. By the stream where they fished they were two young people falling in love. Overhead, the bombers roared, threatening to blow their idyllic world, so young, so fresh, to smithereens.
-
-
Historical romance set in WWII England.
- By Stan on 06-19-12
By: Nevil Shute
-
Lucifer's Hammer
- By: Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle
- Narrated by: Marc Vietor
- Length: 24 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The gigantic comet had slammed into Earth, forging earthquakes a thousand times too powerful to measure on the Richter scale, tidal waves thousands of feet high. Cities were turned into oceans; oceans turned into steam. It was the beginning of a new Ice Age and the end of civilization. But for the terrified men and women chance had saved, it was also the dawn of a new struggle for survival--a struggle more dangerous and challenging than any they had ever known....
-
-
Good story from front to back
- By DJM on 07-30-09
By: Larry Niven, and others
-
Earth Abides
- By: George R. Stewart
- Narrated by: Timothy Andrés Pabon
- Length: 13 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The cabin had always been a special retreat for Isherwood Williams, a haven from the demands of society. But one day while hiking, Ish was bitten by a rattlesnake, and the solitude he had so desired took on dire new significance. Ish headed home when he finally felt himself again—and noticed the strangeness almost immediately. No cars passed him on the road; the gas station not far from his cabin looked abandoned; and he was shocked to see the body of a man on the roadside near a small town. Without a radio or phone, Ish had no idea of humanity’s abrupt demise.
-
-
The accolades are undeserved
- By 2duckornot2duck on 04-26-21
-
The Road
- By: Cormac McCarthy
- Narrated by: Tom Stechschulte
- Length: 6 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
America is a barren landscape of smoldering ashes, devoid of life except for those people still struggling to scratch out some type of existence. Amidst this destruction, a father and his young son walk, always toward the coast, but with no real understanding that circumstances will improve once they arrive. Still, they persevere, and their relationship comes to represent goodness in a world of utter devastation.
-
-
ARE YOU CARRYING THE FIRE?
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 05-14-16
By: Cormac McCarthy
-
One Second After
- By: William R. Forstchen
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 13 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Already cited on the floor of Congress and discussed in the corridors of the Pentagon as a book all Americans should read, One Second After is the story of a war scenario that could become all too terrifyingly real. Based upon a real weapon - the Electro Magnetic Pulse (EMP) - which may already be in the hands of our enemies, it is a truly realistic look at the awesome power of a weapon that can destroy the entire United States.
-
-
A Civil War Re-enactor Saves a Community?
- By Cidney on 07-05-12
-
The Dog Stars
- By: Peter Heller
- Narrated by: Mark Deakins
- Length: 10 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hig survived the flu that killed everyone he knows. His wife is gone, his friends are dead, he lives in the hangar of a small abandoned airport with his dog, his only neighbor a gun-toting misanthrope. In his 1956 Cessna, Hig flies the perimeter of the airfield or sneaks off to the mountains to fish and to pretend that things are the way they used to be. But when a random transmission somehow beams through his radio, the voice ignites a hope deep inside him that a better life exists beyond the airport.
-
-
Absolutely Stellar!
- By Mel on 08-10-12
By: Peter Heller
-
A Canticle for Leibowitz
- By: Walter M. Miller Jr.
- Narrated by: Tom Weiner
- Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Winner of the 1961 Hugo Award for Best Novel and widely considered one of the most accomplished, powerful, and enduring classics of modern speculative fiction, Walter M. Miller’s A Canticle for Leibowitz is a true landmark of 20th-century literature—a chilling and still-provocative look at a postapocalyptic future.
-
-
Introibo Ad Altare
- By richard on 03-20-13
-
Fail-Safe
- By: Eugene Burdick, Harvey Wheeler
- Narrated by: Kevin Kraft
- Length: 8 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Something has gone wrong. A group of American bombers armed with nuclear weapons is streaking past the fail-safe point, beyond recall, and no one knows why. Their destination - Moscow. In a bomb shelter beneath the White House, the calm young president turns to his Russian translator and says, "I think we are ready to talk to Premier Kruschchev." Not far away, in the War Room at the Pentagon, the secretary of defense and his aides watch with growing anxiety...
-
-
This 1962 novel is one of the best suspense...
- By Wayne on 03-28-17
By: Eugene Burdick, and others
-
Hornet Flight
- By: Ken Follett
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 14 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It's June 1941, and the low point of the war. England throws wave after wave of RAF bombers across the Channel, but somehow the Luftwaffe is able to shoot them down at will. The skies, indeed, the war itself seem to belong to Hitler.
-
-
An Outstanding Spy Novel
- By C. McCoy on 03-13-05
By: Ken Follett
-
Coming Home
- By: Rosamunde Pilcher
- Narrated by: Helen Johns
- Length: 40 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Set against the backdrop of an elegant Cornwall mansion before World War II and a vast continent-spanning canvas during the turbulent war years, this captivating story tells of an extraordinary young woman's coming of age, coming to grips with love and sadness, and in every sense of the term, coming home.... In 1935, Judith Dunbar is left behind at a British boarding school when her mother and baby sister go off to join her father in Singapore.
-
-
Marvelous story line, Excellent narration
- By Amazon Customer on 03-17-18
-
Into the Storm
- Destroyermen, Book 1
- By: Taylor Anderson
- Narrated by: William Dufris
- Length: 16 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Pressed into service when World War II breaks out in the Pacific, the USS Walker---a Great-War vintage "four-stacker" destroyer---finds itself in full retreat from pursuit by Japanese battleships. Its captain, Lieutenant Commander Matthew Patrick Reddy, knows that he and his crew are in dire straits. In desperation, he heads Walker into a squall, hoping it will give them cover---and emerges somewhere else.
-
-
It just never grabbed me.
- By Lore on 05-01-12
By: Taylor Anderson
-
Partials
- Partials, Book 1
- By: Dan Wells
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan
- Length: 14 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The human race is all but extinct after a war with Partials - engineered organic beings identical to humans - has decimated the population. Reduced to only tens of thousands by RM, a weaponized virus to which only a fraction of humanity is immune, the survivors in North America have huddled together on Long Island while the Partials have mysteriously retreated. The threat of the Partials is still imminent, but, worse, no baby has been born immune to RM in more than a decade. Our time is running out.
-
-
Action! Romance! Science!
- By Tabitha on 07-21-12
By: Dan Wells
-
Plague of the Dead
- The Morningstar Strain, Book 1
- By: Z. A. Recht
- Narrated by: Oliver Wyman
- Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The end begins with a viral outbreak unlike anything mankind has ever encountered before. The infected are subject to delirium, fever, a dramatic increase in violent behavior, and a one-hundred percent mortality rate. Death. But it doesn't end there. The victims return from death to walk the earth. When a massive military operation fails to contain the plague of the living dead it escalates into a global pandemic.
-
-
YOU MIGHT WANT TO PUT DOWN THAT CUP OF COFFEE
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 09-08-16
By: Z. A. Recht
Related to this topic
-
Night of the Fox
- A Dougal Munro/Jack Carter Novel, Book 1
- By: Jack Higgins
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 8 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the fifth year of conflict, the master plan for the invasion of Hitler’s Channel stronghold is the Allies’ greatest secret. National security demands it doesn’t fall into enemy hands. So when Colonel Hugh Kelso is pulled from the sea off German-occupied Jersey in April 1944, a major crisis erupts. Because Kelso is still alive and knows the exact details of the imminent invasion, to ensure the success of their offensive, the Allies launch a suicidal mission to rescue the Colonel...or silence him forever.
-
-
Glad it was a Daily Deal rather than full priced
- By Mark Hancock on 07-17-15
By: Jack Higgins
-
Hornet Flight
- By: Ken Follett
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 14 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It's June 1941, and the low point of the war. England throws wave after wave of RAF bombers across the Channel, but somehow the Luftwaffe is able to shoot them down at will. The skies, indeed, the war itself seem to belong to Hitler.
-
-
An Outstanding Spy Novel
- By C. McCoy on 03-13-05
By: Ken Follett
-
Triple
- A Novel
- By: Ken Follett
- Narrated by: Raza Jaffrey
- Length: 13 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As Egypt comes closer and closer to developing a nuclear bomb, the Mossad’s number one Israeli agent is given an impossible mission: to beat the Arabs in the nuclear arms race by finding and stealing two hundred tons of uranium. The world’s balance of power will shift. And the Mossad, the KGB, the Egyptians, and Fedayeen terrorists will play out the final, violent moves in this devastating game where the price of failure is a nuclear holocaust....
-
-
Triple poorly performed
- By Jpop on 03-13-21
By: Ken Follett
-
The Winds of War
- By: Herman Wouk
- Narrated by: Kevin Pariseau
- Length: 45 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Herman Wouk's sweeping epic of World War II stands as the crowning achievement of one of America's most celebrated storytellers. Like no other books about the war, Wouk's spellbinding narrative captures the tide of global events - and all the drama, romance, heroism, and tragedy of World War II - as it immerses us in the lives of a single American family drawn into the very center of the war's maelstrom.
-
-
A Masterpiece
- By Robert on 05-24-13
By: Herman Wouk
-
A Handful of Dust
- By: Evelyn Waugh
- Narrated by: Andrew Sachs
- Length: 6 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Evelyn Waugh's 1934 novel is a bitingly funny vision of aristocratic decadence in England between the wars. It tells the story of Tony Last, who, to the irritation of his wife, is inordinately obsessed with his Victorian Gothic country house and life. When Lady Brenda Last embarks on an affair with the worthless John Beaver out of boredom with her husband, she sets in motion a sequence of tragicomic disasters that reveal Waugh at his most scathing.
-
-
Slow Start then Subtle
- By Michael on 05-16-15
By: Evelyn Waugh
-
Alas, Babylon
- By: Pat Frank
- Narrated by: Will Patton
- Length: 11 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This true modern masterpiece is built around the two fateful words that make up the title and herald the end - “Alas, Babylon.” When a nuclear holocaust ravages the United States, a thousand years of civilization are stripped away overnight, and tens of millions of people are killed instantly. But for one small town in Florida, miraculously spared, the struggle is just beginning, as men and women of all backgrounds join together to confront the darkness....
-
-
One apocalypse--hold the zombies
- By Lesley on 01-07-14
By: Pat Frank
-
Night of the Fox
- A Dougal Munro/Jack Carter Novel, Book 1
- By: Jack Higgins
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 8 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the fifth year of conflict, the master plan for the invasion of Hitler’s Channel stronghold is the Allies’ greatest secret. National security demands it doesn’t fall into enemy hands. So when Colonel Hugh Kelso is pulled from the sea off German-occupied Jersey in April 1944, a major crisis erupts. Because Kelso is still alive and knows the exact details of the imminent invasion, to ensure the success of their offensive, the Allies launch a suicidal mission to rescue the Colonel...or silence him forever.
-
-
Glad it was a Daily Deal rather than full priced
- By Mark Hancock on 07-17-15
By: Jack Higgins
-
Hornet Flight
- By: Ken Follett
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 14 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It's June 1941, and the low point of the war. England throws wave after wave of RAF bombers across the Channel, but somehow the Luftwaffe is able to shoot them down at will. The skies, indeed, the war itself seem to belong to Hitler.
-
-
An Outstanding Spy Novel
- By C. McCoy on 03-13-05
By: Ken Follett
-
Triple
- A Novel
- By: Ken Follett
- Narrated by: Raza Jaffrey
- Length: 13 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As Egypt comes closer and closer to developing a nuclear bomb, the Mossad’s number one Israeli agent is given an impossible mission: to beat the Arabs in the nuclear arms race by finding and stealing two hundred tons of uranium. The world’s balance of power will shift. And the Mossad, the KGB, the Egyptians, and Fedayeen terrorists will play out the final, violent moves in this devastating game where the price of failure is a nuclear holocaust....
-
-
Triple poorly performed
- By Jpop on 03-13-21
By: Ken Follett
-
The Winds of War
- By: Herman Wouk
- Narrated by: Kevin Pariseau
- Length: 45 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Herman Wouk's sweeping epic of World War II stands as the crowning achievement of one of America's most celebrated storytellers. Like no other books about the war, Wouk's spellbinding narrative captures the tide of global events - and all the drama, romance, heroism, and tragedy of World War II - as it immerses us in the lives of a single American family drawn into the very center of the war's maelstrom.
-
-
A Masterpiece
- By Robert on 05-24-13
By: Herman Wouk
-
A Handful of Dust
- By: Evelyn Waugh
- Narrated by: Andrew Sachs
- Length: 6 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Evelyn Waugh's 1934 novel is a bitingly funny vision of aristocratic decadence in England between the wars. It tells the story of Tony Last, who, to the irritation of his wife, is inordinately obsessed with his Victorian Gothic country house and life. When Lady Brenda Last embarks on an affair with the worthless John Beaver out of boredom with her husband, she sets in motion a sequence of tragicomic disasters that reveal Waugh at his most scathing.
-
-
Slow Start then Subtle
- By Michael on 05-16-15
By: Evelyn Waugh
-
Alas, Babylon
- By: Pat Frank
- Narrated by: Will Patton
- Length: 11 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This true modern masterpiece is built around the two fateful words that make up the title and herald the end - “Alas, Babylon.” When a nuclear holocaust ravages the United States, a thousand years of civilization are stripped away overnight, and tens of millions of people are killed instantly. But for one small town in Florida, miraculously spared, the struggle is just beginning, as men and women of all backgrounds join together to confront the darkness....
-
-
One apocalypse--hold the zombies
- By Lesley on 01-07-14
By: Pat Frank
-
Islands in the Stream
- By: Ernest Hemingway
- Narrated by: Bruce Greenwood
- Length: 13 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
First published in 1970, nine years after Hemingway's death, this is the story of an artist and adventurer, a man much like Hemingway himself. Beginning in the 1930s, Islands in the Stream follows the fortunes of Thomas Hudson, from his experiences as a painter on the Gulf Stream island of Bimini through his antisubmarine activities off the coast of Cuba during World War II. Hemingway is at his mature best in this beguiling tale.
-
-
Hemingway was a Genius
- By Ian on 08-04-06
By: Ernest Hemingway
-
A Flag for Sunrise
- By: Robert Stone
- Narrated by: Stephen Lang
- Length: 17 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Possessed of astonishing dramatic, emotional, and philosophical resonance, A Flag for Sunrise is a novel in the grand tradition about Americans drawn into the maelstrom of a small Central American country on the brink of revolution. From the book's inception, listeners will be seized by the dangers and nightmare suspense of life lived on the rim of a political volcano.
-
-
A towering achievement
- By Skeptical on 04-24-11
By: Robert Stone
-
The Deep Blue Good-By
- A Travis McGee Novel, Book 1
- By: John D. MacDonald
- Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
- Length: 6 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
He's a self-described beach bum who won his houseboat in a card game. He's also a knight errant who's wary of credit cards, retirement benefits, political parties, mortgages, and television. He only works when his cash runs out, and his rule is simple: he'll help you find whatever was taken from you, as long as he can keep half.
-
-
Before the A-Team, there was Travis McGee
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 11-12-16
-
Three Comrades
- By: Erich Maria Remarque, Arthur Wesley Wheen - translator
- Narrated by: Michael Braun
- Length: 16 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The year is 1928. On the outskirts of a large German city, three young men are earning a thin and precarious living. Fully armed young storm troopers swagger in the streets. Restlessness, poverty, and violence are everywhere. For these three, friendship is the only refuge from the chaos around them. Then the youngest of them falls in love and brings into the group a young woman who will become a comrade as well, as they are all tested in ways they can have never imagined.
-
-
Love and friendship in a dying world.
- By Tarquin on 03-18-19
By: Erich Maria Remarque, and others
-
The 42nd Parallel
- By: John Dos Passos
- Narrated by: David Drummond
- Length: 13 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This first entry in John Dos Passos's celebrated U.S.A. trilogy paints a grand picture of the United States at the dawn of the twentieth century.
-
-
Powerful document of an all-too-familiar past
- By Ryan on 06-01-13
By: John Dos Passos
-
Offshore
- By: Penelope Fitzgerald, Stephanie Racine, Alan Hollinghurst - introduction
- Narrated by: Jot Davies, Alan Hollinghurst
- Length: 5 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On Battersea Reach, a mixed bag of the temporarily lost and the patently eccentric live on houseboats, rising and falling with the tide of the Thames. There is good-natured Maurice, by occupation a male prostitute, by chance a receiver of stolen goods. And Richard, an ex-navy man whose boat, much like its owner, dominates the Reach.
-
-
S.O.S
- By SB on 03-26-22
By: Penelope Fitzgerald, and others
-
The Hunters
- A Novel
- By: James Salter
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 6 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Captain Cleve Connell has already made a name for himself among pilots when he arrives in Korea during the war there to fly the newly operational F-86 fighters against the Soviet MIGs. His goal, like that of every fighter pilot, is to chalk up enough kills to become an ace. But things do not turn out as expected.
-
-
The Hunters
- By Nicholas on 10-25-15
By: James Salter
-
Daughters of Eden
- By: Charlotte Bingham
- Narrated by: Kim Hicks
- Length: 13 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Daughters of Eden focuses on the lives and fortunes of four very different young women at the outbreak of the Second World War. Marjorie, left at a boarding school by her emigrating mother; plain Poppy, pushed into marriage with a mean-spirited aristocrat; Kate, despised by her father, but determined to prove herself; and man-mad Lily, who turns out to be the bravest of them all. That all of them are chosen to work undercover for the espionage unit at Eden Park is a surprise, not least to them.
-
-
An amazing book everyone should read.
- By XX on 09-11-05
-
Driving Force
- By: Dick Francis
- Narrated by: Simon Prebble
- Length: 10 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A dead hitchhiker, empty canisters found at the bottom of several trucks, and the murder of a harmless mechanic are the bizarre events that lead ex-jockey Freddie Croft to suspect that his transport company, Driving Force, is involved in drug smuggling, or something far worse.
-
-
A Good Suspenseful Mystery....
- By R. Pontiflet on 04-12-15
By: Dick Francis
-
Beautiful Animals
- A Novel
- By: Lawrence Osborne
- Narrated by: Tim Campbell
- Length: 7 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On a hike during a white-hot summer break on the Greek island of Hydra, Naomi and Samantha make a startling discovery: a man named Faoud, sleeping heavily, exposed to the elements, but still alive. As the two women learn more about the man, a migrant from Syria and a casualty of the crisis raging across the Aegean Sea, their own burgeoning friendship intensifies. But when their seemingly simple plan to help Faoud unravels, all must face the horrific consequences they have set in motion.
-
-
please offer more of this author's books
- By S. Liskey on 07-20-17
By: Lawrence Osborne
-
Nurse, Come You Here!
- More True Stories of a Country Nurse on a Scottish Isle
- By: Mary J. MacLeod
- Narrated by: Jill Tanner
- Length: 10 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mary J. Macleod and her husband left the London area for an idyllic place to raise their young children in the late '60s, and they found the island of Papavray in the Scottish Hebrides. There they bought a croft house on a "small acre" of land, and Mary J. (also known as Julia) became the district nurse.
-
-
Great book!
- By Catt Pataky on 09-02-17
By: Mary J. MacLeod
-
The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit
- By: Sloan Wilson
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 11 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Here is the story of Tom and Betsy Rath, a young couple with everything going for them: three healthy children, a nice home, a steady income. They have every reason to be happy, but for some reason they are not. Like so many young men of the day, Tom finds himself caught up in the corporate rat race - what he encounters there propels him on a voyage of self-discovery that will turn his world inside out.
-
-
great read/listen
- By BBJ on 09-26-16
By: Sloan Wilson
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
On the Beach
- By: Nevil Shute
- Narrated by: Simon Prebble
- Length: 9 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A war no one fully understands has devastated the planet with radioactive fallout from massive cobalt bombing. Melbourne, Australia, is the only area whose citizens have not yet succumbed to the contamination. But there isn’t much time left, a few months, maybe more—and the citizens of Melbourne must decide how they will live the remaining weeks of their lives, and how they will face a hopeless future.
-
-
Personally a Tremendous Influence
- By N. Rogers on 06-07-14
By: Nevil Shute
-
A Town Like Alice
- By: Nevil Shute
- Narrated by: Robin Bailey
- Length: 10 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jean Paget is just twenty years old and working in Malaya when the Japanese invasion begins. When she is captured she joins a group of other European women and children whom the Japanese force to march for miles through the jungle. While on the march, the group run into some Australian prisoners, one of whom, Joe Harman, helps them steal some food, and is horrifically punished by the Japanese as a result.
-
-
An all time favorite I have read many times...
- By Peyton on 03-16-10
By: Nevil Shute
-
A Town Like Alice
- By: Nevil Shute
- Narrated by: Neil Hunt
- Length: 12 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Eight hundred women and children begin a 1,200-mile journey on foot across Japanese-occupied Malaya. At journey’s end, only 30 will still be alive. This is the story of one woman, of her ordeal, and of how she was saved by the sacrifice of an Australian soldier. It is a story of rare individual courage in the face of certain death, and hope in the face of despair.
-
-
Classic and still entertaining
- By John S on 05-13-14
By: Nevil Shute
-
The Breaking Wave
- By: Nevil Shute
- Narrated by: Patrick Tull
- Length: 8 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Allan had been away from Coombaragana, flying in the Royal Air Force. Now he has returned, wounded and disillusioned, to his ancestral home. Days before, Jessie Proctor had taken her own life. Why? Allan looked at the young face in the photograph in Jessie’s passport and froze. He knew who she really was.
-
-
A Touching Tale
- By Jim In Texas! on 05-05-12
By: Nevil Shute
-
Beyond the Black Stump
- By: Nevil Shute
- Narrated by: Davina Porter
- Length: 9 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Stanton Laird, American geologist, goes prospecting for the Topeka Exploration Company in the savage Australian outback, he finds something a good deal more precious than oil.
-
-
Davina Porter is a wonderful narrator
- By Brian PDX on 07-26-14
By: Nevil Shute
-
Alas, Babylon
- By: Pat Frank
- Narrated by: Will Patton
- Length: 11 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This true modern masterpiece is built around the two fateful words that make up the title and herald the end - “Alas, Babylon.” When a nuclear holocaust ravages the United States, a thousand years of civilization are stripped away overnight, and tens of millions of people are killed instantly. But for one small town in Florida, miraculously spared, the struggle is just beginning, as men and women of all backgrounds join together to confront the darkness....
-
-
One apocalypse--hold the zombies
- By Lesley on 01-07-14
By: Pat Frank
-
On the Beach
- By: Nevil Shute
- Narrated by: Simon Prebble
- Length: 9 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A war no one fully understands has devastated the planet with radioactive fallout from massive cobalt bombing. Melbourne, Australia, is the only area whose citizens have not yet succumbed to the contamination. But there isn’t much time left, a few months, maybe more—and the citizens of Melbourne must decide how they will live the remaining weeks of their lives, and how they will face a hopeless future.
-
-
Personally a Tremendous Influence
- By N. Rogers on 06-07-14
By: Nevil Shute
-
A Town Like Alice
- By: Nevil Shute
- Narrated by: Robin Bailey
- Length: 10 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jean Paget is just twenty years old and working in Malaya when the Japanese invasion begins. When she is captured she joins a group of other European women and children whom the Japanese force to march for miles through the jungle. While on the march, the group run into some Australian prisoners, one of whom, Joe Harman, helps them steal some food, and is horrifically punished by the Japanese as a result.
-
-
An all time favorite I have read many times...
- By Peyton on 03-16-10
By: Nevil Shute
-
A Town Like Alice
- By: Nevil Shute
- Narrated by: Neil Hunt
- Length: 12 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Eight hundred women and children begin a 1,200-mile journey on foot across Japanese-occupied Malaya. At journey’s end, only 30 will still be alive. This is the story of one woman, of her ordeal, and of how she was saved by the sacrifice of an Australian soldier. It is a story of rare individual courage in the face of certain death, and hope in the face of despair.
-
-
Classic and still entertaining
- By John S on 05-13-14
By: Nevil Shute
-
The Breaking Wave
- By: Nevil Shute
- Narrated by: Patrick Tull
- Length: 8 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Allan had been away from Coombaragana, flying in the Royal Air Force. Now he has returned, wounded and disillusioned, to his ancestral home. Days before, Jessie Proctor had taken her own life. Why? Allan looked at the young face in the photograph in Jessie’s passport and froze. He knew who she really was.
-
-
A Touching Tale
- By Jim In Texas! on 05-05-12
By: Nevil Shute
-
Beyond the Black Stump
- By: Nevil Shute
- Narrated by: Davina Porter
- Length: 9 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Stanton Laird, American geologist, goes prospecting for the Topeka Exploration Company in the savage Australian outback, he finds something a good deal more precious than oil.
-
-
Davina Porter is a wonderful narrator
- By Brian PDX on 07-26-14
By: Nevil Shute
-
Alas, Babylon
- By: Pat Frank
- Narrated by: Will Patton
- Length: 11 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This true modern masterpiece is built around the two fateful words that make up the title and herald the end - “Alas, Babylon.” When a nuclear holocaust ravages the United States, a thousand years of civilization are stripped away overnight, and tens of millions of people are killed instantly. But for one small town in Florida, miraculously spared, the struggle is just beginning, as men and women of all backgrounds join together to confront the darkness....
-
-
One apocalypse--hold the zombies
- By Lesley on 01-07-14
By: Pat Frank
-
Earth Abides
- By: George R. Stewart
- Narrated by: Timothy Andrés Pabon
- Length: 13 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The cabin had always been a special retreat for Isherwood Williams, a haven from the demands of society. But one day while hiking, Ish was bitten by a rattlesnake, and the solitude he had so desired took on dire new significance. Ish headed home when he finally felt himself again—and noticed the strangeness almost immediately. No cars passed him on the road; the gas station not far from his cabin looked abandoned; and he was shocked to see the body of a man on the roadside near a small town. Without a radio or phone, Ish had no idea of humanity’s abrupt demise.
-
-
The accolades are undeserved
- By 2duckornot2duck on 04-26-21
-
Lucifer's Hammer
- By: Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle
- Narrated by: Marc Vietor
- Length: 24 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The gigantic comet had slammed into Earth, forging earthquakes a thousand times too powerful to measure on the Richter scale, tidal waves thousands of feet high. Cities were turned into oceans; oceans turned into steam. It was the beginning of a new Ice Age and the end of civilization. But for the terrified men and women chance had saved, it was also the dawn of a new struggle for survival--a struggle more dangerous and challenging than any they had ever known....
-
-
Good story from front to back
- By DJM on 07-30-09
By: Larry Niven, and others
-
Pastoral
- By: Nevil Shute
- Narrated by: Frank Muller
- Length: 8 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
She was from the hills of Yorkshire, country born and bred. He was a city boy. By the stream where they fished they were two young people falling in love. Overhead, the bombers roared, threatening to blow their idyllic world, so young, so fresh, to smithereens.
-
-
Historical romance set in WWII England.
- By Stan on 06-19-12
By: Nevil Shute
-
In the Wet
- By: Nevil Shute
- Narrated by: Norman Dietz
- Length: 11 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An old man lies dying during the rainy season in the Queensland outback. And in the night, slipping in and out of an opium sleep that drifts him towards death, he draws his listener into a tale that opens onto incredible horizons.
-
-
Stay with this book; it's worth it!
- By Kathy on 06-19-12
By: Nevil Shute
-
Ordeal
- By: Nevil Shute
- Narrated by: Ian Stuart
- Length: 6 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Life in the Corbett family turned upside down when the first German bombs struck their well-ordered street. But life goes on through fire and destruction, life and love rising from the rubble of London and “the Blitz.”
-
-
Absorbing!
- By Eileen on 02-12-12
By: Nevil Shute
-
One Second After
- By: William R. Forstchen
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 13 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Already cited on the floor of Congress and discussed in the corridors of the Pentagon as a book all Americans should read, One Second After is the story of a war scenario that could become all too terrifyingly real. Based upon a real weapon - the Electro Magnetic Pulse (EMP) - which may already be in the hands of our enemies, it is a truly realistic look at the awesome power of a weapon that can destroy the entire United States.
-
-
A Civil War Re-enactor Saves a Community?
- By Cidney on 07-05-12
What listeners say about On the Beach
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kurtiss Jacobs
- 08-26-19
Last humans on Earrh
If you’re into this genre, this is one of the must-reads. Not as classic as Earth Abides, but worth your time.
Performance: Narrator was too slow. I set for 1.25 speed, which helped. It’s Australian accent and language, so I couldn’t go 1.5x.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
- Jennifer
- 12-31-10
Depression Hurts
This book could send you right over the edge... WOW. What a hopeless story. Umm, I just couldn't understand why these people, given like a whole year to prepare, couldn't use all of the resources they had to build an underground shelter to house as many people as possible. They had plenty of time to come up with a decent system of underground living area that could have given them a fighting chance to survive as many years as possible trying to wait out the nuclear winter.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
6 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- apocalyptic fiction
- 09-06-12
Nuclear War Classic
On the Beach, written by Nevil Shute and published in 1957 is a somber post apocalyptic novel that follows survivors in Australia after a nuclear war and subsequent radioactive fallout has contaminated most of the world. Much of the story revolves around an American nuclear submarine, the last of the US Navy, docked in Melbourne and under the command of Captain Dwight Towers. The post apocalyptic world has been contaminated with high levels of radiation stemming from the use of cobalt bombs by the Russian and Chinese military forces. This story is character driven, focusing on the struggle for people to maintain some sense of purpose in spite of their doom. It was slightly disappointing that most of the people in On the Beach basically give up and passively accept death. Why didn’t they attempt to create a shelter in which some people could survive until the levels of radioactivity decreased? (scientists mention several times that the radioactive cobalt has a 5-10 year half-life) Released at the height of the Cold War, On the Beach has elements of a warning or cautionary tale and is clearly written with some political intentions in mind. While On the Beach is a well written novel that explores some important ideas worthy of consideration, it is slow-paced and uneventful at times. If you are looking for excitement and entertainment you may want to look at some other reading options.
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
- Darryl
- 08-15-16
Classic apocalyptic
This is simply a classic and well written. Not as brutal as The Road, but still powerful as the people can do nothing but wait and find ways to fill their remaining days with distraction. I've read this and now listened to it a couple more times and it has aged well. One of the early apocalyptic novels, and one of the best. No zombies, no ridiculous shoot em up stuff, just realism.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- Jason
- 12-28-10
What could have been.
An almost true story about the aftermath of the very brief WWIII (due to the inclusion of nukes). Considering how one man prevented this from happening during the Cuban Missile Crisis, this story is quite realistic. It lets you look into the psychology of people who have the luxury/curse of knowing the date of their death because of the upcoming nuclear fallout. It gives them fear while also letting them truly live. It's an interesting concept to observe as you wonder just how you would live if you knew when you were going to die. Nevil Shute pulls no punches as this is a very sad story overall.
Be warned however that unless you find the subject matter fascinating you may not greatly enjoy this. It can be a little depressing and there isn't much excitement in the story. It is more about observing how ordinary people in Australia live knowing they will soon be dead because of a war they did not want.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
11 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- D. Tucker
- 04-03-14
Facing the end with poise
If you could sum up On the Beach in three words, what would they be?
Satisfying. Tragic. Resilient.
Who was your favorite character and why?
Peter Holmes. He seems to entertain no illusions about the future of the world, but doesn't seem to be despondent like Moira, or optimistic to the point of delusion like Dwight or Mary. His argument with his wife over the pills, the fruition of his frustration over her choice to be blissfully ignorant is compelling. He is a realist, but not without a sense of hope.
What do you think the narrator could have done better?
Nothing. All inflections and accents done sublimely.
Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
When the source of the radio transmissions was found, it was a particularly bleak moment, but it was the feeling I needed at that time.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Michael M. Livermore
- 07-25-24
Loves the narrator.
Obviously it is a bleak topic, but it was well written and I enjoyed it. The narrator, when speaking for Towers, sounded much like Gregory Peck who of course played him in the movie. I would listen to it again.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- bionichands
- 03-21-12
well read classic novel of post nuclear apocalypse
I've had this book on my list to read for quite a long time. I was glad to finally find it on audible, and it didn't disappoint. If you're a fan of Hemingway's war novels, I'd say this would be a safe bet for you. Its a little sad and depressing given the bleak subject matter, but still a good and ultimately rewarding read.
My favorite part of the audiobook was the narrator who does a fantastic job. In particular, I loved his voice for Capt. Towers. Sounds like a weird mix of Christopher Walken and Dean Martin! I quite enjoyed it.
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
- Soccerman71
- 07-22-15
Dying With Dignity
Where does On the Beach rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
On the Beach is definitely the best apocalyptic audiobook I've listened to. It's a classic for a reason and Nevil Shute handled his subject matter masterfully.
Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?
How to answer this one. Not really 'edge of my seat' as I knew going into it what the outcome would be. I would say that the plot definitely kept me 100% engaged with the characters the entire time.
What does James Smillie bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
James Smillie did a brilliant job of bringing this classic to audio form. For me, one of the biggest compliments I can pay a reader is that they don't get in the way of the source material...and he definitely passes this test. I also believe that he does a great job of really bringing life into the different characters.
If you could rename On the Beach, what would you call it?
Just like my title, "Dying with Dignity." That said, I wouldn't want to rename the novel. On the Beach is a naval phrase for "out of commission", and I believe that covers things perfectly.
Any additional comments?
I went into this expecting all doom and gloom and, don't get me wrong, that is definitely always there. However, this isn't some sort of nihilistic view of the end of the world.
I grew to love the characters and the dignity with which they faced their certain outcome. Shute paints a picture of the end of the world really bringing out the best of the human race instead of a more Cormac McCarthy viewpoint (with all respect to both authors).
The thought of unavoidable death in the means of a radioactive cloud that is ruthlessly making its way south is horrific, but the characters Shute has created are heroes in my mind in the manner of how they individually deal with this fact.
This novel isn't for everyone and I would definitely stay away from this (as well as most apocalyptic novels) if you tend towards depression due to the last 3 chapters alone. However, if the subject matter interests you and if you are a fan of novels such as "Alas, Babylon", then I couldn't recommend this novel more. Again, it's a classic for a reason.
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
- Matt Lagrotte
- 04-18-12
Pretty Good Story
If you could sum up On the Beach in three words, what would they be?
Sad, Real, Brandy
How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?
Maybe more details during the sub missions.
Which scene was your favorite?
I didn't really have a favorite.
Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
No. it just made me very sad.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful