
Penitence
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
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $20.24
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Thérèse Plummer
-
By:
-
Kristin Koval
About this listen
For fans of Ann Patchett and Celeste Ng, Penitence is a poignant exploration of love and forgiveness. It’s a suspenseful, addictive audiobook filled with literary insight that compels listeners to consider whether the worst thing we’ve ever done is all that defines us.
“Plummer is a joy to listen to. She brings insight and emotional depth to the characters as they grapple with mistakes from their pasts. Plummer imbues her performance with the perfect amount of energy and tension.”—AudioFile
When a shocking murder occurs in the home of Angie and David Sheehan, their lives are shattered. Desperate to defend their family, they turn to small-town lawyer Martine Dumont for help, but Martine isn’t just legal counsel—she’s also the mother of Angie’s first love, Julian, a now-successful New York City criminal defense attorney. As Julian and Angie confront their shared past and long-buried guilt from a tragic accident years ago, they must navigate their own culpability and the unresolved feelings between them.
Spanning decades, from the ski slopes of rural Colorado to the streets of pre-9/11 New York City and back again, Kristin Koval’s debut novel Penitence is an examination of the complexities of familial loyalty, the journey of redemption, and the profound experience of true forgiveness.
A Macmillan Audio production from Celadon Books.
©2025 Kristin Koval (P)2025 Macmillan AudioListeners also enjoyed...
-
The Snowbirds
- A Novel
- By: Christina Clancy
- Narrated by: Graham Halstead, Karissa Vacker
- Length: 9 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Kim and Grant are at a turning point. A couple for thirty years, their "separate but together" partnership is running up against the realities of late middle age: Grant’s mother has died, the college where he taught philosophy was shuttered, and their twin girls are grown and gone. Escaping the bitter cold of a Midwestern winter for the hot desert sun of Palm Springs seems as good a solution as any to the more intractable problems they face.
-
-
Great storytelling.
- By Steven M Jorgensen on 03-24-25
By: Christina Clancy
-
Broken Country
- By: Clare Leslie Hall
- Narrated by: Hattie Morahan
- Length: 8 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Beth and her gentle, kind husband Frank are happily married, but their relationship relies on the past staying buried. But when Beth’s brother-in-law shoots a dog going after their sheep, Beth doesn’t realize that the gunshot will alter the course of their lives. For the dog belonged to none other than Gabriel Wolfe, the man Beth loved as a teenager—the man who broke her heart years ago. Gabriel has returned to the village with his young son Leo, a boy who reminds Beth very much of her own son, who died in a tragic accident.
-
-
Excellent storytelling
- By A.E.C. on 03-15-25
-
Three Days in June
- A Novel
- By: Anne Tyler
- Narrated by: J. Smith-Cameron
- Length: 4 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Gail Baines is having a bad day. To start, she loses her job—or quits, depending on whom you ask. Tomorrow her daughter, Debbie, is getting married, and she hasn’t even been invited to the spa day organized by the mother of the groom. Then, Gail’s ex-husband, Max, arrives unannounced on her doorstep, carrying a cat, without a place to stay, and without even a suit. But the true crisis lands when Debbie shares with her parents a secret she has just learned about her husband to be. It will not only throw the wedding into question but also stir up Gail and Max’s past.
-
-
Simple, Enjoyable, performed 5 stars
- By PM on 02-14-25
By: Anne Tyler
-
Madwoman
- By: Chelsea Bieker
- Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld
- Length: 9 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Clove has gone to extremes to keep her past a secret. Thanks to her lies, she’s landed the life of her dreams, complete with a safe husband and two adoring children who will never know the terror that was routine in her own childhood. If her buried anxiety threatens to breach the surface, Clove (if that is really her name) focuses on finding the right supplement, the right gratitude meditation. But when she receives a letter from a women’s prison in California, her past comes screeching into the present, entangling her in a dangerous game with memory and the people she thought she had outrun.
-
-
Relevent
- By Medusa on 10-10-24
By: Chelsea Bieker
-
Count My Lies
- By: Sophie Stava
- Narrated by: Andrew Eiden, Devon Sorvari, Emily Tremaine
- Length: 10 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sloane Caraway is a liar. Harmless lies, mostly, to make her self-proclaimed sad, little life a bit more interesting. So when Sloane sees a young girl in tears at a park one afternoon, she can't help herself—she tells the girl’s (very attractive) dad she’s a nurse and helps him pull a bee stinger from the girl’s foot. With this lie, and chance encounter, Sloane becomes the nanny for the wealthy, and privileged Jay and Violet Lockhart. The perfect New York couple, with a brownstone, a daughter in private school, and summers on Block Island.
-
-
It’s boring
- By Anonymous User on 03-08-25
By: Sophie Stava
-
We Could Be Rats
- A Novel
- By: Emily Austin
- Narrated by: Candace Thaxton
- Length: 5 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sigrid hates working at the Dollar Pal, but having always resisted the idea of growing up into the trappings of adulthood, she did not graduate high school, preferring to roam the streets of her small town with her best friend Greta, the only person in the world who ever understood her. Her older sister Margit is baffled and frustrated by Sigrid’s inability to conform to the expectations of polite society.
-
-
Sisterhood can be complicated when you are queer
- By zoe on 03-10-25
By: Emily Austin
-
The Snowbirds
- A Novel
- By: Christina Clancy
- Narrated by: Graham Halstead, Karissa Vacker
- Length: 9 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Kim and Grant are at a turning point. A couple for thirty years, their "separate but together" partnership is running up against the realities of late middle age: Grant’s mother has died, the college where he taught philosophy was shuttered, and their twin girls are grown and gone. Escaping the bitter cold of a Midwestern winter for the hot desert sun of Palm Springs seems as good a solution as any to the more intractable problems they face.
-
-
Great storytelling.
- By Steven M Jorgensen on 03-24-25
By: Christina Clancy
-
Broken Country
- By: Clare Leslie Hall
- Narrated by: Hattie Morahan
- Length: 8 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Beth and her gentle, kind husband Frank are happily married, but their relationship relies on the past staying buried. But when Beth’s brother-in-law shoots a dog going after their sheep, Beth doesn’t realize that the gunshot will alter the course of their lives. For the dog belonged to none other than Gabriel Wolfe, the man Beth loved as a teenager—the man who broke her heart years ago. Gabriel has returned to the village with his young son Leo, a boy who reminds Beth very much of her own son, who died in a tragic accident.
-
-
Excellent storytelling
- By A.E.C. on 03-15-25
-
Three Days in June
- A Novel
- By: Anne Tyler
- Narrated by: J. Smith-Cameron
- Length: 4 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Gail Baines is having a bad day. To start, she loses her job—or quits, depending on whom you ask. Tomorrow her daughter, Debbie, is getting married, and she hasn’t even been invited to the spa day organized by the mother of the groom. Then, Gail’s ex-husband, Max, arrives unannounced on her doorstep, carrying a cat, without a place to stay, and without even a suit. But the true crisis lands when Debbie shares with her parents a secret she has just learned about her husband to be. It will not only throw the wedding into question but also stir up Gail and Max’s past.
-
-
Simple, Enjoyable, performed 5 stars
- By PM on 02-14-25
By: Anne Tyler
-
Madwoman
- By: Chelsea Bieker
- Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld
- Length: 9 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Clove has gone to extremes to keep her past a secret. Thanks to her lies, she’s landed the life of her dreams, complete with a safe husband and two adoring children who will never know the terror that was routine in her own childhood. If her buried anxiety threatens to breach the surface, Clove (if that is really her name) focuses on finding the right supplement, the right gratitude meditation. But when she receives a letter from a women’s prison in California, her past comes screeching into the present, entangling her in a dangerous game with memory and the people she thought she had outrun.
-
-
Relevent
- By Medusa on 10-10-24
By: Chelsea Bieker
-
Count My Lies
- By: Sophie Stava
- Narrated by: Andrew Eiden, Devon Sorvari, Emily Tremaine
- Length: 10 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sloane Caraway is a liar. Harmless lies, mostly, to make her self-proclaimed sad, little life a bit more interesting. So when Sloane sees a young girl in tears at a park one afternoon, she can't help herself—she tells the girl’s (very attractive) dad she’s a nurse and helps him pull a bee stinger from the girl’s foot. With this lie, and chance encounter, Sloane becomes the nanny for the wealthy, and privileged Jay and Violet Lockhart. The perfect New York couple, with a brownstone, a daughter in private school, and summers on Block Island.
-
-
It’s boring
- By Anonymous User on 03-08-25
By: Sophie Stava
-
We Could Be Rats
- A Novel
- By: Emily Austin
- Narrated by: Candace Thaxton
- Length: 5 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sigrid hates working at the Dollar Pal, but having always resisted the idea of growing up into the trappings of adulthood, she did not graduate high school, preferring to roam the streets of her small town with her best friend Greta, the only person in the world who ever understood her. Her older sister Margit is baffled and frustrated by Sigrid’s inability to conform to the expectations of polite society.
-
-
Sisterhood can be complicated when you are queer
- By zoe on 03-10-25
By: Emily Austin
-
Electric God
- By: Catherine Ryan Hyde
- Narrated by: Brian Holden
- Length: 8 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hayden Reese has a bad habit of breaking people's jaws. Granted, he only breaks jaws that deserved some breaking, but he's starting a whole new feud, with the husband of his lover—and this time, it may cost him his life. Hayden's life has never been easy. His father tormented him, his kid brother got all the approval, and he made a fatal mistake that he's never been able to forgive himself for making. But when Hayden's future is shattered by his bad choices, he has to redeem himself in the eyes of his long-estranged daughter Allegra.
-
Black Woods, Blue Sky
- A Novel
- By: Eowyn Ivey
- Narrated by: Rebecca Lowman
- Length: 11 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Birdie’s keeping it together; of course she is. So she’s a little hungover, sometimes, and she has to bring her daughter, Emaleen, to her job waiting tables at an Alaskan roadside lodge, but she’s getting by as a single mother in a tough town. Still, Birdie can remember happier times from her youth, when she was free in the wilds of nature. Arthur Neilsen, a soft-spoken and scarred recluse who appears in town only at the change of seasons, brings Emaleen back to safety when she gets lost in the woods. Most people avoid him, but to Birdie, he represents everything she’s ever longed for.
-
-
Compelling story and characters
- By LoriB49 on 03-27-25
By: Eowyn Ivey
-
Nesting
- A Novel
- By: Roisín O'Donnell
- Narrated by: Louisa Harland
- Length: 10 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On a bright spring afternoon, Ciara Fay makes a split-second decision that will change everything. Grabbing an armful of clothes off the clothesline, she straps her two young daughters into her car and drives away. Head spinning, all she knows for certain is that home is no longer safe—and that this time, when she leaves, she must stay away. On the surface, she has a perfect life: her husband, Ryan, is a good provider, sometimes even kind and attentive, from a nice Irish family, and they have another baby on the way.
-
-
Loved the book - very well written
- By Weezie on 03-26-25
By: Roisín O'Donnell
-
Wild Dark Shore
- A Novel
- By: Charlotte McConaghy
- Narrated by: Cooper Mortlock, Katherine Littrell, Saskia Maarleveld, and others
- Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dominic Salt and his three children are caretakers of Shearwater, a tiny island not far from Antarctica. Home to the world’s largest seed bank, Shearwater was once full of researchers, but with sea levels rising, the Salts are now its final inhabitants. Until, during the worst storm the island has ever seen, a woman mysteriously washes ashore.
-
-
Stunning
- By MrsForbes1120 on 03-27-25
-
Good Dirt
- A Novel
- By: Charmaine Wilkerson
- Narrated by: January LaVoy
- Length: 11 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When ten-year-old Ebby Freeman heard the gunshot, time stopped. And when she saw her brother, Baz, lying on the floor surrounded by the shattered pieces of a centuries-old jar, life as Ebby knew it shattered as well. The crime was never solved—and because the Freemans were one of the only Black families in a particularly well-to-do enclave of New England—the case has had an enduring, voyeuristic pull for the public. The last thing the Freemans want is another media frenzy splashing their family across the papers, but when Ebby's high profile romance falls apart, that's exactly what they get.
-
-
Moments of brilliance
- By MyLastRomanceNovel on 03-01-25
-
Wedding Dashers
- By: Heather McBreen
- Narrated by: Brittany Pressley, Heather McBreen
- Length: 11 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ada’s little sister is getting married. Which should be a happy thought, right? But the once close sisters have been in a year long fight, the wedding is all the way in Ireland, and Ada is so broke that she just barely managed to get a ticket on a budget airline. And as if things couldn’t get worse, said airline just cancelled her connection. Which means Ada is stuck in London with no way to make it to the wedding.
-
-
Planes, trains and automobiles..love edition
- By Jewels D on 03-10-25
By: Heather McBreen
-
A Killing Cold
- A Novel
- By: Kate Alice Marshall
- Narrated by: Karissa Vacker
- Length: 9 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Theodora Scott met Connor—wealthy, charming, and a member of the powerful Dalton family—she fell in love in an instant. Six months later, he’s brought her to Idlewood, his family’s isolated winter retreat, to win over his skeptical relatives. Stay away from Connor Dalton.Theo has tried to ignore the threatening messages on her phone, but she can’t ignore the footprints in the snow outside the cabin window or the strange sense of familiarity she has about this place. Then, in a disused cabin, Theo finds something impossible: a photo of herself as a child. A photo taken at Idlewood.
-
-
Not as much Twists as other reviews say
- By Jordan Aguilera on 02-13-25
-
Not a Normal Family
- By: Rachel Hargrove
- Narrated by: Sarah Welborn, Danny Montooth
- Length: 7 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Amber Pierce thought she'd planned the perfect family vacation. Seeking to mend the rift with her daughter, she books a camping retreat in the breathtaking Cascades . . . a trip that includes her ex-husband and his new wife. But hours into their first hike, the group takes a wrong turn. Days later, they're lost, hungry, dehydrated, and hope is fading.
-
-
Painful to listen
- By Danielle P. Langston on 03-19-25
By: Rachel Hargrove
-
Tell Me What You Did
- A Novel
- By: Carter Wilson
- Narrated by: Allyson Ryan, Patrick Zeller
- Length: 9 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Poe Webb, host of a popular true crime podcast, invites people to anonymously confess crimes they’ve committed to her audience. She can’t guarantee the police won’t come after her “guests,” but her show grants simultaneous anonymity and instant fame—a potent combination that’s proven difficult to resist. After an episode recording, Poe usually erases both criminal and crime from her mind. But when a strange and oddly familiar man appears on her show, Poe is forced to take a second look.
-
-
Good story.
- By Sami on 02-23-25
By: Carter Wilson
-
What Happened to the McCrays?
- A Novel
- By: Tracey Lange
- Narrated by: Stephanie Németh-Parker, William DeMeritt
- Length: 10 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Kyle McCray gets word his father has suffered a debilitating stroke, he returns to his hometown of Potsdam, New York, where he doesn’t expect a warm welcome. Kyle left suddenly two and a half years ago, abandoning people who depended on him: his father, his employees, his friends—not to mention Casey, his wife of sixteen years and a beloved teacher in town. He plans to lie low and help his dad recuperate until he can leave again, especially after Casey makes it clear she wants him gone.
-
-
Real and moving
- By John P. Holderer on 03-06-25
By: Tracey Lange
-
Head Cases
- A Novel
- By: John McMahon
- Narrated by: Will Damron
- Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
FBI Agent Gardner Camden is an analytical genius with an affinity for puzzles. He also has a blind spot on the human side of investigations, a blindness that sometimes even includes people in his own life, like his beloved seven-year-old daughter Camila. Gardner and his squad of brilliant yet quirky agents make up the Patterns and Recognition (PAR) unit, the FBI’s hidden edge, brought in for cases that no one else can solve. When DNA links a murder victim to a serial killer long presumed dead, the team springs into action.
-
-
This one is a WINNER!!!!
- By shelley on 01-31-25
By: John McMahon
-
More or Less Maddy
- A Novel
- By: Lisa Genova
- Narrated by: Tessa Albertson
- Length: 9 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Maddy Banks is just like any other stressed-out freshman at NYU. Between schoolwork, exams, navigating life in the city, and a recent breakup, it’s normal to be feeling overwhelmed. It doesn’t help that she’s always felt like the odd one out in her picture-perfect Connecticut family. But Maddy’s latest low is devastatingly low, and she goes on an antidepressant. She begins to feel good, dazzling in fact, and she soon spirals high into a wild and terrifying mania that culminates in a diagnosis of bipolar disorder.
-
-
Painfully Accurate
- By B. E. Jackson on 03-14-25
By: Lisa Genova
Critic reviews
"Koval maintains the pacing of a thriller while going deep on themes of guilt, forgiveness, and the toll of keeping secrets. Readers won’t be able to look away."—Publishers Weekly
"While exploring the complexities of personal and family relationships, this engrossing, emotionally charged novel also examines the way forgiveness comes from acceptance that 'each one of us is more than the worst we’ve ever done.' An intelligent, deftly crafted suspense debut."—Kirkus
"Fans of Little Fires Everywhere will appreciate this deeply moving novel about what it takes to let go of guilt and find redemption. Koval’s background in law lends realism to her image of America’s broken criminal justice system, and her prose poignantly exposes what it takes to find forgiveness."—Booklist
Related to this topic
-
Once Upon a Crime
- By: Brynn Kelly
- Narrated by: Chase Brown, Rebekkah Ross
- Length: 10 hrs and 50 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lana Fleming’s sister has vanished from the set of TV’s hottest show, and no one seems to care. Desperate for answers, Lana sneaks in as an extra, only to get stranded with Griffin Hart, an A-list action star with a reputation for good abs and bad decisions. Though Griffin didn’t expect to be cast as a librarian’s sidekick in a real-life thriller, he’s weirdly into it—and into her. Even more unsettling—she sees right through his playboy persona. But their meet-cute soon turns deadly when they uncover a Hollywood scandal for the ages.
-
-
Never a dull moment
- By Christina Clark on 03-11-25
By: Brynn Kelly
-
The Commuter
- By: James Patterson, Aaron Tracy
- Narrated by: Lizzy Caplan, Richard Schiff, Thomas Lennon, and others
- Length: 2 hrs and 30 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Amy Nicols (Lizzy Caplan) was an FBI agent with a dogged need to protect everyone—until that instinct caused her to mishandle a crisis, lose innocent lives, and lose her job. Now a civilian working in private security, that mistake still haunts her. One morning on the commuter train, she overhears a young couple plotting a murder. Ignoring warnings from her family and friends, Amy’s instinct to protect and serve compels her to investigate. But the further she goes, the more she finds her own life in danger.
-
-
Amazing full cast audio production and storyline
- By Jason Nichols on 03-02-25
By: James Patterson, and others
-
Verity
- By: Colleen Hoover
- Narrated by: Vanessa Johansson, Amy Landon
- Length: 8 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lowen Ashleigh is a struggling writer on the brink of financial ruin when she accepts the job offer of a lifetime. Jeremy Crawford, husband of best-selling author Verity Crawford, has hired Lowen to complete the remaining books in a successful series his injured wife is unable to finish. Lowen arrives at the Crawford home, ready to sort through years of Verity's notes and outlines, hoping to find enough material to get her started. What Lowen doesn't expect to uncover in the chaotic office is an unfinished autobiography Verity never intended for anyone to read.
-
-
intriguing but skip if triggered by child abuse
- By Amazon Customer on 05-16-19
By: Colleen Hoover
-
Too Late
- Definitive Edition
- By: Colleen Hoover
- Narrated by: Ryan Gray, Maxine Mitchell, Joe Arden
- Length: 10 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sloan will go through hell and back for those she loves. And she does so, every single day. Caught up with the alluring Asa Jackson, a notorious drug trafficker, Sloan has finally found a lifeline to cling to, even if it’s meant compromising her morals. She was in dire straits trying to pay for her brother’s care until she met Asa. But as Sloan became emotionally and economically reliant on him, he in turn developed a disturbing obsession with her—one that becomes increasingly dangerous every day.
-
-
Triggering and poor narration
- By Katherine Epperson on 07-11-23
By: Colleen Hoover
-
Eleven Numbers
- A Short Story
- By: Lee Child
- Narrated by: James Anderson Foster
- Length: 1 hr and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nathan Tyler is an unassuming professor at a middling American university with a rather obscure specialty in mathematics—in short, a nobody from nowhere. So why is the White House calling? Summoned to Washington, DC, for a top-secret briefing, Nathan discovers that he’s the key to a massive foreign intelligence breakthrough. Reading between the lines of a cryptic series of equations, he could open a door straight into the heart of the Kremlin and change the global balance of power forever.
-
-
Wonderful
- By Or on 02-02-25
By: Lee Child
-
George Orwell’s 1984
- An Audible Original adaptation
- By: George Orwell, Joe White - adaptation
- Narrated by: Andrew Garfield, Cynthia Erivo, Andrew Scott, and others
- Length: 3 hrs and 27 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It’s 1984, and life has changed beyond recognition. Airstrip One, formerly known as Great Britain, is a place where Big Brother is always watching, and nobody can hide. Except, perhaps, for Winston Smith. Whilst working at the Ministry of Truth, rewriting history, he secretly dreams of freedom. And in a world where love and sex are forbidden, where it’s hard to distinguish between friend and foe, he meets Julia and O’Brien and vows to rebel.
-
-
A Revelation!
- By wotsallthisthen on 04-07-24
By: George Orwell, and others
-
Once Upon a Crime
- By: Brynn Kelly
- Narrated by: Chase Brown, Rebekkah Ross
- Length: 10 hrs and 50 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lana Fleming’s sister has vanished from the set of TV’s hottest show, and no one seems to care. Desperate for answers, Lana sneaks in as an extra, only to get stranded with Griffin Hart, an A-list action star with a reputation for good abs and bad decisions. Though Griffin didn’t expect to be cast as a librarian’s sidekick in a real-life thriller, he’s weirdly into it—and into her. Even more unsettling—she sees right through his playboy persona. But their meet-cute soon turns deadly when they uncover a Hollywood scandal for the ages.
-
-
Never a dull moment
- By Christina Clark on 03-11-25
By: Brynn Kelly
-
The Commuter
- By: James Patterson, Aaron Tracy
- Narrated by: Lizzy Caplan, Richard Schiff, Thomas Lennon, and others
- Length: 2 hrs and 30 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Amy Nicols (Lizzy Caplan) was an FBI agent with a dogged need to protect everyone—until that instinct caused her to mishandle a crisis, lose innocent lives, and lose her job. Now a civilian working in private security, that mistake still haunts her. One morning on the commuter train, she overhears a young couple plotting a murder. Ignoring warnings from her family and friends, Amy’s instinct to protect and serve compels her to investigate. But the further she goes, the more she finds her own life in danger.
-
-
Amazing full cast audio production and storyline
- By Jason Nichols on 03-02-25
By: James Patterson, and others
-
Verity
- By: Colleen Hoover
- Narrated by: Vanessa Johansson, Amy Landon
- Length: 8 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lowen Ashleigh is a struggling writer on the brink of financial ruin when she accepts the job offer of a lifetime. Jeremy Crawford, husband of best-selling author Verity Crawford, has hired Lowen to complete the remaining books in a successful series his injured wife is unable to finish. Lowen arrives at the Crawford home, ready to sort through years of Verity's notes and outlines, hoping to find enough material to get her started. What Lowen doesn't expect to uncover in the chaotic office is an unfinished autobiography Verity never intended for anyone to read.
-
-
intriguing but skip if triggered by child abuse
- By Amazon Customer on 05-16-19
By: Colleen Hoover
-
Too Late
- Definitive Edition
- By: Colleen Hoover
- Narrated by: Ryan Gray, Maxine Mitchell, Joe Arden
- Length: 10 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sloan will go through hell and back for those she loves. And she does so, every single day. Caught up with the alluring Asa Jackson, a notorious drug trafficker, Sloan has finally found a lifeline to cling to, even if it’s meant compromising her morals. She was in dire straits trying to pay for her brother’s care until she met Asa. But as Sloan became emotionally and economically reliant on him, he in turn developed a disturbing obsession with her—one that becomes increasingly dangerous every day.
-
-
Triggering and poor narration
- By Katherine Epperson on 07-11-23
By: Colleen Hoover
-
Eleven Numbers
- A Short Story
- By: Lee Child
- Narrated by: James Anderson Foster
- Length: 1 hr and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nathan Tyler is an unassuming professor at a middling American university with a rather obscure specialty in mathematics—in short, a nobody from nowhere. So why is the White House calling? Summoned to Washington, DC, for a top-secret briefing, Nathan discovers that he’s the key to a massive foreign intelligence breakthrough. Reading between the lines of a cryptic series of equations, he could open a door straight into the heart of the Kremlin and change the global balance of power forever.
-
-
Wonderful
- By Or on 02-02-25
By: Lee Child
-
George Orwell’s 1984
- An Audible Original adaptation
- By: George Orwell, Joe White - adaptation
- Narrated by: Andrew Garfield, Cynthia Erivo, Andrew Scott, and others
- Length: 3 hrs and 27 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It’s 1984, and life has changed beyond recognition. Airstrip One, formerly known as Great Britain, is a place where Big Brother is always watching, and nobody can hide. Except, perhaps, for Winston Smith. Whilst working at the Ministry of Truth, rewriting history, he secretly dreams of freedom. And in a world where love and sex are forbidden, where it’s hard to distinguish between friend and foe, he meets Julia and O’Brien and vows to rebel.
-
-
A Revelation!
- By wotsallthisthen on 04-07-24
By: George Orwell, and others
-
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
-
Do You Remember?
- By: Freida McFadden
- Narrated by: Teri Schnaubelt
- Length: 7 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tess Strebel can’t recognize her own face. She can’t recognize her home. Her bedroom is unfamiliar. And she can’t remember the handsome stranger lying next to her in bed. A stranger who claims he’s her husband. Tess reads a letter in her own handwriting, composed during a rare lucid day, explaining her life as it now exists: she was in a terrible car accident one year ago. Every morning, she wakes up unable to remember most of the last decade. Including her own wedding.
-
-
One of the better ones
- By cotswoldrose on 10-13-24
By: Freida McFadden
-
10 Rules for the Perfect Murder
- By: James Patterson, Chris Tebbetts
- Narrated by: Reid Scott, Cobie Smulders, full cast
- Length: 3 hrs and 2 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After the killing of a prominent mob lawyer, NYPD homicide detectives Jacob Jackson and Caitlin Grimes start receive chilling, written “rules” for how to commit the perfect murder. "Rule number one for the perfect murder: Evidence is your enemy. Leave none behind." Jackson (Reid Scott) and Grimes (Cobie Smulders) race to find the killer, setting them on a collision course with the city’s crime underbelly, and a perpetrator who seems happy to toy with them. “Rule number two. No crimes of passion. The perfect murder is always business, never pleasure.”
-
-
Tricky
- By Robert Scott Read on 10-30-24
By: James Patterson, and others
-
Sherlock Holmes: The Definitive Collection
- By: Arthur Conan Doyle, Stephen Fry - introductions
- Narrated by: Stephen Fry
- Length: 71 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ever since he made his first appearance in A Study In Scarlet, Sherlock Holmes has enthralled and delighted millions of fans throughout the world. Now Audible is proud to present Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes, read by Stephen Fry. A lifelong fan of Doyle's detective fiction, Fry has narrated the definitive collection of Sherlock Holmes - four novels and four collections of short stories. And, exclusively for Audible, Stephen has written and narrated eight insightful introductions, one for each title.
-
-
Chapter Guide!
- By Katya Rice on 05-25-18
By: Arthur Conan Doyle, and others
-
Mad Love
- By: Wendy Walker
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan, Alexis Bledel, Renée Elise Goldsberry, and others
- Length: 4 hrs and 11 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
They were madly in love. The perfect couple. That was the story everyone in South River believed...until Gin Talcott and Adam Archer are found shot in their bed. Adam is dead at the scene. Gin is fighting for her life. Detectives Greta Jessup and Finn Pate are assigned to the case. Greta has a long history with Gin’s first husband, Eddie, and is determined to protect his 18-year-old twins. Piper discovered the bodies. Daniel is missing—and so is Adam’s gun.
-
-
Surprised
- By marcie on 05-25-24
By: Wendy Walker
-
The Ex
- By: Freida McFadden
- Narrated by: Nicol Zanzarella
- Length: 8 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Cassie thinks she has met the perfect man. Joel is sweet, handsome, romantic, and best of all, he’s crazy about Cassie. She thinks she’s found the guy she’ll spend the rest of her life with. Have children with. Grow old with. Yes, she knows about his perfect ex-girlfriend, Francesca. The beautiful, brilliant chef, beloved by all his friends. But she thinks Francesca is out of the picture. She thinks Francesca is gone for good. Think again, Cassie.
-
-
Too bizarre for someone who loves bizarre
- By G. C. Webster on 07-01-22
By: Freida McFadden
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
A Season of Light
- By: Julie Iromuanya
- Narrated by: Yinka Ladeinde, Leo Anifowose
- Length: 8 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When 276 schoolgirls are abducted from their school in Nigeria, Fidelis Ewerike, a Florida-based barrister, poet, and former POW of the Nigerian Civil War, begins to go mad, consumed by memories of his younger sister Ugochi, who went missing during that conflict. Consumed by survivor’s guilt and fearful that the same fate awaits Amara, his sixteen-year-old daughter who bears an uncanny resemblance to Ugochi, Fidelis locks her in her bedroom, offering no words of explanation, only lovingly—if poorly—made meals and sweets.
By: Julie Iromuanya
-
Good Dirt
- A Novel
- By: Charmaine Wilkerson
- Narrated by: January LaVoy
- Length: 11 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When ten-year-old Ebby Freeman heard the gunshot, time stopped. And when she saw her brother, Baz, lying on the floor surrounded by the shattered pieces of a centuries-old jar, life as Ebby knew it shattered as well. The crime was never solved—and because the Freemans were one of the only Black families in a particularly well-to-do enclave of New England—the case has had an enduring, voyeuristic pull for the public. The last thing the Freemans want is another media frenzy splashing their family across the papers, but when Ebby's high profile romance falls apart, that's exactly what they get.
-
-
Moments of brilliance
- By MyLastRomanceNovel on 03-01-25
-
Black Woods, Blue Sky
- A Novel
- By: Eowyn Ivey
- Narrated by: Rebecca Lowman
- Length: 11 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Birdie’s keeping it together; of course she is. So she’s a little hungover, sometimes, and she has to bring her daughter, Emaleen, to her job waiting tables at an Alaskan roadside lodge, but she’s getting by as a single mother in a tough town. Still, Birdie can remember happier times from her youth, when she was free in the wilds of nature. Arthur Neilsen, a soft-spoken and scarred recluse who appears in town only at the change of seasons, brings Emaleen back to safety when she gets lost in the woods. Most people avoid him, but to Birdie, he represents everything she’s ever longed for.
-
-
Compelling story and characters
- By LoriB49 on 03-27-25
By: Eowyn Ivey
-
What Happened to the McCrays?
- A Novel
- By: Tracey Lange
- Narrated by: Stephanie Németh-Parker, William DeMeritt
- Length: 10 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Kyle McCray gets word his father has suffered a debilitating stroke, he returns to his hometown of Potsdam, New York, where he doesn’t expect a warm welcome. Kyle left suddenly two and a half years ago, abandoning people who depended on him: his father, his employees, his friends—not to mention Casey, his wife of sixteen years and a beloved teacher in town. He plans to lie low and help his dad recuperate until he can leave again, especially after Casey makes it clear she wants him gone.
-
-
Real and moving
- By John P. Holderer on 03-06-25
By: Tracey Lange
-
Head Cases
- A Novel
- By: John McMahon
- Narrated by: Will Damron
- Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
FBI Agent Gardner Camden is an analytical genius with an affinity for puzzles. He also has a blind spot on the human side of investigations, a blindness that sometimes even includes people in his own life, like his beloved seven-year-old daughter Camila. Gardner and his squad of brilliant yet quirky agents make up the Patterns and Recognition (PAR) unit, the FBI’s hidden edge, brought in for cases that no one else can solve. When DNA links a murder victim to a serial killer long presumed dead, the team springs into action.
-
-
This one is a WINNER!!!!
- By shelley on 01-31-25
By: John McMahon
-
Good Girl
- A Novel
- By: Aria Aber
- Narrated by: Mozhan Navabi
- Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Berlin’s artistic underground, where techno and drugs fill warehouses still pockmarked from the wars of the twentieth century, nineteen-year-old Nila at last finds her tribe. Born in Germany to Afghan parents, raised in public housing graffitied with swastikas, drawn to philosophy, photography, and sex, Nila has spent her adolescence disappointing her family while searching for her voice as a young woman and artist. Then in the haze of Berlin’s legendary nightlife, Nila meets Marlowe, an American writer whose fading literary celebrity opens her eyes to a life of freedom.
-
-
The Realism
- By elizabeth on 02-20-25
By: Aria Aber
-
A Season of Light
- By: Julie Iromuanya
- Narrated by: Yinka Ladeinde, Leo Anifowose
- Length: 8 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When 276 schoolgirls are abducted from their school in Nigeria, Fidelis Ewerike, a Florida-based barrister, poet, and former POW of the Nigerian Civil War, begins to go mad, consumed by memories of his younger sister Ugochi, who went missing during that conflict. Consumed by survivor’s guilt and fearful that the same fate awaits Amara, his sixteen-year-old daughter who bears an uncanny resemblance to Ugochi, Fidelis locks her in her bedroom, offering no words of explanation, only lovingly—if poorly—made meals and sweets.
By: Julie Iromuanya
-
Good Dirt
- A Novel
- By: Charmaine Wilkerson
- Narrated by: January LaVoy
- Length: 11 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When ten-year-old Ebby Freeman heard the gunshot, time stopped. And when she saw her brother, Baz, lying on the floor surrounded by the shattered pieces of a centuries-old jar, life as Ebby knew it shattered as well. The crime was never solved—and because the Freemans were one of the only Black families in a particularly well-to-do enclave of New England—the case has had an enduring, voyeuristic pull for the public. The last thing the Freemans want is another media frenzy splashing their family across the papers, but when Ebby's high profile romance falls apart, that's exactly what they get.
-
-
Moments of brilliance
- By MyLastRomanceNovel on 03-01-25
-
Black Woods, Blue Sky
- A Novel
- By: Eowyn Ivey
- Narrated by: Rebecca Lowman
- Length: 11 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Birdie’s keeping it together; of course she is. So she’s a little hungover, sometimes, and she has to bring her daughter, Emaleen, to her job waiting tables at an Alaskan roadside lodge, but she’s getting by as a single mother in a tough town. Still, Birdie can remember happier times from her youth, when she was free in the wilds of nature. Arthur Neilsen, a soft-spoken and scarred recluse who appears in town only at the change of seasons, brings Emaleen back to safety when she gets lost in the woods. Most people avoid him, but to Birdie, he represents everything she’s ever longed for.
-
-
Compelling story and characters
- By LoriB49 on 03-27-25
By: Eowyn Ivey
-
What Happened to the McCrays?
- A Novel
- By: Tracey Lange
- Narrated by: Stephanie Németh-Parker, William DeMeritt
- Length: 10 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Kyle McCray gets word his father has suffered a debilitating stroke, he returns to his hometown of Potsdam, New York, where he doesn’t expect a warm welcome. Kyle left suddenly two and a half years ago, abandoning people who depended on him: his father, his employees, his friends—not to mention Casey, his wife of sixteen years and a beloved teacher in town. He plans to lie low and help his dad recuperate until he can leave again, especially after Casey makes it clear she wants him gone.
-
-
Real and moving
- By John P. Holderer on 03-06-25
By: Tracey Lange
-
Head Cases
- A Novel
- By: John McMahon
- Narrated by: Will Damron
- Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
FBI Agent Gardner Camden is an analytical genius with an affinity for puzzles. He also has a blind spot on the human side of investigations, a blindness that sometimes even includes people in his own life, like his beloved seven-year-old daughter Camila. Gardner and his squad of brilliant yet quirky agents make up the Patterns and Recognition (PAR) unit, the FBI’s hidden edge, brought in for cases that no one else can solve. When DNA links a murder victim to a serial killer long presumed dead, the team springs into action.
-
-
This one is a WINNER!!!!
- By shelley on 01-31-25
By: John McMahon
-
Good Girl
- A Novel
- By: Aria Aber
- Narrated by: Mozhan Navabi
- Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Berlin’s artistic underground, where techno and drugs fill warehouses still pockmarked from the wars of the twentieth century, nineteen-year-old Nila at last finds her tribe. Born in Germany to Afghan parents, raised in public housing graffitied with swastikas, drawn to philosophy, photography, and sex, Nila has spent her adolescence disappointing her family while searching for her voice as a young woman and artist. Then in the haze of Berlin’s legendary nightlife, Nila meets Marlowe, an American writer whose fading literary celebrity opens her eyes to a life of freedom.
-
-
The Realism
- By elizabeth on 02-20-25
By: Aria Aber
-
Letter 26
- By: Jacob Moon
- Narrated by: Mark Garkusha
- Length: 11 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Abby Carlson’s job as a dietitian comes to mind now, it’s accompanied by a looming threat: the Minneapolis serial killer who's been targeting women based on the first letter of their jobs, and who's ripe to pick a “D” victim. He follows his gruesome routine—preserving and posing the corpses per their professions, then posting his exploits on social media. But the threat is abstract in a city as big as Minneapolis...until Abby finds herself drugged in the back of a van, the latest potential viral hit.
-
-
Ink, Blood and the Long Fall Down
- By Jordan on 03-24-25
By: Jacob Moon
-
Famous Last Words
- A Novel
- By: Gillian McAllister
- Narrated by: Emilia Fox
- Length: 13 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It is June 21st, the longest day of the year, and new mother Camilla’s life is about to change forever. After months of maternity leave, she will drop her infant daughter off at daycare for the first time and return to her job as a literary agent. Finally. But, when she wakes, her husband Luke isn’t there, and in his place is a cryptic note. Then it starts. Breaking news: there's a hostage situation developing in London. The police arrive, and tell her Luke is involved. But he isn't a hostage. Her husband—doting father, eternal optimist—is the gunman.
-
-
Disappointing
- By Suzi 2020 on 03-01-25
-
Tell Me What You Did
- A Novel
- By: Carter Wilson
- Narrated by: Allyson Ryan, Patrick Zeller
- Length: 9 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Poe Webb, host of a popular true crime podcast, invites people to anonymously confess crimes they’ve committed to her audience. She can’t guarantee the police won’t come after her “guests,” but her show grants simultaneous anonymity and instant fame—a potent combination that’s proven difficult to resist. After an episode recording, Poe usually erases both criminal and crime from her mind. But when a strange and oddly familiar man appears on her show, Poe is forced to take a second look.
-
-
Good story.
- By Sami on 02-23-25
By: Carter Wilson
-
The Bones Beneath My Skin
- By: TJ Klune
- Narrated by: Kirt Graves
- Length: 13 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the spring of 1995, Nate Cartwright has lost everything: his parents are dead, his only brother wants nothing to do with him, and he's been fired from his job as a journalist in Washington, DC. With nothing left to lose, he returns to his family's summer cabin outside the small mountain town of Roseland, Oregon, to try and find some sense of direction. The cabin should be empty. It's not. Inside is a man named Alex. And with him is an extraordinary ten-year-old girl who calls herself Artemis Darth Vader. Artemis, who isn't exactly as she appears.
-
-
Worth it!
- By Kindle Customer (MM) on 03-27-23
By: TJ Klune
-
We Are Watching
- A Novel
- By: Alison Gaylin
- Narrated by: Jennifer Pickens
- Length: 10 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Meg Russo was behind the wheel when it happened. She and her husband Justin were driving their daughter Lily to Ithaca College, the family celebrating the eighteen-year-old music prodigy’s future. Then a car swerved up beside them, the young men inside it behaving bizarrely—and Meg lost control of her own vehicle. The family road trip turned into a tragedy. Justin didn’t survive the accident.
-
-
Unexpected twists
- By dw on 02-01-25
By: Alison Gaylin
-
The English Problem
- A Novel
- By: Beena Kamlani
- Narrated by: Vidish Athavale
- Length: 16 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Shiv Advani is an eighteen-year-old growing up in India. But he is no ordinary young man. Shiv has been personally chosen by Mahatma Gandhi to come to England, learn their laws, and then return home and help drive the British out of India. Before he leaves, his family insists he fulfill his arranged marriage, and he is hastily betrothed to a young woman he hardly knows. He arrives in London and soon discovers a world he is both repelled by and drawn to. Shiv knows his duty: get in, learn the letter of the law, get out.
By: Beena Kamlani
-
The Dark Hours
- By: Amy Jordan
- Narrated by: Flora Montgomery
- Length: 10 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
1994: When Gardas Julia Harte and Adrian Clancy are called out to a sleepy housing estate in Cork to investigate a noise complaint, they are entirely unprepared for what they find. What happens next will haunt Julia for the rest of her career, leaving her plagued with nightmares and terrified of the dark. There is a serial killer at work in Cork, one as clever as he is deadly. Julia may not be a detective yet, but after the harrowing events of that night, she is determined to be the one to catch him…
-
-
Too convoluted
- By Kim Coates on 02-27-25
By: Amy Jordan
-
When I Disappear
- By: Amanda McKinney
- Narrated by: Elise Roth
- Length: 8 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At 2:00 a.m. Sylvia Stone awakens to a letter on her doorstep suggesting the handsome carpenter, Rhett Cohen, who was convicted of murdering her mother twenty years earlier, is innocent. The anonymous letters continue, each one revealing details only the true killer would know, making Sylvia question her testimony years ago.
-
-
lifetime movie
- By lisa on 02-03-25
By: Amanda McKinney
-
The Mailman
- By: Andrew Welsh-Huggins
- Narrated by: Peter Berkrot
- Length: 10 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mercury Carter is a deliveryman and he takes his job very seriously. When a parcel is under his care, he will stop at nothing to deliver it directly to its intended recipient. Not even, as in the current case, when he finds a crew of violent men at the indicated address that threaten his life and take the woman who lives there hostage. That's because Carter has special skills from his former life as a federal agent with the postal inspection service, skills that make him particularly useful for delivering items in circumstances as dangerous as these.
-
-
the story
- By robert on 03-04-25
-
Dead Money
- A Novel
- By: Jakob Kerr
- Narrated by: Rachel Music
- Length: 12 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A Silicon Valley fixer investigates a billionaire founder's death while pursuing her own agenda in this twisty, sharply observed debut mystery from a tech world insider.
-
-
Good but not ideal for audiobook
- By Hailey P Waitt on 02-28-25
By: Jakob Kerr
-
The Sun's Shadow
- A Novel
- By: Sejal Badani
- Narrated by: Kate Rudd, Vanessa Johansson
- Length: 10 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Celine’s life is spiraling out of control. She’s in danger of losing the beloved equestrian farm that was her childhood home. Her distant husband, Eric, is devoting a suspicious amount of time to a stunning new colleague. Then her young son, Brian, receives a devastating cancer diagnosis. As her life falls apart, she faces an impossible fight
-
-
love, trust, family
- By Gwen on 03-27-25
By: Sejal Badani
-
We Do Not Part
- A Novel
- By: Han Kang, E. Yaewon - translator, Paige Aniyah Morris - translator
- Narrated by: Greta Jung
- Length: 7 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One winter morning, Kyungha receives an urgent message from her friend Inseon to visit her at a hospital in Seoul. Inseon has injured herself in an accident, and she begs Kyungha to return to Jeju Island, where she lives, to save her beloved pet—a white bird called Ama. A snowstorm hits the island when Kyungha arrives. She must reach Inseon’s house at all costs, but the icy wind and squalls slow her down as night begins to fall. She wonders if she will arrive in time to save the animal—or even survive the terrible cold that envelops her with every step.
-
-
Powerful, Tough Listen
- By ncnickle on 01-26-25
By: Han Kang, and others
What listeners say about Penitence
Highly rated for:
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Lauren
- 02-20-25
Predictable storyline
It was a predictable story, I had a hard time getting into the first few chapters and almost stopped reading. It picked up a little bit in the middle, but wasn’t my favorite read.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Maryanne T.
- 02-03-25
complicated family drama and crime procedural
4.25 stars for Penitence by Kristin Koval. I was so excited about this book I actually put the release date on my calendar! It was definitely worth it, although I have some very minor critiques. This is the story of a family in crisis. It begins with a 15 year old being shot by his 13 year old sister. Three times. You know from the very first page she did it because she admits this on the 911 tape. What you don't know is why. Enter the legal team of Martine and her son Julian who have a very intimate and estranged history with this family and the book evolves into a multi family and generational drama as well as a much more complicated mystery told between now and then. Koval really paints a brilliant picture of how quickly and brutally a family implodes on itself with this one violent act and I have high praise for the way she fleshed out these complex characters and gave us an authentic if sometimes ugly core of who they really were. The tiny bit of critique I have is for the court/legal procedural aspects of the story which came off (to me, at least) as a bit preachy. The lawyer, Julian, has strong opinions on everything from the "three strikes, you're out" law to the way teens are treated in the legal system. There was a strong them of crime and punishment versus compassion and rehabilitation in this story and while I was unanimously on the same page as the lawyer, I sometimes felt the themes were being a bit overplayed. But, to be fair, this was a crime and procedural story and the themes worked with the plot. Just felt like Koval could have eased up on the gas a few times and still gotten to where she was going with that. On the flip side of that, the ending may leave some readers a bit frustrated. I personally think this is a perfect pick for a book club discussion for that exact reason. SO MUCH material here to talk about. Really, really recommend!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jill
- 02-01-25
What is Forgiveness?
PENITENCE by Kristen Koval
Therese Plummer does a fine reading of this suspenseful story. This is Kristen Koval’s debut and I thought it was well written and I’m excited to see what she does next.
Opening family wounds and bringing dark truths to light with the guilt we live with.
Lives are shattered when Angie and David discovery a shocking murder in their home. Turning to a mom of a former boyfriend of Angie’s, for legal counsel, both Angie and David are confronted by impossible decisions. Digging into the intricacies of forgiveness and human frailty. The journey of finding forgiveness, compassion, and mistakes is not always a clear path.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Carol
- 03-24-25
Why?
Interesting, premise and characters, but the author left us hanging. The ending left me angry.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Suzanna
- 02-09-25
Unexpected
This is more of a family drama than it is a thriller or mystery. Basically, it's a fairly well-written story about two families with a couple things in common: death and sacrifice. There was a lot going on--the murder, the "lost love" angle, parenthood, mental illness, guilt, self-loathing, and family dynamics. Because the focus was a bit disjointed, the point of the story was muddled.
While it was pretty easy to piece things together fairly early on, the premise was interesting. Overall, it's a decent listen but the story started to drag on.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- sierrah
- 02-25-25
I need another!
I need this to be a series or at least have a second book! Very easy to follow along and I enjoyed the twists and turns.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- KEK
- 02-03-25
Well done.
Great character development. A bit disappointed in legal aspects of this however. This part was unrealistic. Narration was excellent. Worth your credit. The ending was a bit abrupt.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Rhonda A.
- 02-04-25
I was immediately immersed in the story
I was able to hear the author speak @ Barnes & Noble last week. I could not wait to dive into this story of tragedy & forgiveness . I downloaded the audible version before my presale copy shipped to me end of last week. The story gripped me & had an interesting twist. This was Koval’s first novel & it deserves all the attention it is getting. I was invested in the lives of The characters in this small Colorado town & teared up a bit at the end of the book. Each of us are more than the worst thing we’ve ever done.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- SB
- 01-30-25
a little disappointed
The narrator is outstanding. The story gets really bogged down with back story in the middle section and becomes quite boring and tedious. At the same time, something is missing from this book, not sure what. It feels incomplete or liked a missed opportunity.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kristin B
- 03-02-25
Bittersweet
This was such a heavy and well-written story. I loved the characters but felt their heartache so deeply. We are all flawed and the path towards forgiveness can be crooked and unexpected but, in this case, it lead to a bittersweet ending requiring quite a few tissues.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!