
Picnic in the Ruins
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
3 months free
Buy for $19.60
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Eliana Marianes
About this listen
Anthropologist Sophia Shepard is researching the impact of tourism on cultural sites in a remote national monument on the Utah-Arizona border when she crosses paths with two small-time criminals. The Ashdown brothers were hired to steal maps from a "collector" of Native American artifacts, but their ineptitude has alerted the local sheriff to their presence. Their employer, a former lobbyist seeking lucrative monument land that may soon be open to energy exploration, sends a fixer to clean up their mess. Suddenly, Sophia must put her theories to the test in the real world, and the stakes are higher than she could have ever imagined.
What begins as a madcap caper across the RV-strewn vacation lands of Southern Utah becomes a meditation on mythology, authenticity, the ethics of preservation, and one nagging question: Who owns the past?
©2021 Todd Robert Petersen (P)2021 Scribd AudioListeners also enjoyed...
-
The Quickening
- Creation and Community at the Ends of the Earth
- By: Elizabeth Rush
- Narrated by: Helen Laser
- Length: 10 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 2019, fifty-seven scientists and crew set out onboard the Nathaniel B. Palmer. Their destination: Thwaites Glacier. Their goal: to learn as much as possible about this mysterious place, never before visited by humans, and believed to be both rapidly deteriorating and capable of making a catastrophic impact on global sea-level rise. In The Quickening, Elizabeth Rush documents their voyage, offering the sublime alongside the workaday moments of this groundbreaking expedition.
-
-
Too much talk of a baby
- By Michelle Murphy on 10-01-23
By: Elizabeth Rush
-
Fencing with the King
- A Novel
- By: Diana Abu-Jaber
- Narrated by: Rasha Zamamiri
- Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Amani is hooked on a mystery - a poem on airmail paper that slips out of one of her father’s books. It seems to have been written by her grandmother, a refugee who arrived in Jordan during the First World War. Soon the perfect occasion to investigate arises: Her uncle Hafez, an advisor to the king of Jordan, invites her father to celebrate the king’s 60th birthday - and to fence with the king, as in their youth. Her father has avoided returning to his homeland for decades, but Amani persuades him to come with her.
-
-
A Fairytale For Adults
- By J. J. Luke on 07-15-22
By: Diana Abu-Jaber
-
When a Stranger Comes to Town
- By: Michael Koryta
- Narrated by: Cindy Kay, Janina Edwards, Fajer Al-Kaisi, and others
- Length: 11 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It's been said that all great literature boils down to one of two stories—a man takes a journey, or a stranger comes to town. While mystery writers have been successfully using both approaches for generations, there's something undeniably alluring in the nature of a stranger: the uninvited guest, the unacquainted neighbor, the fish out of water. In the newest collection of stories by the Mystery Writers of America, each author weaves a fresh tale surrounding the eerie feeling that comes when a stranger enters our midst, featuring stories by prolific mystery writers.
-
-
The narrators are outstanding here.
- By Jennifer Baratta She/Her on 05-16-21
By: Michael Koryta
-
Billy Summers
- By: Stephen King
- Narrated by: Paul Sparks
- Length: 16 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Billy Summers is a man in a room with a gun. He’s a killer for hire and the best in the business. But he’ll do the job only if the target is a truly bad guy. And now Billy wants out. But first there is one last hit. Billy is among the best snipers in the world, a decorated Iraq war vet, a Houdini when it comes to vanishing after the job is done. So what could possibly go wrong?
-
-
Absolutely amazing
- By Victor @ theAudiobookBlog dot com on 08-03-21
By: Stephen King
-
Felonious Monk
- By: William Kotzwinkle
- Narrated by: Chris Henry Coffey
- Length: 10 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Meet Tommy Martini, the monk with an anger management problem. His meditations are interrupted by a legacy from his uncle, a crooked priest. Arriving in a New Age Arizona town to claim his inheritance, Brother Tommy meets a charismatic, smoking-hot cult leader who claims that women are being impregnated by alien beings while they sleep. Tommy’s own sleep is disturbed - by cartel hitmen, Mafia bill collectors, and women intrigued by his vow of chastity.
-
-
This Monk is all out of Bubble Gum
- By Paul Z on 11-12-21
-
The Investigator
- By: John Sandford
- Narrated by: Richard Ferrone
- Length: 13 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
By age twenty-four, Letty Davenport has seen more action and uncovered more secrets than many law enforcement professionals. Now a recent Stanford grad with a master’s in economics, she’s restless and bored in a desk job for U.S. Senator Colles. Letty’s ready to quit, but her skills have impressed Colles, and he offers her a carrot: feet-on-the-ground investigative work, in conjunction with the Department of Homeland Security.
-
-
Just….NO
- By WithoutaMark on 04-14-22
By: John Sandford
-
The Quickening
- Creation and Community at the Ends of the Earth
- By: Elizabeth Rush
- Narrated by: Helen Laser
- Length: 10 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 2019, fifty-seven scientists and crew set out onboard the Nathaniel B. Palmer. Their destination: Thwaites Glacier. Their goal: to learn as much as possible about this mysterious place, never before visited by humans, and believed to be both rapidly deteriorating and capable of making a catastrophic impact on global sea-level rise. In The Quickening, Elizabeth Rush documents their voyage, offering the sublime alongside the workaday moments of this groundbreaking expedition.
-
-
Too much talk of a baby
- By Michelle Murphy on 10-01-23
By: Elizabeth Rush
-
Fencing with the King
- A Novel
- By: Diana Abu-Jaber
- Narrated by: Rasha Zamamiri
- Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Amani is hooked on a mystery - a poem on airmail paper that slips out of one of her father’s books. It seems to have been written by her grandmother, a refugee who arrived in Jordan during the First World War. Soon the perfect occasion to investigate arises: Her uncle Hafez, an advisor to the king of Jordan, invites her father to celebrate the king’s 60th birthday - and to fence with the king, as in their youth. Her father has avoided returning to his homeland for decades, but Amani persuades him to come with her.
-
-
A Fairytale For Adults
- By J. J. Luke on 07-15-22
By: Diana Abu-Jaber
-
When a Stranger Comes to Town
- By: Michael Koryta
- Narrated by: Cindy Kay, Janina Edwards, Fajer Al-Kaisi, and others
- Length: 11 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It's been said that all great literature boils down to one of two stories—a man takes a journey, or a stranger comes to town. While mystery writers have been successfully using both approaches for generations, there's something undeniably alluring in the nature of a stranger: the uninvited guest, the unacquainted neighbor, the fish out of water. In the newest collection of stories by the Mystery Writers of America, each author weaves a fresh tale surrounding the eerie feeling that comes when a stranger enters our midst, featuring stories by prolific mystery writers.
-
-
The narrators are outstanding here.
- By Jennifer Baratta She/Her on 05-16-21
By: Michael Koryta
-
Billy Summers
- By: Stephen King
- Narrated by: Paul Sparks
- Length: 16 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Billy Summers is a man in a room with a gun. He’s a killer for hire and the best in the business. But he’ll do the job only if the target is a truly bad guy. And now Billy wants out. But first there is one last hit. Billy is among the best snipers in the world, a decorated Iraq war vet, a Houdini when it comes to vanishing after the job is done. So what could possibly go wrong?
-
-
Absolutely amazing
- By Victor @ theAudiobookBlog dot com on 08-03-21
By: Stephen King
-
Felonious Monk
- By: William Kotzwinkle
- Narrated by: Chris Henry Coffey
- Length: 10 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Meet Tommy Martini, the monk with an anger management problem. His meditations are interrupted by a legacy from his uncle, a crooked priest. Arriving in a New Age Arizona town to claim his inheritance, Brother Tommy meets a charismatic, smoking-hot cult leader who claims that women are being impregnated by alien beings while they sleep. Tommy’s own sleep is disturbed - by cartel hitmen, Mafia bill collectors, and women intrigued by his vow of chastity.
-
-
This Monk is all out of Bubble Gum
- By Paul Z on 11-12-21
-
The Investigator
- By: John Sandford
- Narrated by: Richard Ferrone
- Length: 13 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
By age twenty-four, Letty Davenport has seen more action and uncovered more secrets than many law enforcement professionals. Now a recent Stanford grad with a master’s in economics, she’s restless and bored in a desk job for U.S. Senator Colles. Letty’s ready to quit, but her skills have impressed Colles, and he offers her a carrot: feet-on-the-ground investigative work, in conjunction with the Department of Homeland Security.
-
-
Just….NO
- By WithoutaMark on 04-14-22
By: John Sandford
-
Calico
- By: Lee Goldberg
- Narrated by: Nicol Zanzarella, Eric Conger
- Length: 11 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
There's a saying in Barstow, California, a decaying city in the scorching Mojave desert . . . The Interstate here only goes in one direction: Away. But it's the only place where ex-LAPD detective Beth McDade, after a staggering fall from grace, could get another badge . . . and a shot at redemption. Over a century ago, and just a few miles further into the bleak landscape, a desperate stranger ended up in Calico, a struggling mining town, also hoping for a second chance.
-
-
Really enjoyed this!
- By CeeS on 02-13-24
By: Lee Goldberg
-
Those We Thought We Knew
- By: David Joy
- Narrated by: MacLeod Andrews
- Length: 9 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Toya Gardner, a young Black artist from Atlanta, has returned to her ancestral home in the North Carolina mountains to trace her family history and complete her graduate thesis. But when she encounters a still-standing Confederate monument in the heart of town, she sets her sights on something bigger.
-
-
Best work yet.
- By Phillip and Taylor on 08-04-23
By: David Joy
-
Solomon Bull: When the Friction Has Its Machine
- By: Clayton Lindemuth
- Narrated by: Kain Foster
- Length: 8 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Solomon Bull is the son of a rebel who died in the '80s fighting for the American Indian Movement. He trains for an Arizona race called Desert Dog, designed to shred a man, while using monkey-wrench tactics to unseat a corrupt senator. Pursued by a smoking-hot agent from the Treasury's Terrorism and Financial Intelligence office, a doe-like prostitute with burn marks on her back and a sick story about a demented senator, and by Cal Barrett - Desert Dog organizer and brain behind Operation Guillotine - Solomon Bull has a difficult choice and no time to make it.
-
-
fast paced and entertaining
- By karen garriott on 01-28-20
-
Rachel Hatch Series Books 1-3
- Drift, Downburst, & Fever Burn (Rachel Hatch Boxset, Book 1)
- By: L.T. Ryan, Brian Shea
- Narrated by: Marnye Young
- Length: 23 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This box set includes the first three books in Rachel Hatch thriller series: Drift, Downburst, and Fever Burn. Tightly woven story, deeply developed and endearing characters, and an exhilarating pace to keep you listening until the last word.
-
-
Great way to meet new characters
- By Colette M. Cummings on 02-13-21
By: L.T. Ryan, and others
-
Lost Contact
- The Bridge Sequence, Book 1
- By: Nathan Hystad
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 9 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Rex Walker always wanted to be like his father: a daring, adventurous man, traveling the world in pursuit of mysterious relics. While teaching anthropology at a Boston college, Rex attempts to bury the past, until he discovers a hidden clue he can’t ignore. With the help of a former student, he teams up with an alien-obsessed billionaire, and they search for the fabled Bridge. As an unidentified object nears Pluto, speculation surges. Some hail it as the homecoming of a distant alien race, and this cult is unwavering in their efforts to usher our world into a new era.
-
-
Interesting premise but poor execution
- By Colin H. on 05-12-21
By: Nathan Hystad
-
Daughters of the Flower Fragrant Garden
- Two Sisters Separated by China’s Civil War
- By: Zhuqing Li
- Narrated by: Nancy Wu
- Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Scions of a once-great southern Chinese family that produced the tutor of the last emperor, Jun and Hong were each other’s best friends until, in their twenties, they were separated at the end of the Chinese Civil War. One became a model Communist, the other a model capitalist. On Taiwan, Jun married a Nationalist general, established a trading company, and emigrated to the United States. On the Communist mainland, Hong built her medical career under a cloud of suspicion about her family and survived two waves of “re-education” before she was acclaimed for her achievements.
-
-
Wonderful Story of a Family’s Survival Through Political Change…
- By Marie G. on 04-12-23
By: Zhuqing Li
-
Romney
- A Reckoning
- By: McKay Coppins
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis, McKay Coppins
- Length: 12 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Few figures in American politics have seen more and said less than Mitt Romney. An outspoken dissident in Donald Trump’s GOP, he has made headlines in recent years for standing alone against the forces he believes are poisoning the party he once led. Romney was the first senator in history to vote to remove from office a president of his own party. When that president’s supporters went on to storm the US Capitol, Romney delivered a thundering speech from the Senate floor accusing his fellow Republicans of stoking insurrection.
-
-
Political and intellectual biography at its best!
- By Amazon Customer on 10-25-23
By: McKay Coppins
-
A Line in the Sand
- A Novel
- By: Kevin Powers
- Narrated by: Christine Lakin
- Length: 10 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One early morning on a Norfolk beach in Virginia, a dead body is discovered by a man taking his daily swim—Arman Bajalan, formerly an interpreter in Iraq. After narrowly surviving an assassination attempt that killed his wife and child, Arman has been given lonely sanctuary in the US as a maintenance worker at the Sea Breeze Motel. Now, convinced that the body is connected to his past, he knows he is still not safe.
-
-
A preposterous bloodbath
- By David Benjamin on 07-06-23
By: Kevin Powers
-
Red Gold
- By: Robert D. Kidera
- Narrated by: Richard Poe
- Length: 7 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Shaken by the death of his beloved wife and wrestling with powerful personal demons, Professor Gabriel McKenna leaves New York City for New Mexico to claim an inheritance from mysterious distant relatives. He finds something other than a Land of Enchantment. Unseen enemies threaten his life. Old friends turn up and rally to his side. Together they plunge into a lethal struggle for a 19th century treasure, the fabled Lost Adams gold.
-
-
I loved it
- By Gary H on 12-20-17
By: Robert D. Kidera
-
The Good Killer
- By: Harry Dolan
- Narrated by: James Patrick Cronin
- Length: 9 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sean Tennant and Molly Winter are living quietly and cautiously in Houston when a troubled, obsessive stranger shatters the safety they have carefully constructed for themselves. Sean is at a shopping mall when Henry Alan Keen pulls out a gun at a store and begins shooting everyone in sight. A former soldier, Sean rushes toward Keen and ends the slaughter with two well-placed shots - becoming a hero with his face plastered across the news. But Sean's newfound notoriety exposes him to the wrath of two men he thought he had left safely in his past.
-
-
Great Story!
- By AK Raven on 03-13-20
By: Harry Dolan
-
The Same Breath
- The Lamb and the Lion, Book 1
- By: Gregory Ashe
- Narrated by: J.F. Harding
- Length: 11 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Teancum Leon, who goes by Tean, is a wildlife veterinarian. His life has settled into a holding pattern: He loves his job, he hates first dates, and he only occasionally has to deal with his neighbor Mrs. Wish’s cat-related disasters. All of that changes, though, when a man appears in his office, asking for help to find his brother. Jem is convinced that something bad has happened to Benny, and he thinks Tean might be able to help. Tean isn’t sure, but he’s willing to try. After all, Jem is charming and sweet and surprisingly vulnerable. Oh. And hot.
-
-
Goshdarnit
- By Alicia Z. Ramos on 02-21-21
By: Gregory Ashe
-
The Room of White Fire
- By: T. Jefferson Parker
- Narrated by: Will Damron
- Length: 11 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Roland Ford - once a cop, then a marine, now a private investigator - is good at finding people. But when he’s asked to locate an Air Force veteran who’s escaped from a mental institution, he realizes he’s been drawn into something deep and dark. What he doesn’t know is why a shroud of secrecy hangs over the disappearance of Clay Hickman - and why he’s getting a different story from everyone involved. In a flash, what began as just a job becomes a life-or-death obsession for Ford.
-
-
Not for the squeamish...
- By shelley on 03-30-18
Good story bad reading
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Incredible story, for fans of Ed Abbey & Baldwin
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Excellent!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The reading ruined the story for me
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.