The Bad Ones Audiobook By Melissa Albert cover art

The Bad Ones

A Novel

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The Bad Ones

By: Melissa Albert
Narrated by: Emma Galvin
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Long-listed, NPR Best Book of the Year, 2024

Long-listed, CPL: Chicago Public Library Best of the Best, 2024

"Emma Galvin's chilling narration will draw listeners into a small town where four people have mysteriously vanished."—AudioFile

New York Times best-selling author Melissa Albert returns with The Bad Ones, a supernatural horror novel about four mysterious disappearances in a town haunted by a sinister magical history

Goddess, goddess, count to five

In the morning, who’s alive?

In the course of a single winter’s night, four people vanish without a trace across a small town.

Nora’s estranged best friend, Becca, is one of the lost. As Nora tries to untangle the truth of Becca’s disappearance, she discovers a darkness in her town’s past, as well as a string of coded messages Becca left for her to unravel. These clues lead Nora to a piece of local lore: a legendary goddess of forgotten origins who played a role in Nora and Becca’s own childhood games. . . .

An arresting, crossover horror fantasy threaded with dark magic, THE BAD ONES is a poison-pen love letter to semi-toxic best friendship, the occult power of childhood play and artistic creation, and the razor-thin line between make-believe and belief.

A Macmillan Audio production from Flatiron Books.

©2024 Melissa Albert (P)2024 Macmillan Audio Contemporary Fantasy Fiction Horror Literature & Fiction Magic Science Fiction & Fantasy Scary Witchcraft

Critic reviews

“The romance is subtle but sweet, the supernatural creep factor is extreme, and there are secrets aplenty in this compelling and eerie tale.”—BOOKLIST, starred review

“Unholy, vengeful, and utterly captivating. THE BAD ONES delivers on Melissa Albert’s status as a modern horror master, and burns with a steady, corrosive clarity, not unlike a developing photograph revealing unseen evils.”—Ryan La Sala, author of THE HONEYS

“A deliciously dark and twisted labyrinth of a book from the master of YA horror. Peopled with some of the most believable teenage characters I've read, and full of the fervor and sharp edges of teen girl friendships, THE BAD ONES had me hooked until the very last page.”—Heather Fawcett, author of EMILY WILDE'S ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF FAERIES
Engaging Mystery • Creative Supernatural Elements • Engaging Character Voices • Unexpected Twists • Interwoven Folklore
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The plot was really interesting but it fell flat. It starts off really slow but in the end, I still was not satisfied. Most of the time I was going in and out of the audio book because it felt like main character would just talk and talk and nothing really wouldn’t happen. I also feel like the narrator did not do a good job of with telling the story and differentiating all the characters, sometimes I couldn’t tell who was talking. But that’s just my opinion!

Meh

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Poor performance, rushed narration & awkward pauses in sentences, unresearched pronunciation of some words really took me out of the story too. The story was a fun premise but fails to capture my imagination. Feels ghost written or something, I expected better from Melissa Albert…

Not great, expected better from this author

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I absolutely loved Melissa Albert’s OUR CROOKED HEARTS, and her newest novel did not disappoint. The main character is relatable, her anguish about her best friend’s disappearance compelling, and the descriptions of the supernatural elements of this book really terrifying. Such a great read.

Poetic and terrifying

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This is a must read it starts a little slow but it gets there don’t be greedy

Twist and turns

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Every moment was enthralling. This book stole me away and I honestly didn’t see the ending coming until I was upon it. Uhhh so good.

Wow

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the story was a bit slow at first, but the sense of mystery and creepiness kept me coming back. Very creepy story work a twist I didn't expect!

Eerie, mysterious, hooks you right away

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I was unaware that this was a YA book initially, however, the story was so engaging and unique it kept me interested to the very end. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Entertaining for adults too

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Couldn’t stop listening until it was done and now I am sad I flew through it. Such a good follow up to her previous books, the occult is there without a doubt, but the introspective look at how a relationship can simultaneously hinder and nourish is the true star of this book. Will definitely be listening again!

Enthralling as ever

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Big fan of previous work by author. Was not as transported by this book, but ultimately found it a creative supernatural ghost story, focused on central female friendship. Audiobook narrator makes protagonist sound very young and sort of whiny. Her voices for other characters were far more straightforward, so it was an exceedingly distracting choice.

Well done YA supernatural

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Haven’t read a fun and enthralling ya like this in a long time. Paranormal mystery that kept me guessing until the end

Wow

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