The Emperor of Ocean Park
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Narrated by:
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Peter Francis James
About this listen
An extraordinary fiction debut: a large, stirring novel of suspense that is, at the same time, a work of brilliantly astute social observation. The Emperor of Ocean Park is set in two privileged worlds: the upper crust African American society of the eastern seaboard - old families who summer on Martha's Vineyard - and the inner circle of an Ivy League law school. It tells the story of a complex family with a single, seductive link to the shadowlands of crime.
The Emperor of the title, Judge Oliver Garland, has just died, suddenly. A brilliant legal mind, conservative and famously controversial, Judge Garland made more enemies than friends. Many years before, he'd earned a judge's highest prize: a Supreme Court nomination. But in a scene of bitter humiliation, televised across the country, his nomination collapsed in scandal. The humbling defeat became a private agony, one from which he never recovered.
But now the Judge's death raises even more questions - and it seems to be leading to a second, even more terrible scandal. Could Oliver Garland have been murdered? He has left a strange message for his son Talcott, a professor of law at a great university, entrusting him with “the arrangements” - a mysterious puzzle that only Tal can unlock, and only by unearthing the ambiguities of his father’s past. When another man is found dead, and then another, Talcott - wry, straight-arrow, almost too self-aware to be a man of action - must risk his career, his marriage, and even his life, following the clues his father left him.
Intricate, superbly written, often scathingly funny, The Emperor of Ocean Park is a triumphant work of fiction, packed with character and incident - a brilliantly crafted tapestry of ambition, family secrets, murder, integrity tested, and justice gone terribly wrong.
©2002 Stephen L. Carter (P)2002 Random House Inc., Random House Audio, a Division of Random House Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
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Interesting Slice of US History...but Ponderous
- By Rancher on 12-18-13
By: Kris Nelscott
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Twilight
- By: Sherryl Woods
- Narrated by: Tanya Eby
- Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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For former private investigator Dana Miller, there can be no peace of mind until she finds the person who killed her husband. Now a single mother to three boys, Dana wants closure. But it turns out she’ll need to form an alliance with the man she holds responsible for the death. And uncovering answers may mean bringing down the program her husband believed in. Rick Sanchez has no intention of letting Dana destroy all the good he and Ken Miller worked for.
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Wonderful book
- By Joe C. Smith on 08-11-21
By: Sherryl Woods
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Baltimore Blues
- Tess Monaghan, Book 1
- By: Laura Lippman
- Narrated by: Deborah Hazlett
- Length: 9 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Unemployed at 29, Tess Monaghan is willing to take any freelance job to pay the rent—including a bit of unorthodox snooping for her rowing buddy, Darryl "Rock" Paxton. In a city where someone is murdered almost every day, attorney Michael Abramowitz's death should be just another statistic. But the slain lawyer's notoriety—and his noontime trysts with Rock's fiancée—make the case front page news...and point to Rock as the likely murderer. But trying to prove her friend's innocence could prove costly to Tess.
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I'm on #8 - This series is almost unique
- By connie on 02-19-12
By: Laura Lippman
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Everybody's Son
- A Novel
- By: Thrity Umrigar
- Narrated by: Josh Bloomberg
- Length: 10 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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During a terrible heat wave in 1991 - the worst in a decade - 10-year-old Anton has been locked in an apartment in the projects, alone, for seven days, without air conditioning or a fan. With no electricity, the refrigerator and lights do not work. Hot, hungry, and desperate, Anton shatters a window and climbs out. Cutting his leg on the broken glass, he is covered in blood when the police find him. Juanita, his mother, is discovered in a crack house less than three blocks away, nearly unconscious and half-naked.
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Engaging and insightful
- By Amazon Customer on 07-12-17
By: Thrity Umrigar
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Mercy Street
- Mercy Street Foundation, Book 1
- By: Mariah Stewart
- Narrated by: Joyce Bean
- Length: 9 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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On a balmy spring evening, four high school seniors - three boys and a girl - enter a park in the small Pennsylvania city of Conroy. The next morning, two of the boys are found shot to death, and the girl and the third boy are gone. After three weeks with no leads and no sign of either of the two missing teenagers, the chief of police begins to wonder if they too were victims.
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Mercy Street
- By Marybeth on 12-12-08
By: Mariah Stewart
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Privileged Information
- Alan Gregory, Book 1
- By: Stephen White
- Narrated by: Dick Hill
- Length: 12 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Alan Gregory is a clinical psychologist with a thriving practice in Boulder, Colorado. His life begins to unravel when one of his female patients is found in an apparent suicide and the local paper begins printing accusations from an unnamed source of sexual impropriety between the woman and Dr. Gregory. He launches a psychological and personal quest for the truth that rapidly intensifies when more of his patients die untimely deaths, and Gregory suspects not only that the deaths are related but that another one of his patients may be somehow involved. Lacking facts but roused by suspicion and troubled by seemingly random acts of terror around him, Gregory starts to fear for the safety of the people he loves. The question of the inviolability of confidential disclosures made to Gregory by his patients - privileged information - becomes crucial as the psychologist pursues an unsettling romance with Lauren Crowder, a lovely deputy district attorney investigating one of the deaths. Bound to silence, Gregory follows the psychological tracks of someone he fears may be a cunning and disturbed killer, while turning to his enigmatic but supportive partner, Diane Estevez, for counsel, and to his tart-tongued female urologist neighbor for support. The sinister, surprising drama unfolds against Boulder's Rocky Mountain backdrop, in the arresting natural beauty of Aspen, and in the midst of a baroque Halloween costume party in downtown Boulder. Finally, in a lonely mountain lodge enshrouded in menace, the story comes to its breathtaking climax.
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Four and a half stars, actually....
- By karen on 10-11-13
By: Stephen White
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Sidney Sheldon's The Tides of Memory
- By: Sidney Sheldon, Tilly Bagshawe
- Narrated by: Michael Kramer
- Length: 13 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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The conservative party's newest superstar, Alexia De Vere has worked hard to realize her political ambitions. The brilliant and ruthless wife of wealthy aristocrat Teddy De Vere, Alexia relishes her power and the control it gives her to shape and destroy lives. Yet success has also demanded sacrifice. Her daughter, Roxie, a bitter young woman confined to a wheelchair after a failed suicide attempt, blames Alexia for ruining her life. Alexia's dashing son, Michael, is risking the family's good name to jump-start his entrepreneurial dreams.
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Wow- so rough
- By Megan Piccarreto on 01-01-19
By: Sidney Sheldon, and others
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Heartbreaker
- Buchanan-Renard-MacKenna, Book 1
- By: Julie Garwood
- Narrated by: Tanya Eby
- Length: 13 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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In the still shadows of the confessional, a madman tauntingly reveals his plan for a murder he is going to commit, pulling Father Thomas Madden into a twisted game by disclosing his next intended victim: Tom's sister, Laurant. In a frantic race to protect her, Tom calls upon his best friend, elite FBI agent Nick Buchanan, to track the predator who is closing in on Laurant. Now, as an electrifying attraction grows between Laurant and Nick, so does the danger - and one false move will cost both of them everything that matters.
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No struggle here.
- By Tom on 04-09-16
By: Julie Garwood
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Treasure Box
- By: Orson Scott Card
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 9 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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A shattering childhood tragedy left Quentin Fears devastated. But the wealthy, enigmatic recluse has experienced the extraordinarily unexpected: love at first sight, with Madeleine. Now he must meet his new wife's family. A bizarre, dysfunctional collection of extreme characters, they are guarding a secret both shocking and terrifying, as is Madeleine herself. And suddenly Quentin Fears must prevent his dream woman from unleashing an ageless malevolence intent on ruling the world.
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OSC at his best!!!
- By KaHef on 01-13-07
By: Orson Scott Card
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No Name Lane
- By: Howard Linskey
- Narrated by: David Leon
- Length: 12 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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The hunt for a serial killer unearths an unsolved cold case from over 60 years ago. Young girls are being abducted and murdered in the Northeast. Out of favour detective constable Ian Bradshaw struggles to find any leads - and fears that the only thing this investigation will unravel is himself. Journalist Tom Carney is suspended by his London tabloid and returns to his home village in County Durham. Helen Norton is the reporter who replaced Tom on the local newspaper. Together they are drawn into a case that will change their lives forever.
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A Lot to Like, but Weak Narration
- By Carole T. on 07-18-16
By: Howard Linskey
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Charley's Web
- By: Joy Fielding
- Narrated by: Susan Ericksen
- Length: 13 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Charley Webb is a beautiful single mother who writes a successful and controversial column for the Palm Beach Post. She's spent years building an emotional wall against scathing critics, snooty neighbors, and her disapproving family. But when she receives a letter from Jill Rohmer, a young woman serving time on death row for the murders of three small children, her boundaries slowly begin to fade. Jill wants Charley to write her biography so that she can share the many hidden truths about the case that failed to surface during her trial.
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not the norm
- By D. Mains on 02-04-09
By: Joy Fielding
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Until Proven Guilty
- J. P. Beaumont Series, Book 1
- By: J. A. Jance
- Narrated by: Gene Engene
- Length: 8 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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Lurking in the dark corners of J. P. Beaumont's bizarre case was not just a demented mind obsessed with murder, but secrets so deadly that even a street-tough cop could die guessing.
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Until proven guilty
- By Jean on 04-21-11
By: J. A. Jance
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66° North
- A Magnus Iceland Mystery
- By: Michael Ridpath
- Narrated by: Seán Barrett
- Length: 12 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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Iceland, 1934. Two boys playing see something they shouldn't have. The consequences will haunt them and their families for generations. Iceland, 2009. The credit crunch bites. The currency has been devalued, savings annihilated, lives ruined. Grassroots revolution is in the air, as is the feeling that someone ought to pay.... And in a country where everyone knows everybody, it isn't hard to draw up a list of exactly who is responsible. And then, one by one, to cross them off.
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Fantastic story!
- By Far Side on 11-07-23
By: Michael Ridpath
What listeners say about The Emperor of Ocean Park
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
- L. Adams
- 03-07-03
The Emperor of Ocean Park
Fast-paced and suspenseful. It was a bit difficult at times to know if I was in the 'present' or flash-back but it grabbed me from the beginning and held me tight.
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15 people found this helpful
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Performance
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Story
- Mar-Kell Law, II
- 05-16-20
Abridged Version is only So-So
Great performance by the reader. The abridged version cuts out too much from the story, rendering the narrator, Talcot, boring and flat. I wish they would've kept some of his musings from the unabridged version.
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Overall
- Lisa G from KC
- 08-24-19
Wow
I've owned the hardback version of this book since two months after it's release years ago. I read half but could never quite get back to it. I pulled the trigger (wink) and finished on Audible. I was not disappointed. Full of clever suspense to the end. *Spoiler Alert - at the end, my household heard me scream, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!"😉
Great read!
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Performance
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Story
- Avid Reader
- 07-08-15
Disappointed
I was really hopeful this book would offer a lot of suspense making it difficult to put down. It took too long to get to the main points. Transition between characters was pretty good except for the voice of the little boy that was unconvincing and annoying. And it helps to understand how the game of chess is played to grasp the storyline.
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Overall
- Gabriel
- 12-09-07
not great
this book will not keep you in the car for an extra minute trying to finish off a particular scene, but it is passable with a push
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
- ARS
- 07-09-15
Slow Start but interesting ending
Is there anything you would change about this book?
Yes, the reader. The reader was very dry. I equate it to watching an actor that can't act. All the characters kind of blended together.
Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?
Yes, The end result was unpredictable but not shocking.
How did the narrator detract from the book?
Not very good:(
Was The Emperor of Ocean Park worth the listening time?
It was a good book, but you had to get past the first chapter or two to really enjoy the story.
Any additional comments?
Good book, would be a better listening book if the reader was better. It would probably be a better book to actually read and not listen to.
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Overall
- Mark
- 06-22-03
An Extradordinary Story
Carter is always insightful and articulate and with "Emperor" he proves he's a master storyteller. Unlike much of what passes for popular fiction these days, Carter invites the reader's intelligence into the story. If you're not engaged, you're just not paying attention! He weaves social observation and commentary into the storyline and combines them with a well-develop mystery. This one is worth listening to/reading more than once!
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16 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Jenvictoria
- 09-05-04
Disappointing
Not what I expected. Like a watered down version of a Grisham novel and often very boring during sections. Not recommended.
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5 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Moire
- 12-24-04
Too Dull
Not enough action or character development to hold my interest. Scott Turow or John Grisham are better choices for those looking for behind the scene court room drams.
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3 people found this helpful