The Games
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Narrated by:
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Scott Brick
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By:
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Ted Kosmatka
About this listen
Jurassic Park meets The Hunger Games in this stunning new high-energy, high-concept tale from first-time novelist Ted Kosmatka, a Nebula Award and Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award finalist.
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Set in an amoral future where genetically engineered monstrosities fight each other to the death in an Olympic event, The Games envisions a harrowing world that may arrive sooner than you think.
Silas Williams is the brilliant geneticist in charge of preparing the U.S. entry into the Olympic Gladiator competition, an internationally sanctioned bloodsport with only one rule: no human DNA is permitted in the design of the entrants. Silas lives and breathes genetics; his designs have led the United States to the gold in every previous event. But the other countries are catching up. Now, desperate for an edge in the upcoming Games, Silas’s boss engages an experimental supercomputer to design the genetic code for a gladiator that cannot be beaten.
The result is a highly specialized killing machine, its genome never before seen on earth. Not even Silas, with all his genius and experience, can understand the horror he had a hand in making. And no one, he fears, can anticipate the consequences of entrusting the act of creation to a computer’s cold logic.
Now Silas races to understand what the computer has wrought, aided by a beautiful xenobiologist, Vidonia João. Yet as the fast-growing gladiator demonstrates preternatural strength, speed, and—most disquietingly—intelligence, Silas and Vidonia find their scientific curiosity giving way to a most unexpected emotion: sheer terror.
Praise for The Games
“Blends the best of Crichton and Koontz.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Outstanding . . . very like something Michael Crichton might have written . . . [a] bold mix of horror and SF . . . Expect big things from [Ted] Kosmatka.”—Booklist (starred review)
“Kosmatka successfully captures the thrill of groundbreaking technology. . . . The pleasure of his polished, action-packed storytelling is deepened by strong character development. This near-future SF thriller . . . seems destined for the big screen.”—Library Journal (starred review)
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Story
Frank Pollard awakens in an alley, knowing nothing but his name - and that he is in great danger. Having taken refuge in a motel, he wakes again only to find his hands covered in blood. As far as he knows, he's no killer. But whose blood is this, and how did it get there?
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THE BEST KOONTZ
- By Root VanDorn on 10-20-10
By: Dean Koontz
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Dark Siren
- An Ashwood Novel
- By: Lee Dignam, Katerina Martinez
- Narrated by: Laurel Schroeder
- Length: 7 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Supernatural bounty hunter Alice Werner loves her job. She gets paid the big bucks to take down her targets and doesn't ask her clients too many questions as long as the money's good. But when a girl goes missing and the case feels all too familiar, Alice can't help but act. Concern for the girl's safety draws her into a risky case. Compassion keeps her involved when the stakes begin to rise. Desperation forces her to call on an old flame for help.
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2 and a half stars
- By Beatrice on 01-07-17
By: Lee Dignam, and others
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The Breach
- By: Patrick Lee
- Narrated by: Jeff Gurner
- Length: 8 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Thirty years ago, in a facility buried beneath a vast Wyoming emptiness, an experiment gone awry accidentally opened a door. It is the world’s best-kept secret—and its most terrifying. Trying to regain his life in the Alaskan wilds, ex-con/ex-cop Travis Chase stumbles upon an impossible scene: a crashed 747 passenger jet filled with the murdered dead, including the wife of the President of the United States.
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Good but with problems
- By David on 05-10-11
By: Patrick Lee
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Metzger's Dog
- A Novel
- By: Thomas Perry
- Narrated by: Michael Kramer
- Length: 8 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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When Leroy "Chinese" Gordon breaks into a professor's lab at the University of Los Angeles, he's after some pharmaceutical cocaine, worth plenty of money. Instead, he finds the papers the professor has compiled for the CIA, which include a blueprint for throwing a large city into chaos. But how is the CIA to be persuaded to pay a suitable ransom, unless of course someone actually uses the plan to throw a large city into chaos - Los Angeles, for instance?
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Messrs. Perry and Kramer should get six stars.
- By Richard Delman on 03-22-12
By: Thomas Perry
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The Long Way Down
- Daniel Faust, Book 1
- By: Craig Schaefer
- Narrated by: Adam Verner
- Length: 9 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Nobody knows the seedy underbelly of Las Vegas like Daniel Faust, a sorcerer for hire and ex-gangster who uses black magic and bullets to solve his clients' problems. When an old man comes seeking vengeance for his murdered granddaughter, what looks like a simple job quickly spirals out of control. Soon Daniel stands in the crossfire between a murderous porn director; a corrupt cop with a quick trigger finger; and his own former employer, a racket boss who isn't entirely human.
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Urban fantasy noir. Done right..
- By Cliff on 02-19-15
By: Craig Schaefer
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Kingdom Keepers: The Return Book One Disney Lands
- Kingdom Keepers: The Return, Book 1
- By: Ridley Pearson
- Narrated by: MacLeod Andrews
- Length: 6 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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With the defeat of the Overtakers behind them, the five teenagers known as the Kingdom Keepers should be celebrating. By all accounts they saved Disneyland from certain destruction. Why then did their mentor leave one last puzzle for them to decipher? The Keepers must solve a puzzle of the past, or be crushed under an evil that makes the Overtakers seem like gentle souls.
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Why do I keep buying these?
- By Rebecca on 04-04-16
By: Ridley Pearson
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Pandemonium
- By: Daryl Gregory
- Narrated by: Peter Berkrot
- Length: 10 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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It is a world like our own in every respect, save one. In the 1950s, random acts of possession begin to occur. Ordinary men, women, and children are the targets of entities that seem to spring from the depths of the collective unconscious, pop-cultural avatars some call demons. As a boy, Del Pierce is possessed by the Hellion, an entity whose mischief-making can be deadly. With the help of Del's family and a caring psychiatrist, the demon is exorcised... or is it?
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Random demonic possession
- By Michael G Kurilla on 11-17-24
By: Daryl Gregory
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Au Revoir, Crazy European Chick
- By: Joe Schreiber
- Narrated by: Steven Boyer
- Length: 5 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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New York Times best-selling author Joe Schreiber pens a funny, action-packed novel that is equal parts Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and La Femme Nikita. It’s prom night, and Perry is looking forward to playing a gig with his band in New York City. But when his mother makes him take their quiet and geeky Lithuanian exchange student to the dance, he finds himself on a reckless ride through Manhattan—in his dad’s red Jaguar—with a trained assassin.
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A teen novel for older teens (58 in this case)
- By Milo on 08-13-12
By: Joe Schreiber
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The First Bird
- Episode 1
- By: Greig Beck
- Narrated by: Sean Mangan
- Length: 5 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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When a fame-hungry scientist brings an impossible, living specimen of a creature long thought extinct back from the wild jungles of South America he unwittingly brings along a passenger. Something with the potential to destroy every living thing on our planet. The infestation begins, rapidly overtaking medical resources and resisting all treatment.
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Episode 1 was good but # 2 & 3 are not
- By Laura on 11-02-13
By: Greig Beck
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Gone
- Gone Series, Book 1
- By: Michael Grant
- Narrated by: Kyle McCarley
- Length: 17 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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In the blink of an eye, everyone disappears. Gone. Except for the young. There are teens, but not one single adult. Just as suddenly, there are no phones, no Internet, no television. No way to get help. And no way to figure out what's happened. Hunger threatens. Bullies rule. A sinister creature lurks. Animals are mutating. And the teens themselves are changing, developing new talents - unimaginable, dangerous, deadly powers - that grow stronger by the day. It's a terrifying new world.
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Please rerelease this book w new narration
- By Kim on 02-12-17
By: Michael Grant
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The Hollow Man
- By: Dan Simmons
- Narrated by: Mark Boyett
- Length: 9 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Jeremy Bremen has a secret. All his life he's been cursed with the ability to read minds. He knows the secret thoughts, fears, and desires of others as if they were his own. For years, his wife, Gail, has served as a shield between Jeremy and the burden of this terrible knowledge. But Gail is dying, her mind ebbing slowly away, leaving him vulnerable to the chaotic flood of thought that threatens to sweep away his sanity. Now Jeremy is on the run - from his mind, from his past, from himself - hoping to find peace in isolation.
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Genius writing, great book
- By David Shear on 02-28-14
By: Dan Simmons
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Altered Carbon
- By: Richard K. Morgan
- Narrated by: Todd McLaren
- Length: 17 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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In the 25th century, humankind has spread throughout the galaxy, monitored by the watchful eye of the U.N. While divisions in race, religion, and class still exist, advances in technology have redefined life itself. Now, assuming one can afford the expensive procedure, a person's consciousness can be stored in a cortical stack at the base of the brain and easily downloaded into a new body (or "sleeve") making death nothing more than a minor blip on a screen.
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Altered Carbon
- By Jake Williams on 09-22-07
What listeners say about The Games
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Updesh
- 07-16-15
Great idea turned into a predictable story
The idea is great and when I first tried to read it the concept disturbed me enough to not continue past the first chapter or so
I came back to eat a year later and even though I knew I hadn't read it, I felt like ever word of it was familiar
It moves slowly in the last third, possibly because the ending is so obvious it just drags
Would have been a great novella.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Alexander Van Esselstine
- 01-01-21
In a word... Excellent.
I cannot say that the story was entirely unique or unpredictable. Two qualities I look for in every new story I purchase. That said, this story is so masterfully executed that the similarities, or rather parallels, to other works are overshadowed completely. An amazing story from start to finish with the expected cautionary notes.
I originally purchased this because of the narrator and was in no way disappointed. Scott Brick has once again brought a story to life in a way that so few can.
I showed up for the narrator, I'll be staying to enjoy the other works of an excellent author.
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- JMcB
- 03-19-12
Five star game!!
Amazing book. Part sci-fi and part thriller paired with Scott Brick is an all around winner. Reminiscent of Koonts early work and Robert Charles Wilson with a bit of Robert Sawyer thrown in for good measure. I found the synopsis intriguing and I was not disappointed. There are several different stories happening at the same time that converge about 2/3 of the way in. I think Kosmatka has a gift and I will be looking forward to his next endeavor The Games is a cautionary tale. Just because we can does not mean should!
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5 people found this helpful
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- Carl
- 09-11-12
An isolated AI singularity event
Genre: Sci-Fi
Rated: R for violence and horror
Static or Dynamic: the first half is static and straightforward plot setting and the second half is dynamic and actiony.
1st or 3rd Person: 3rd person with 3+ people to follow
Abstract or Concrete: Balanced: many parts of the book were concrete and mechanically described how something looked or how someone felt about something. However, a large portion of the book revolves around the concept of whether or not the society in the book is mature enough to handle the technologies they possess. It's a classic story of what happens when a lesser developed civilization stumbles on a piece of technology that is waaaaaaaay to advanced for them and ends up getting itself into trouble, however, this particular story is a spin on that taking it a level deeper.
Linear or Non-Linear: Mostly linear, however, one of the characters is in a sort of "timeless" category, though, not really.
Narrator: No complaints
Plot Outline: A parallel American society has an Olympic gladiatorial glorified cock-fight competition where each country pits a biologically altered monster against the rest of the world's monsters. America finds a designer that is cunning beyond words and possesses technology that hasn't been charted. Furthermore, the result is arguably even more cunning and horrific. The story is relatively straight forward and it analyzes the morality of a mob based world that can only be satiated with entertainment. Most of the story is a hard science backed look at the ramifications of genetic engineering. Do yourself a favor and look up Haploid, Diploid, and the types of Zygotes with respects to chromosomes an animal can have if you don't know and want the full ramifications of what's happening. It's not something that is really going to trip you up but it will give you some background that could help smooth some explanations out.
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5 people found this helpful
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- Rob
- 03-30-18
Thoughtful sci-fi
Once again, Kosmatka doesn’t disappoint. I am a very picky sci-fi fan. If it’s not believable or boring, I can’t read or listen to it. Ted Kosmatka is an excellent sci-fi author. I wish he had more books on audible!
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- M. B. Berberich
- 09-17-16
Thrilling!
Exciting and credible tale of genetic engineering in the nearish future. It's difficult to stop listening.
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