The Houseboat Audiobook By Dane Bahr cover art

The Houseboat

A Novel

 Preview
LIMITED TIME OFFER

3 months free
Try for $0.00
Offer ends July 31, 2025 at 11:59PM PT.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 3 months. Cancel anytime.

The Houseboat

By: Dane Bahr
Narrated by: William DeMeritt, Anna Caputo, Stacy Carolan, Angela Bates
Try for $0.00

$0.00/mo. after 3 months. Offer ends July 31, 2025 at 11:59PM PT. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $15.75

Buy for $15.75

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use, License, and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

James Sallis meets Mindhunter in this stylish and atmospheric noir set in small town Iowa in the 1960s, a midcentury heartland gothic with abounding twists and a feverish conclusion.

Local outcast Rigby Sellers lives in squalor on a dilapidated houseboat moored on the Mississippi River. With only stolen mannequins and the river to keep him company, Rigby begins to spiral from the bizarre to the threatening. As a year of drought gives way to a season of squalls, a girl is found trembling on the side of the road, claiming her boyfriend was murdered. The townspeople of nearby Oscar turn their suspicions toward Sellers.

Town sheriff Amos Fielding knows this crime is more than he can handle alone. He calls on the regional marshal up in Minnesota, and detective Edward Ness arrives in Oscar to help him investigate the homicide and defuse the growing unrest. Ness, suffering his own demons, is determined to put his past behind him and solve the case. But soon more bodies are found. As Ness and Fielding uncover disturbing facts about Sellers, and a great storm floods the Mississippi, threatening the town, Oscar is pushed to a breaking point even Ness may not be able to prevent.

©2022 Dane Bahr (P)2022 Random House Audio Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Mystery Small Town & Rural Suspense Thriller & Suspense Crime Exciting
All stars
Most relevant  
if the reader is to connect with characters, this ending was unfullfilling. not sure if I m interested in a follow book

story line

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I am baffled by the ending, and I feel like it changed what I felt of the story overall

What?

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The writing was fantastic and the story was captivating. Mr. Bahr’s ability to paint a picture with words is matched by few. What a ride!

Loved it!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This is a head scratcher. It is an odd story and it felt quite pointless to me. I definitely did not think it had "abounding twists" or a "feverish conclusion". I also disagree with the blurb - I did not find it stylish or atmospheric. I do not recommend this. If you want gritty noir, look elsewhere.

Pointless

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.