The Knife of Never Letting Go Audiobook By Patrick Ness cover art

The Knife of Never Letting Go

Chaos Walking, Book 1

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The Knife of Never Letting Go

By: Patrick Ness
Narrated by: Nick Podehl
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About this listen

Now a major motion picture, the first novel in the riveting Chaos Walking trilogy by two-time Carnegie Medalist Patrick Ness.

“Narrated with crack dramatic and comic timing.... The cliffhanger ending is as effective as a shot to the gut.” --Booklist (starred review)

Todd Hewitt is the only boy in a town of men. Ever since the settlers were infected with the Noise germ, Todd can hear everything the men think, and they hear everything he thinks. Todd is just a month away from becoming a man, but in the midst of the cacophony, he knows that the town is hiding something from him - something so awful Todd is forced to flee with only his dog, whose simple, loyal voice he hears too. With hostile men from the town in pursuit, the two stumble upon a strange and eerily silent creature: a girl. Who is she? Why wasn't she killed by the germ like all the females on New World? Propelled by Todd's gritty narration, readers are in for a white-knuckle journey in which a boy on the cusp of manhood must unlearn everything he knows in order to figure out who he truly is.

©2008 Patrick Ness (P)2010 Brilliance Audio, Inc.
Action & Adventure Dystopian Fantasy Violence Young Adult Fiction Suspenseful
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Critic reviews

"Furiously paced, terrifying, exhilarating, and heartbreaking, The Knife of Never Letting Go is a book that haunts your imagination." ( Sunday Telegraph, UK)
"A penetrating look at...what it takes to be a man in a society gone horribly wrong." ( Booklist)
"A series opener as promising as it is provocative." ( The Horn Book)

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What listeners say about The Knife of Never Letting Go

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Interesting but very turgid and repetitive.

This book is written in 1st person stream of consciousness. The hard won achievements of the good guys always seem to be wiped out more or less effortlessly by the bad guys. It's a difficult read, because events seem to leap out at the reader with no rhyme or reason. The loose threads of the plot may get bound up or just left dangling.

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2 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Mark Twain meets the Twilight zone!

This is a great book, and very well narrated. It sucked me in to downloading the series.

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2 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Here

Here I am
Here we are
Here we go
Here is all that matters.
I am here
We are

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2 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Best narration

Loved this book, in general, the story is very well done. The character development is so good. But the narration was the best I’ve heard in any audio book I’ve listened to. Most enjoyable experience because of that!

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

WOW

I decided to pick up this book after seeing the trailer for the first movie. I didn’t try to read too many extra reviews for the book because that honestly kind of ruined the last book (Artemis) that I read on here, but it seemed to be a well received Trilogy. I’d come so late in the game that they wrote a 50 minute prequel that the reviews said you could before or after the trilogy so I read the preview book thought it was pretty good and then I read this and boy howdy did that not disappoint. I honestly don’t think I’ve ever been more satisfied with a cliffhanger ending. Not in movies, tv or other books. I’m not simply satisfied because I knew there were two more books to read. Return of the Jedi was out when I watched the original Star Wars trilogy for the first time and I was extremely unsatisfied with the ending of Empire, still am to this day.

Anyways this was one of the best books/best audible narrations I’ve listened to all year. Stop reading reviews and just start it already.

Super excited to read the rest of this trilogy, and hope the movie(s) will do the book justice. I think Tom was a great choice for the lead.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

action; suspense; good characters wit bad language

my children and I enjoyed the book, however I was not thrilled with the language. The characters had a lot and had distinct personalities., action and suspense to the last sentence.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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CW

Just fantastic. My favorite books ever. If i could make kids read it in school, i would.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Best fiction I've read in a long time.

While carrying a dark undertone, this book has such creative and fascinating concepts from the incredibly believable world he builds to the plot line that it keeps you heavily invested. The writing is phenomenal, Nick Podhel is consistently an excellent narrator and this book is at the top of my favorites list right after Name of the Wind.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

wasn't sure what to expect

I've read a couple of Patrick Ness's books (A Monster Calls and More Than This) and as with those two books this one surprised me and kept me going wanting to know what was going on. I definitely enjoyed the characters and the world created, but the story wasn't my favorite and I don't think I was as caught up in it as I have been with the previous books by Ness.

I'll still give the next book a shot, these books came highly recommended and the narration is top notch given the way the book is written.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

compelling story (despite using God's name in vain

not for kids(language )but it will keep you in your car after you get home

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