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Title: Ah, Rat

Author: Richard Babcock

Narrator: Daniel Thomas May

Format: Unabridged

Length: 54 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-17-14

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 2 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Kindle Singles best-selling author Richard Babcock (My Wife's Story) returns to the scene of simmering domestic conflict with this witty and harrowing tale of a husband who battles a marauding rat that seems determined to avenge the man's secret infidelity. Babcock is a novelist and former magazine editor.

Members Reviews:

"scratch, scratch, scratch"

A couple, burdened by guilt and anger, rent a cabin on Martha's Vineyard one summer. Here, the husband, Doug, is eager to atone, hoping to salvage his marriage, but his wife is quick, and right, to point out that a "marriage is made up of moments," and each one counts in the life of a marriage. And in this cabin, Doug is given the odd chance of proving himself to his wife, a chance to make her appreciate him again.

I really liked this idea of moments, of those very things that make or break a relationship: the moment you do something, right or wrong, and the moment that such things are found out. There are always secrets we keep, and in this story, we see two secrets, one more innocuous than the other but just as profound in its effect on the marriage. So, will this man prove himself and win his wife back?

This is maybe a forty-minute read, but it's one of those stories that's more complex than it seems at first. It seems only to be a simple story about a man trying to kill a rat, but it's more than that. I'm usually not one to feel any sympathy for a guy like Doug, but the author wrote this character in such an honest, and even in an almost endearing way, that I found myself liking him and hoping he did soften Ellen's anger. He's every man who's had a bad moment and hopes to make a wrong right. A very nicely written short story that's both simple and complex in what it presents, and skillfully told in an easy but smart voice.

Ah, Richard Babcock

When I first read Richard Babcock's Kindle Single "My Wife's Story" I knew I had found an author I liked. More than anything, I was delighted to see another Single by Babcock called "Ah, Rat." This one is just as good, with the humor, truth and honesty.

Doug, Ellen and their baby son Jeffrey are on Martha's Vineyard for two weeks of vacation. Doug made a mistake after the baby was born with a woman in his office, and Ellen found out and now he is trying to make amends and get the marriage back on track again. He wants to prove himself to Ellen that he is husband and father and protector. He wants the peace and quiet of their vacation rental house as a backdrop against which he can make his attempts.

Enter the rat. He scratches around in the house all night and is a master of evasiveness. Doug is up all night listening for him. He worries that the rat might get into the baby's crib and bite little Jeffrey. Ellen worries about the same thing and about facing the rat herself.

I love this story and wound up loving the rat, too. This is one that you really should read and for the quality of writing and the story itself, it's a bargain. Plus, how the rat fits into the marriage is quite important in the grand scheme of things.

A Spooky Tale of Modern Man vs. Rat

This short novella kind of sneaks up on you. There is a bucolic beginning with a couple settling into a secluded bungalow for two. But then the suspense builds as there are signs of an unwanted intruder. Food is spilled in the kitchen. The husband assumes it is a mouse.