Download the Best Full Audiobooks in Fiction, Literary

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Title: Blood of Heaven

Author: Bill Myers

Narrator: Richard Ferrone

Format: Unabridged

Length: 10 hrs and 31 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-29-11

Publisher: Recorded Books

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 54 votes

Genres: Fiction, Literary

Publisher's Summary:

Bill Myers works have sold over three million copies and won more than 40 national and international awards. In books like Eli, Threshold, and now, Blood of Heaven, he combines elements of science and scripture into provocative page-turners.

A small section of vine with bloodstained thorns has been encased in candle wax for centuries - and some believe the blood came from Christ. Convicted killer and death-row inmate Michael Coleman agrees to have the genes from the mysterious blood planted into his body. The results are so astonishing that the research must continue outside prison walls. But nobody can predict what will happen when Coleman assumes a new identity and reenters society. Filled with taut suspense and based on careful research, Blood of Heaven delves deep into the human heart and examines the very nature of good versus evil. Narrator Richard Ferrones gravelly voice adds a thrilling dimension to this compelling story.

Members Reviews:

Thought provoking!

Would you listen to Blood of Heaven again? Why?

Yes, I was at the edge of my seat often wanting to know what's next? I want to review it again with a notepad in hand.

What other book might you compare Blood of Heaven to and why?

I enjoy rich detail with challenges; this book compares to Frank Peretti's books!

What about Richard Ferrones performance did you like?

He's one of the best narrators out there!!

Never heard a bad Bill Myers book!

Every single Bill Myers book I have read or listened to has been amazingly brilliant! Richard Ferrone is a very good narrator too. Is is the kind of book I will listen to again.

Decent Listening

The book started off well but got predictable at the end with the usual bad guy getting mauled by his own creation and all is well for everyone else including the other guy who own the company and started the whole thing but develop a conscience with how far he would go to experiment. Decent read or listen.

Needs a different Narrator

I love Bill Myers' books. I love the way he thinks, his use of imagination and the way he writes. Once I start something by him, I usually end up listening straight through if I can... The only reason I give this book 4 out of 5 stars is because it would have been better if Bill Myers' had narrated it himself.

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Title: The Barbarian Nurseries

Author: Héctor Tobar

Narrator: Frankie J. Alvarez

Format: Unabridged

Length: 15 hrs and 58 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-27-11

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 211 votes

Genres: Fiction, Literary

Publisher's Summary:

The great panoramic social novel that Los Angeles deservesa 21st-century, West Coast Bonfire of the Vanities by the only writer qualified to capture the city in all its glory and complexity.

With The Barbarian Nurseries, Héctor Tobar gives our most misunderstood metropolis its great contemporary novel, taking us beyond the glimmer of Hollywood and deeper than camera-ready crime stories to reveal Southern California life as it really is, across its vast, sunshiny sprawl of classes, languages, dreams, and ambitions.

Araceli is the live-in maid in the Torres-Thompson householdone of three Mexican employees in a Spanish-style house with lovely views of the Pacific. She has been responsible strictly for the cooking and cleaning, but the recession has hit, and suddenly Araceli is the last Mexican standingunless you count Scott Torres, though youd never suspect he was half Mexican but for his last name and an old family photo with central LA in the background. The financial pressure is causing the kind of fights that even Araceli knows the children shouldnt hear, and then one morning, after a particularly dramatic fight, Araceli wakes to an empty houseexcept for the two Torres-Thompson boys, little aliens shes never had to interact with before. Their parents are unreachable, and the only family member she knows of is Señor Torres, the subject of that old family photo. So she does the only thing she can think of and heads to the bus stop to seek out their grandfather. It will be an adventure, she tells the boys. If she only knew.

With a precise eye for the telling detail and an unerring way with character, soaring brilliantly and seamlessly among a panorama of viewpoints, Tobar calls on all of his experienceas a novelist, a father, a journalist, a son of Guatemalan immigrants, and a native Angelenoto deliver a novel as broad, as essential, as alive as the city itself.

Critic Reviews:

Los Angeles Times journalist Tobars second novel is brimming with interwoven stories that form a vibrant portrait of his hometown of Los AngelesThe result is a marvelous pastiche of social commentary ensconced in a family domestic drama. (

Booklist, starred review)

Members Reviews:

Loved this book!

I loved this book - particularly the way Hector Tobar creates characters. The story shows how the small choices people make on a daily basis can impact not only their lives but the lives of others. The novel delves into big topics like class, labor, race and immigration in a compelling story of a family and their live in housekeeper.

A modern classic for 21st century Los Angeles

Let me be bold here: I think this book deserves to be a modern classic.

Not because it's the greatest book I've ever read. I liked it a lot, but it falls short of true greatness.

I am, however, comparing it to a lot of other classics I've read in the past few years, and in particular, the great melodramatic social commentaries like Bleak House, Mansfield Park, Middlemarch, North and South, Can You Forgive Her?, The Age of Innocence and so on.

Note that while I liked most of those books, I didn't love them. And I'm not necessarily comparing Héctor Tobar with the likes of Charles Dickens or Jane Austen.

But he does exactly what Dickens and Austen and Trollope and Eliot, et al did in telling a story about characters caught in a particular time and place in rather contrived situations, he tells us about that milieu.

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Title: Emory's Gift

Author: W. Bruce Cameron

Narrator: W. Bruce Cameron

Format: Unabridged

Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins

Language: English

Release date: 08-30-11

Publisher: Brilliance Audio

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 289 votes

Genres: Fiction, Literary

Publisher's Summary:

After 13-year-old Charlie Halls mother dies and his father retreats into the silence of grief, Charlie finds himself drifting lost and alone through the brutal halls of junior high school.

But Charlie Hall is not entirely friendless. In the woods behind his house, Charlie is saved from a mountain lion by a grizzly bear, a species thought to be extinct in northern Idaho.

And this very unusual bear will change Charlies life forever. Deeply moving, and interwoven with hope and joy, Emorys Gift is not only a heartwarming and charming coming-of-age story, but also a page-turning, insightful look at how faith, trust, and unconditional love can heal a broken family and can bridge the gaps that divide us.

Members Reviews:

Wanted to believe it was real

Would you consider the audio edition of Emory's Gift to be better than the print version?

Once the story grabbed onto me, I was helpless to give it up. Every moment I could, I hooked up my ITouch to listen. Maybe it's just me but I wanted to believe this was not a book of fiction but had really happened. And so it goes.......

The author did a wonderful job in narration.

The only negative, perhaps a little heavy in the pre/adolescent angst but perhaps this was part of what made Charlie "grow" (mature) and lent more to the story and character development.

Other than that, I totally enjoyed this book and will be recommending it to others.

Delightful

A delightful and engaging story. I enjoyed it and if it hadn't been so late in the evening, I would have listened straight through.Generally I would shy away from an author reading their own book, and in the preview I had my doubts but I bought the book anyway. I'm glad I did and it didn't take me long to get over my author/narrator phobia. I can't say it was a stellar performance, but the quality of the story far out shown any narration flatness. I'd actually listen to him again if his other stories were this entertaining.

Great book!

This is a unique and heart warming story - If you grew up in the 70s you'll enjoy it even more.

Interesting idea

Bear being human..a story we could enjoy, combined with human elements of Father - son relationship. Understanding each other's life.

Didn't want it to end

Where does Emory's Gift rank among all the audiobooks youve listened to so far?

One of the best stories I've heard in a long long time. One of those you look forward to everyday and hate when it ends.

What did you like best about this story?

The epilogue was awesome. Wraps the story up nicely

What does W. Bruce Cameron bring to the story that you wouldnt experience if you just read the book?

I really enjoyed Cameron's narration, Love his humor.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Both ...

Any additional comments?

This story really makes you think. Very inspirational.

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Title: The Djinn in the Nightingales Eye

Author: A. S. Byatt

Narrator: Virginia Leishman

Format: Unabridged

Length: 6 hrs and 21 mins

Language: English

Release date: 08-25-11

Publisher: Recorded Books

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 19 votes

Genres: Fiction, Literary

Publisher's Summary:

Glowing with narrator Virginia Leishmans finely tuned phrasing, The Djinn in the Nightingales Eye is the perfect introduction to A.S. Byatt, an author who continues to receive international awards and acclaim. Her wondrous fairy tales are iridescent stories full of spells, marvelous creatures, and beautiful princesses. The title tale focuses on Dr. Gillian Perholt, a narratologist. The sturdy, middle-aged scholar travels the world, speaking at international conferences about the art of storytelling. She immerses herself in the study of fabulous, archetypical heroes: patient Griselda, lovely Scheherazade, brave Gilgamesh. But when she is given the fairy tales three wisheschances to alter her own story, the choices she makes are both timeless and surprisingly unique.

A.S. Byatt, whose imaginative novels sparkle with layers of imagery and drama, focuses on the magic that is created each time a storyeller speaks. The five stories that comprise The Djinn in the Nightingales Eye are as fascinating and finely crafted as ivory puzzles.

Members Reviews:

The title story is superb

The title story is a novella, the last of several shorter stories in this book, starting at chapter 8.

It is the best thing I have read by A.S. Byatt, and I am an admirer of her lovely writing. This story is of a narratologist -- an academic woman who studies story-telling -- whose husband has recently left her for a younger woman, and a genie in a bottle, and all the stories they tell between them of their lives, and what happens to them. It is about being a woman, and about being a genie, and about charity and love and getting one's wishes fulfilled.

The reader is perfect for this story and reads it beautifully. After reading it several times, I was glad to be able to experience the story in a different way, read aloud by a very good reader.

Not very good

I did not finish this book. I got to the third story hoping that each story was going to be better than the last. Unfortunately that was not the case and I finally decided to stop wasting my time on this book.

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Title: 2030

Subtitle: The Real Story of What Happens to America

Author: Albert Brooks

Narrator: Dick Hill

Format: Unabridged

Length: 14 hrs and 23 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-01-11

Publisher: Tantor Audio

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 249 votes

Genres: Fiction, Literary

Publisher's Summary:

Is this what's in store? June 12, 2030, started out like any other day in memory---and by then, memories were long. Since cancer had been cured fifteen years before, America's population was aging rapidly. That sounds like good news, but consider this: millions of baby boomers, with a big natural predator picked off, were sucking dry benefits and resources that were never meant to hold them into their eighties and beyond. Young people around the country simmered with resentment toward "the olds" and anger at the treadmill they could never get off of just to maintain their parents' entitlement programs. But on that June 12th, everything changed: a massive earthquake devastated Los Angeles, and the government, always teetering on the edge of bankruptcy, was unable to respond. The fallout from the earthquake sets in motion a sweeping novel of ideas that pits national hope for the future against assurances from the past and is peopled by a memorable cast of refugees and billionaires, presidents and revolutionaries, all struggling to find their way. In 2030, the author's all-too-believable imagining of where today's challenges could lead us tomorrow makes for gripping and thought-provoking listening.

©2011 Albert Brooks (P)2011 Tantor

Editorial Reviews:

Everybody knows Albert Brooks. He's been at the forefront of comedy, film, and television since the late '60s. From Taxi Driver to The Simpsons Movie, from Saturday Night Live to Weeds, Brooks continues to roll with the times and prove himself to new generations of fans. It's almost unbelievable that he waited so long to try writing a book, and that the book isn't just a memoir. Instead, with 2030, Brooks is sticking to what he does best: envisioning the future with his keenly funny and often self-deprecating liberal, Jewish, show-biz eye. That's not a stereotype; that's the genre that Brooks perfected.

It may seem like a bit of a mystery as to why Brooks chose to call in another pro to do the narration, but Dick Hill is unquestionably the right man for the job. With over 300 audiobooks under his belt, three Audies and dozens of Earphone Awards to his credit, there's no voice Hill can't handle. He manages to make Brooks' didactic sense of humor crystal clear without stooping to a simple imitation of the way Brooks sounds. Hill adds significant depth and a bit of empathy to characters that are meant more as placeholders for the unfurling crisis than as literary gems, contributing an important dimension to the experience of the novel with which Brooks' more than ample screenwriting talent is perhaps not entirely acquainted.

This book is meant to showcase large dreams, but it isn't a dystopian novel. It describes a world where the big one has finally shaken the author's beloved Los Angeles into a state of emergency too big for the government to solve alone. The president is forced to partner with China to rebuild, and although there are a dozen characters' intersecting lives to sift though, the interesting thing about the book is really just Brooks' analysis of our future history between now and 2030. A left-wing cautionary tale that does not forsake the limits of scientific or economic plausibility, this is a refreshing new direction for Brooks that gains a terrific assist from Dick Hill's masterful character study.

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Title: High Society

Author: Ben Elton

Narrator: Greg Wagland

Format: Unabridged

Length: 11 hrs and 55 mins

Language: English

Release date: 04-20-11

Publisher: Random House AudioBooks

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 24 votes

Genres: Fiction, Literary

Publisher's Summary:

The war on drugs has been lost but for want of the courage to face the fact that the whole world is rapidly becoming one vast criminal network. From pop stars and princes to crack whores and street kids. From the Groucho Club toilets to the poppy fields of Afghanistan, we are all partners in crime.

High Society is a story, or rather a collection of interconnected stories, that takes the listener on a hilarious, heart-breaking, and terrifying journey through the kaleidoscope world that the law has created and from which the law offers no protection.

Members Reviews:

Ben brilliant as always

If you like Ben, you'll love it. Never a dull moment - witty, entertaining and fast moving as always, fantastic characters, topical , brilliant multi-layered plot. He nails the whole celebrity/rock star/politcal/human traffic culture - yes, all of them. Gritty and hiliarious. Loved it.

Thought-provoking, entertaining & funny

I would recommend this audiobook 100%. It's the first time I've read or listened to a Ben Elton novel and it made me think, was very entertaining and funny, and the narration was pitch perfect. 5 stars.

All Around Amazing!

Ben Elton is by far my favorite author and this is one of, if not my favorite books of his. The narrator, Greg Wagland, gets a 10 of 10 for his performance as he truly enhanced the color of this story. I would highly recommend this audible to anyone!

Love this one

This is by far my favourite Ben Elton book, a great and very true look at modern life if a bill to legalise all drugs were to be established and what that would mean for all the people involved.

I love all the characters and the way in which they all entwine as paths cross seen from different perspectives and through the different classes of New Labour's Britain.

From Hilarious stories to sickening acts and more, the book takes you on a journey through UK Drug culture from the Homeless and Prostitutes of London, The Drug Dealers and Currpt officials through the working class to the A List Celebs, Government employees and MP's and the Upper Class and of course the Police.

A top read/listen not to be missed!

Thought provoking read

How many ways can you look at the effects of drugs on British society? Ben Elton takes a dozen or so victims and associated story lines, as they all are in one way or another, eventually coming to the conclusion that there's not much to be done about it all. It's hard to feel much sympathy for the characters until a small ray of hope appears towards the end. I'm glad he managed to inject hope into the story as it would have been a very bleak read. A good book for someone who has no idea how the drug and criminal classes operate in the UK.

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Title: One of Our Thursdays is Missing

Subtitle: A Novel

Author: Jasper Fforde

Narrator: Emily Gray

Format: Unabridged

Length: 12 hrs and 1 min

Language: English

Release date: 03-08-11

Publisher: Recorded Books

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 722 votes

Genres: Fiction, Literary

Publisher's Summary:

Deftly blending such genres as mystery, science fiction, and classic literature, Jasper Ffordes gleefully irreverent New York Times best-selling Thursday Next novels defy categorization. In this sixth installment, the threat of all-out Genre war looms over BookWorld. But with the real Thursday Next retired in the real world, the Council of Genres has no other choice than to tap the fictional Thursday to save the day. Her mission as emissary is to prevent the brewing warbut her task is made more difficult by a hidden foe manipulating events.

Editorial Reviews:

Over the past decade, British novelist Jasper Fforde has established himself as the undisputed master of metafictional suspense stories. Though he is now in the middle of several completely different series of books, the original series of Thursday Next novels continues to be the crown jewel in his career. One of Our Thursdays Is Missing is the sixth book in this series as well as the second book in the sub-series known as BookWorld, a sub-series for which Fforde has said he plans to write two additional books. So this sixth effort is deeply embedded within the mythology and history of the Ffordian universe, but can also stand alone as a less than troublesome listen for those unfamiliar with the previous adventures of Thursday Next.

Emily Gray once again assumes the daunting task of Ffordes enormous cast of well-known literary characters, and once again proves equal to such a tremendous challenge. Gray also narrated the first book in this sub-series, as well as two other Nextian Fforde novels. At this point, the Real Thursday Next has mostly retired from both literary celebrity and private investigation. When she goes missing, the Written Thursday must step up to take on the Real Thursdays quirky assortment of obligations, from peace talks between Comedy and Romance genres to side-stepping the agents of mega-corporation Goliath, as well as quietly launch the investigation to find the Real Thursday. Only the Written Thursday is of course not as quick-witted and savvy as the Real Thursday, and mishaps abound.

The acrobatic narration required for this most recent installment is a feat that Gray accomplishes with remarkable dexterity and precision. Ffordes broadly wicked sense of humor is not lost whatsoever in the telling, and Gray deftly lands his volley of intelligent punch lines with a loving familiarity that neither resorts to the cheesy nor beats a dead horse. Also worth paying special attention to is her interpretation of the Written Thursdays new sidekick, Sprocket, an obsolete mechanical man who serves as her butler when they are not busy being on the run from a diverse set of mysterious enemies. Fforde is ultimately trying to address the important matter of what constitutes a happy ending, and uses all his beloved old tricks to sort out the answer. Emily Gray fortunately keeps pace with him every thrilling step of the way.

Members Reviews:

Not really a Thursday Next book

I went into this book expecting to listen about the Thursday Next that we all have grown to love. Unfortunately for me this book is about an entirely different character (albeit her name is Thursday Next). While I was disappointed to read about the fictional Thursday instead of the "real" Thursday, this book really came together well in the end.

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Title: Keeper

Author: Mal Peet

Narrator: Christopher Lane

Format: Unabridged

Length: 6 hrs and 2 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-28-11

Publisher: Candlewick on Brilliance Audio

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 26 votes

Genres: Fiction, Literary

Publisher's Summary:

It was darker now, and the city below Faustino's office was a jazzy dance of neon signs and traffic. The big man went to the window and looked down at it all, spreading his large hands on the glass. "No," he said. "It found me."

When Paul Faustino of LA NACION flips on his tape recorder for an exclusive Interview with El Gato - the phenomenal goalkeeper who single-handedly brought his team the World Cup - the seasoned reporter quickly learns that this will be no ordinary story. Instead, the legendary El Gato ("The Cat") quietly narrates a spellbinding tale that begins in a mythic corner of the South American rain forest, where a ghostly but very real mentor, the Keeper, emerges to teach the gangly boy the most thrilling secrets of the game. Combining vivid imagery and heart-stopping action, this evocative, strikingly ethereal novel about loyalty, passion, and magic will haunt readers, regardless of their love for soccer, long after the story is ended.

An enthralling story of a poor and gawky kid who mysteriously becomes the world's greatest goalkeeper - a seamless blend of magic realism and exhilarating soccer action.

Members Reviews:

great story; weird accent for narration

Excellent story. Narrator was easy to understand but the accent sounded vaguely Indian which I'm sure was not the intention given the South American setting and characters.

Engaging

It is not easy to find books for male teenagers, however, I believe Keeper is going to engage my students. I have no interest in soccer and was totally captivated.

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Title: The Stories of Paul Bowles

Author: Paul Bowles

Narrator: Nicola Barber, Joe Barrett, Victor Bevine, Robert Blumenfeld, Kevin T. Collins, Jonathan Davis, Lameece Issaq, Peter Ganim

Format: Unabridged

Length: 28 hrs and 39 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-21-11

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 29 votes

Genres: Fiction, Literary

Publisher's Summary:

An American literary cult figure, Paul Bowles established his legacy with the novel The Sheltering Sky. An immediate sensation, it became a fixture in American letters. Bowles then returned his energies to the short story - the genre he preferred and soon mastered.

Bowles' s short fiction is orchestral in composition and exacting in theme, marked by a unique, delicately spare style and a dark, rich, exotic mood, by turns chilling, ironic, and wry.

In "Pastor Dowe at Tecaté", a Protestant missionary is sent to the far reaches of the globe - a place, he discovers, where his God has no power. In "Call at Corazón", an American husband abandons his alcoholic wife on their honeymoon in a South American jungle. In "Allal", a boy's drug-induced metamorphosis into a deadly serpent leads to his violent death, but not before he feels the "joy" of sinking his fangs into his human prey.

Here too are his most famous works, such as "The Delicate Prey", a grimly satisfying tale of vengeance, and "A Distant Episode", which Tennessee Williams proclaimed "a masterpiece of short fiction".

Though shocking, Bowles's stories possess a symmetry between beauty and terror that is haunting and ultimately moral. Like Poe, Bowles had an instinctive adeptness with the nightmare vision. Like Hemingway, Bowles is famously unsentimental, a skilled craftsman of crystalline prose.

The complete cast of narrators includes: Nicola Barber, Joe Barrett, Victor Bevine, Robert Blumenfeld, Kevin T. Collins, Jonathan Davis, Lameece Issaq, Peter Ganim, Gayle Hendrix, Nick Pauling, Elisabeth Rodgers, Eileen Stevens, Suzanne Toren, and Marc Vietor.

Members Reviews:

Mesmerizing and beautifully produced

Would you listen to The Stories of Paul Bowles again? Why?

I actually have already listened to some of the stories over again. I cannot add too much to all that has been said about Bowles, but this is a great survey, and my introduction, really, to him as a short story writer. I could not take my headphones off!

What did you like best about this story?

It was a whalloping dose of humor, misery and careful observation. I dreamt differently after hearing this collection.

What about the narratorss performance did you like?

The narrator was a whole repertory company! WHAT a treat! It really added texture and variety to the stories and the selection of voices to stories was made by a very astute person, indeed.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

There is a harrowing story - just awful - that can be described, at first, as picaresque, about a naive English philologist embarking on field work in Africa and it all turning very very unexpected, indeed, within 12 hours of arriving. I could barely stand the story, but will never forget a moment of it.

Any additional comments?

A perfect dream of a book. Absolutely a show-stopper!

The atmosphere of the countries comes through

I enjoyed the later stories much more than the early ones. My complaint with the early stories is that they would often start getting good and holding my interest when they would just end.

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Title: Icelander

Author: Dustin Long

Narrator: Miette Elm

Format: Unabridged

Length: 7 hrs and 55 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-15-11

Publisher: Iambik Audio Inc.

Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 8 votes

Genres: Fiction, Literary

Publisher's Summary:

The daughter of a local legend of the investigative arts, Our Heroine searches for her dog while avoiding her biological impulse to solve the mystery of her best friend's recent murder.

So establishes the baseline of Icelander, which pulsates even more deeply with Norse legend, an alternate reality and a cast of supporting characters including a "rogue library-scientist", a pair of philosophical investigators, and a many-faced villain. Built on mazes of time, language, and narrator, this literary fireworks display shows you what might happen if Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple had been penned by Nabokov then run through Hitchcock's lens.

Critic Reviews:

"Nabokov meets Lemony Snicket in this manic Chinese box version of a mystery." (Publishers Weekly)

"This wonderful new novel from McSweeney's is a twisty murder mystery with rich overtones of Nabokov, Norse mythology and pomo fiction. Long obviously knows what it's like to hover between wanting to read about underground kingdoms and purloined documents and wanting to read about just plain real people. In fact, he seems perfectly happy to keep on hovering there, and he knows how to make his readers happy there, too." (Laura Miller, Salon.com)

Members Reviews:

Dull don't spend your money!!!

Dull! Dull! Dull! Dull! Dull! Dull! Dull! Dull! Dull! Dull! Dull! Dull! Dull! Dull! Dull! Let me say it one more time Dull!!!!!!!!!!

Unsuitable for audio

This book might be a good one to read, but as audio it is difficult - the constant interspersed notes, the references to other books are difficult enough, but the narrator's soporific and slow reading makes it really hard to concentrate on the text. 30 minutes of listening nearly put me to sleep. Miette's bedtime stories podcast are wonderful, but her style of reading seems out of keeping with this book. If you want to listen to a book in order to overcome insomnia, this is the one!