Listen to Best Sellers Audiobooks in Fiction, Literary

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Title: See Now Then

Subtitle: A Novel

Author: Jamaica Kincaid

Narrator: Jamaica Kincaid

Format: Unabridged

Length: 5 hrs and 46 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-05-13

Publisher: Macmillan Audio

Ratings: 2.5 of 5 out of 26 votes

Genres: Fiction, Literary

Publisher's Summary:

In See Now Then, the brilliant and evocative new novel from Jamaica Kincaid (her first in 10 years), a marriage is revealed in all its joys and agonies. This piercing examination of the manifold ways in which the passing of time operates on the human consciousness unfolds gracefully, and Kincaid inhabits each of her characters - a mother, father, and two children living in a small village in New England - as they move, in their own minds, between the present, the past, and the future. For, as she writes, "the present will be a now then and the past is now then and the future will be a now then." Her characters, constrained by the world, despair in their domestic situations. But their minds wander, trying to make linear sense of what is, in fact, nonlinear.

See Now Then is Kincaids attempt to make clear what is unclear, and to make unclear what we assumed was clear: that is, the beginning, the middle, and the end. Since the publication of her first short story collection, At the Bottom of the River, nominated for a PEN / Faulkner Award for fiction, Jamaica Kincaid has demonstrated a unique talent for seeing beyond and through the surface of things. In See Now Then, she envelops the listener in a world that is both familiar and startling - creating her most emotionally and thematically daring work yet.

Members Reviews:

She should never read her works aloud!

Would you try another book from Jamaica Kincaid and/or Jamaica Kincaid?

The story was ok. I just had to read it instead of listen. Ms. Kincaid's voice and intonation made it painful to listen to the book.

Would you be willing to try another one of Jamaica Kincaids performances?

NO!

Could Not Listen to This One

What would have made See Now Then better?

Oh, dear...it was a little hard to follow, and I was alone in the car, driving a long distance, so it shouldn't have been. Plus I simply did not connect with the characters at ALL. I returned it to Audible and got another book that was more suited to me.

What was most disappointing about Jamaica Kincaids story?

I thought it sounded good and was ready to listen to it for a 3-day drive...

How did the narrator detract from the book?

The narrator was fine.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from See Now Then?

I did not get very far before I realized I really did not want to hear this story. I did not finish it.

Talk About "Character-Driven"

Kincaid has done away with any real semblance of plot in this masterful, stream-of-consciousness "rant" about a marriage gone downhill. She has an endearing slant on southern Vermont and its inhabitants, and there's a lot of humor in this book, and some "ha ha" moments, even though the subject is actually sad and hopeless. Kincaid's narration adds authenticity to the narration. I enjoyed the story but by the end I'd had enough.

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Title: Beyond the Black Stump

Author: Nevil Shute

Narrator: Laurence Kennedy

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 15 mins

Language: English

Release date: 01-07-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 9 votes

Genres: Fiction, Literary

Publisher's Summary:

If somewhere is said to be 'beyond the black stump', it is in the deepest darkest wilds of the Australian outback. This is the sun-baked setting for Nevil Shute's novel of a romance that is tested by the differences between two young people's home lives. Stanton Laird is sent from his small town in America to work in a remote outpost in Western Australia. While out there he befriends the unconventional Regan family and falls in love with the daughter, Mollie. However, when Mollie travels to America to visit Stanton, the two realise that their differences in background make their plans for a future together difficult to envisage.

Members Reviews:

Boring Beyond Belief !!

Would you try another book from Nevil Shute and/or Laurence Kennedy?

Yes, but only after reading the printed version.

Would you ever listen to anything by Nevil Shute again?

Yes. I already own "A Town Like Alice" in my on-line library, and have thoroughly enjoyed it on more than one occasion.

What didnt you like about Laurence Kennedys performance?

Actually his narration was good, considering the insufferable material he was reading.

You didnt love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

None obvious to me ~~ perhaps Part 2 would reveal them to anyone interested enough to listen, but that person will not be this reader.

Any additional comments?

It is difficult to imagine this brilliant author creating such a vapid and insipid cast of characters as (1) Mollie ~~ who "took a first" at University ~~ in what? Her "higher" education is not further demonstrated, leaving the impression of an semi-illiterate, possession-hungry, magazine-reading, movie star-struck adolescent. (2) Stan ~~ please ~~ even the trained mouse had more personality. (3) The others ~~ my bet is that Mr. Shute didn't have to reach for his Thesaurus when using the word "lunatic" to describe the area housing these burlesque people.

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Title: The Heather Blazing

Subtitle: A Novel

Author: Colm Toibin

Narrator: Tim Gerard Reynolds

Format: Unabridged

Length: 8 hrs and 9 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-04-12

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 50 votes

Genres: Fiction, Literary

Publisher's Summary:

Eamon Redmond is a judge in Irelands high court, a completely legal creature who is just beginning to discover how painfully unconnected he is from other human beings. With effortless fluency, Colm Tóibín reconstructs the history of Eamons relationships - with his father, his first "girl", his wife, and the children who barely know him - and he writes about Eamons affection for the Irish coast with such painterly skill that the land itself becomes a character. The result is a novel of stunning power, "seductive and absorbing" (USA Today).

Critic Reviews:

"[A] stunning Irish novel, which seems to derive its clear and affecting style in part from the staunch personality of its protagonist...and in part from the chilly beauty of the south-east coast of Ireland." (The New Yorker)

"This lovely, understated novel proceeds with stately grace." (Alice McDermott, The Washington Post Book World)

"The more one thinks about this clear-headed yet intense book, the stronger the impression it leaves." (Los Angeles Times Book Review)

Members Reviews:

A Quiet but Lovely Story

Eamon Redmond, the narrator of The Heather Blazing, is a middle-aged Irish judge nearing retirement. The novel opens as he and his wife return to their County Wexford family home from Dublin where Eamon works on a ruling in the controversial case of an pregnant unmarried teacher who was fired from her position at a Catholic school. Most of the novel is composed of Eamon's reminiscences of his earlier life in Enniscothy (Toibin's home town): his grandfather's and uncle's deaths, his schooldays, his father's launching of a museum and his later stroke, his first sexual experiences and falling in love with his wife, his political activities and early days as a government prosecutor, etc. These memories are interwoven with present-day episodes involving his wife Carmel and his adult children, Maeve and Donal.

One repeated refrain is Carmel's complaint that Eamon seems "distant" and her unsuccessful efforts to break through his reserve. The closest he comes is early in their marriage, when he admits that, his mother having died when he was a baby, he grew up to be self-sufficient, believing that if he ever had to ask anyone for something, they would likely refuse. "No one ever wanted me," he tearfully confesses. Yet decades later, as Carmel struggles to speak after a stroke, she tells him, "We need to talk. You are always so distant. You never tell me anything. You don't love me. You don't love the children." I have to admit that I was a bit mystified by her complaint, having been privy to a lot of Eamon's thoughts, feelings, and concerns, and having seen him caring tenderly for his ailing wife, grieving after her death, and reaching out to his children in his loneliness. There are, after all, a lot of ways to express love besides talking about one's feelings, and Eamon seemed to me a good man who was devoted to his family.

This is not a book with a powerhouse plot and lots of action: it's a quiet revelation of and meditation on a life. The afterward reveals, as I suspected all along, that much of it was based on episodes from Toibin's own life, although he insists that Eamon is a totally fictitious character.

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Title: Lonely Road

Author: Nevil Shute

Narrator: Laurence Kennedy

Format: Unabridged

Length: 8 hrs and 46 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-26-12

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 25 votes

Genres: Fiction, Literary

Publisher's Summary:

Commander Malcolm Stevenson, a rich middle-aged man, finds his lonely life turned upside down when he falls in love with a pretty dance hostess. His involvement with Mollie "Sixpence" Gordon will lead to the exposure of a conspiracy to sabotage the British General Election, but Stevensons dogged pursuit of the criminals will throw his life and the lives of those he cares about into grave danger.

Critic Reviews:

"The English novel's only down-to-earth romantic...there is a quality of golden light that hangs over his books. That comes, I think, from his sense of order and from his own vast, undemonstrative solicitude" (John Ezard, Guardian)

"A first-class storyteller, and his narrative is extraordinarily convincing." (J. B. Priestley)

Members Reviews:

Great story telling, implausible plot

What made the experience of listening to Lonely Road the most enjoyable?

Shute is superb at describing the principle characters and their thoughts and environment. He has a nice touch with details and character. Pacing is very good.

What was most disappointing about Nevil Shutes story?

The plot is implausible. Both the initial setup, where the narrator remains silent about what he knows and the latter part where he flies off and what follows.

What does Laurence Kennedy bring to the story that you wouldnt experience if you just read the book?

Can't say. But he did a fine job.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No. It was not that compelling.

Mildly entertaining story

Any additional comments?

I chose this because I liked the reader and I liked the Pied Piper. If you are considering your first Nevil Shute novel I would recommend Pied Piper in preference. Lonely Road is a pleasant enough listen.. It feels very dated, told in the first person, the narrator being a wealthy businessman who talks exactly like Prince Charles and every time he drives anywhere he talks about how the joy of travelling in a "motor car". I guess they didn't have drink drive laws in those days or he would surely have been in jail. One of the most striking things about the book is the treatment of women, which is so sexist that, even allowing for when it was written, I couldn't help but cringe.

One thing is curious. There is an important event near the end (don't worry I won't reveal it), which is entirely glossed over so that the outcome is only released as a short aside a week later. It is not confusing - you can work it out easily enough - but it is very strange. I half wondered if there was a chapter missing.

.

Thriller

An old time thriller full of surprises , gripping and well performed. a great book

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Title: The Thanatos Syndrome

Author: Walker Percy

Narrator: David Hilder

Format: Unabridged

Length: 14 hrs and 23 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-18-12

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 31 votes

Genres: Fiction, Literary

Publisher's Summary:

When Dr. Tom More (of Love in the Ruins) is released on parole from state prison, he returns to Feliciana, Louisiana, the parish where he was born and bred, and where he practiced psychiatry before his arrest. Upon arriving, he notices something strange in almost everyone around him: unusual sexual behavior in women patients, a bizarre loss of inhibition, a lack of complexity in speech - even his own wifes extraordinary success at bridge tournaments, during which her mind seems to function like a computer.

With the ingenious help of his attractive cousin, Dr. Lucy Lipscomb, More begins to uncover a criminal experiment to "improve" peoples behavior by drugging the local water supply. But beyond this scheme are activities so sinister that even Tom More wouldnt believe them if he hadnt witnessed them with his own eyes.

Critic Reviews:

"Spins along at a brisk thriller pace, laced with escapes and chase scenes and risky, ingenious detective work." (Gail Godwin, New York Times Book Review)

"What a pleasure it is to read a real novelThe Thanatos Syndrome has the ambition and purposefulness to take on the world, to wrestle with its shortcomings, and to celebrate its glories." (Washington Post Book World)

"He is a dazzlingly gifted novelistPercy stages a lively medical mysterythat no serious reader will want to miss." (USA Today)

Members Reviews:

In the end one must chose--given the chance.

"It is not for me to say whether one should try to be happy -- although it always struck me as an odd pursuit, like trying to be blue-eyed--"

--Walker Percy, The Thanatos Syndrome.

Probably 3.5 stars. Not my favorite Walker Percy, and definitely not the one to start with. It starts with dark humor and absurdism and twists into a creepy weird horror show and slowly wades the reader back out.

I get what Percy was doing here. I really do. I get the metaphor, but ye gads, it wasn't exactly a joyride. There were parts I absolutely adored. So, if you have never read Percy, kick this one down your list. If, however, you have already read The Moviegoer, Love in the Ruins, The Second Coming, sure, yeah, knock your self out. Just look out. It is like eating a 7 Pot Primo pepper. Sucker is going to burn, kick, and sting.

Ultimately, Percy gives away his big point with a flashback from the crazy priest sitting in the watchtower. The mad priest and Dr. Tom More discuss modernism, psychology, and the rise of the Nazi bureaucracy in the early 20th century. The point I think Walker is trying to convey in most of his books is the Modern World, with its technologies, drugs, philosophies, etc., has kind of left us unprotected. Some of those things that seem, from a utilitarian view, to improve our lives will probably end up deadening our existence. The one institution that might be able to warn us, protect us, provide some level of comfort and security after we have been stripped bare by Modernism -- the Church -- is starved, weakened and almost unable to give us the basic rituals and nourishment we need to combat the technocrats, bureaucracies, and wicked forces that latch onto Modernism (I don't think Percy is arguing that Modernism itself is evil, simply that it efficiently plows the ground for evil seeds). Anyway, this is Percy's BIG THEME and he just hits it really hard, over and over, in this book.

Somewhat dated plot

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Not in this form.

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Title: Capital

Author: John Lanchester

Narrator: Colin Mace

Format: Unabridged

Length: 17 hrs and 31 mins

Language: English

Release date: 08-28-12

Publisher: Recorded Books

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 185 votes

Genres: Fiction, Literary

Publisher's Summary:

Its 2008, and things are falling apart: Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers are going under, and the residents of Pepys Road, London - a banker and his shopaholic wife, an old woman dying of a brain tumor and her graffiti-artist grandson, Pakistani shop owners and a shadowy refugee who works as the meter maid, the young soccer star from Senegal and his minder - are receiving anonymous postcards reading "We Want What You Have." Who is behind it? What do they want?

Epic in scope, yet intimate, capturing the ordinary dramas of very different lives, this is a novel of love and suspicion, of financial collapse and terrorist threat, of property values going up and fortunes going down, and of a city at a moment of extraordinary tension.

Members Reviews:

Wonderful characters, great story

I loved every minute of this book. Lanchester brings all his characters out through action and conversation and he has a great handle on what was happening in London during the 2000's. Looks at the era from a lot of different viewpoints. I cared about all these people, whether I liked them or not. There are a few references which require some background in English culture, but you won't have a problem if you don't catch them. Very nice story, really couldn't recommend it more highly.

Tom Wolfe minus the sardonicism

This is a perceptive novel about people who live and work on a gentrified street in London in 2007 - 2008, just before the stock market crash. The tone of the book is intelligent, compassionate, and frequently laugh-out-loud funny. Colin Mace's narration is terrific. The author handles his panoramic cast of characters well (think Dickens, Balzac, Zola) and with insight. If you have liked Tom Wolfe's novels but sometimes find his sardonicism mean-spirited or irritating, you will appreciate Capital. I enjoyed this novel tremendously and have recommended it to friends.

Comedy of Manners for 2008 Economic Meltdown

Any additional comments?

I read a non-fiction book by John Lanchester about economics and '08 banking crisis. He was great at making some complex economic matters comprehensible to a lay person. So I was curious to read a book with a fictional take on the same period. The novel maintained my interest throughout and managed to be of the period without polemics or becoming didactic. It was amusing throughout, in spite of the author touching on darker matters: terrorist threat, immigration, 1% rapacity. In spite of that backdrop, the characters were all rather likable, ordinary (in the best sense). It reminded me how we are all caught up in history, just trying to get on and make sense of things. Great read.

We Want What You Have

This rich and entertaining novel begins with the residents of a gentrifying London street receiving anonymous postcards, stating only, "We Want What You Have." The novel follows many of the residents, who live amazing lives, and who are troubled by but generally oblivious to the postcards. These include the ambitious but lazy banker and his giddy wife, who lives to spend; the Pakistani family that owns the shop on the corner; the elderly widow whose family has lived in their house for generations, and the young Senegalese soccer star, living with his father in his agent's house.

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Titel: 1Q84 (Buch 1 & 2)

Autor:: Haruki Murakami

Erzähler: David Nathan

Format: Unabridged

Spieldauer: 30 hrs and 50 mins

Sprache: Deutsch

Veröffentlichungsdatum: 07-04-12

Herausgeber: Lübbe Audio

Bewertung: 3.5 von 5 von 9 Stimmen

Kategorien: Fiction, Literary

Zusammenfassung des Herausgebers:

Tengo, 30, ist die zweite Hauptfigur in Murakamis Roman. Er ist Mathematiklehrer und ein erfolgloser Schriftsteller, der plötzlich den Auftrag erhält, das Buch einer jungen Autorin mit dem seltsamen Titel "Die Puppe aus Luft" literarisch so zu manipulieren, dass es einen Literaturpreis erhält. Im Buch ist von rätselhaften Wesen (den "Little People") die Rede, die es wirklich zu geben scheint - und die mit einer gewalttätigen Sekte zu tun haben, deren Führer wiederum Aomame töten will. Vieles hängt zusammen in Murakamis 1Q84 - schon allein deshalb, weil Aomame und Tengo jeweils die große Liebe des anderen waren, bevor sie sich aus den Augen verloren haben. Und vieles driftet immer wieder auseinander...

Kritik Bewertungen:

Murakami ist in formaler Hinsicht zweifelos einer der gewieftesten Erzähler, den wir haben und 1Q84 diesbezüglich sein Meisterwerk.

-- FAZ

Ein großes, freundlich protzendes Feuerwerk der Einfälle.

-- STERN

Gewalt und Liebe: ein komplexes Werk

-- Kulturspiegel

Mitglieder Bewertungen:

Disappointed

I was looking forward to listening to 1Q84 And when I downloaded and listened to hear it was in German, I believe. I'm not certain but definitely not English! I'm certain the performance and story would have been most interesting had I been able to understand.

Is it possible to receive an English version without using more credits?

Amazing thought provoking book, superbly narrated.

Wonderful. Such a pleasure to listen to! The story is complicated and yet not difficult to follow even in German. In fact I thought listening to it in German added to the mood, to the sense of otherness. The narrator is good and clear and expressive, perfect for the book. I will be listening to more books both by this author and this narrator.

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Title: Gold

Subtitle: A Novel

Author: Chris Cleave

Narrator: Emilia Fox

Format: Unabridged

Length: 11 hrs and 55 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-03-12

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 135 votes

Genres: Fiction, Literary

Publisher's Summary:

Building on the tradition of Little Bee, Chris Cleave again writes with elegance, humor, and passion about friendship, marriage, parenthood, tragedy, and redemption.

Gold is the story of Zoe and Kate, world-class athletes who have been friends and rivals since their first day of Elite training. They've loved, fought, betrayed, forgiven, consoled, gloried, and grown up together. Now, on the eve of London 2012, their last Olympics, both women will be tested to their physical and emotional limits. They must confront each other and their own mortality to decide, when lives are at stake: What would you sacrifice for the people you love, if it meant giving up the thing that was most important to you in the world?

Listen to

by Chris Cleave.

Critic Reviews:

"Cleave goes for the gold and brings it home in his thrillingly written and emotionally rewarding novel about the world of professional cycling.... Cleave expertly cycles through the characters' tangled past and present, charting their ever-shifting dynamic as ultra-competitive Zoe and Kate are forced to decide whether winning means more to them than friendship.... Cleave likewise pulls out all the stops getting inside the hearts and minds of his engagingly complex characters. The race scenes have true visceral intensity, leaving the reader feeling breathless.... From start to finish, this is a truly Olympic-level literary achievement." (Publishers Weekly)

Members Reviews:

Very Good--but not great--

I enjoyed this new novel, but it did not end up being one of my favorites. I guess I was hoping for a little more of the sport/Olympic storyline than personal drama, but it is a novel after all! It was written and narrated very well. My ratings reflect how much I enjoy a particular book, and overall, Gold was not a bad way to spend my time and credit--

Awesome

Best audio book ever!!! Highly recommended. Would make a great movie. Easy listen and enjoyed the reader.

Beautiful Writing, Implausible Story

The narration was excellent--gripping, heartfelt, perfect pacing. Chris Cleave is eloquent with gorgeous, thoughtful descriptions of people and their actions. But the story ran false to me--as did the supposed great friendship between Zoe and Kate. I also thought the story should've and could've ended at several other points before it did. Readers should have been left with more to figure out and ponder than we did. Too tidy. I know no one's life, happy or sad, that reaches so many resolutions. Nonetheless, I'll keep reading Mr. Cleave's other books. I loved Little Bee. I also will seek out work by Emilia Fox.

Brilliant story about 2 friends

Would you consider the audio edition of Gold to be better than the print version?

I seem to love audio more than printed anymore. I usually do whispersync but I love the audio.

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Title: The Red House

Subtitle: A Novel

Author: Mark Haddon

Narrator: Maxwell Caulfield

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 43 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-12-12

Publisher: Random House Audio

Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 93 votes

Genres: Fiction, Literary

Publisher's Summary:

The Red House is a dazzlingly inventive novel about modern family, from the author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time.

The set-up of Mark Haddon's brilliant new novel is simple: Richard, a wealthy doctor, invites his estranged sister Angela and her family to join his for a week at a vacation home in the English countryside. Richard has just re-married and inherited a willful stepdaughter in the process; Angela has a feckless husband and three children who sometimes seem alien to her. The stage is set for seven days of resentment and guilt, a staple of family gatherings the world over.

But because of Haddon's extraordinary narrative technique, the stories of these eight people are anything but simple. Told through the alternating viewpoints of each character, The Red House becomes a symphony of long-held grudges, fading dreams and rising hopes, tightly-guarded secrets and illicit desires, all adding up to a portrait of contemporary family life that is bittersweet, comic, and deeply felt. As we come to know each character they become profoundly real to us. We understand them, even as we come to realize they will never fully understand each other, which is the tragicomedy of every family.

The Red House is a literary tour-de-force that illuminates the puzzle of family in a profoundly empathetic manner - a novel sure to entrance the millions of fans of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.

Members Reviews:

Beautifully narrated, very touching story

Do you have any additional comments?

Done partially in a stream-of-consciousness style, including fragments of poems, I initially

worried that listening to this book was not the greatest way to

experience it. But it quickly became part of a coherent whole for me

and I really loved the book. The story of two related families on

holiday in the Welsh countryside and the permutations of

their relationships with each other and their own internal struggles is

done with complexity and great empathy. As with The Curious Incident of the

Dog in the Nightime, the author has great sympathy for

all the characters. Terrific narration.

Great Listen but not for everyone.

Really good but nothing like "Dog" so reset expectations. This is harder to follow with many characters appearing right at the start. It takes a bit of focus to understand who, what, where. If you are okay with a confusing start, it is well worth your time.

Truly Disappointed with this new Haddon

Great fan of Curious Dog and A Spot of Bother had me rolling in the floor and crying at the same time. Red house missed the mark- the characters were unlikeable and rather whiny. I really can't recommend this one but don't miss the first two.

Have to weigh in on this one....

Having read most of the previous reviews of Audible listerners, which range widely, I feel compelled to add my view. Haddon shows in this book an uncannily billiant talent for writing about families' inner workings, most of which never see the light of day, but instead go on in our heads, contributing to all the unfair assumptions and misunderstandings that arise among family members.

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Title: What Dies in Summer

Subtitle: A Novel

Author: Tom Wright

Narrator: Chris Patton

Format: Unabridged

Length: 7 hrs and 32 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-04-12

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 8 votes

Genres: Fiction, Literary

Publisher's Summary:

A riveting Southern Gothic coming-of-age debut by a major new talent.

I did what I did, and thats on me. From that tantalizing first sentence, Tom Wright sweeps listeners up in a tale of lost innocence. Jim has a touch of the Sight. Its nothing too spooky and generally useless, at least until the summer his cousin L.A. moves in with him and their grandmother. When Jim and L.A. discover the body of a girl - brutally raped and murdered - in a field, an investigation begins that will put both their lives in danger.

In the spirit ofThe Lovely BonesandThe Little Friend,What Dies in Summeris a novel that casts its spell on the very first page and leaves an indelible mark.

Tom Wright is a practicing psychologist and received his doctorate from Texas A&M University. What Dies in Summer is his first book.

Critic Reviews:

A beautifully written and deeply engaging study of loss and innocence, suffused with chilling dread. A haunting novel, a captivating debut; I loved it. (S. J. Watson,New York Timesbest-selling author)

A compulsive and provocative novel. Tom Wright manages to combine familiar themes of youth - fear, desire, vulnerability, and chaos - with a story that both unsettles and intrigues the reader. A narrative voice thats raw and desperate, a story that grips from start to finish,What Dies in Summeris hugely impressive. (John Boyne,New York Timesbest-selling author)

A magnificent novel, not so much about loss of innocence as innocence put through the masher. The story pulsates with a deep dread that would be unbearable if the novel werent so sweet, funny, sexy, and ultimately moving. (Nick Cave, author ofThe Death of Bunny Munro)

Members Reviews:

Odd Book, Great Narrator, Not as Grisly as Feared

The is not an easy book to describe. I suppose you could say that it is a coming of age story that also involves a police investigation into a series of killings. Because the victims were raped and mutilated I feared a lot of disturbing detail. We do get some information on the deaths, and a psychic flash here or there, but the book really does not dwell on the suffering and gory details as so often happens in books with serial killers (I try never to read those books). There is enough there to bother someone super sensitive I guess but I am pretty sensitive and found this book did not bother me. There are some other things that might bother some people. The book does have a certain atmosphere that might not appeal to everyone. You know when you are watching the news and they find the body of a young girl raped and murdered at a trailer park, and go on to report she lived with her exotic dancer mom and the mom's abusive alcoholic boyfriend and 5 sex offenders lived within 200 feet - and you just shake your head and think how this person was doomed from the get go? That is what the atmosphere of this book is like. Loads of family dysfunction, abuse and failure. I almost stopped reading very early in the book because the atmosphere was so unpleasant and made me uncomfortable but that feeling faded further on. It makes an amazing contrast that our narrator (Loved the narrator!) radiated such genuine goodness and innocence despite being raised in such an environment. In general I do not like books which are narrated from a teenage boy's point of view. But Biscuit was such a decent guy, that even when he had the sexual thoughts expected of a teenage boy it wasn't creepy.