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Title: East of the Mountains

Author: David Guterson

Narrator: Peter Marinker

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 38 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-09-09

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Ben Given's wife has died, he, a heart surgeon, is unwell and life for him is not worth living. He sets off into the wilds bent on dying out there only to find himself caught up in an eye-opening, life-enhancing diversion.

©1999 David Guterson; (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

Members Reviews:

First rate novel about a man facing death

Any additional comments?

Don't be put off by the subject. It is about a man facing death but full of positive spirit and more about life than death. Other than the shocking beginning, the book is never depressing. I preferred Snow on Cedars, by the same author narrator pair, but this is still a fine novel and deserves 5 stars.

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Title: Behind the Scenes at the Museum

Author: Kate Atkinson

Narrator: Diana Quick

Format: Abridged

Length: 3 hrs and 10 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-26-09

Publisher: Random House AudioBooks

Ratings: 1 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Ruby tells the story of The Family, from the day at the end of the 19th century when a travelling French photographer catches frail beautiful Alice and her children, like flowers in amber, to the startling, witty, and memorable events of Ruby's own life.

Members Reviews:

Loved it

Where does Behind the Scenes at the Museum rank among all the audiobooks youve listened to so far?

I think this is so well written and really evocative of the fifties which is when I was born. Diana Quick narrates this so well. I debated which version to buy as there is also one narrated by Susan Jameson which is much longer and I can't work out why as both versions were unabridged.

What did you like best about this story?

An interesting story with twists and turns to keep surprising you and a story really well told.

Have you listened to any of Diana Quicks other performances? How does this one compare?

No

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

There were moments that moved me but not one in particular

Any additional comments?

Listen to it!

Sad & funny truly wonderful

I've read the book before and had forgotten how truly beautifully it had been written I listened to it walking my dogs and got loat in the intricate characters a must read

a great author, beautifully read.

Diana Quick has captured every nuance of the terrific writing of Kate Atkinson. I have read Atkinson's books, but Diana Quick brings the writing to glorious life.

Behind the scenes at the museum

A lovely book. Thoroughly enjoyed it. The narrator is excellent and brings the story to life. If you ever lived in Yorkshire (I did) then it brings back memories.

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Title: The Stone Testament

Author: Celia Rees

Narrator: Colin Moody

Format: Unabridged

Length: 11 hrs and 28 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-24-09

Publisher: Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 6 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Reports of miraculous phenomena are coming in...a crying statue. A bleeding crucifix. Around the globe, strange signs point to the end of days. Our world is unraveling. As foretold in ancient texts, and marked by the Mayan Long Count, time has nearly run out. Foreshadowed by a sequence of bizarre phenomena and natural disasters, the End Time is fast approaching. Only Abraham Black has the knowledge to stop this from happening, ancient wisdom inherited from those who have gone before him: Edwardian scholar, Aurel Lockwood and American adventurer, Brice Ambrose Stone. With the help of his son, Adam, suicide cult survivor, Zillah, and streetwise Kris, he hopes to outwit the sinister forces ranged against him before it is too late. To succeed, Adam and the others must travel back into the deep past. They must survive in a doomed world, dominated by terrifying Beast Gods, and defeat an adversary of awesome power who is bent on utter destruction. The oldest evil is waiting. It is time.

©2008 Celia Rees; (P)2009 Bolinda Publishing

Editorial Reviews:

According to the Mayan Calendar, the end times are coming, and signs of it are everywhere. Abraham Black and his ragtag band of compatriots have to fight the evil forces rallied against them by traveling into the deep past. Colin Moody's performance improves upon Britain's best-known children's writer Celia Rees' dark fantasy, The Stone Testament. With deft characterization and a penetrating, inquisitive voice, Moody makes this audiobook a listening experience that no adult or child will want to miss.

Critic Reviews:

"...a mature novel of breathtaking scope and compelling readability." (The Times)

Members Reviews:

Too Much Detail

This book started off quite interesting, with a child surviving a Jamestown type sect, but it quickly went downhill. I found it very difficult to read and to become part of the story. Descriptions were too long and laborious. Instead of honing into a few characters and stories the author tried to put too much into the book which made it difficult to feel much for any of the characters. I found myself skimming large parts trying to get through it.

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Title: Dark Echo

Author: F G Cottam

Narrator: Gareth Armstrong

Format: Unabridged

Length: 10 hrs and 46 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-28-09

Publisher: Oakhill Publishing Ltd

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 6 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

What she finds is terrifying. Dark Echo isn't just unlucky, it's evil. It was built for Harry Spalding, a soldier and sorcerer who committed suicide yet still casts his malevolent spell nearly a century after his death.

Critic Reviews:

"[W]hile F. G. Cottam's complex, tautly atmospheric thriller delivers plenty of chills, its principal characters are pleasingly human." (Daily Mail)

"It's all ghostly hokum, of course, but jolly good hokum." (Guardian)

Members Reviews:

Fantastically Creepy

What did you love best about Dark Echo?

The story is amazingly creepy, with a true villain

What other book might you compare Dark Echo to and why?

Anything by the same Author.

Have you listened to any of Gareth Armstrong???s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No, this was my first but I would gladly listen again.

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

Absolutely

Any additional comments?

One of my favourite ghost story authors.

Compelling, if a little forced

I'm always going to read a Cottam book; I love his mixture of the uncanny and history. Like his other stories, this one contains a series of mysteries that span generations and continents and the historical research is detailed and absorbing.

The author has an exceptional talent for building tension with settings. His descriptive writing is truly outstanding.

The main protagonist in this story, unlike his others, is delightfully ill-equipped to deal with the mounting danger. I was expecting another ex-military man, so this was a pleasant surprise. I found him extremely likable. His wife however, is very much like Cottam's other 'good women': smart, beautiful, loyal and driven. Like many of Cottam's other novels, Dark Echo boasts some wonderful and endearing secondary characters.

Dark Echo has two flaws: is that it suffers from what many suspense/horror stories suffer from: one inexplicably willful character who ignores every possible sign of impending disaster and blithely stumbles onwards. That being said, the protagonist's father - the catalyst who pulls the other characters towards the final conflict - is a very well-drawn portrait of a captain of industry born of humble origins.

Its second flaw is pacing. It does begin to lag somewhat about 3/4s of the way through the story. The ending, although not completely surprising, is spectacular.

If you like thriller/horrors with smart characters and really intricate historical mysteries, you're going to love this book.

Good solid yarn

Another fine tale from FG Cottam. As with his other works, the supernatural elements are set within a normal modern day lives of the protagonists. I particularly liked the way the author places a few hints about the fate of the characters well before the story is concluded.

I liked Gareth Armstrong's narration.

Good but not great

I enjoyed this book but I thought the ending came in a bit of a rush at the end

The narrator has a pleasant voice and he does move the story along at a fair old pace. I had no problem with his accents but I do agree with one of the other reviewersthat his delivery could have been better. He seemed to miss pauses that needed to be in a story telling ie when you change tempo or persons.

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Title: Transition

Author: Iain Banks

Narrator: Peter Kenny

Format: Abridged

Length: 6 hrs and 29 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-03-09

Publisher: Hachette Audio UK

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

On the Concern's books are Temudjin Oh, an un-killable assassin who journeys between the peaks of Nepal, a version of Victorian London and the dark palaces of Venice; and a nameless, faceless torturer known only as the Philosopher. And then there's the renegade Mrs Mulverhill, who recruits rebels to her side; and Patient 8262, hiding out from a dirty past in a forgotten hospital ward.

As these vivid, strange and sensuous worlds circle and collide, the implications of turning traitor to the Concern become horribly apparent, and an unstable universe is set on a dizzying course.

Members Reviews:

Iain Banks on incredible form.

I've read all his books, and of course the Iain M Banks too. I was totally unprepared for this. It blew me away. What can I say without giving it away. It renewed my faith in Audio books. Peter Kenny has taken this genre to a new level with this book. All my friends are raving about it.

Frankly astonishing imagination. Love. it.

Amazing

By far the best book I have 'read' for as long as I can remember. Challenging, thought provoking and surprising right to the end.

Mediocre sound quality

A thouroughly enjoyable story, great sci-fi ideas with some scenes that require a strong stomach in the typical Banks style. Marred slightly by poor sound recording though it was still perfectly intelligible.

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Title: Bloodline

Subtitle: Tom Thorne, Book 8

Author: Mark Billingham

Narrator: Robert Glenister

Format: Abridged

Length: 6 hrs and 24 mins

Language: English

Release date: 08-06-09

Publisher: Hachette Audio UK

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 3 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

When more bodies and more fragments of X-ray are discovered, Thorne has a macabre jigsaw to piece together until the horrifying picture finally emerges. A killer is targeting the children of Raymond Garvey's victims. Thorne must move quickly to protect those still on the murderer's list, but nothing and nobody are what they seem. Not when Thorne is dealing with one of the most twisted killers he has ever hunted...

Members Reviews:

another superb book by Billingham.

I don't normally write reviews, in fact, this is only the second I've written since joining Audible nearly a year ago but I felt compelled to write one for this book. After taking a break last year to publish 'In The Dark' Mark Billingham returns to popular charictor DI Tom Thorne. I'm not going to re-hash the plot, the discription above the reviews sums it up but, if you've enjoyed the other books in this series, this is certainly one not to miss. As usual, the story moves along at a cracking pace with gritty, believable charictors and a great thrilling plot. DI Thorne becomes a more complex (and in my oppinion my real) main pratagonist with each novel as we learn more about this troubled London policeman. I particularly enjoyed the sections dealing with Thorne's attempts to offer emotional support to his live-in girlfriend Louise after they both suffer a personal tragety.

finally, as its an audio book site, something about the reading. Its very rare that I would choose to by an abridged version, normally, I'll wait a bit longer and, eventually the unabridged version of books will come up but with the Thorne series its different. The books are wonderfully brought to life by Robert Glenister who, in my oppinion is one of the best readers of crime fiction there is and is tailor made for Bilingham. If only they would produce unabridged versions of the DI Thorne novels read by Glenister I'd be a happy man but for now, I'll make do with these brilliant abridged versions.

Keep Them Coming!

I have listened to all Mark Billingham's books on audio, and this is another good story. Will buy the next one, keep them coming!

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Title: De Niro's Game

Author: Rawi Hage

Narrator: Jonathan Keeble

Format: Unabridged

Length: 7 hrs and 3 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-07-09

Publisher: Whole Story Audiobooks

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Now on the verge of adulthood, they must choose their futures: to remain in the exhausted, corrupt city of their birth, or to go into exile abroad, cut off from the only existence they have known.

Bassam chooses one path - obsessed with leaving Beirut, he embarks on a series of petty crimes to fund his escape to the West.

Meanwhile, George amasses power in the underworld of the city, embracing a life of military service, organised crime, killing, and drugs.

Their two paths inevitably collide, with explosive consequences. De Niro's Game is a devastating, timely portrait of two young men and an entire city formed and deformed by war.

Critic Reviews:

"Both terse and lyrical, Hage's narrative is a wonder, alternately referencing modern American action heroes and ancient Arabic imagery. The blend of the two is as startling as it is beautiful." (Booklist)

"Hage's energetic prose matches the brutality depicted in the novel without overstating the narrative's tragic arc - an impressive first outing for Hage." (Publishers Weekly)

Members Reviews:

Unsuitable narration

I was really looking forward to this book, the reviews for the print edition were good and I am interested in the location and political setting. But I gave up after ten minutes - the narration just doesn't work. Could be a great narrator for a traditional British novel but he doesn't pull of Beirut. Why not get someone who sounds a bit more 'street'? Or better still, someone of Arab descent?

I will listen a lot more carefully to samples in future.

I had to put a rating for the storyline to be able to write this review but never listened to it again. Might buy the book instead.

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Title: A Simple Act of Violence

Author: R J Ellory

Narrator: Alan Nebelthau

Format: Unabridged

Length: 18 hrs and 40 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-01-09

Publisher: Whole Story Audiobooks

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 6 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Rapidly things begin to complicate. The victims do not officially exist. Their personal details do not register on any known systems. The harder Miller works, the less it makes sense. And as Miller unearths ever more disturbing facts, he starts to face truths so far-removed from his own reality that he begins to fear for his life...

Members Reviews:

Unexpectedly profound thriller

I'm glad the blurb didn't give too much away. This could have been a standard cop thriller - down-at-heel loner investigates serial killer. But it became something altogether more profound, illuminating and engaging. Marvelous.

Intriguing!

This was a really interesting story, a little out of the ordinary when it comes to crime thrillers. I found parts of it dragged on a little bit now and then, but not enough to put me off and indeed the further I got into the story the more gripping it became. My only real negative comment is that I didn't particularly like the narrator, I found his voice a bit too dead-pan. But all in all, I would definitely recommend this!

Really Enjoyable

I found this book enjoyable and gripping. It's littered with 'facts' and conspiracy theories too which makes it very believable. I thought the narrator was pretty much dead on for the tone set by the book and he reads it well. I've never heard of this author before but will check out more of his work. Highly reccommended.

nothing is what it seems

This book twists and turns your mind and your emotions. A gruesome

chilling description starts the journey through the underworld of

drugs,arms and third world politics with the aim of securing the future of America's ruling families.

A cracking read

Really enjoyable read

This was my first Ellory novel, and knowing nothing about the author or book I started it without much idea what to expect. The book opens with a murder and it seems from early on that this will be a police procedural with a stereotypical misfit detective as our protagonist hunting an elusive serial killer. However, a parallel storyline soon opens up which is clearly connected to the events of the main story, and yet is much broader in context and style; addressing some big political and moral questions, and in particular the ethics of American foreign policy and the actions of it's "intelligence community". I found this aspect fascinating, and although much of the detail was fictional I cant help but feel a little more educated on Nicaragua, the C.I.A. and the brutality, power, greed and corruption of such organisations. The author has clearly researched these subjects deeply and presents them well.

The protagonist character, Detective Robert Miller, reminded me a lot of Detective Harry Hole as created by Jo Nesb and indeed the writing style bears comparison to those novels, with rich descriptive passages and alternating accounts of the same events from the perspectives of our detective and the character he is pursuing. Character development through this novel is excellent, both the believable drawing of Detective Miller and the gradual unveiling of our antagonist, John Robey, who becomes the fulcrum around which the two plot lines hinge.

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Title: Trauma

Author: Patrick McGrath

Narrator: Kevin Collins

Format: Unabridged

Length: 6 hrs and 47 mins

Language: English

Release date: 03-06-09

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

Ratings: 2 of 5 out of 4 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Then, into his life walks the alluring Nora Chiara, with her inescapable air of sadness and mystery, and Charlie falls for her quickly, hungrily. But he is increasingly haunted by ghastly half-memories from his childhood and as he retreats further and further into the recesses of his mind the delicate fabric of his life ruptures - with horrifying consequences.

Critic Reviews:

"This masterly specimen of modern gothic delivers the unsettling sting in its tail." (Financial Times)

"A gripping expose of life on the hinterland of sanity ... McGrath is that rare yet essential thing, a writer who can expose our darkest fears without making us run away from them." (New Statesman)

"A bolt of queasily inspiring brilliance." (Eileen Battersby, Irish Times)

"McGrath has the gift, the storyteller's gift, to compel attention, so that you gaze rapt into the fire and listen to the tale unfold." (Sunday Times)

Members Reviews:

Intense and very enjoyable listen

I didn?t find Patrick McGrath?s latest novel quite as memorable or gripping as his previous ones, ASYLUM and PORT MUNGO, but it is nonetheless a very fine piece of writing. Once again, McGrath delves into the stifling world of psychiatric hospitals and exposes damaged, dysfunctional and painfully lonely characters.

The narrator, Charlie Weir, counsels traumatized war veterans returning from Vietnam. His hold on sanity rapidly weakens and New York becomes an increasingly treacherous place to be as he struggles to cope with the guilt of a failed marriage, the suicide of his brother-in-law and patient and the drama of his own family life.

McGrath is a talented writer; his prose is clear and beautiful. Kevin T. Collins?s deep narrative voice is well suited to the story and TRAUMA is an intense, effective and enjoyable listen.

Great listen

This book captures the feel of New York in all seasons. The author conveys a sense of the architecture, sights and sounds of the city in his very psychological telling of this story, narrated by his protagonist, a troubled psychiatrist with complex personal relationships. The book is gripping and at times macabre - the overall production and telling of the story by the wonderful Kevin Collins brings you fully into McGrath's world. I recommend it to fans of McGrath's other books and to anyone who likes a good family drama with well drawn characters.

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Title: Paths of Glory

Author: Jeffrey Archer

Narrator: Roger Allam

Format: Abridged

Length: 6 hrs and 21 mins

Language: English

Release date: 03-06-09

Publisher: Pan Macmillan Publishers Ltd.

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 7 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Some people have dreams that are so outrageous that if they were to achieve them, their place in history would be guaranteed. Francis Drake, Robert Scott, Percy Fawcett, Charles Lindbergh, Amy Johnson, Edmund Hillary and Neil Armstrong are among such individuals.

But what if one man had such a dream, and when he'd achieved it, there was no proof that he had fulfilled his ambition?

Paths of Glory, is the story of such a man. But not until you've turned the last page of this extraordinary novel, will you be able to decide if George Mallory should be added to this list of legends, because if he were, another name would have to be removed.

Members Reviews:

fantastic tale

without question a brilliant Archer book but I would recommend that you purchase the unabridged version to get the best of this book