Listen to Your Favorite Audiobooks in Fiction, Contemporary on Computers and Mobile Phones IOS or Android

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Title: Trick of the Dark

Author: Val McDermid

Narrator: Haydn Gwynne

Format: Abridged

Length: 6 hrs and 8 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-02-10

Publisher: Hachette Audio UK

Ratings: 2 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Death is a hollow drum whose beat has measured out my adult life. So writes Jay Macallan Stewart in her latest volume of memoirs. But nobody has ever asked whether that has been by accident or design. Nobody, that is, until Jay turns her sights on newly-wed and freshly-widowed Magda Newsam.

For Magdas mother Corinna is an Oxford don who knows enough of Jays history to be very afraid indeed. Determined to protect her daughter, Corinna turns to clinical psychologist Charlie Flint. But its not the best time for Charlie. Her career is in ruins. Pilloried by the press, under investigation by her peers, shes barred from the profiling work she loves.

What Corinnas asking may be her last chance at redemption. But as Charlie digs into the past and its trail of bodies she starts to realise the price of truth may be more than she wants to pay.

Members Reviews:

Murders or co-incidences?

Interesting characters and a neatly woven plot, well written.

I'm not sure I found the baddy to be entirely believable, but I guess some people that nutty and manipulative do exist.

Reading is excellent.

A Trick of the Dark by Val McDermid

This had a good plot and would make a good holiday read. However, I did not enjoy the narration, it seemed too stylised.

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Title: The Anatomy of Ghosts

Author: Andrew Taylor

Narrator: John Telfer

Format: Unabridged

Length: 13 hrs and 57 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-02-10

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 5 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

1786, Jerusalem College, Cambridge. The ghost of Sylvia Whichcote is rumoured to be haunting Jerusalem, since disturbed fellow-commoner, Frank Oldershaw, claims to have seen the dead woman prowling the grounds.

Desperate to salvage her sons reputation, Lady Anne Oldershaw employs John Holdsworth, author of The Anatomy of Ghosts a stinging account of why ghosts are mere delusion to investigate. But his arrival in Cambridge disrupts an uneasy status quo as he glimpses a world of privilege and abuse.

And when Holdsworth finds himself haunted not only by the ghost of his dead wife, Maria, but also Elinor, the very-much-alive Masters wife his fate is sealed.

Members Reviews:

Good book, brilliantly read.

I'm a great fan of Andrew Taylor and although his writing varies from book to book i've never been disappointed and this book proves no exception. Taylor is exceptional at bringing to life the period he is is writing about whether it be 1950's/60's or as in this case the late 18th Century. The story is further enhanced by the excellent narration of John Telfer. I wouldn't hesitate to recomend this book, in fact i'm going to buy it in paperback for my sisters birthday.

An excellent listen

This is vintage Andrew Taylor, with well-drawn characters and a satisfying plot. I felt totally engrossed by the 18th century background (the sights, sounds, smells and topography of London and Cambridge). Taylor's meticulous historical research is evident on every page, and yet he never allows his learning to create a barrier between the 21st century reader and his absorbing story.

The Anatomy of Ghosts

I expected better from this book. Although the story is quite good it's predictable and there are a number of historical inaccuracies. The attempt at romance is sadly lacking. The characters stand out well but it certainly didn't leave me wanting to listen to it again.

Thoroughly enjoyable

The combination of Andrew Taylor's brilliant writing and characterization, combined with John Telfer's sublime reading made this an absolute joy. I'm always glad of a book with whose characters I can fully engage, and I certainly could with this.

This was one of those books that I could not bear to hit the stop key on!

Atmospheric and fascinating

I became lost in another world whilst I was listening to this. I thoroughly enjoyed the landscape of the story with its Rembrandt-esque colours and richly drawn characters. It is dark, but not without humour, and John Telfer's excellent narration does justice to this gripping story. It is slow-paced, leisurely almost, in keeping with the period; you can almost hear the clop of hooves on wet cobblestones. More than a ghost story it is a peek at the lives of those cloistered in a place of learning in the late 18th century, their superstitions, ambitions and machinations. Absorbing.

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Title: The Butt

Author: Will Self

Narrator: Eric Meyers

Format: Unabridged

Length: 12 hrs and 22 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-01-10

Publisher: Whole Story Audiobooks

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 3 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Tom Brodzinski finally decides to give up smoking, but a moment's inattention to detail becomes his undoing.

Flipping the butt of his final cigarette off the balcony of his holiday apartment, it lands on the head of his fellow countrymen, Reggie Lincoln. The elderly Lincoln is badly burnt, and since the cigarette butt passed through public space before hitting him, the local authorities are obliged to regard Tom's action as an assault, despite his benign intentions.

Worse is to follow: Lincoln is married to a native from one of the rigorous, mystical tribes of the desert interior, and their customary law is incorporated into the civil statute. In order to make reparations to Mrs Lincoln's people, Tom will have to leave his family behind and carry the appropriate goods and chattels deep into the arid heart of this strange, island continent....

Members Reviews:

Looked promising but just couldn't get into it...

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

Less monotonous, just couldn't get into the story at all... tried on several occasions but failed

Would you ever listen to anything by Will Self again?

probably not

Would you be willing to try another one of Eric Meyerss performances?

probably not

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from The Butt?

didn't get that far??

Any additional comments?

wish I could have got into this story

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Title: Parrot and Olivier in America

Author: Peter Carey

Narrator: Gordon Griffin, Jonathan Keeble

Format: Unabridged

Length: 17 hrs and 14 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-01-10

Publisher: Whole Story Audiobooks

Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 7 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Olivier is a French aristocrat, the traumatized child of survivors of the Revolution.

Parrot is the son of an itinerant printer who always wanted to be an artist but has ended up a servant.

Born on different sides of history, their lives will be brought together by their travels in America. When Olivier sets sail for the New World, ostensibly to study its prisons but in reality to save his neck from one more revolution Parrot is sent with him, as spy, protector, foe, and foil.

As the narrative shifts between the perspectives of Parrot and Olivier, and their picaresque travels together and apart in love and politics, prisons, and the world of art Peter Carey explores the adventure of American democracy, in theory and in practice, with dazzling wit and inventiveness.

Members Reviews:

Intriguing

Peter Carey is known as one of the best current literary authors. In this book he applies himself to the tumultuous events which took place in France after the first revolution and echoes it with the post revolutionary events in America. An interesting contract, so too the characters: a nobleman (who is rather blunt) and his servant (who is rather sharp). Through various trials and tribulations the pair of them reveal their true worth, character and opinions. There are many twists in this tale and I think it is perfectly summarised in the final chapter where the nobleman declares his doubt that anything truly artistic could flourish in a democracy.

It is interesting and well written, but not profound; which is what I would have expected from Carey. The narrators are brilliant (there is one each for the servant and the nobleman). It is a lengthy listen and worth it if you have exhausted all Carey's other treasures.

fabulous

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes I would, it is just so good. A brilliant storyteller, it has wit, and a great pace. One you should at least try.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I liked both Parrot and Olivier, all the characters are so well written,

Which scene did you most enjoy?

I liked the fire in england best, great imagination and I felt I was there

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

I have loved Peter Carey books for a long time, but this is my favorite , it made me feel apart of the story.

Any additional comments?

I f you have liked any of Peter Carey's others books this one is well worth listening to.

Exceptional, need to be fascinated by art France &

The French revolution.How America & New York started, cleverly using the old world to see the development of the new world.

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Title: Victor Spoils

Subtitle: A Short Story from Reheated Cabbage

Author: Irvine Welsh

Narrator: Tam Dean Burn

Format: Unabridged

Length: 1 hr and 7 mins

Language: English

Release date: 08-26-10

Publisher: Random House AudioBooks Ltd

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 7 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Two guys fighting over a beautiful girl might agree on reflection, and after a few pills and many pints of lager that their friendship is actually more important than a woman.

Hilarious, shocking and hugely entertaining, 'Victor Spoils' has all the classic Irvine Welsh ingredients.

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Title: The Room and the Chair

Author: Lorraine Adams

Narrator: Jim McCabe

Format: Unabridged

Length: 10 hrs and 21 mins

Language: English

Release date: 08-24-10

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 2.5 of 5 out of 9 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

An astonishingly original novel by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Lorraine Adams, author of Harbor, winner of the LA Times Book Prize.

Here are fine-drawn, empathetic portraits of the often overlooked actors of Americas infinite global war: the ridiculed night editor of a prestigious newspaper, an overburdened nuclear engineer, a duty-bound female fighter pilot, a religiously impassioned novice reporter, a sergeant major thrust into the responsibilities of a secretive command. Their longings and loyalties take us, in the course of one shattering year, from a forested city park, where child prostitutes set up business, to a Dubai hotel, where a desperate man tries to disappear; from the nighttime corridors of Walter Reed Hospital to the snow-thickened mountains of the Hindu Kush.

Told in language as stunning for its beauty as for its verisimilitude, The Room and the Chair dazzlingly bends the conventions of literary suspense to create an unforgettable, groundbreaking chronicle of today's dangerous world.

Editorial Reviews:

A good thriller is hard to find, and a solid political thriller is a rare bird indeed. This is not just a matter of coming up with enough plausible stuff to drive a plot along in a suspenseful manner, although Lorraine Adams is certainly capable on that front. As a former journalist for the Washington Post and a Pulitzer Prize-winner for the investigative work she did at Dallas Morning News, Adams has a unique insight into what makes a story credible.

But more importantly and certainly more interestingly, Adams demonstrates with The Room and the Chair, just as she did with her award-winning novel Harbor, that she can get inside a characters head. The thing about Adams writing that makes it a clear cut above your run-of-the-mill political intrigue is a style of narration that portrays the free association game of logical leaps and conjectures that quick thinkers are accustomed to using to arrive at their very complicated judgments.

Jim McCabe does wonderfully acrobatic voice work in the dexterous collision of several different worlds. First we have the room, which refers to the maze of cubicles that comprise a major national newspapers editing room, a fast-paced place with which Adams is intensely familiar. The purpose of the room is to uncover what the chair is covering up. The chair is the leader of a covert federal agency responsible for an assortment of operations in the Middle East, a geopolitical landscape in this case involving two particularly human stories. One of those stories traces the career of an Air Force pilot who survived the mysterious crash of her aircraft over friendly territory. The other story traces the faked death and subsequent escape plans of an Iranian nuclear scientist.

Inside the heads of managing editors, their adulterous columnist wives, an assortment of clandestine operations agents and a few military personnel resides a deep well of calculation and psychological misgivings. McCabe captures each of these with a nuanced understanding of the survivalist mentality that those in such a political arena must possess. The story itself is a satisfying tale of the perils of waging war, but the real treasure both in the writing and in the listening is a hotbed of emotional speculation that lives inside each character to drive the story onward.

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Title: From the Dead

Author: Mark Billingham

Narrator: Robert Glenister

Format: Abridged

Length: 6 hrs

Language: English

Release date: 08-19-10

Publisher: Hachette Audio UK

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 2 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

When Donna Langford receives a very recent photo of her ex-husband in the post, she gets the shock of her life - because shes just spent ten years in prison for organising his murder.

When her daughter goes missing, Donna believes there can only be one man responsible and hires Anna Carpenter, a determined young private investigator, to find him.

DI Tom Thorne worked on the Alan Langford case, so when Carpenter brings the photo to him, he refuses to believe that the man whose body was found in a burned-out car 10 years before can still be alive.

But when a prison inmate that he and Anna interview is viciously murdered, Thorne starts to understand that Langford is not only alive, but ready to get rid of anyone who could threaten his comfortable new life in Spain.

Members Reviews:

Disappointing! Mark Billingham no longer hungry?

Disappointing! Is Mark Billingham no longer hungry for Success?

I appreciate this is an abridged recording, but even allowing for that the story was very weak. I would have preferred an unabridged copy, but no one including Mark Billingham could tell me when this would be available.

I was really pleased to find Robert Glenister reading the book, as I?ve become used to his excellent narration, especially with Mark?s earlier works, but this really was the best thing about the book.

The story was very thin and the plot was transparent. Sorry Mark but this is not up to your normal standard and makes me wonder if the new TV series has caused you to take your eye off the ball, or are you just getting a bit lazy after tasting success? I?m not convinced the Spanish theme was much more than an excuse for a research holiday either. Come on lets see some more of what made you and Tom Thorne so successful.

Tom Thorne ready for retirement?

I have listened to all of Mark Billingham's audiobooks and thoroughly enjoyed every one (with the exception of the one narrated by Trigger from Fools and Horses)

This latest instalment was drab, dreary and self-indulgent. It felt as though Mark had obligations to fulfil with his publisher and churned any old rubbish out to keep the wolves at bay. This is truly Sunday night?s homework that is due in to be marked on Monday morning. I only wish Mark?s dog had eaten this drivel.

Not even Robert Glennister's usually excellent narration could save this, the sense of drama and urgency in his voice was at odds with the lumbering storyline.

I have been looking forward to this book for a long time but now wish it had been released a year later. Maybe then it would have been a story worth telling.

Where did the real Billingham Go?

Where did the real Billingham Go?

Great reader, but the story was a real let down. I should have read the earlier reviews before listening to this.

Not the same calibre as his earlier books like, ?Sleepy Head? or ?The Burning Girl?.

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Title: The Recessionistas

Subtitle: A Novel of the Once Rich and Powerful

Author: Alexandra Lebenthal

Narrator: Renée Raudman

Format: Unabridged

Length: 10 hrs and 22 mins

Language: English

Release date: 08-11-10

Publisher: Tantor Audio

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 6 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

It's the day after Labor Day, 2008, and the elite universe of New York's Upper East Side is about to unravel along with the economy. Socialite Grigsby Somerset is barely aware of her changing world and has no idea her investment banker husband, Blake, is about to enter into a devil's bargain with hedge fund owner John Cutter.

As autumn unfolds, Grigsby's fairytale life starts to unwind. Street-smart Renee Parker has been hired as John's executive assistant and is convinced that something is amiss with her new boss. Renee enlists her friend Sasha Silver, CEO of Silver Partners, to help her decipher what is happening. They soon discover that John is nearly ruined, except for the assets he is hiding in the Cayman Islands from his wife, Mimi, and has concocted with Blake a scheme to redeem himself. This tale of expulsion from a modern-day Garden of Eden captures what happens when economic decline spells ruin for Manhattan's pampered elite.

Critic Reviews:

"This fun and sassy novel delivers satisfying poetic justice in its depiction of the hubris and sense of entitlement that led to the economic downfall of many wealthy New Yorkers." (Library Journal)

Members Reviews:

Great Concept

The premise of the book is great, about rich people who lost all their money and the glamorous NY life, but I found the dialogue hard to get through. I can't imagine real people talking like that, in multi-sentence paragraphs, as if they were making a speech. It was at times very goody-goody and condescending, especially about the black maid Donita and her chicken curry and her saintly daughter Rene. I am an avid reader of fiction about NYC, especially chick lit and love Candace Bushnell, Amy Sohn (funny and witty), Jill Kargman, Molly Jong-Fast (devoured The Social Climber's Handbook in one day), etc., and their books are easier to read. I would welcome a sequel to The Recessionistas, but with wittier dialogue.

Head Candy

This novel by Wall Street insider Alexandra Lebenthal will reinforce every stereotype anyone ever had about rich wives who marry 'masters of the universe' and live on the upper east side of New York City. Two words -- vapid and clueless -- pretty much cover the female characters that people this book, with the exception of the two righteous ones, Sasha and Renee, who can be described as 'stereotypically virtuous.' Renee, an African American, is especially over the goody-two-shoes top. It's almost as if Lebenthal felt it was her social duty to integrate the novel with a character who illustrates the poor, but noble, downtrodden class.

The book is short on dialogue and long on stilted narration that explains the feelings of the characters rather than shows them. At times it's slow going, as Lebenthal educates readers about the incredibly vacuous habits of the rich and social. For some of these women, chairing the Christmas benefit is the highlight of their lives. The sad part is that Lebenthal is of that world and so probably knows what she's talking about.

That said, I still give Recessionistas three stars. If you can get past the cardboard characters and amateurish writing, it is actually quite entertaining.

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Title: The News Where You Are

Subtitle: A Novel

Author: Catherine O'Flynn

Narrator: John Lee

Format: Unabridged

Length: 6 hrs and 58 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-06-10

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Ratings: 2.5 of 5 out of 5 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Frank Allcroft, a television news anchor in his hometown, is on the verge of a midlife crisis. Beneath his famously corny on-screen persona, Frank is haunted by loss: the mysterious hit-and-run that killed his predecessor and friend, Phil, and the ongoing demolition of his architect father's monumental postwar buildings.

And then there are the things he can't seem to lose, no matter how hard he tries: his home, for one, on the market for years; and the nagging sense that he will never quite be the son his mothernewly ensconced in an assisted-living centerwanted.

As Frank uncovers the shocking truth behind Phil's death and comes to terms with his domineering father's legacy, it is his beloved young daughter, Mo, who points him toward the future. This spirited literary mystery is a funny and moving exploration of what we do and don't leave behind.

Critic Reviews:

OFlynn follows her Costa-winning debut,

What Was Lost, with a strong sophomore effortIn Frank, OFlynns created a winning if slightly pale near-everyman lost soul. (

Publishers Weekly)

Members Reviews:

A Thoughtful, Amusing and Aching Book About Loss ... With A Mystery Too

I was a big fan of O'Flynn's debut novel, What Was Lost, so I eagerly anticipated her second novel. Although not quite as satisfying as What Was Lost, The News Where You Are was a thoroughly enjoyable and satisfying read--combining humor with affecting examinations into the nature of loss.

Loss is a major theme in this book, as it was with her first novel. In this book, our "hero" Frank Allcroft is dealing with loss on all sorts of levels--the loss of his architect father's buildings (which are being knocked down one by one) and the loss of his friend and colleague Phil (who died in a never solved hit-and-run accident). As he shuffles through life, shackled with his corny on-air persona and a gentle loserish air he can't seem to shed (even with his own wife), Frank decides to investigate Phil's death on his own--seeking answers about why the vibrant and successful Phil made some strange phone calls to Frank shortly before his death and the connection between Phil and an elderly man found dead on park bench. Interspersed with this storyline is Frank's memories of his childhood--populated by his workaholic father and unhappy mother. As his father's buildings are demolished one by one, Frank realizes he must come to terms with his own past if he is to have a rewarding future.

As in What Was Lost, buildings and the physical surroundings of Birmingham play a large part in the story--becoming almost characters themselves. Like the Green Oaks Shopping Center in What Was Lost, buildings, new subdivisions and the assisted-living center become part of the story--given as much attention by O'Flynn as her human characters. O'Flynn tends to anthropomorphize cities, buildings and houses--imbuing them with meaning and personalities. I personally enjoy this aspect of O'Flynn's books; it makes for interesting reading.

"That's what I liked about this city."

"What? That it's crap and everything fails?"

"No. That it has these ridiculous dreams, that it always tries to reinvent itself, to be the city of the future, but then always changes its minds about what the future should be.

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Title: The Passage

Author: Justin Cronin

Narrator: Edward Herrmann

Format: Abridged

Length: 14 hrs and 51 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-24-10

Publisher: Orion Publishing Group Limited

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 5 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Amy Harper Bellafonte is six years old, and her mother thinks she's the most important person in the whole world. She is.... Anthony Carter doesn't think he could ever be in a worse place than Death Row. He's wrong.... FBI agent Brad Wolgast thinks something beyond imagination is coming. It is.... The Passage.

Deep in the jungles of eastern Colombia, Professor Jonas Lear has finally found what he's been searching for - and wishes to God he hadn't. In Memphis, Tennessee, a six-year-old girl called Amy is left at the convent of the Sisters of Mercy and wonders why her mother has abandoned her. In a maximum security jail in Nevada, a convicted murderer, Giles Babcock, has the same strange nightmare, over and over again, while he waits for a lethal injection. In a remote community in the California mountains, a young man called Peter waits for his beloved brother to return home - so he can kill him. Bound together in ways they cannot comprehend, for each of them a door is about to open into a future they could not have imagined.

And a journey is about to begin. An epic journey that will take them through a world transformed by man's darkest dreams, to the very heart of what it means to be human. And beyond. The Passage.

Members Reviews:

Absorbing

I normally buy unabridged versions of audio-books as I prefer to listen to all an authors words not just what an editor decides so I was slightly miffed to realise I had bought the abridged version of The Passage. I have, however read some reviews that the book is perhaps too long. The abridged version though really keeps a great pace and I found it incredibly difficult to stop listening. The story is just fantastic with wonderful characters and I cant wait for Justin Cronin to write the rest of the trilogy.

Resident Evil but better !!!!

Just finished the abridged version of this book .. I was actually late for work sitting in the car park waiting to hear the last 15 mins. It seems to have brought together elements of a number of sci fi horrors together with a good story to explain WHY?, but the whole thing is a success and well worth the Listen ..I'm even thinking of buying the unabridged version to do it all again

Haunting

This reminded me of a Stephen King novel. A very atmospheric dystopian novel that disturbs and haunts you long afterwards. Edward Herrmann is a joy to listen to. I don't often listen to the abridged versions of audiobooks, but I'm glad I did in this case - I think this was just right and can't imagine what more material could add to the story.

cant wait for the follow ups

great take on a vampire story. think 'i am legend'

only wish i got unabridged version. still got 2 weeks till next credit thats how good thought it was.

Excellent 1st. of the 'Trillogy' !

... ?'what can I say '! ...apart from I both wanted, & DID feel the need & desire to 'listen' to the nx x2-installments....