Bethany's Sin

By: Robert R. McCammon

Narrated by: Ray Porter

Length: 10 hrs and 49 mins

Publisher's summary

Bethany's Sin is a tiny, picturesque village in rural Pennsylvania. Its tree-lined streets, beautiful houses, and manicured exteriors offer - or appear to offer - both peace and a place of refuge. Evan Reid, a man haunted by his memories of the Vietnam War and by a history of viscerally disturbing dreams, comes to the village with his wife and daughter, hoping to make a fresh start after a series of discouraging setbacks. At first, all goes as planned.

Evan resumes his career as a freelance writer while his wife, Kay, begins teaching math at a local college. But there are things going on in Bethany's Sin that no one wants to talk about: unexplained disappearances, houses that stand strangely vacant, half glimpsed figures that appear to be female, the impossible sound of hoof beats in the night. At the center of it all stands a single imposing woman: Dr. Kathryn Drago, a scholar and community leader who holds the key to the mysteries that enshroud the town.

©1980 The McCammon Corporation (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Not my favorite but worth the read

I’m giving this one 4 stars in the context of the McCammon universe. I love almost all of his books and have given them 5 stars already. It’s a unique and interesting story with the great Ray Porter narrating. Go for it, but guard your dreams.

Bethany's Sin

Who moves to a town called Bethany's Sin?If you do,do not ask questions. Some where Johnstown Pa there are Amazon women killing men.The book was good,not great.Narration was very good.

OK, book

I have heard better but not all together bad. The narrator did a wonderful job at keeping it interesting.

Of visions and the paranirmal dangers of archeology

Evan is scarred by war, and has always seen visions hinting at the future. Wife Kate is understanding but tiring of Evan's nightmares and his obsession with them. Will a promising fresh start in Bethany's Sin improve their lives and their young daughter's? Well, no, that's why it's a horror novel.

IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO TALK, PERHAPS YOU WISH TO

SCREAM.
I am following a person who gave this five stars. I will have to disagree slightly. It was probably very good 30 years ago, but compared to today it is a little slow and a little talky. I liked it and listen to the whole thing. It is different and I stayed with it to find out what was going on. This involves a sort of werewolf, amazon clan? It is a scary town for men to live in.
One of the main characters, Kay, is not very empathic to her veteran husband. I did not care for her at all.

A little less talk, more building of suspense, less evil eye crap, and this would have made five stars.

Ray Porter is one of the coolest narrators out there.

All New Meaning to Battle of the Sexes!

What did you like best about this story?

It was thrilling, terrifying and well written. I read the story in print years ago and was pleasantly surprised that it did not seem terribly dated. This was written more than 30 years ago so some of the themes you've seen before but this just might be where they were born. I highly recommend this especially for horror fans. Mr. McCammon's energy, imagination and writing skills teamed with Ray Porter's performance makes this a winner.

If you could rename Bethany's Sin, what would you call it?

I would not dare to change a word of this gem, including the title.

Solid Horror Novel

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

Yes. I read this novel a long time ago. It is better on audible. It moves along at the right pace. It's the perfect length.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Drago. She was a hypnotic character.

What does Ray Porter bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

He presented the story well.

If you could rename Bethany's Sin, what would you call it?

Revenge of the Amazons

Any additional comments?

This novel should not disappoint people who like horror novels.

Decent book with a good plot.

It’s not my favorite Robert McCammon book but it was still a fantastic listen.
It kept my attention the whole time and kept me questioning. I love it when authors can tie Mythology into a modern scene and I feel he did it amazingly.

Ponderous and predictable

I finished this listening because of Mr. Porter's excellent talent. The story is a throwaway.

Is RRM Serious? Comic books are better.

First things first, Ray Porter is an incredible narrator. He's up there with the best of them. Even he couldn't save this one.

I love some of RRM's other works. But this one is a real turd. I can sum it up in a really absurd paragraph that is worthy of this book. Here you go :

"A woman gets the power of a god. She then uses that level of power to make a dumb little town in the middle of nowhere where the women use the men as sperm donors, kill the ones they don't bang, and just enjoy owning a tiny town where women are in charge... with possible ambitions for turning this thing into a larger franchise. Then a man protagonist with no powers other than that he thinks something might be going on swoops in and sacrifices himself to save the day."

Yeah. Seriously. That's the story. I'm a 40 year old dude who doesn't love modern liberal feminism, and even I'm over here like... Is RRM serious?

This book is astoundingly dumb. I felt like McCammon MUST have been trolling me at first. Nope. This really is this book. It's real bad. As usual, RRM's writing is flawless. He's a great writer. The plot is just really REALLY dumb.

I have no idea how this book made the best seller list. Must have been like the year I was born. Or maybe earlier than that. No way this book would play in the world that is 2021.

*SPOILER ALERT*

I feel like this is RRM's chauvinistic response to Wonder Woman. It's even based on the lore of Amazonian women. He even snidely references Wonder Woman at one point. In this version though, the women are evil and kill or make slaves out of men. This feels like RRM's freak out book because women being empowered made him really alarmed. It's so stupid it's kinda funny. He even writes the male hero as a bumbling idiot who can barely walk and chew gum at the same time. That's purely for the purpose of turning him into a poor victim at the hands of these angry women.

Holy crap, dude. I read this fresh off the heels of watching WW84 with my wife. Talk about cognitive dissonance lol. I love my wife. I don't idolize her. We try to keep it pretty chill on expectations between us. But this book... Omg. Lol. I guess RRM never met a woman like my mom or my wife. I guess he can't imagine a world where Ma Kettle doesn't have a hot dinner waiting for Pa Kettle when he arrives home from work.

Shaking my head at this book.