Carrion Comfort

By: Dan Simmons

Narrated by: Mel Foster, Laural Merlington

Length: 39 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's summary

"Carrion Comfort is one of the three greatest horror novels of the 20th century. Simple as that." (Stephen King)

"Epic in scale and scope but intimately disturbing, Carrion Comfort spans the ages to rewrite history and tug at the very fabric of reality. A nightmarish chronicle of predator and prey that will shatter your world view forever. A true classic." (Guillermo del Toro)

"Carrion Comfort is one of the scariest books ever written. Whenever I get asked the question Who's your favorite author? my answer is always Dan Simmons." (James Rollins)

"One of the few major reinventions of the vampire concept, on a par with Jack Finney's Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Richard Matheson's I Am Legend, and Stephen King's Salem's Lot. (David Morrell)

THE PAST...

Caught behind the lines of Hitler's Final Solution, Saul Laski is one of the multitudes destined to die in the notorious Chelmno extermination camp. Until he rises to meet his fate and finds himself face to face with an evil far older, and far greater, than the Nazis themselves...

THE PRESENT...

Compelled by the encounter to survive at all costs, so begins a journey that for Saul will span decades and cross continents, plunging into the darkest corners of 20th century history to reveal a secret society of beings who may often exist behind the world's most horrible and violent events. Killing from a distance, and by darkly manipulative proxy, they are people with the psychic ability to "use" humans: read their minds, subjugate them to their wills, experience through their senses, feed off their emotions, force them to acts of unspeakable aggression. Each year, three of the most powerful of this hidden order meet to discuss their ongoing campaign of induced bloodshed and deliberate destruction. But this reunion, something will go terribly wrong. Saul's quest is about to reach its elusive object, drawing hunter and hunted alike into a struggle that will plumb the depths of mankind's attraction to violence, and determine the future of the world itself...

©2009 Dan Simmons (P)2011 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Amazing story with poorly chosen narrator

After just reading The Passage I was really excited to read another best selling “vampire” book. I really wanted to like the book but the narrator just did not seem like a good fit for this story. It is supposed to be a dark and morose psychological thriller type book but this guy read it like it was a tale of two loving sisters growing up on a Nebraska cattle farm. Might be a better one to read rather than listen. Amazingly I made it through the entire 38 hours.

Great story

Would you listen to Carrion Comfort again? Why?

Except for the male narrative and Natalie's voice- it was a solid recording

Any additional comments?

Well built story and developed characters. Saul did not seem "tortured enough" about his role in the deaths of Aaron's family. Also, not sure why Melanie did not just control Natalie at the end. Maybe she wanted to run and hide from Nina, but that did not seem the direction she was heading.

One of the Best Ever!

This may be my single greatest audiobook experience. While very long (perhaps average for ASOIAF fans) Carrion Comfort moves at a brisk pace. It is truly epic horror that spans decades and hosts numerous characters you will root for as well as those you will detest. The voice acting (a more apt phrase than narration in this instance) is truly superb. I cannot recommend more highly.

Brilliant rendition

I've always loved this book and hearing the audible version made me love it even more.

Wonderful Listen

If you could sum up Carrion Comfort in three words, what would they be?

I could not put this book down!!! I really liked this story. The plot twist really had me thinking about what was going to happen next.

Creep-fest!

This is a great read about a small group of malevolent friends who use their psychic abilities to control others in an annual contest to see who can create the most spectacular murders. The combination of blue-blood gentility and sociopathic vigor make "Miss Melanie" a great villain.

The narrators also did a great job, especially the first-person narrative of Melanie.

A chilling unique twist on Vampirism.

As a huge fan of Dan Simmons, I found this book particularly intriguing being that a majority of the book is set in my home state of South Carolina. Once again Dan Simmons finds a way to turn a typical idea of vampirism into a unique and absolutely chilling tale of struggling powers and innocent victims caught in the action. I highly recommend this book to anyone fascinated with fantasy, science fiction or horror.

Best vocal performance ive heard in a long time.

Yes its 39 hours but it keeps your interest for the entire time. VERY good vocal performance and audio quality. Good story line.

Great take on an old story, Engaging

Any additional comments?

This novel is long, let's get that out of the way first. That being said, it is well worth the investment. I read this over a year ago and it still sticks with me. Very good narration overall, very good characters, and as stated in the title, ENGAGING. You will stay wrapped up in the storyline, even if some scenes drag on for a while. The characters are, as another review has already said, uni-dimensional... but you'll get over it. I think Simmons has a truly unique take on "Vampires" to the point that the term doesn't even really describe the monsters of this story. This is not for fans of Twilight, then again neither is any decent "literature." This is not exclusively for fans of the monster genres either. I would even dare to say that some of the purists wouldn't like the direction the author went in this novel.

Bottom line: For 1 credit this book is well worth your investment. Enjoy.

started slow but grew in interest and excitement..

The beginning appeared to full of trivial info (like Stephen King). but if you stay with it, the trivial info became important as the story grew in focus and intensity.

a good long read, worthy story, rewarding for the patient.