Endurance

By: J. A. Konrath

Narrated by: Christopher Lane

Length: 9 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's summary

One year ago, a young woman checked into a small bed-and-breakfast in the hills of West Virginia. She was never seen again...

Tonight, the Rushmore Inn will host four new guests who bear striking similarities to the woman who disappeared. Like her, they are young and beautiful - Iron Woman athletes preparing for a triathlon. Like her, they were forced to come to this godforsaken place when their hotel overbooked. And like her, they will experience the most terrifying night of their lives. But this year will be different. This time the women are fighting back...

Endurance

From bestselling author J.A. Konrath comes a rollercoaster of terror and suspense, a nightmarish ride into the depths of madness that tests the very limits of human endurance...

©2010 by Joe Konrath. (P)2010 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Okay horror story, story was vaguely familiar

This story kept me entertained, although I must admit it strongly reminded me of an old episode of the X-Flies where Mulder and Scully investigate an incident in the deep south with an older lady and her inbred children. If you enjoy a fair amount of gore and some cheap thrills this book might be down your alley.

One of the stand out aspects of Endurance was the absolutely great narration by Christopher Lane. I wouldn't hesitate to listen to another story narrated by him.

TWISTED!!!!

If you like horror stories, you'll love this one. Christopher Lane's narration was excellent and the story kept me on the edge of my seat. I couldn't stop listening even as the evening hour became late and the action freaked me out.

Amazing Story With One Annoying Flaw...

I normally don't enjoy books with this particular theme, but I have to say I absolutely LOVED this one! The author did such an amazing job of making me really want to pull for all of the victims to survive. I honestly think I feel the same awe for Deb that Mal does after hearing her survival story. And Florence has got to be my new hero! I absolutely loved the strong women in this novel! If you want a book that is fast paced with great characters you can identify with and pull for, then this is the book for you.

That being said, I was born and raised in the south, and while I live in the suburbs now, my family is from the backcountry of the mountains so I spent most of my youth in that area. I know that the majority of the world, and even the rest of the United States, has its own preconceptions about Southerners. That’s fine and I don't typically get annoyed at our portrayal in the media because its entertainment after all and who doesn't love a freaky killer redneck! However, I don't know if its my Southern heritage or my English degree that is making me nitpick but I am taking away one star from an otherwise 5 star book because of Mr. Konrath/Kilborn's blatant misuse of the word "y'all" was killing me while I read this novel. I started reading this novel on my Kindle iPad App but it was so distracting that I purchased the audiobook on Audible to finish it because the errors were less distracting that way.

For those of you who don't understand what I am talking about, "y'all" is the contraction for "you all". It is ONLY used when addressing a group. In my 40 years of life, I have NEVER heard a single person (even the most backwoods redneck) use "y'all" singularly. (If someone reads this review and DOES know someone who uses "y'all" to address only one person please post a comment and tell me the location where this is used because I would really be interested to know!)

For the majority of readers this nitpick of mine probably won’t bother you so for Y’ALL it’s probably a 5 star book and you will love it. But for southerners, be warned. While I would definitely say this book is worth ignoring the flaw if you can and still reading the novel, this misuse occurs at least once on probably half the pages in the novel so if it bugs you, you might want to read another of J.A. Konrath/Jack Kilborn’s novels. They are all great!

The audiobook for this novel is awesome. The narrator really brought the characters to life and gave them an awesome individuality. He also uses a wide variety of creepy crazed voices, which amazed me considering how many Roosevelts there were to voice. The only thing that might bug some people is the cheesy Scarlett O’hara accent he uses for the narration when he isn’t voicing a character, but that is easily overlooked. Otherwise, it was great!

Never a dull moment.

Gore, torture and death. Never know who to trust. Lot of different stories with everyone going to the same place. Real nail bitter. Had to keep going, to get to the end.

Great Horror and Amazing Performance

Would you listen to Endurance again? Why?

Probably years from now. I don't regularly relisten to books, but I think that eventually I would get around to listening to this again.

What did you like best about this story?

It was good, creepy horror that was very satisfying. It was made even better by Christopher Lane's performance.

Which character – as performed by Christopher Lane – was your favorite?

Eleanor. It takes a great male voice actor to pull off a female voice without sounding like he is using a terrible falsetto. Not only did Lane pull it off, but he gave her the perfect creepy voice.

If you could rename Endurance, what would you call it?

I think that Endurance was an appropriate title.

Any additional comments?

I had just finished listening to Death From a High Floor and did not even realize that the narrator was the same for that book as for this one until I looked. Christopher Lane is quickly becoming one of my favorite narrators as he truly adapted his voice to both books in order to get into character.

There are mixed reviews for this book, and I recommend it specifically for horror fans who like being scared (particularly in the first chapter), listening to stories with gore, and people who do not mind listening to a story told in a Southern drawl. I thought that it was brilliant for the genre, but can understand why it might be too much for some people. Highly recommended.

You get up just to get beat down again.

Where does Endurance rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Very high! it was scary and disturbing. A little on the gory side but still great.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Endurance?

The way you get your hopes up that everything will be fine, and then the hope gets smashed and everything is horrible, happens alot. But my favorite part was the ending.

Have you listened to any of Christopher Lane’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No but i loved his accent and way of telling the story.
And i would love to hear more from him.

If you could rename Endurance, what would you call it?

The presidential suites? i don't know i think the name is very fitting.

Any additional comments?

Loved it. and i recommend the book to any fans of slasher films.

Good read I enjoyed

If your looking for next book to read while staying in a small hotel or before plans to go this is it if you want to be thoroughly creeper out that is. Fairly typical hotel horror story although this is different and has its own uniqueness. I would recommend if you like a good thriller/horror story. The audio is good if you plan to use audible and listen to the book.

Didn't think I'd like it...

Where does Endurance rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

For horror/thrillers, this book is close to best. I didn't think I'd like it, but decided to give it a try and boy was I surprised! I don't normally like anything with dogs in it except comedy's, they never get hurt or killed off in these books. But this was ok.

What did you like best about this story?

It was different, very descriptive and kept me listening.

What about Christopher Lane’s performance did you like?

I thought he was great! It just fit in with the characters and loved how he spoke for each character.

If you could take any character from Endurance out to dinner, who would it be and why?

The grandmother, she was strong and heroic!

Totally Creepy!

Don't go anywhere without a weapon, or 2, or 10!! This book will freak you out!

What just happened.....

Let's start out with a cliche: this is literally my first review. I felt compelled to write it because the narrator of this book is unbelievably amazing. He switches characters, genders and accents seamlessly, and makes a book which is in some places difficult to digest, delicious! I can't overstate how great this man is! As for the story, it's creepy and in places gratuitous, but not to the point that I did not enjoy. This is a great Halloween listen, perfect for anyone who likes to get the willies from time to time!!!