• Fluke

  • Or, I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings
  • By: Christopher Moore
  • Narrated by: Bill Irwin
  • Length: 9 hrs and 45 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (1,460 ratings)

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
Fluke  By  cover art

Fluke

By: Christopher Moore
Narrated by: Bill Irwin
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $25.19

Buy for $25.19

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

Just why do humpback whales sing? That's the question that has marine behavioral biologist Nate Quinn and his crew poking, charting, recording, and photographing very big, wet, gray marine mammals - until the extraordinary day when a whale lifts its tail into the air to display a cryptic message spelled out in foot-high letters: Bite Me.

Trouble is, Nate's beginning to wonder if he hasn't spent just a little too much time in the sun. 'Cause no one else on his team saw a thing - not his longtime partner, Clay Demodocus; not their saucy young research assistant; not even the spliff-puffing white-boy Rastaman Kona (aka Preston Applebaum). But later, when a roll of film returns from the lab missing the crucial tail shot - and his research facility is trashed - Nate realizes something very fishy indeed is going on.

By turns witty, irreverent, fascinating, puzzling, and surprising, Fluke is Christopher Moore at his outrageous best.

©2003 Christopher Moore (P)2006 HarperAudio

Critic reviews

"This amusing pastiche cobbles together elements from all the classic sea yarns: from 'Jonah and the Whale' to Moby Dick to 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea." (Booklist)

What listeners say about Fluke

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    807
  • 4 Stars
    391
  • 3 Stars
    201
  • 2 Stars
    33
  • 1 Stars
    28
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    601
  • 4 Stars
    237
  • 3 Stars
    97
  • 2 Stars
    26
  • 1 Stars
    32
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    617
  • 4 Stars
    234
  • 3 Stars
    109
  • 2 Stars
    18
  • 1 Stars
    11

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Another good time from Moore.

A cute story of underwater fun and excitement. Your mind will dive beneath the waves and surf along the shores of wit and winks. Check it out.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

"shut up! and stop killing whales!" - right on!

Douglas Adams meets Carl Haaisen meets Hermann Melville, with some weird scenes featuring whale genitalia - a fun read!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great story line

I had a coworker tell me about this book and while at work I listened to this book for 3 days while working. Loved the story line and it catches your attention right away and keeps it until the very end. This was read very well. I highly recommend this book.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

awesome

very funny this is my favorite author by far this book was a lot more thought-provoking than many of his other books LOL

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
  • G.
  • 03-27-17

Most awesome!

I own this book in print, disc, and now audible. It is improved by the narrator, whom I believe might have been a Rastafarian in a former life. It is not only a great escapist fantasy but a text in whale study. Great fun.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Best listen/read of my year!

Well written, nicely composed with a plot that let me work out what is happening without beating me about the head with it. Voice execution was amazing. Narrator complemented the work nicely. Story required thought which I enjoyed greatly. This is the only book I tracked twice this year. I generally do not track anything twice but this I restarted immediately.

By far best read of my year!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Hilarious book, God-awful narration

The story itself was fantastic (Christopher Moore is a comedic genius and this is one of my favourite of his novels) but my enjoyment of the audiobook was marred by the awful narration.

The narrator pronounced all of his "w" words with an "h" on the front, which drove me slowly insane. It's a book about WHALES...which he pronounced as "Hwhales". Every. Single. Time.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Good story, not so good narration

I really enjoyed the storyline as I do for every Christopher Moore book but I felt like the narrator detracted from the book. It was read in a very somber and almost melodramatic tone which really took the humor out of the book. There were parts that I felt should have been laugh out loud funny but were read so monotone that you couldn't appreciate it. I have really loved all of the other narrators for the other books because they really bring the characters to life so I had high expectations. However, don't judge the book by that because as usual, Christopher Moore does not disappoint with a fantastically hilarious, well devolved, and unique story.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Reader hid the joke with his deadpan delivery

I loved the book. The reader isn't as "fun" as the prior readers. He would knock a spy novel out of the park.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great Christopher Moore read

I love his style. This book was funny and easy to listen to, definitely recommend it

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!