Envy

By: Sandra Brown

Narrated by: Victor Slezak

Length: 14 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's summary

New York book editor Maris Matherly-Reed knows a best seller when she sees one - even if it is just a tantalizing partial manuscript submitted by a writer identified only as P.M.E., with the return address of an obscure island off the Georgia coast. Maris is intrigued enough to search for him.

Her trip to Georgia to meet the mysterious author takes her to an eerie, ruined cotton plantation, where Maris finds Parker Evans, a man confined to a wheelchair who carefully hides his past. Coaxing his novel from him chaper by chapter, Maris becomes caught up in his tale of two friends who rent a boat with a young woman for a night of sex and drinking. Only one person will return from that trip.

Disturbed about her sexual attraction to Parker and worried about her marriage to author and her co-publisher Noah Reed, Maris returns to New York, where the delivery of Parker's newest chapters convince her they are more than fiction. She wonders how well she knows her husband and begins a harrowing search for a truth that ties back to a terrifying crime and a man who will use her, or anyone, to get his revenge.

©2001 Sandra Brown Management, Ltd (P)2001 Simon & Schuster Inc.

what a book!

this book was so good right from the start and was good all the way thru. the story was very good and kept you interested until the end. the characters fit the story so well you felt like you were there. I love sandra brown books and this was one at the top of the liist.

Excellent

Not a big fan of writing reviews but I consistently read them (go figure🤔) but ENVY made me load up keyboard!!!!!!!! First Sandra Brown book (definitely not last), truly could not put this book down. 1:00 am still reading and alarm clock will go off at 6:00 am - finally forced myself to stop at 1:45 but when i got up promptly started listening again. I am a big fan of Audible books - good narrator with a good book is really double your pleasure and Victor Slezak does not disappoint. "ENVY" is full of suspense, action, romance and intrigue. You will be enthralled by this book.

And excellent book. kept me on my toes all the war

The characters were so vivid from the beginning even though there is mystery to it at the start. There was one part or two that I had to stop the audio as I was so afraid of what was happening. I loved the way it moved smoothly to each chapter leaving you still with a few questions. all in all, best book in a long time.

Great

I loved this book. I did not want to stop listening. I like books that provoke emotions. This one took me through several emotions so it gets 5 stars. Narration is also good.

So much better than I even expected.

Excellent! Way better than I expected. Great narrator and storyline. Nice to read something original.

Great suspense, a great suspense book…

.., A must read. This is a very complicated plot, but well fight and shows how ugly and disturbing NV can be. The book is written, like those film stories where you are seeing the present story, but you’re also seeing the past and ultimately towards the end you start, realizing what’s really going on and how the ending would be.

Best book I’ve heard in a long time.

I loved this style of writing, how she didn’t spell it all out for you in the beginning and you really had to think about how all the pieces of the puzzle were going to fall into place. The narrator was amazing, and not too over the top. I might just have to listen to this book again! It was that good. Oh and the double plot was the icing on the cake.

loved the story

loved the storyline and how it kept you guessing. I have read alot of Sandrabrown. I think this one was one if her best

Frighteningly evil bad guy

Victor Slezak narrated the audiobook. He is excellent.

STORY BRIEF:
Two stories are being told. The first story is about Maris, an editor and executive in her father’s publishing company Matherly Press. Noah was a famous author who came to work at Matherly Press. He and Maris married. Maris recently read an unsolicited manuscript in her slush pile. It was a prologue titled “Envy” submitted by P.M.E. with no phone and no address. She loved it and eventually finds the author (Parker Evans) living on an island off Georgia. She travels there to discuss the book. She ends up staying longer than she planned.

The second story is “Envy” (the novel Parker is writing). “Envy” starts with Todd, Roark and a girl renting a boat. They had been drinking. Something happens and the boat returns with only Todd on it. The story then goes back in time showing Todd and Roark before the boating accident. They had been college roommates and aspiring authors.

REVIEWER’S OPINION:
Very good. Solid writing. None of my pet peeves. It’s an in depth mystery with some nice romantic development. After I had been reading for over an hour, I was so worried about what would happen to the good guys that I had to read the ending before going back to finish the story. Then I was able to relax a little more and enjoy it. The bad guy was frighteningly evil and deceptive. Mystery lovers should love it. To get 5 stars from me I would have wanted a little more wow factor or emotional draw. This was more of an intellectual draw, but very, very good. The sex scenes were a little weak on passion/emotion, but should appeal to romance lovers. Mystery/thriller lovers might not want the sex scenes.

I noticed other reviewers saying there is not much mystery because one can guess a key plot point early on. I too guessed this, but other mysteries remained about what the main characters were going to do and how they were going to do it. I was fine with the mystery.

DATA:
Narrative mode: 3rd person. Story length: 549 pages. Swearing language: strong, including religious words. Sexual language: strong. Number of sex scenes: 6. Total number of sex scene pages: 15. Setting: 1985 – 2002 Manhattan, NY, St. Anne Island, Georgia, Key West, Florida, and Tennessee. Copyright: 2001. Genre: romantic suspense, mystery suspense thriller.

Top Notch -- Totally recommend

I would put this book in the top 5 of my Audible library... I was a Sandra Brown virgin until now - and based on another listener's review - I tried this first. And it was outstanding.

I listen to/read lots of books - and one of the things I struggle with is over-blown situations - the heorine laments too much - the villian is overly cruel - to the point where I ache for the chapter to end because the author is dragging out a situation to the point of irritation.

This book was a miraculous mix of all the essential elements of a novel. It didn't twist and turn crazily to throw the reader into a tizzy - it led the reader to through the plot with the perfect pace - and just enough suspense to keep you wanting more.