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Summer of Night
- Narrated by: Dan John Miller
- Length: 22 hrs and 2 mins
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It’s the summer of 1960 and in the small town of Elm Haven, Illinois, five twelve-year-old boys are forging the powerful bonds that a lifetime of change will not break. From sunset bike rides to shaded hiding places in the woods, the boys’ days are marked by all of the secrets and silences of an idyllic childhood. But amid the sun-drenched cornfields, their loyalty will be pitilessly tested. When a long-silent bell peals in the middle of the night, the townsfolk know it marks the end of their carefree days. From the depths of the Old Central School, a hulking fortress tinged with the mahogany scent of coffins, an invisible evil is rising. Strange and horrifying events begin to overtake everyday life, spreading terror through the once-peaceful town. Determined to exorcize this ancient plague, Mike, Duane, Dale, Harlen, and Kevin must wage a war of blood against an arcane abomination who owns the night....
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Story
In the blink of an eye, everyone disappears. Gone. Except for the young. There are teens, but not one single adult. Just as suddenly, there are no phones, no Internet, no television. No way to get help. And no way to figure out what's happened. Hunger threatens. Bullies rule. A sinister creature lurks. Animals are mutating. And the teens themselves are changing, developing new talents - unimaginable, dangerous, deadly powers - that grow stronger by the day. It's a terrifying new world.
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Please rerelease this book w new narration
- By Kim on 02-12-17
By: Michael Grant
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Cruel World
- A Novel
- By: Joe Hart
- Narrated by: Fajer Al-Kaisi
- Length: 13 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Hidden away from the world by his famous father, Quinn Kelly strives to find meaning in his life while struggling with a deformity that has kept him from leaving the only home he has ever known. On the eve of his departure a sudden and deadly virus sweeps across the nation, killing nearly all it touches. Within days Quinn is left to fend for himself in an empty world. But there is something still very much alive beyond the walls of his sanctuary.
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BEST post apocalyptic story
- By melinda a rister on 10-02-21
By: Joe Hart
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Last Call
- By: Tim Powers
- Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot
- Length: 19 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Scott Crane abandoned his career as a professional poker player 20 years ago and hasn’t returned to Las Vegas, or held a hand of cards, in 10 years. But troubling nightmares about a strange poker game he once attended on a houseboat on Lake Mead are drawing him back to the magical city. For the mythic game he believed he won did not end that night in 1969—and the price of his winnings was his soul. Now, a pot far more strange and perilous than he ever could imagine depends on the turning of a card.
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Powers is Under-represented on Audible
- By tim on 01-18-11
By: Tim Powers
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Praying for Sleep
- By: Jeffery Deaver
- Narrated by: Nicol Zanzarella
- Length: 15 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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When paranoid schizophrenic killer Michael Hrubek escapes from an institution, there’s no doubt of where he’s headed: to find the woman who put him away and to finally get his revenge. Lis Atcheson knows he’s out there - the man who killed two of her students. He’s haunted every sleepless night ever since she testified against him. Now, the nightmares are coming true. He’s watching...and waiting...and he’s going to take Lis to hell with him. With a massive storm coming - in more ways than one - Lis can barely prepare for the dark cloud that approaches.
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Better than most Jeffery Deaver
- By Arwyn B. on 04-12-20
By: Jeffery Deaver
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The Dead Cat Bounce
- By: Sarah Graves
- Narrated by: Lindsay Ellison
- Length: 10 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Since she bought her rambling fixer-upper of a house, Jacobia Tiptree has gotten used to finding things broken. But her latest problem isn't so easily repaired. Along with the rotting floor joists and sagging support beams, there's the little matter of the dead man in Jake's storeroom, an ice pick planted firmly in his cranium. Jake's unknown guest turns out to be local boy turned billionaire Threnody McIlwaine.
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too slow of a story...
- By Annette on 03-13-18
By: Sarah Graves
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Monkeewrench
- Monkeewrench, Book 1
- By: P. J. Tracy
- Narrated by: Buck Schirner
- Length: 11 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Haunted by a series of horrifying and violent episodes in their past, Grace McBride and the oddball crew of her software company, Monkeewrench, create a computer game where the killer is always caught, where the good guys always win. But their game becomes a nightmare when someone starts duplicating the fictional murders in real life, down to the last detail.
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Excellent
- By Mystery Addict on 11-30-11
By: P. J. Tracy
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The Story of Edgar Sawtelle
- By: David Wroblewski
- Narrated by: Richard Poe
- Length: 21 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Filled with breathtaking scenes, the elemental north woods, the sweep of seasons, an iconic American barn, a fateful vision rendered in the falling rain. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle is a meditation on the limits of language and what lies beyond, a brilliantly inventive retelling of an ancient story, and an epic tale of devotion, betrayal, and courage in the American heartland.
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Devastatingly Dark Story
- By Knitme23 on 02-07-15
By: David Wroblewski
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The Last Policeman
- The Last Policeman, Book 1
- By: Ben H. Winters
- Narrated by: Peter Berkrot
- Length: 8 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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What’s the point in solving murders if we’re all going to die soon, anyway? Detective Hank Palace has faced this question ever since asteroid 2011GV1 hovered into view. There’s no chance left. No hope. Just six precious months until impact. The economy spirals downward while crops rot in the fields. Churches and synagogues are packed. People all over the world are walking off the job—but not Hank Palace. He’s investigating a death by hanging in a city that sees a dozen suicides every week—except this one feels suspicious, and Palace is the only cop who cares.
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Not your regular mystery
- By Victor @ theAudiobookBlog dot com on 09-20-16
By: Ben H. Winters
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The Breakers Omnibus
- Books 1-3 and Prequel Novella
- By: Edward W. Robertson
- Narrated by: Ray Chase
- Length: 42 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Books 1-3 and the prequel novella of the Breakers series.
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So glad I downloaded this one.
- By Stevie Havoc on 11-16-15
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Idk who needs to see this, but TRIGGER WARNING
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Perfect example of audio over print
- By Michael on 06-18-10
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Outstanding, haunting work from a master of sci fi
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needs a different reader
- By Kelly Howard on 09-12-08
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The Abominable
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The year is 1924 and the race to summit the world's highest mountain has been brought to a terrified pause by the shocking disappearance of George Mallory and Sandy Irvine, high on the shoulder of Mt. Everest. By the following year, three climbers - a British poet and veteran of the Great War, a young French Chamonix guide, and an idealistic young American - find a way to take their shot at the top.
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Great story, great detail
- By David Shear on 10-30-13
By: Dan Simmons
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Song of Kali
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Blood will curdle in Calcutta. In the most crime-ridden city, nightmares become real and evil is defined by frightening occurrences. When an American family finds themselves encircled by the terrors of this land, lurid events befall them and life takes on a new meaning - death. Winner of the World Fantasy Award, Song of Kali will chill the blood and frighten even the most jaded of horror fans.
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All Violence is an Exercise in Power
- By Darwin8u on 01-14-15
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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. 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.
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Idk who needs to see this, but TRIGGER WARNING
- By WBA on 11-05-19
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Black Hills
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Paha Sapa, a young Sioux warrior, first encounters General George Armstrong Custer as Custer lies dying on the battlefield at Little Bighorn. He believes - as do the holy men of his tribe - that the legendary general's ghost entered him at that moment and will remain with him until Sapa convinces him to leave.
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Perfect example of audio over print
- By Michael on 06-18-10
By: Dan Simmons
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Flashback
- By: Dan Simmons
- Narrated by: Richard Davidson, Bryan Kennedy, Joe Barrett
- Length: 21 hrs and 56 mins
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The United States is near total collapse. But 87% of the population doesn't care: they're addicted to flashback, a drug that allows its users to re-experience the best moments of their lives. After ex-detective Nick Bottom's wife died in a car accident, he went under the flash to be with her; he's lost his job, his teenage son, and his livelihood as a result. Nick may be a lost soul, but he's still a good cop, so he is hired to investigate the murder of a top governmental advisor's son.
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Outstanding, haunting work from a master of sci fi
- By Jeffrey on 05-28-12
By: Dan Simmons
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Children of the Night
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In a desolate orphanage in what remains of post-Communist Romania, a desperately ill infant is given the wrong blood transfusion - and flourishes when he's supposed to die. The discovery of his unique immune system may hold the key to the long-awaited cure for cancer and AIDS - and a link to a clan of vampires.
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needs a different reader
- By Kelly Howard on 09-12-08
By: Dan Simmons
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The Abominable
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The year is 1924 and the race to summit the world's highest mountain has been brought to a terrified pause by the shocking disappearance of George Mallory and Sandy Irvine, high on the shoulder of Mt. Everest. By the following year, three climbers - a British poet and veteran of the Great War, a young French Chamonix guide, and an idealistic young American - find a way to take their shot at the top.
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Great story, great detail
- By David Shear on 10-30-13
By: Dan Simmons
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Song of Kali
- By: Dan Simmons
- Narrated by: Mark Boyett
- Length: 9 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Blood will curdle in Calcutta. In the most crime-ridden city, nightmares become real and evil is defined by frightening occurrences. When an American family finds themselves encircled by the terrors of this land, lurid events befall them and life takes on a new meaning - death. Winner of the World Fantasy Award, Song of Kali will chill the blood and frighten even the most jaded of horror fans.
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All Violence is an Exercise in Power
- By Darwin8u on 01-14-15
By: Dan Simmons
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Drood
- A Novel
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Just as he did in The Terror, Dan Simmons draws impeccably from history to create a gloriously engaging and terrifying narrative. Based on the historical details of Charles Dickens' life and narrated by Wilkie Collins (Dickens' friend, frequent collaborator, and Salieri-style secret rival), Drood explores the still-unsolved mysteries of the famous author's last years and may provide the key to Dickens's final, unfinished work: The Mystery of Edwin Drood.
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ordered an abridgment by mistake!
- By Lee on 05-01-14
By: Dan Simmons
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The Fifth Heart
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In 1893 Sherlock Holmes and Henry James come to America together to solve the mystery of the 1885 death of Clover Adams, wife of the esteemed historian Henry Adams--a member of the Adams family that has given the United States two Presidents. Clover's suicide appears to be more than it at first seemed; the suspected foul play may involve matters of national importance.
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Who Wrote 'the Fifth Heart?'
- By Bette on 04-16-15
By: Dan Simmons
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The Terror
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The men onboard HMS Terror have every expectation of finding the Northwest Passage. When the expedition's leader, Sir John Franklin, meets a terrible death, Captain Francis Crozier takes command and leads his surviving crewmen on a last, desperate attempt to flee south across the ice. But as another winter approaches, as scurvy and starvation grow more terrible, and as the Terror on the ice stalks them southward, Crozier and his men begin to fear there is no escape.
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Very good then, NOT
- By Randall on 07-24-18
By: Dan Simmons
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Ilium
- By: Dan Simmons
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- Length: 29 hrs and 41 mins
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From the towering heights of Olympos Mons on Mars, the mighty Zeus and his immortal family of gods, goddesses, and demigods look down upon a momentous battle, observing - and often influencing - the legendary exploits of Paris, Achilles, Hector, Odysseus, and the clashing armies of Greece and Troy. Thomas Hockenberry, former 21st-century professor and Iliad scholar, watches as well. It is Hockenberry's duty to observe and report on the Trojan War's progress to the so-called deities who saw fit to return him from the dead.
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Achaeans and robots and post-humans, oh my
- By Ryan on 04-11-14
By: Dan Simmons
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The Crook Factory
- By: Dan Simmons
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 20 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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At the height of World War II, the famous writer Ernest Hemingway sought permission from the U.S. government to operate a spy ring out of his house in the Cuban countryside. This much is true... It is the summer of ’42 and FBI agent Joe Lucas has come to Cuba at the behest of J. Edgar Hoover to keep an eye on Hemingway. The great writer has assembled a ragtag spy ring that he calls the “Crook Factory” to play a dangerous game of amateur espionage. But then Lucas and Hemingway, against all the odds, uncover a critical piece of intelligence - and the game turns deadly.
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Really well researched spy novel
- By Brian on 07-08-11
By: Dan Simmons
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The Hollow Man
- By: Dan Simmons
- Narrated by: Mark Boyett
- Length: 9 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Jeremy Bremen has a secret. All his life he's been cursed with the ability to read minds. He knows the secret thoughts, fears, and desires of others as if they were his own. For years, his wife, Gail, has served as a shield between Jeremy and the burden of this terrible knowledge. But Gail is dying, her mind ebbing slowly away, leaving him vulnerable to the chaotic flood of thought that threatens to sweep away his sanity. Now Jeremy is on the run - from his mind, from his past, from himself - hoping to find peace in isolation.
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Genius writing, great book
- By David Shear on 02-28-14
By: Dan Simmons
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Hardcase
- By: Dan Simmons
- Narrated by: Fred Filbrich
- Length: 6 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Once Joe Kurtz needed revenge - and revenge cost him 11 years in Attica prison. Now Kurtz needs a job, and the price is going to be higher. Out of prison, out of touch, Kurtz signs on with the Byron Farino, Don of a Mob family whose son Kurtz had been protecting on the inside. Farino enlists Kurtz's help to track down the Family's missing accountant - a man with too much knowledge of Family business to have on the loose.
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Hard
- By Darwin8u on 06-26-20
By: Dan Simmons
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Darwin's Blade
- By: Dan Simmons
- Narrated by: Brian Troxell
- Length: 15 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Darwin Minor travels a dangerous road. A Vietnam veteran turned reluctant expert on interpreting the wreckage of fatal accidents, Darwin uses science and instinct to unravel the real causes of unnatural disasters. He is very, very good at his job.
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Not Simmons' masterwork, but highly entertaining
- By Florian Weller on 02-03-18
By: Dan Simmons
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The Terror: Booktrack Edition
- A Novel
- By: Dan Simmons
- Narrated by: Tom Sellwood
- Length: 28 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Story
The men on board the HMS Terror have every expectation of finding the Northwest Passage. But what they don't expect is a monstrous predator lurking behind the Arctic ice. When the expedition's leader, Sir John Franklin, meets a horrifying end, Captain Francis Crozier takes command, leading his surviving crewmen on a last desperate attempt to flee south across the ice.
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A truly horrific story of fortitude.
- By Jersey Steininger on 12-31-21
By: Dan Simmons
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Boy's Life
- By: Robert R. McCammon
- Narrated by: George Newbern
- Length: 20 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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Zephyr, Alabama, is an idyllic hometown for eleven-year-old Cory Mackenson - a place where monsters swim the river deep and friends are forever. Then, one cold spring morning, Cory and his father witness a car plunge into a lake - and a desperate rescue attempt brings his father face-to-face with a terrible, haunting vision of death. As Cory struggles to understand his father's pain, his eyes are slowly opened to the forces of good and evil that surround him.
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Remember when the Waltons made you feel good?
- By Marie on 04-03-18
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Hyperion
- By: Dan Simmons
- Narrated by: Marc Vietor, Allyson Johnson, Kevin Pariseau, and others
- Length: 20 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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On the world called Hyperion, beyond the law of the Hegemony of Man, there waits the creature called the Shrike. There are those who worship it. There are those who fear it. And there are those who have vowed to destroy it. In the Valley of the Time Tombs, where huge, brooding structures move backward through time, the Shrike waits for them all.
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The Shrike Awaits. Enter The Time Tombs...
- By Michael on 10-13-12
By: Dan Simmons
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Swan Song
- By: Robert R. McCammon
- Narrated by: Tom Stechschulte
- Length: 34 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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Facing down an unprecedented malevolent enemy, the government responds with a nuclear attack. America as it was is gone forever, and now every citizen - from the President of the United States to the homeless on the streets of New York City - will fight for survival. In a wasteland born of rage and fear, populated by monstrous creatures and marauding armies, earth's last survivors have been drawn into the final battle between good and evil, that will decide the fate of humanity.
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Simply an Amazing Story
- By Amanda H. on 06-21-12
What listeners say about Summer of Night
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Jan
- 10-31-14
Go Ahead...Take A Stroll Down Horror Lane
I read the reviews before buying this audiobook, and was surprised by the vast differences in reviewer opinion. For some, the book was too long, and others never wanted it to end.
This novel is long, but if you grew up in the 50,s 60;s, or 70;s, you will probably feel a sense of nostalgia. If you grew up before those decades, I would imagine the book would seem wordy and too lengthy.
Summer of Night falls somwhere between "It" and "Stand By Me" in the dewey decimal system of your mind, which are both by Stehen King. I loved this novel, and think the writing vividly depicts a coming- of- age story involving several teen boys. They cus, they drink, they go on adventures. They have good parents, they have awful parents, and they rely on each other.
There is the issue of childhood death in this story along with the parental grief that follows. That kind of raw emotion has always been difficult for me to take as a reader, but Simmons manages to make it part of the overall horror story instead of an emotional mess.
The writing is good, I got lost in the book, and I really liked the characters and the charater development. Dan John Miller was an excellent choie for narration.
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- JeffOfTheUsernameJeff
- 11-06-12
Excellent well-developed thriller / youth story
Dan Simmons is one of my favorite writers. I've previously read Song of Kali, the Hyperion Cantos, Carrion Comfort, and Prayers to Broken Stones. I sometimes feel apprehension when reading a previously unread novel by an author I've come to love, because of the potential disappointment when the spell is broken. It's been broken (and redeemed) many times by Stephen King.
No worries then, on Summer of Night! This is a story reminiscent of two other novels I know, both by Stephen King: It and The Body (which appeared in Different Seasons and was the basis for the movie Stand By Me). I would not say that this is a derivative work, however. Simmons has his own ideas and agendas. The story is thrilling and the characters are rich and diverse, and though it sounds hackneyed, the portrait of small town life is on the money. If you've ever been afraid of your elementary school basement or hung out with a clever group of school kids, this book will resonate with you. Despite the age of the kids in the story, this is not a juvenile work and deserves a mature audience rating for violence (though not really more so than The Illiad), language (though again, probably not more so than Slaughter House Five), etc.
There may be some in-jokes or nods in Summer of Night. Duane may be a particular version of the detective in Carrion Comfort. I believe that the character Harland is a playful nod to Harlan Ellison, given their similar attitudes and, well, vernacular.
By way of explanation, I do not practice "inflation" in my ratings. I give the story four stars only because five stars is reserved for excellent works of deep significant: Ulysses, The Grapes of Wrath, Dune, The Name of the Rose, Shogun, and works of this level. Catcher in the Rye would be a four-star by my reckoning.
The audiobook was among the best performed that I've listened to. It was certainly well above the recording of Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson (which often sounded like an Al Franken SNL skit).
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73 people found this helpful
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- Evil_Asch
- 04-30-12
One of my favorite books
That said the presentation is well done and I enjoyed it, however, the narration was well done until it came to ANY dialogue between the main characters (all children) at which point the narrator chose the obnoxious tactic of making his voice soft, squeaky, or soft and squeaky to differentiate between them. The most obnoxious of these was for the only young female character, Cordelia Cook. Her voice is described as a monotone in the book and not only is it not a monotone but the squeaky nature of the reading of her dialogue is almost unbearable at times.
This is one of my favorite books and I read my copy until the cover fell apart so I'm willing to concede that I may be biased to some degree however the irritating vocal choices bothered me so much that I found I had to force myself to finish the book.
Listen to the preview before buying.
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- Mississippi Malka
- 02-07-16
A Strong RIval of Stephen King's Best Work
Even though I was 2 years old in 1960 (the year in which Summer of Night is set), I found Simmons evocation of the summer vacations we baby-boomers enjoyed markedly similar to those we experienced in Texas during the 1960's. I think that, as children, we were able to enjoy the simplicity of those years in a way that people of other generations could not. We hung between the past and the future: we still played the games our parents did as children but the Space Age and the Beatles promised us futures filled with amazing, undreamed of lives to come.
Dan John Miller gives this book it's due. His ability to slip into a variety of characters of different gender, background and age is marvelous. He never gives the sense that this is his first time to see the book, the way some performers do. And when the text describes a character as coughing or laughing while speaking, etc., he does it in a most natural way, which can be difficult for some to do without being awkward.
Oh, Summer of Night is definitely a horror book. It is scary, scary, scary. But much of what makes it so effective are Simmons' characterizations, his almost poetic descriptions and the ability to twist several elements of horror stories into something completely new. It really can appeal to quite a large number of diverse readers.
Simmons immerses the reader into the setting of that summer in 1960 Illinois with his almost hypnotic use of prose. I felt that I could almost feel the summer heat, crawling up hot rocks barefoot, splashing into the local swimming hole and riding my bicycle over dusty, unpaved roads. He provides us with the atmosphere of iced lemonade, nights on front porch swings under yellow outdoor lights and the the ever-present song of summer insects such as cicadas and crickets. And, most importantly, the tightly bound friendships that children believe will last forever.
I want to take one paragraph to touch on the characters in the book. It is so easy to view them as real people that you might discover yourself loving some and hating some, and wishing you could have been there to help them. I am reading a book right now, Children of the Night, in which one of the boys plays a major role. It was delightful to see him as a grown up. I hope we get to see more.
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31 people found this helpful
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- Janie
- 12-18-12
Dan Simmons has a lot of strings in his bow.
I enjoyed this book immensely. Yes there was 'horror' but not the kind when you're scared to turn the next page, or decide to skip it altogether. I guess you could say it was mild to middling horror. There was heaps of suspense though, and the story progressed so well it was hard to put down. Dialogue between the characters was written well and the character development was excellent. I would welcome more of this genre from Mr Simmons.
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- Susan
- 03-01-15
A good prequel
I read "The Winter Haunting" which is the sequel to this book. On Goodreads it shoes these books as a trilogy called The Seasons of Horror, I cannot find these books grouped together as a trilogy anywhere else. After reading the reviews for the 2nd book in the trilogy called "The Children of the Night", I realized that not one of the reviewers spoke of this book or the 3rd, "The Winter calling". The first and the third do go together. The characters in this book are a group of friends when they are tweens and then in the third one, (Dale), one of the boys, returns to the town as an adult right before Halloween to do some writing in peace. Confusing? Yes.
Anyway, this was a good horror that starts with a blood curdling scream and the disappearance of a young man inside of a soon to be condemned school, the day before summer break is to start. When strange sightings and odd deaths start to follow a group of young buddies, they feel obligated and pressed by fear to take things into their own hands, especially when none of the adults will believe them, and/or will have them admitted to the crazy house.
Yes; scary, gross, ruthless Vampires are at the heart of the deaths. This is not a nice Vampire story and yes, people are horribly mudered. The tweens must come up with an idea of how to rid the town of these gruesome creatures. Their very different personalities help them to develope and execute an elaborate but believable plan that puts all of their lives in serious danger. They all know going into this dangerous situation that is neccesary for the safety of the town, themselves and their loved ones.
This book was a mix of "Stand by Me" and "Salems Lot". It was a good story and I liked it, however, I liked the next one, (The Winter Haunting), as well if not better, it was more of a ghost story and wicked, goosebump, good. Perfect for Halloween.
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18 people found this helpful
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- Kindle Customer
- 07-14-11
Loved it!
If you liked "The Goonies" and "Stand by me" with a twist of Dean Koontz you will enjoy this story. It's nice to have someone read it to you too, it gives you a differant perspective on emotions and characters.
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- Brian
- 07-08-11
Brilliant
This is a great book, kind of a scary stand by me. A little Super 8. Perfectly narrated. I wish it did not have to end.
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- Mike
- 11-25-12
What A Shame
Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?
Yes, because the story was good. Not great but good. It suffers from a common malady, that of adult authors trying to sound like kids. They never seem to get it right. But the story held together in spite of that.
What did you like best about this story?
The tension of the individual set pieces was well done.
What didn’t you like about Dan John Miller’s performance?
This may be the poorest match of reader and story ever. Miller seems to just be reading the words as written with no attempt at all to tell a story. As a person reads a book, their brain fills in the missing elements - the atmosphere, the cadence of the voices, the sights and sounds that are suggested by the story. But when listening to someone else read a book, those nuances that make the story come alive need to come from the narrator.
Miller provides none of that. His reading is flat and uninflected, a real disappointment. And the fact that it is a horror story that relies on building tension, well, if the story hadn't been such fun, I'd have asked for a refund.
I would listen to Will Patton or Campbell Scott read road signs for 24 hours straight. But if I see Dan John Miller's name on another book, I will avoid it no matter how great the story.
Was Summer of Night worth the listening time?
For the story - and only the story - yes.
Any additional comments?
There is no such thing as "a myriad of." Myriad is a plural modifier. You don't have "a myriad of" grammatical mistakes in a book. You have "myriad" grammatical mistakes. The word was used incorrectly at least twice in this book. I know that I'm being pretty anal but seriously, authors should know stuff like this.
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12 people found this helpful
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- Tabitha
- 05-18-12
It took me away
Would you consider the audio edition of Summer of Night to be better than the print version?
Yes
What other book might you compare Summer of Night to and why?
Its in the realm of It. You have a group of children fighting against a force that adults refuse to see or acknowledge. In this group you also have diverse social differences.
What about Dan John Miller’s performance did you like?
He was able to make a clear representation of each character
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
No. I finished in a little over a week
Any additional comments?
The imagery, sense of nostalgia, and suspense made for an awesome experience.
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8 people found this helpful