The Insect Farm

By: Stuart Prebble

Narrated by: Rupert Degas

Length: 9 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's summary

An eerie debut suspense novel that explores how little one man may know his own brother - and his own mind.

Each of the Maguire brothers has his own driving, single-minded obsession. For Jonathan it is his magnificent, talented, and desirable wife, Harriet. For Roger it is the elaborate universe he has constructed in a shed in their parents' garden, populated by millions of tiny insects. While Jonathan's pursuit of Harriet leads him to feelings of jealousy and anguish, Roger's immersion in the world he has created reveals a capability and talent that are absent from his everyday life.

Roger is known to all as a loving, protective, yet simple man, but the ever-growing complexity of the insect farm suggests that he is capable of far more than anyone believes. Following a series of strange and disturbing incidents, Jonathan begins to question every story he has ever been told about his brother - and if he has so completely misjudged Roger's mind, what else might he have overlooked about his family and himself?

The Insect Farm is a dramatic psychological thriller about the secrets we keep from those we love most and the extent to which the people closest to us are also the most unknowable. In his astounding debut, Stuart Prebble guides us through haunting twists and jolting discoveries as a startling picture emerges: One of the Maguire brothers is a killer, and the other has no idea.

©2015 Stuart Prebble (P)2015 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"... The Insect Farm so grabbed me that I couldn't stop reading. This is one of the most original, surprising, and even shocking suspense thrillers that I've come across in a long time." (David Morrell, best-selling author of Inspector of the Deadand Murder as a Fine Art)

"Only rarely do a gripping psychological crime story and a literary writer's insight and masterful style coincide. But The Insect Farm has that distinction." (Jeffery Deaver, best-selling author of Solitude Creek)

"Chilling and suspenseful, rich and human." (Lee Child, number-one best-selling author of Personal)

O'Nan or Dostoyevsky?

If you could sum up The Insect Farm in three words, what would they be?

Eloquent, poetic, dark

What about Rupert Degas’s performance did you like?

He did a wonderful job of portraying the completely different characters with his tone of voice without sounding contrived or silly.

Any additional comments?

I simply could not decide if I thought this was more like Crime and Punishment or A Prayer for the Dying. I wasn't even sure I liked it, but I sure did listen attentively to every moment.

Fantastic!

Don't let the title put you off for this is a real gem. I throughly enjoyed this audio book & the reader was phenomenal. From the start, you'll be hooked. Each chapter builds on the other until the very end, revealing a climatic twist that you probably didn't see coming.

Highly recommend!

Awesome

Loved it and couldn't stop listening! I wish there were more books from this author.

Great imagination and twists!

Interesting and thoughtful. Not what I expected! Well done. I had thoughts about the end but the end was revealed until "the end". Enjoyable book. I also like bugs but am not as knowledgable

Excellent story - compelling characters.

This is a great story which, unlike so many mysteries, is perfectly structured and has a satisfactory and clever conclusion. The two main characters are wonderfully developed and the narrator does a fantastic job with the younger brother who is surely on the spectrum. The only thing that made little sense to me was why the female character was so enamored by the older brother. But this is a terrific mystery.

Interesting & Enjoyable

Excellent! Good writing & very interesting story - while I was pretty sure where story was going the author kept me intrigued throughout

Compelling and poetic

This is not a facst paced action packed thriller... It is a very eloquently conceived and intricate mystery... Th slow easy pace works and compels interest... The fraternal component is well done... A few imaginative twists during the last quarter or so of the book are tantalizing and weaved in superbly... The narration is first rate w/ a fitting delivery... It basically comes down to a story of what brothers sill do for one another, often w/o the other brother truly knowing or understanding what one will do to protect the other... Worth the credit, and Worth a re-read after digested the first time... Poetic w/o being sappy...

Perfectly written mystery

What about Rupert Degas’s performance did you like?

The narrator gave each character a great voice.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes! Could not turn it off.

Any additional comments?

This was perfectly written and a great listen. The characters were well developed and the story was easy to follow. I thought I had it figured out several times but I was wrong!

Very interesting

It's not a typical murder mystery. But it was a lot of fun. I was hoping there was a little more at the end.

Good story, excellent narrator

I enjoyed this story. It has a little bit of a slow start but the slow start is interesting. The book is a psychological character study (my favorite kind). Not everything is explained, some things are left to interpretation. I like that. However if you are the type of person that likes everything wrapped up in a bow at the end with every T crossed and every I dotted this may not be the book for you.