The Odds

By: Jeff Strand

Narrated by: Scott Thomas

Length: 5 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's summary

After a disastrous evening playing slot machines, Ethan Caustin wonders how he's going to explain his massive loss to his wife and kids. As he tries to find his way out of the casino, sick to his stomach and filled with self-loathing, he's approached by a stranger who offers a solution to his problem.

It's a simple game. A 99 percent chance for him to win $10,000. In the remote chance that he loses...well, he'll be strapped into a device that shatters his left arm.

The odds are very much in his favor. But this is only the first round.

As the game goes on, the prizes and penalties keep changing, along with his chances of winning. As the high stakes get out of control and Ethan desperately wants to quit, he'll learn that they've only offered him one means of escape: Play the game to the very end....

A thrilling novel of suspense from the Bram Stoker Award-nominated author of Pressure and My Pretties.

©2020 Jeff Strand (P)2021 Jeff Strand

This was fun!!

I loved it!! This was a fun and entertaining book. It was funny, thrilling and overall a wild ride. I loved the story, the narration and all of the characters!! Easy 5 stars! Gotta read more from Jeff Strand.

The Odds

This was quite a book! Don't ever take a help from someone in a casino looking to play a game! Scott Thomas was a terrific narrator.I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.' 

Loved this story!!

I loved everything about this book! The performance was perfect in every way, the story was intriguing and fun and I can't wait to listen to another book by Jeff Strand. He's becoming one of my favorite authors.

Kept me interested to the end

I really liked the story and the performances. I couldn't stop listening until the end.

Don’t Gamble

I enjoyed this horrific suspenseful thriller about a gambling addict. Ethan Caustin is supposed to be working but ends up in a casino and he loses. He makes a deal with Rick and ends up winning a lot but ends up putting him and his family in danger. It is fast paced, violent with a hint of humor and good narration. I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review. THANK YOU!

A Riveting, Scary Good Thrill Ride

Nintey-Nine percent odds in his favor they said, it will be easy they said. What’s that saying? Oh yes, Famous … Last … Words! For Ethan Caustin, a fall off the gambling wagon sets into motion a nightmare of epic proportions! “The Odds” is a brilliant, edge of your seat, horror thriller! Fabulously written and brilliantly, beautifully narrated, this one had me burning the midnight oil! I loved the “gallows humor” that was present in this scary good plot! I’m not going into details because I don’t want to ruin any of the twisty turns and surprises in this fabulous story, just know the both are plentiful and I saw NONE coming! The characters, THESE characters, are delightfully unique, some definitely quirky, and some bordering on beautifully ODD, but ALL fabulously defined and ALL throughly developed! The brilliantly written dialogue is sometimes humorously horrifying, sometimes refreshingly outrageous, but at all times perfection! Dynamically brought to life by narration that is beautifully emotive with voicing choices uniquely suited to each individual character, this audio production is a first class winner across the board! Five glorious stars. I loved it!

I love this book!

This one was fun. Jeff Strand books, silent or vocal, are fun. This one is a wonderful example of the sub-genre of thriller it is trying to be. With the humor one would expect from this author. Scott Thomas' narration definitely does the novel justice, as always. If you are still on the fence at this point in my review, I would just buy it.

It Could Happen...

Listening to this book on audible is definitely the way to go.

This short story is perfect for the transition into fall with its dark humor and a plot that keeps the story moving. The play on gambling addiction and the troubles that could come from it were pretty realistic, I could tell Jeff Strand thought out his scenarios and how his characters might think in those situations.

Definitely worth reading, I recommend.

Kept my interest

I loved this book. It was an easy fun read. It kept my interest all the way through. I couldn't wait to see what he got his self into next. I will look for more books from this author.

a good 'what would YOU do?' story

The premise of this story was interesting - the book description blurb was accurate in giving you the idea of what the story is going to be about. In some ways, I wish it were a longer story so that we could understand the back-stories of some of the secondary characters, and understand the how's and why's and full extent of the game. A longer story might have allowed the author to wind things up a little differently; I found the twist at the very end to be a bit abrupt and hard to swallow. On the other hand, shorter stories by necessity exclude these kinds of details so I shouldn't be overly grumpy because my curiosity was piqued. The overriding experience for me was, 'what would I do in this situation?', to be continually backed into a corner the way that the protagonist was. I enjoy pondering those kind of mental sandbox scenarios, and for that I have no regrets and a positive aftertaste about listening to this audiobook.

I enjoyed the narration. I was quite amused by some of the character voices - for example, I heard tones of Joe Pesci and the Simpsons' Montgomery Burns, which helped me form a clear (but possibly inaccurate) mental impression of these characters. He voiced female characters well, being more diverse with male character voices and reasonably neutral about female character voices). I generally find it hard to listen to narrators that exaggerate other-gender voices, so this narration was a good compromise for me.

"I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review."