Theme Music

A Novel

By: T. Marie Vandelly

Narrated by: Sarah Mollo-Christensen

Length: 14 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's summary

An utterly propulsive and unpredictable psychological thriller from stunning new talent T. Marie Vandelly

She didn't run from her dark past. She moved in.

For the lucky among us, life is what you make of it; but for Dixie Wheeler, the theme music for her story was chosen by another long ago, on the day her father butchered her mother and brothers and then slashed a knife across his own throat. Only one-year-old, Dixie was spared, becoming infamously known as Baby Blue for the song left playing in the aftermath of the slaughter.

Twenty-five years later, Dixie is still desperate for a connection to the family she can’t remember. So when her childhood home goes up for sale, Dixie sets aside all reason and moves in. But as the ghosts of her family seemingly begin to take up residence in the house that was once theirs, Dixie starts to question her own sanity and wonders if the evil force menacing her is that of her father or a demon of her own making. In order to make sense of her present, Dixie becomes determined to unravel the truth of her past and seeks out the detective who originally investigated the murders. But the more she learns, the more she opens up the uncomfortable possibility that the sins of her father may belong to another.

As bodies begin to pile up around her, Dixie must find a way to expose the lunacy behind her family’s massacre to save her few loved ones who are still alive - and whatever scrap of sanity she has left.

©2019 T. Marie Vandelly (P)2019 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"This is the scariest book since The Haunting of Hill House.... The most gripping and suspenseful debut novel of the year...Theme Music is more than compelling; it is mesmerizing." (New York Journal of Books)

"[Theme Music] promises to be one of the strangest and most enchanting works to come out this year." (CrimeReads)

"[A] chilling, enthralling debut... Driven by a believable plot and populated with realistic characters, this delicious mix of horror, ghost story, and mystery marks Vandelly as a writer to watch." (Publishers Weekly starred review)

Captivating

This book is LONG. It's also very captivating and keeps you on your toes the whole way through. I generally like my stories to be a little more twisted than this, but it's a great listen if you're interested in murders/haunted houses/psychotic breaks.
The narrator is clearly experienced and delivers a quality performance.

Unexpected find

This book was amazing it was recommended from a friend it did not disappoint. Highly recommend anyone to take a listen.

Page Turner

I was hooked on this story from the beginning. I laughed in many parts of the book. The narration did not skip a beat. Her voice was consistent with the characters throughout the whole story. However, I thought the conclusion was a little too long for me. Overall, it was exceptionally well written.

Tense As All Getout!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The story was very tense and, at times, creepy AF. At times, I felt it was a bit disjointed and didn't know if it wanted to be a haunting story or a murder mystery. Turns out, no spoilers, it was both!

Its long...but stick it out!

This story is definitely like an onion with all the layers to it. Its kind of like doing a deep cleaning of your room. You keep pulling things out and before you know it, you have made a bigger mess than you started off with. Then you start getting rid of things and putting stuff away and by the end of it, everything is in its place...for the most part.

There was a point in the story that I wanted to stop because it kind of became too much. Dixie was making some really dumb decisions and her reactions to things were getting frustrating. Then, I checked how much time there was left and it was like, "how much more can happen in this story???" So, I stuck it out and I'm glad I did! Its not hard to figure it all out, but some things are not fully or well explained. The story still flows, just some things are either farfetched or just unexplained.

Many times in stories, I feel like the ending is rushed. I feel like a book can be 8 hours long and the ending only takes up about 20-30 minutes, if that. Not the case in this book. You get a full ending. Honestly, it did get a little annoying and felt a smidge drawn out but I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. Its a pretty decent ending to the story!

The narrator does a good job, especially with creating different voices. I will say the little nervous laugh she would add after almost every interaction for all characters did get annoying. But, eventually I was able to look past it and just focus on the story. I would recommend this story for sure. Everything doesn't get explained but I would say 98% of it does. I enjoyed it.

Good story!

This was a good, pretty fast moving story. I found myself confused at times, but it all wraps up in the end. I can see this being a movie.

Loved

I love the story. It was really drawn out could’ve been a lot shorter and who didn’t guess the killer after several chapters.

Liked it…

I loved the story- very creepy with a good (but predictable) plot twist. But, the main character, Dixie, was the absolute worst. I disliked her in the beginning, middle and even the end of the book.

Creeped out from the beginning!

This book was amazing from start to finish! Please read this immediately!!!! Like right now!

Spooky!

This book was the perfect Halloween read.
It Kelly me off kilter the entire time!