Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
The Visitors  By  cover art

The Visitors

By: Catherine Burns
Narrated by: Kate Reading
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $14.99

Buy for $14.99

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

With the smart suspense of Emma Donoghue's Room and the atmospheric claustrophobia of Grey Gardens, Catherine Burns' debut novel, The Visitors, explores the complex truths we are able to keep hidden from ourselves and the twisted realities that can lurk beneath even the most serene of surfaces.

Marion Zetland lives with her domineering older brother, John, in a crumbling mansion on the edge of a northern seaside resort. A timid spinster in her 50s who still sleeps with teddy bears, Marion does her best to live by John's rules, even if it means turning a blind eye to the noises she hears coming from behind the cellar door...and turning a blind eye to the women's laundry in the hamper that isn't hers. For years she's buried the signs of John's devastating secret into the deep recesses of her mind - until the day John is crippled by a heart attack, and Marion becomes the only one whose shoulders are fit to bear his secret. Forced to go down to the cellar and face what her brother has kept hidden, Marion discovers more about herself than she ever thought possible. As the truth is slowly unraveled, we finally begin to understand: Maybe John isn't the only one with a dark side....

©2017 Catherine Burns (P)2017 Simon & Schuster, Inc.

What listeners say about The Visitors

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    142
  • 4 Stars
    113
  • 3 Stars
    70
  • 2 Stars
    36
  • 1 Stars
    21
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    207
  • 4 Stars
    86
  • 3 Stars
    37
  • 2 Stars
    14
  • 1 Stars
    8
Story
  • 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    122
  • 4 Stars
    98
  • 3 Stars
    63
  • 2 Stars
    41
  • 1 Stars
    27

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

It was slow to start

This book had potential but, slow and it dragged. Demented for sure. I recommend only for the shock. The narrative was eh.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Interesting, but at times confusing

The book was pretty good and the story interesting. However, at times it was confusing on where the story was going.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Creeeepy

So weird it makes you wonder about the author. Perfect Twisted psycho read for Halloween

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Crazy, creepy awesomeness!

This book is so deliciously disturbing, and the narration so amazing, I am going to recommend this one over and over!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Haunting and well narrated

I think someone who can enjoy a psychological thriller and is interested in true crime, but cannot handle books with a lot of violence, would like this book. As one can probably glean from the plot summary, it's an extremely disturbing story, even if it's from the point of view of the predator's sister and not the predator himself. I thought the narrator did a great job with all the different characters. But know what you're getting into; I thought it was well written but very unsettling.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

An intense character study

I was sucked right in to this intense character. I liked this and thought the pace was perfect

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Excellent writing, So-So Plot

The character development is excellent. Little by little, true evil and coldness unveiled. A woman who lives in her imagination.....For some reason, it's mesmerizing. You are hooked. Except not much happens (which explains why the publisher's plot reveals something that doesn't happen until well into the novel...because there's not much else to describe the plot). And YET, the writing is so good that I will quickly download Ms. Burns' next novel. I couldn't put it down.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Disturbing

Generations of distinction. There wasn’t really any character that was likable. It is a very difficult book to describe, but it had me until the end.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful, yet creepy insight into deranged minds!

I thoroughly enjoyed this story, I was taken in by Marion's imagination and her fantasies, and my heart actually went out to her - even when her dark side shows itself. Their mother was poison to these two siblings and it would be very interesting if the author could write another novel from John's perspective. Their father may have contributed to some of the deviance too but he's not mentioned much, so John's thought patterns would be interesting to tap into. (Hint hint Catherine Burns!) John's character truly did not believe he was doing anything wrong. I also liked the hint of the super-natural in this story when it mentioned psychics and the things revealed by them.
Another review said there was porn and unsettling things in this, but there isn't. Nothing is mentioned like that in any detail so if you're squeamish about that type of thing -don't worry! Overall an interesting but tragic story of how some people's minds can get so twisted and detached from reality.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Slow story

Most of the book is a set up for a depressing story of sex Slaves, in-line perversion, etc. we were glad when it ended. Story of sad people with sad lives. Last few chapters were ok, but first 20 dragged on.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!