Laura's Recent Reviews
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Final Girls
- A Novel
- By: Riley Sager
- Narrated by: Erin Bennett, Hillary Huber
- Length: 12 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Performance
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Story
Ten years ago college student Quincy Carpenter went on vacation with five friends and came back alone, the only survivor of a horror movie-scale massacre....
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Shocking twists and turns
- By S. Winchester on 07-18-17
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Final Girls
- A Novel
- Narrated by: Erin Bennett, Hillary Huber
- Length: 12 hrs and 24 mins
- Release date: 07-11-17
- Language: English
- An Ode to Slasher Films
- The first few chapters of Final Girls reminded me a bit of Gillian Flynn's Dark Places as we're introduced to Quincy, who, 10 years earlier, was the sole survivor of a gruesome, horror movie-esq, killing spree in the woods. And other than a perhaps slight dependence on xanax and a small penchant for stealing, Quincy seems to have her life back, with a serious boyfriend and a small baking business to attest. But as Riley Sager's novel unfolds, I found myself constantly on the edge of my seat, knowing something even more terrible was just around the corner. This addicting listen was made all the more incredible with dual narration from Erin Bennett and Hillary Huber. And when you find out just why two narrators were cast, you'll be totally freaked out.
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Spoonbenders
- A Novel
- By: Daryl Gregory
- Narrated by: Ari Fliakos
- Length: 14 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Teddy Telemachus is a charming con man with a gift for sleight of hand and some shady associates. In need of cash, he tricks his way into a classified government study....
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Shades of Koontz
- By Todd S on 09-27-17
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Spoonbenders
- A Novel
- Narrated by: Ari Fliakos
- Length: 14 hrs and 2 mins
- Release date: 06-27-17
- Language: English
- A Surprisingly Relatable, Genuine, and Hilarious Multi-Generational Saga
- I admit it – in my mind, Ari Fliakos can do no wrong. After listening to him perform The Nix in 2016 I knew I was completely obsessed with his voice. Enter his latest endeavor, Spoonbenders by Daryl Gregory – a story about a family of psychics – and I knew I had to give it a listen. Spoonbenders follows The Incredible Telemachus family, a family of psychics (well, some of them at least) who in their heyday wowed audiences with feats of telekinesis, mind reading, and the ability to predict the future. But after one fateful and career-ruining television appearance, the future of this family became anything but predictable. Sprinkle in secret governmental agencies, a Chicago mob, a teenage boy discovering, um, himself, and you have a surprisingly relatable, genuine, and hilarious multi-generational saga.
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Road to Jonestown
- Jim Jones and Peoples Temple
- By: Jeff Guinn
- Narrated by: George Newbern
- Length: 17 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Performance
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Story
In the 1950s a young Indianapolis minister named Jim Jones preached a curious blend of the Gospel and Marxism....
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An Important Accurate Historical Report
- By Julia on 08-24-17
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Road to Jonestown
- Jim Jones and Peoples Temple
- Narrated by: George Newbern
- Length: 17 hrs and 30 mins
- Release date: 04-11-17
- Language: English
- Completely Fascinating and Utterly Addicting
- I was already familiar with the events that transpired in Jonestown. However, I didn’t know too much about the infamous Jim Jones and figured Road to Jonestown was the best place to start. It makes me feel a little queasy when I think about how much I loved listening to this book. It was completely fascinating and utterly addicting – I found myself thinking "holy crap" every chapter. Jeff Guinn’s examination of Jones’s life – from Indiana to Guyana – was thorough and impeccably researched. Where other biographers may have skipped over the minutia, Guinn revealed some of the more bizarre and obscure details of Jones’s existence. It was these bits of information that made Road to Jonestown exceptionally riveting. George Newbern allowed the narrative to stand on its own, voicing characters without unnecessary dramatic flair. And It was his calming voice which helped get me through the shudder-inducing scenes.
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A Little Life
- A Novel
- By: Hanya Yanagihara
- Narrated by: Oliver Wyman
- Length: 32 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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When four classmates from a small Massachusetts college move to New York to make their way, they're broke, adrift, and buoyed only by their friendship and ambition....
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Waaaaaay too long for what it is
- By Sharon Menear on 09-12-17
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A Little Life
- A Novel
- Narrated by: Oliver Wyman
- Length: 32 hrs and 51 mins
- Release date: 10-06-15
- Language: English
- A Masterpiece
- If there’s one thing I’m certain of, it’s that my co-workers, friends, and family are getting tired of me raving about A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara. And now when I have free range to unabashedly praise this incredible work of fiction, I feel as if I am at a loss of words. So I’ll just say this: A Little Life is a masterpiece. It’s a deeply-moving, emotionally-unsettling, yet occasionally uplifting saga of friendship and love spanning 50 years. Yanagihara took me into some of the darkest places in fiction I have been, and left me thinking about her characters long after the story ended.
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