The War of the Roses

De: Warren Adler

Narrado por: John Chancer

Now a major motion picture, The Roses, starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Colman, Warren Adler’s iconic 1980s tale of a crumbling marriage—an era’s defining portrait of a macabre divorce.

“Terrifying, black-humored, black-hearted and bristling.” ―Gillian Flynn, New York Times bestselling author of Gone Girl

Jonathan and Barbara Rose are the perfect couple, living the dream in their beautiful house, filled with their precious antiques, their darling children, and their prized Ferrari in the garage. It’s all any red-blooded American could possibly want. But when Jonathan experiences a sudden heart attack (or so he thinks) Barbara realizes that she wants a new life, without him. There’s just one problem: they both want the house. For husband and wife, it’s not just a residence: it’s a passion, one that will escalate an ugly divorce into a full-blown battlefield, complete with weapons and casualties.

In this viciously black comedy, the Roses will each do whatever they can to destroy their better half―no matter the cost to themselves....

©2025 Warren Adler (P)2025 Zando Penguin Audio

Even more intense than the 1989 movie

If you want a super dark satire/thriller about divorce, this is your book!

The narrator was really good.

To post a warning, however, there’s not much to like about the characters here. The Danny DeVito movie was lighter than this, and that movie was not exactly a romp either.

Overall, I would give this an A-. It’s entertaining and nails its tone, but the characters do HORRIBLE things to each other, so mileage may vary. And they do a LOT of horrible things.