The Evolutionist

By: Rena Mason

Narrated by: Carol Schneider

Length: 9 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's summary

Winner of the 2013 Bram Stoker Award for superior achievement in a first novel!

Las Vegas suburbanite, Stacy Troy, dreams that everyone is dead. She dismembers the bodies of loved ones, stuffs them into a shopping cart, then takes them two at a time to the pile where she will burn their remains and say her last goodbyes.

Waking nightly to her own screams, Stacy is convinced she’s on the brink of a mid-life crisis and begins secretly seeing a psychiatrist. Dr. Light and his methods seem strange and unconventional, but his treatments work, and her circumstances improve. Until the nightmares return with a vengeance, taking on a life of their own.

Uncertain what to believe, Stacy carries on living the only life she remembers. Nosebleeds and head-splitting alarms only she can hear, become a regular occurrence. In physical and mental decline, the nocturnal world in her mind refuses to die. The images it reveals hold clues that lead her to a shocking discovery.

Threatening to unravel the last thread of her sanity, Stacy must make a heartrending decision...before her post-apocalyptic nightmares come true.

“Rena Mason is a fine writer. Write her name down, underline it, stick it on the fridge with the other reminders. Then, buy everything she writes. You will not be disappointed, because she is indeed a: Rising Star.” (Gene O’Neill, The Burden of Indigo and Frozen Shadows)

“The next time somebody tells me there’s nothing new in genre fiction, I’m going to hand them this and ask that they let me get a safe distance away before their presumptions are blown to smithereens.” (Lisa Morton, Bram Stoker award winning author of The Castle of Los Angeles and Trick or Treat)

"In this bold debut, Rena Mason has constructed an upper middle-class nightmare for the entire human race that will long stay with me. Listen to this book, and be prepared!” (Benjamin Kane Ethridge, Bram Stoker award winning author of Black & Orange and Dungeon Brain)

"Rena Mason’s The Evolutionist is one of the best debut novels I’ve ever heard. A psychological thrill ride that is both literary and visceral. Wildly original, smart as hell, and highly recommended!" (Peter Giglio, author of Stealing Night and Sunfall Manor)

"The Evolutionist runs its icy fingers up your spine, grabs you by the brain, and compels you to listen on to the final chilling chapter." (Fran Friel, Two-Time Bram Stoker award finalist.)

©2013 Rena Mason (P)2019 Mark Alan Miller

Truly Hallucinatory

This was creepy and ratcheted up in a very subtle way, eventually reaching a sheer cliff of anxiety. My favorite thing about the Evolutionist was the way in which it tracked everyday fears of modern life (relationship problems, health, mental wellbeing, children) alongside the possibly of a cataclysmic event. The sense of impending dread was palpable and it was impossible to tell which caused more anxiety, the slow unraveling of the protagonists life or the possibility of the end of everything. Mason has does a great job of drawing you in slowly and really rakes the reader over the coals. I felt a bit exhausted after the experience!

I enjoyed the narrator's performance and particularly like the way she used a different voice for the main character's audible speech versus her internal monologue.

A Great Horror Audiobook

When it comes to horror, I am skeptical if audiobooks could deliver. However, Rena Mason tells a fantastic story with "The Evolutionist". At a 9 almost 10 hour listen, this audiobook does not get stale over time, but rather, each chapter adds to the suspense of the Stacy Troy and her realistic nightmare episodes. If you want something to "binge listen" this audiobook is it. Carol Schneider does a fantastic job delivering the lines of all characters and her narration is easy to listen to. I highly recommend this audiobook for fans of the horror genre.

A macabre tale wonderfully narrated!

I had no idea where this macabre story was heading and loved every second of this journey into madness. Wonderfully narrated by Carol Schneider. Give it a listen!

An Amazing Book Brought To Life

Rena Mason's amazing tale is brought to life in this audiobook. The Evolutionist is an already fantastic piece of horror writing that is only enhanced through Carol Schneider's narration. Her delivery is spot on and never got stale over the book's ten hour long length. I highly recommend it!