Carrion Comfort

By: Dan Simmons

Narrated by: Mel Foster, Laural Merlington

Length: 39 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's summary

"Carrion Comfort is one of the three greatest horror novels of the 20th century. Simple as that." (Stephen King)

"Epic in scale and scope but intimately disturbing, Carrion Comfort spans the ages to rewrite history and tug at the very fabric of reality. A nightmarish chronicle of predator and prey that will shatter your world view forever. A true classic." (Guillermo del Toro)

"Carrion Comfort is one of the scariest books ever written. Whenever I get asked the question Who's your favorite author? my answer is always Dan Simmons." (James Rollins)

"One of the few major reinventions of the vampire concept, on a par with Jack Finney's Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Richard Matheson's I Am Legend, and Stephen King's Salem's Lot. (David Morrell)

THE PAST...

Caught behind the lines of Hitler's Final Solution, Saul Laski is one of the multitudes destined to die in the notorious Chelmno extermination camp. Until he rises to meet his fate and finds himself face to face with an evil far older, and far greater, than the Nazis themselves...

THE PRESENT...

Compelled by the encounter to survive at all costs, so begins a journey that for Saul will span decades and cross continents, plunging into the darkest corners of 20th century history to reveal a secret society of beings who may often exist behind the world's most horrible and violent events. Killing from a distance, and by darkly manipulative proxy, they are people with the psychic ability to "use" humans: read their minds, subjugate them to their wills, experience through their senses, feed off their emotions, force them to acts of unspeakable aggression. Each year, three of the most powerful of this hidden order meet to discuss their ongoing campaign of induced bloodshed and deliberate destruction. But this reunion, something will go terribly wrong. Saul's quest is about to reach its elusive object, drawing hunter and hunted alike into a struggle that will plumb the depths of mankind's attraction to violence, and determine the future of the world itself...

©2009 Dan Simmons (P)2011 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

So worth the commitment

Yes, this book is 39 hours, but I loved it from beginning to end. The two narrators become truly invisible, allowing you to just concentrate on the story. The story has enough twists and turns and surprises to keep you guessing, but not so many that you get lost in the 39 hours. You'll love some characters and hate others and change your mind on others. I usually can come up with something I don't like about a book, but for this one, it is near perfection.

Captivating!

A masterful thriller, packed with suspense and intrique which kept my unflagging interest through all 5 Parts. It had me thinking and questioning the limits or boundaries of what human beings are capable of doing to one another, within a given set of circumstances. Are there any? A frightening thought.

Narration was excellent and unobtrusive, by both readers, the voices well-matched with the characters. The only criticism i would have, is Mr Foster's inability to read the German phrases. Simple rudimentary elements such as the phonetic structure of the alphabet are misread. The German glyph for double 's' is read as an 's' not a 'b'. "Dass...dass" should not be rendered as "dub, dub". The least bit of research would have elminated such ridiculous pronunciation.

I tend to evaluate a book by 2 sets of criteria: My own subjective enjoyment, and then also by literary standards.

From a literary standpoint, this is a good book, but not a great book. The characters are uni-dimensional. The good guys are angels, the baddies are rotten to their grotesque evil cores. No nuances; black and white like the chess board of the "game".

All round, i thoroughly enjoyed it and can recommend it as a captivating read.

Windy but worth it

This book was way too long for the story it told but still worth the listen. The tale was unique and well thought out but it should have been cut down by a third. They must pay by the pound.

Slow

Like an indie movie that has no music score & ppl sitting outside in the breeze. There’s a story in there, it was just 3 times too long in relaying it

Beautifully written, but long winded

Great performance by the narrators, and overall a good story.
Took awhile for me to get into and there were a several times that I wish the writer could have moved the story along at a faster pace.
I'm not sure I'd recommend it to the horror novel lover, as much as I would to someone who likes a drama with supernatural elements.

5 stars doesn't do the narration justice

fantastic story that never had a dull moment, but it was the narrators that put it over the top. perfectly done accents from German to the deep South.

Longest Book Ever...

What did you like best about Carrion Comfort? What did you like least?

The premise was fascinating with really good character development, but, oh my...it was about 15 hours too long.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

The switching to and fro of perspectives allowed for a well-rounded vision into the story.

What about Mel Foster and Laural Merlington ’s performance did you like?

Mel Foster had a wide range of voices. His "black voice" was unfortunate. It reminded me of stereotypes portrayed in early 20th century film. Laural Merlington's voicing of "Melanie" was very typical of a non-Southern person trying (and failing) to capture an authentic Southern accent. It got better towards the end, but, maybe I just got used to it.

Did Carrion Comfort inspire you to do anything?

It was a good enough story that it inspired me to finish it to find out what happens.

Any additional comments?

Look, I didn't hate the book. I have listened to many books as long or longer. I just found myself wanting to bash my head on the steering wheel to make it stop when the main character, Saul, would make a plan. Then change the plan. Then doubt the plan. Then tell the other main character, Natalie, that he doubted the plan. Then argue with Natalie about the plan. Then agree to an amended plan. And then not do the plan in the end because he improvised instead and then acted shocked when things didn't go as planned. In the end, things went as planned. *SPOILER* But, then you find out it didn't go as planned at all.

Still one of my favorite horror stories

If you could sum up Carrion Comfort in three words, what would they be?

Realistic Nazi Vampires

What did you like best about this story?

Dan Simmons writes a suspenseful horror story here with all my favorite elements mixed together in tasteful proportions. Gore and gritty violence are present without being the driving horror element. Psychological tension crescendos in action scenes by which time you've had enough character and plot development to believe what's happening and feel invested.

What about Mel Foster and Laural Merlington ’s performance did you like?

I always appreciate when a narrator can use inflection and accents to keep the cast of characters distinct in the listener's mind without the performance coming across as too corny. Some listeners may not like the old woman, southern sheriff, german accent, etc. but I found the characters fitting naturally into the dark tale rather than distracting me from it.

If you could rename Carrion Comfort, what would you call it?

Carrion Comfort is a good title, but if I had to pick another title I might rename it "Feeders"

Any additional comments?

Dan Simmons is a personal favorite of mine, but I think he's pretty inept at writing a good sex scene. The sex scenes in Carrion Comfort are just as cringe-y as Hyperion series.

Interesting Experience

I agree with other reviews, that the story has its lengths. But it is never boring, even if sometimes the crude fighting scenes might not add to neither the understanding nor to the atmosphere of the plot. Anyway: a fascinating story, a very good idea and an excellent performance. I daresay that I am not the only listener to audiobooks who is mostly drawn in by a good performance of the readers. This is absolutely the case in this recording.

I have mixed feelings, not a bad book but long

Would you try another book from Dan Simmons and/or Mel Foster and Laural Merlington ?

Yes - if it was shorter for the author. As for the narrators I don't know if I could, they have come to represent this book so completely that I can't imagine them giving voice to other characters!

Which character – as performed by Mel Foster and Laural Merlington – was your favorite?

Saul Laski - love the accent and the narrator really seems to capture the man's personality.

Any additional comments?

One thing that I will say is the author literally explores every possible use of mind control. Talk about taking an idea to its full potential.