Libertines

A Horror Story

By: Grant Palmquist

Narrated by: David Winograd

Length: 1 hr and 13 mins

Publisher's summary

When Samantha finds an advertisement in a tawdry magazine that promises to jumpstart her sex life, she can't help but tell her husband about it. All they have to do is pay fifty bucks and listen to a subliminal recording daily, so there's nothing to lose.

Only once they buy it and begin listening to it, they start to change, subtly at first, then dramatically, for they’ve been listening to messages from somewhere else, somewhere other, and those messages will alter their lives…forever.

©2013 Grant Palmquist (P)2014 Grant Palmquist

Great story arc - sweet to disturbing!

Samantha wants more in her sex life. She and her husband have been married for some years now and their lovemaking has become standard. She wants passion and perhaps experimentation. She starts bringing home various books and magazines and shares them with her husband. Oddly, he really has to be talked into trying something new. They shell out $50 for a recorded subliminal message that they have to listen to every day. At first, it works. But their passions get darker every day. After all, this is a horror story.

Samantha’s husband (does his name ever get used?) is telling this tale. We see everything through his eyes. He thinks the recorded subliminal message is a rip off but dutifully listens to it once a day to keep his wife happy. However, they start noticing changes in their psyche after a week’s time. Their sex lives become more passionate, and perhaps even too passionate. They both desire a bit of roughness, a little blood. And then things get dark. Sex between the two of them is no longer enough. They both have strong desires, and some of those desires are to explore what others have to offer. Then sex is not enough; they need something more. Enter the BDSM club for the husband. Meanwhile the wife takes things too far with a young man she invited home.

This book starts off kind of sweet. This older couple is attempting to recreate that old fire that they had at the beginning. Even the rough sex they enjoy after starting the subliminal recording was hot and spicy. They are both obviously enjoying each other. And then it gets twisted and needy and they both start down these dark paths. For a short story, the author does a great job of showing this full character arc from a sweet 40s something couple to evil characters. I was really impressed with how he showed the progression.

This book is not for the faint of heart. If you are squeamish about sex, horror stories, blood, and death, then this might not be the book for you. If you are looking for something a bit different that has a great story arc, then check this out.

The Narration: David Winograd did a great job. He starts off all innocent and homey with the characters. But as they change, he manages to inflect their voices with those changes. Samantha goes from a caring wife to someone completely disconnected from other people. Meanwhile her husband goes from the reluctant guy to sex obsessed and finally his voice becomes hard as he has to deal with these changes and their repercussions. Winograd really brought all that alive.

This just gets curiouser and curiouser!

This just gets curiouser and curiouser! It starts so simply, with a husband and wife wanting to spice up their sex life. What is a benign request, and something many couples may be looking for after years and years of marriage, turns out deadly!

I think it is almost funny in a way. It’s almost as if Grant Palmquist is trying to remind us to be careful what we wish for. And really, we should.

At first the couple get the subliminal tapes and not much is going on other than a feel good feeling after listening. It does not take long to realize that maybe they have dove off the deep end! They start doing things that they would never have done prior to listening to the tapes. Things that they may have wanted to do, but would have never admitted.

It’s not until Samantha does something REALLY dire that her husband starts to realize maybe this was a mistake. Instead of getting rid of the tapes though, he listens to them again!

I love the narration for this one. The narrator, David Winograd, sounds so innocuous and innocent. The deeper the story goes the more interesting his inflections are. But funnily, still innocent and happy! Samantha’s inflections seem to need multiple exclamation points in certain parts and those are parts that do not need exclamation points! I mean, deep, dark, dire and she’s being a cheerleader. David Winograd did a fantastic job of keeping the happiness in his voice even while the story is going downhill!

Super short story that has a lot behind it. Fun and dark listen! Great for horror fans but not too horrific except in certain portions.

Audiobook provided for review by the narrator.

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Libeetine

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

While it was not a great book in my opinion,any book is time well spent.

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

The main character and his wife find a solution for their marital issues.LEAST,the graphic images painted near the end.

What about David Winograd’s performance did you like?

Mr Winograd is always the perfect voice for whatever he is narrating.

Was Libertines worth the listening time?

eh

Any additional comments?

I actually listened to the audio edition of this story.I was intrigued in the beginning.It was a rather fresh idea as far as a horror story.I enjoyed David Winograd as narrator,as I usually do.His voice was perfect for this book

Not Horror, not erotica

HAVE YOU EVER BEEN IN ONE OF OUR DUNGEONS?
This book attempts to be an erotica and a horror story. Instead it is a predictable, short of both genre story. The husband in the story purposely shuts down his lust for other women, which leads to his shut down of passion for his wife. She misses the passion they had earlier in their marriage. She hears of a way through listening to subliminal messages, they can get the passion back. He is hesitant, because he does not want to spend $50. Sounds to me like she would be better off, having an affair. At first it works, but off course it accelerates and they lose control. Honestly, you can write this story yourself.

Narrator
The narrator has a unique voice and does well.

My Campaign
This has nothing to do with the review. I am starting a campaign to get horror it's own category with it's own subs. Right now if you want to find all the apocalyptic novels, you must browse through Sci-fi/Contemporary, Fiction/Horror and Mystery Thrillers/Suspense. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to go to Horror/Apocalyptic to find all the end of the world or Zombie books available? Other subs could be extreme horror, shorts and anthologies, mad scientists, western, classic, and paranormal. If you agree please contact audible and include this plea at the end of your reviews. Thanks.