The Auctioneer

Valancourt 20th Century Classics

By: Joan Samson

Narrated by: Matt Godfrey

Length: 8 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

One of the finest and best-selling horror novels of the 1970s returns at last to chill a new generation.

In the isolated farming community of Harlowe, New Hampshire, where life has changed little over the past several decades, John Moore and his wife, Mim, work the land that has been in his family for generations. But from the moment the charismatic Perly Dinsmore arrives in town and starts soliciting donations for his auctions, things begin slowly and insidiously to change in Harlowe. As the auctioneer carries out his terrible, inscrutable plan, the Moores and their neighbors will find themselves gradually but inexorably stripped of their freedom, their possessions, and perhaps even their lives....

A chilling masterpiece of terror whose sense of creeping menace and dread increases throughout, Joan Samson's The Auctioneer (1975) is a rediscovered classic of 20th-century fiction. With echoes of Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" and Stephen King's Needful Things, Samson's novel returns at last in this long-awaited new edition.

©1975, 2018 Joan Samson (P)2018 Valancourt Books, LLC

Unbelievable

The writing is good, and Matt Godfrey is an outstanding narrator. The premise of the book is hard to believe. One person convincing an entire town to "give" him all their belongings and sometimes children? The town's people finally stand up for themselves but not until they've lost everything. I find it hard to believe that an entire town would simply lay down while one person extorts everything from them. They do nothing when the guy shows up week after week taking everything from butter churns to their live stock and anything they may use to protect themselves. These people are farm families that work hard and fight for their very existence but do nothing at all to stop this guy. I know the book fiction, but, sorry, I don't buy it.

The Auctioneer

Wow,what a story! I didn't want to stop reading!The Auctioneer comes to town and everyones lives are turned upside down.Matt Godfrey was a terrific narrator.I was given this book by the narrator,author or publisher free for an honest review.

Creepy yet compelling

I kept waiting for a big reveal, by found the ending unsatisfying.

Still, interesting with characters you can like, love or loathe.

Hidden gem

I devoured this quick read! My mouth dropped open several times and I gasped a couple too! I would not want to imagine something like this ever happening…to me. I can totally see how easily the townspeople got schmoozed by Pearly. He starts off slow and rewards you taking junk off your hands that is worthless…how it escalates is astonishing. It isn’t comfortable thinking and wondering what you would do in a situation such as this - in the same era and timeframe as the small town of Harlowe, in central New Hampshire, in the early 1970s. I don’t understand how this isn’t more popular then it is! It was quite good and I enjoyed it.

very suspenseful and close to home

I enjoyed this story very much. Is very suspenseful and close enough to reality to bake it unnerving. however, using an narrator who has a southern twaing to his voice, degraded the story at some level. He also made everybody sound old. I think somebody else could have done better.

Boring—not horror

Written well, but not entertaining nor scary. Would be better if it was marketed as a slow burn thriller.

nice.

Suspenseful, engaging, and easy to keep up with. Characters and community work well together to create an unbelievable tale.

Better than I expected

While this wasn't necessarily a horror by my standards, it was a pretty interesting story. I had a hard time understanding what time period they were in which is definitely me problem, so that caused me some confusion in the beginning but other than that it was really well written and extremely interesting.

Well done

Once I started listening it was hard to take pauses. Great characters. By the end of the book many of them start to feel like family

It's scary cause it's true

Amazing book. "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”