Us Against You

By: Fredrik Backman

Narrated by: Marin Ireland

Length: 14 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's summary

From the "Dickens of our age" (Green Valley News) and New York Times best-selling author of Beartown and A Man Called Ove, a heart-wrenching story of how loyalty, friendship, and love carry a town through its darkest days.

After everything that the citizens of Beartown have gone through, they are struck yet another blow when they learn that their beloved local hockey team will soon be disbanded. What makes it worse is the obvious satisfaction that all the former Beartown players, who now play for a rival team in Hed, take in that fact. Amidst the mounting tension between the two rivals, a surprising newcomer is handpicked to be Beartown's new hockey coach.

Soon a new team starts to take shape around Amat, the fastest player you'll ever see; Benji, the crazed lone wolf; and Vidar, a born-to-be-bad troublemaker. Bringing this team together is a challenge as old bonds are broken, new ones are formed, and the enmity with Hed grows more and more acute.

As the big match approaches, the not-so-innocent pranks and incidents between the communities pile up, and hatred grows deeper. When the last game is finally played, one of Beartown's key players will be dead, and residents of both towns are forced to wonder whether, after all they've been through, the game they love can ever return to something simple and innocent.

Us Against You is a declaration of love for all the big and small, bright and dark stories that form and color our communities. Compelling and heartbreaking, it's a roller-coaster ride of emotions with Fredrik "Backman's pitch-perfect dialogue and an unparalleled understanding of human nature" (Shelf Awareness).

©2018 Fredrik Backman (P)2018 Simon & Schuster Audio

Critic reviews

"You'd be forgiven for comparing narrator Marin Ireland and author Fredrik Backman to the great hockey tandem Mark Messier and Wayne Gretzky. Like Messier and Gretzky, Ireland and Backman are quite the formidable pair... [Ireland] once again gives an unforced, nuanced take on characters that include adolescents struggling to find their way, a crusty old barkeep, a power-hungry politician, and a married couple hoping to reconnect after terrible tragedies. If you enjoyed Ireland's work in Beartown, you will not be disappointed hearing her read Us Against You. (AudioFile)

All I can say is thank you....

To an amazing author who continues to create amazing places for us to visit and people for us to meet. If you need a recommendation, don’t just read this book read all of his books. Thanks again and keep writing, as Beartown is as amazing as the Grandmother who remind us to apologize. So, Tack.

Oh, my heart!

I got there and didn't want it to end. I just want to move to the forests and go to a hockey game.

Excellent follow up

Such a good book! I loved Bear Town, and this was a perfect sequel. The characters are so well described, you truly feel you know them and can empathize with their lives. I’d 100% recommend this book. Love this narrator also. This is one of those books that I’m sad I finished it! I wanted it to keep going!

I love this series.

I love the second almost as much as the first. great narrator as well. The humanity in each character is absolutely breathtaking.

Not a hockey fan but loved it

First of all Backman writes beautifully—he puts simple words together with understatement and originality. This had more characters and sometimes I lost the “who’s who” of lesser characters but others were drawn deftly. I live in New England where hockey is a big sport that insulates the winter doldrums from unending cold. Whether you care at all about hockey it was a great winter read for me!

Powerful on many levels

Us Against You is a superb follow up to Beartown. I listened to Beartown again before listening to Us Against You. It was many hours of fabulous storytelling. I hope there's more books in this series.

Almost perfect

Some people will say this is a book about hockey. I disagree. Hockey is the vehicle that is used to tell the story about people. People who are good but flawed. People who make poor choices but have big hearts. People who live hard lives but still find the courage to love. This is one of my favorite series that I’ve ever read.

Hits ya in the feels.

I never knew that 2 books on a sport I didn't care about would be so meaningful to me. The start of this book feels a bit like a summary of the first book, Beartown. Hang in there, it progresses and is worth the repeats.

This was a good continuation of the Beartown story

The performance was easy to follow and the story insightfully written. Character develpment was crafty as usual.

Another amazing story from Frederick Backman

Read Bear Town first, but I think this one is better than Bear Town. the narrator is perfect.