The String Diaries

By: Stephen Lloyd Jones

Narrated by: Gemma Whelan

Length: 13 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's summary

A family is hunted by a centuries-old monster: A man with a relentless obsession who can take on any identity.

The String Diaries opens with Hannah frantically driving through the night - her daughter asleep in the back, her husband bleeding out in the seat beside her. In the trunk of the car rests a cache of diaries dating back 200 years, tied and retied with strings through generations. The diaries carry the rules for survival that have been handed down from mother to daughter since the 19th century. But how can Hannah escape an enemy with the ability to look and sound like the people she loves?

Stephen Lloyd Jones' debut novel is a sweeping thriller that extends from the present day, to Oxford in the 1970s, to Hungary at the turn of the 19th century, all tracing back to a man from an ancient royal family with a consuming passion - a boy who can change his shape, insert himself into the intimate lives of his victims, and destroy them.

If Hannah fails to end the chase now, her daughter is next in line. Only Hannah can decide how much she is willing to sacrifice to finally put a centuries-old curse to rest.

©2014 Stephen Lloyd Jones (P)2014 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"I have never read a book with such frenzied impatience. The String Diaries is unputdownable. Stephen Lloyd Jones has written a debut novel as frightening and layered as Elizabeth Kostova's The Historian and as clever and riveting as Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code." (Benjamin Percy, author of Red Moon, The Wilding and Refresh, Refresh)

"With The String Diaries, Stephen Lloyd Jones has created a new mythology of the monstrous to rival Stoker's or Shelley's. Grounded in the real world and populated by characters we believe in, this is a book of magic for the doubtful, a fantastic tale for skeptics, at once transporting and convincing." (Andrew Pyper, author of The Demonologist)

"This novel is a breakneck chase down a long and winding road with the devil sitting beside you in the car." (Ben Loory, author of Stories for Nighttime and Some for the Day)

Loved it!

I wasn’t sure if I was going to like it or if it was going to be a waste of credit, turns out it wasn’t!
The story was super good. I really liked all the characters, even the evil ones, when you can make a villain like-able then you’re doing something right.
The performance was amazing, I just love Gemma’s voice! She’s an amazing narrator!

Swallowing sounds are extremely distracting

Read the actual book instead of the audiobook. I’m hardly creeped out by such noises like a lot of people are, but GOOD LORD, the constant swallowing and spit sounds are distracting and some are just plain gross. We all make those noises, so it’s less the narrator and more the lack of proper editing. The story is fantastic, suspenseful and speaks of Wales and Hungary and different times in history. Extremely interesting, but get the actual book!

Great paranoid story

The audiobook for The String Diaries was phenomenal. The voice actor totally nailed the numerous accents, pacing, and tension of the book. This experience was everything I loved from first reading a physical copy seven years ago made even better by the performance. It was a paranoia inducing tale of obsession centering on a family that has been pursued for over a hundred years by the demented shape shifter Jakab, who can take on the appearance of anyone he chooses. There were aspects of the book that reminded me of the movie The Thing, in that anyone could potentially be the villain. It was hard to put this one down. It's not for the squeamish as there's some gore, but if you can stomach the blood, there's a lot to love here.

My go to book

I love everything about this book as well as the next book in the series and i am sure i will too love any future ones. “AUDIBLE 20 REVIEW SWEEPSTAKES ENTRY”

THIS BOOK!

Pulled me in and I couldn't stop listening. Yet I didn't want it to end! Looking forward to reading more from this creative author.

Snoozefest

I never would have been able to read this book. It was ok as background noise. Confusing and hard to follow

Werid sounds in the backgroubd

must be rhe narrator breathing or taking a breath or something. really distracting ro me. but her performance otherwise was amazing. if it was not for that I'd give it a 5 star also. but I noticed it every time and it was so frequent that it took me out of the story alot.

Misophonia Warning

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I would recommend the story, but the audiobook only if they are not sensitive to misophonia triggers of mouth sounds.

Any additional comments?

The story was a good one, exciting and interesting and not exactly like anything I'd read. The reader is excellent with a strong command of different accents, which is a key part of this story. However, the sound editor didn't manage to take out/tamp down the mouth sounds in the text, so I couldn't stand to listen through earphones. I am particularly sensitive to this through misophonia, so I wouldn't recommend it for anyone that suffers the same sensitivity.

book club pick

loved this . very exciting, grabs you from the first words. beautifully written. wish there were more

Great Story...Horrid Delivery

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Yes! But I might recommend it to them to read rather than to listen. The story is amazing but the way the narrator speaks is distracting.

What did you like best about this story?

The story line has a different twist. You immediately feel empathy for the characters but you are not sure why. As you are taken back and forth through time and different characters a sort of puzzle evolves that makes you want to read on to find the answers.

How could the performance have been better?

The delivery is distracting. Ms Whelan makes sort of a smacking sound when she inhales mid sentence. At first I thought it was the way a character would speak but it is throughout the whole narration. It got to be an irritation and distracted me every time I heard her throughout the book. I decided at one point to give up and walked away but the story line is so compelling that I had to come back and see it through!

Could you see The String Diaries being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

Definitely!