The Damage

A Novel

De: Caitlin Wahrer

Narrado por: Soneela Nankani

“A rollercoaster of terror, marked by whip-fast twists and turns.”—The New York Times

“Pulled me in from the first page... Put this one high on your summer list.”—Stephen King

When a small-town family is pushed to the brink, how far will they go to protect one of their own? An edgy, propulsive read about what we will do in the name of love and blood


Tony has always looked out for his younger brother, Nick. So when he's called to a hospital bed where Nick is lying battered and bruised after a violent sexual assault, his protective instincts flare, and a white-hot rage begins to build.

As a small-town New England lawyer, Tony's wife, Julia, has cases involving kids all the time. When Detective Rice gets assigned to this one, Julia feels they're in good hands. Especially because she senses that Rice, too, understands how things can quickly get complicated. Very complicated.

After all, one moment Nick was having a drink with a handsome stranger; the next, he was at the center of an investigation threatening to tear not only him, but his entire family, apart. And now his attacker, out on bail, is disputing Nick's version of what happened.

As Julia tries to help her brother-in-law, she sees Tony's desire for revenge, to fix things for Nick, getting out of control. Tony is starting to scare her. And before long, she finds herself asking: does she really know what her husband is capable of? Or of what she herself is?

Exploring elements of doubt, tragedy, suspense, and justice, The Damage is an all-consuming read that marks the explosive debut of an extraordinary new writer.

Finally Gave up!

This story started out promising. The action moved quickly and was intriguing, but then the author lapsed into giving the audience the rest of the story in very short bits and pieces, jumping around in time and jumping in points of view. I tried to get to the end, but finally had to give it up. The story would have been much shorter if the author had stayed on point, so perhaps this was merely a technique to drag things out. It dragged, all right.

Lackluster ending

I enjoyed this book for the most part but it was listed as a thriller when I didn’t really find it to be one. I also was not very invested in the ending.

I enjoyed the bulk of the book though.

Fantastic!

The Damage is a very clever, creative and socially relevant novel. It’s also a great mystery and an all around wonderful listen on so many levels. I highly recommend this book.

Wow.

I am a mild critic as I passively listen to audiobooks while I do my work but when I say wow, I mean it. This captured my attention and made me even play on 1.5 speed just to absorb the story more quickly. Fantastic book, talented author. 100% the next book you need to read.

This will be a movie

Fresh and timely. believable, substantive characters, and fast paced plot. ill look forward to more books by Wahrer.

Hooked in the first 15 minutes!

I loved it! I will listen again, and highly recommend ! first book of her that I've listened to. will try another

Almost took a personal day to listen

I didn’t want to stop listening to this story. It’s incredibly written. Glad to have the option to listen to from my earbuds while putting my kids to bed. Wahrer’s ability to make you feel like you’re in the room is next level.

Great listen!

Really great listen, lots of twists and turns. Very likable characters with a lot of heartfelt issues going on. Trigger warning for sexual abuse.

original and entertainingly complex

This is a trigger warning book. A very realistic and harsh look at sexual assault and the damage it causes throughout a family, and a community.

Still, I really enjoyed it. The writing is crisp and inventive. Whoever edited it might need a new job - if a character gets on a train they shouldn't get off a bus - but this author has a wonderful future.

Really tired of getting duped by "thriller"

I would love it if they would stop putting "psychological trauma" under the heading "mystery/suspense" I had to stop listening after a few hours. It was like sitting in a survivors support group and having to bear witness to the ripple effects of the trauma of sexual assault victims. I listen to books to escape reality and to be entertained. Books like these need to come with a warning label or people may find themselves in need of counseling by the time they are done with them.