The Lesser Dead

By: Christopher Buehlman

Narrated by: Christopher Buehlman

Christopher Buehlman excels in twisting the familiar into newfound dread in his genre-bending novels. Now the acclaimed author of Those Across the River delivers his most disquieting tale yet.

The secret is, vampires are real and I am one. The secret is, I'm stealing from you what is most truly yours and I'm not sorry.…

New York City in 1978 is a dirty, dangerous place to live - and die. Joey Peacock knows this as well as anybody - he has spent the last 40 years as an adolescent vampire, perfecting the routine he now enjoys: womanizing in punk clubs and discotheques, feeding by night, and sleeping by day with others of his kind in the macabre labyrinth under the city's sidewalks.

The subways are his playground and his highway, shuttling him throughout Manhattan to bleed the unsuspecting in the Sheep Meadow of Central Park or in the backseats of Checker cabs, or even those in their own apartments who are too hypnotized by sitcoms to notice him opening their windows. It's almost too easy.

Until one night he sees them hunting on his beloved subway. The children with the merry eyes. Vampires, like him…or not like him. Whatever they are, whatever their appearance means, the undead in the tunnels of Manhattan are not as safe as they once were.

And neither are the rest of us.

©2014 Christopher Buehlman (P)2014 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"As much F. Scott Fitzgerald as Dean Koontz." ( New York Times best-selling author Patricia Briggs)

Best work yet.

What made the experience of listening to The Lesser Dead the most enjoyable?

Hearing the author read it in the voice he's created really added to the story. The descriptions were more believable from the character's perspective.

What does Christopher Buehlman bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Reading the book read aloud in the first person narrative made this my favorite of Buehlman's novels. He's hit his stride and it's so enjoyable to hear him finally reading in these character's voices. His work with dialects adds greatly to the audio.

Any additional comments?

Buehlman is writing action that is matched up with his pacing. He's gotten into a rhythm that suits the storytelling, and that gives the audience a chance to arrive with the characters.

Great Read

This book was a surprise to me for a free book I downloaded on a whim whilst looking for a good horror story. I was slightly disappointed by the lack of scariness, but it was dripping with spooky atmosphere. The unreliable narrator had an infectious personality that I just loved listening to and the author’s narration was fantastic and very talented regarding accents and emotion. I will be checking out his other books. I will say however that while the ending was satisfying and well done, I wish the story just kept going lol. Overall it was great. If you like creepy, scummy, dark, bloody vampires living in the dank underbelly of 1978 NYC, check this sh** out dog.

Amazing performance and story

The performance was amazing. Really pulls you into the story. The book itself was a great listen. The world building really makes the setting come alive. Great listen from start to finish.

Not my usual genre, but so enjoyable

Very talented author/narrator! So glad I discovered this author through audible plus. Now I want to read all of his books, even though they are not my usual preferred genre. I very much enjoyed this book and will be using my credits to further explore his works.

interesting take on vampires

It's a very well performed story. the story itself makes you think that you know where it's going only to switch your perception.