The One That Got Away

By: Simon Wood

Narrated by: Emily Durante

Length: 8 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's Summary

Graduate students Zoë and Holli only mean to blow off some steam on their road trip to Las Vegas. But something goes terribly wrong on their way home, and the last time Zoë sees her, Holli is in the clutches of a sadistic killer. Zoë flees with her life, changed forever.

A year later and still tortured with guilt, Zoë latches on to a police investigation where the crime eerily resembles her abduction. Along with a zealous detective, she retraces the steps of that fateful night in the desert, hoping that her memory will return and help them find justice for Holli. Her abductor--labeled the "Tally Man" by a fascinated media--lies in wait for Zoë. For him, she is not a survivor but simply the one that got away.

With an unforgettable heroine, a chillingly disturbed psychopath, and a story that moves at breakneck speed, The One That Got Away is thriller writer Simon Wood at his finest.

©2015 Simon Wood (P)2014 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

Well Done Suspense Novel

I must say, I was engage from start to finish with this book. The author managed to keep me intrigued for the entire book, with its great writing, fast(ish) pace story-lines and gripping suspense.

The female heroine was perfectly written, strong, confident, a bit reckless and flawed. But as the story develops, she also manages to grow herself. She takes ownership of her situation and refuses to be defined by it, but eventually starts the process of healing.

The narrator was great for the female characters and so-so for the male. They weren't bad but some male characters kind of sounded the same.

Overall, I recommend this book. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it and look forward to more works from Simon Wood.

37 people found this helpful

Don't let this one get away from you

This was a Kindle First pick for me and I picked up the audible version for a steep discount price. What a bargain for a high quality, entertaining read. Wood wastes no time introducing us to the two opposing forces in this thriller, and from the start I was hooked. I listened to the book as frequently as I could, on commutes and during my runs. There really isn't a slow moment in the book, you'll want to keep reading to find out how things will be resolved.

25 people found this helpful

Wow!

First of all this is not for the squeamish. It's a gritty thriller, and what a thrill ride the author takes you on. Good luck trying to put this down once you've started. I got the Kindle (print) edition that syncs up with the audio, so I could read when it wasn't possible to listen and visa versa.
Zoe is a very believable and likeable character. She goes to hell and back several times in this story, but the violence never seems gratuitous.
Do not choose this book if you like cozy mysteries with lemonade and cats on the covers. But if you like a gripping, high tension thriller, this book is for you.

37 people found this helpful

Do not believe the negative reviews!

WOW! The One That Got Away is a superb suspense novel. There has been a lot of complaints about the narrator. I do not understand why because she does an excellent job. I definitely recommend this novel for those who like intense suspense.

32 people found this helpful

A good distraction

This was quite an enjoyable listen. The plot is good and keeps the listener at the edge of their seat. I hated to hear it end.

4 people found this helpful

Good Story

I enjoyed this read. it was fast paced and kept you interested. I would recommend it!

3 people found this helpful

Really good

Love how she never gave up! Tally Man was a little weird but loved it.

3 people found this helpful

Strange narration

I found the narrator to be very annoying. She sounded like she was narrating a poorly written Barbie story. Her intimations were over-emphasized and made the main character sound like a whiny complainer. I think I would have had a different take on the characters and the story overall if the narration hadn't interfered with my feeling about them. She also did horrible men's voices. I would recommend that this be a book to read, not to listen to.

The story was okay. It's a typical murder story, with some interesting facets, but again, I have a hard time analyzing it without accounting for the narration.

31 people found this helpful

Pretty Good Story

Any additional comments?

Well worth listening too. Interesting story. Bad villain that you love to hate. A heroine who is a little flawed but I grew to like her. Too much torture at some points - I don't like violence - but I fast forward when I get scared. Reader is good.

6 people found this helpful

I Hated This Book!

Would you try another book from Simon Wood and/or Emily Durante?

No-I no interest in reading another book by this author or narrated by Emily.

What could Simon Wood have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

He could have written it better. "The blade was dull". "The plastic was hard." "The books were dusty." Seriously. I felt like maybe this was a high school book report.

How could the performance have been better?

Her voice grated on me, I'm not sure why. I did not like how she did the male voices in the story at all.

Any additional comments?

I'm very glad I got this title from the bargain deal because I would have really kicked myself for wasting a whole credit on it.

12 people found this helpful

You have to listen to this...!

Would you listen to The One That Got Away again? Why?

Yes. Its a good story which I found very gripping.

What did you like best about this story?

The Tally Man is a fantastic psychopathic baddie!

Which character – as performed by Emily Durante – was your favourite?

Zoe was a good character. The Tally Man was also very well portrayed

6 people found this helpful

Awful narration!

This storyline is distinctly so-so but what got me annoyed was the narration. Stilted, strange intonation meant that she sounded like a recorded message not a narrator. There seemed to be a full stop at end of sentences, only for her to add a name after a pause. Very distracting.

I can't imagine downloading anything that narrated by this woman.

3 people found this helpful

Good story well written

Fast paced, entertaining, well narrated although I thought the male voices let it down a little. Plausible characters that you can relate too.

2 people found this helpful

Tedious and predictable

The narrator did a reasonable job with a rather silly story. At no point did it have me on the edge of my seat. In fact the tension was underwhelming throughout.

2 people found this helpful

Excellent book

This was the first Simon Wood audiobook for for but it won't be the last !! Excellent !!

1 person found this helpful

Not too bad at all.

For a thriller this worked quite well.

The narrator did a fair job, and the storyline kept you engaged until the end, even if you did know who the bad guy was early on, it still worked as the police got closer to the truth.

There was also some understanding of PTSD, (alongside the storyline), which is always good to see because it was a fairly realistic portrayal of a person who has suffered trauma. Most people know PTSD is common amongst service personnel, but it is also something that has far wider reaches than just those people who have seen combat.

There might be slightly better crime/thriller stories out there, but this one is worth having for those times when you don't want anything too taxing.

Overall, I would mark this as good.

1 person found this helpful

Great story

I love this kind of book. Sometimes being told by the 'killer himself',. I'm a bit weird , my husband tells me because I like listening about the people in books being tortured, decapitated etc etc. I' do like these kind of books because i can always be rooting for the victim, wanting them to fight back and in the end the perpetrators get what they deserve

This book kept me wanting to read constantly. I didn't want to put it down. it held my attention for ages.

Thank you Author for writing such a clever and captivating book and to the narrator who portrayed the characters so professionally and reading the whole book in the style I'm sure the author couldn''t be happier with .

1 person found this helpful

Awful narration

Would you try another book written by Simon Wood or narrated by Emily Durante?

By Simon Wood - yes.
Narrated by Emily Durante - not a chance

Would you ever listen to anything by Simon Wood again?

Yes

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Awful and annoying. Couldn't bear to listen to it

What character would you cut from The One That Got Away?

No idea - didn't get past the first 10 mins

Any additional comments?

I will read this book myself.

1 person found this helpful

Just a warning for others like me

If this book wasn’t for you, who do you think might enjoy it more?

If you like trashy fiction with pedestrian prose this might be for you.

What will your next listen be?

I started listening to Miranda July's short story collection No One Belongs Here More Than You straight afterwards, it was such a relief, I felt like a dry river bed being fed with a new rush of clean clear water; I laughed out loud, I almost cried, it has depth and spark and a marvellous lightness of touch. I felt like The One That Got Away was rotting my brain, it was a mistake to get this one.

How could the performance have been better?

I'm afraid I really hated it, maybe the book isn't as bad as the audio version, I don't know but I felt the performance was trite and inappropriate, I found myself frequently rolling my eyes.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from The One That Got Away?

Ugh, all of it, I know I should've stopped listening but it was like junk food, I just stuffed my face with the whole thing but at least I know now to avoid this sort of book in future.

Any additional comments?

I know a great many people like this book a lot but it just wasn't for me at all, it was like a cheap daytime TV film thriller. If that's what you want this is probably great.

1 person found this helpful

Not hugely original

It wasn't the best story, felt like a mixture of a few well known horror/thriller films. It played out like a film script. Was quite exciting towards the end but also a bit predictable. Easy to listen to though And I did want to play it to the end....and also take self defence classes.

1 person found this helpful