• The Snakes

  • A Novel
  • By: Sadie Jones
  • Narrated by: Imogen Church
  • Length: 13 hrs and 56 mins
  • 3.7 out of 5 stars (95 ratings)

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The Snakes  By  cover art

The Snakes

By: Sadie Jones
Narrated by: Imogen Church
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Publisher's summary

"The Snakes is many things - a parable and an ancient drama where a father’s greed devours his children, a police procedural, an avid take on tabloid venality, and a bitter comedy, superbly observed, where behind a woman’s eyes she is ‘all movement inside herself, like a wasp in a glass.’ I admit that I’m still shaken by parts of this novel. Sadie Jones writes with pitiless aplomb and corrosive intelligence." (Louise Erdrich)

A chilling story and impossible to pause, The Snakes is Sadie Jones at her best: breathtakingly powerful, brilliantly incisive, and utterly devastating.

The new novel by Sadie Jones tells the tense and violent story of the Adamsons, a dysfunctional English family, with exceptional wealth, whose darkest secrets come back to bite them. Set mostly in rural France during contemporary times, The Snakes is an all-consuming listen and a devastating portrait of how money corrupts, and how chance can deal a deadly hand.

The Snakes exposes the damage wreaked by parents on children as observed by a new member of the family, Dan, a mixed-race man from Peckham who marries Bea, the daughter who refuses to take any of her father’s filthy money. But when Bea’s brother, Alex (who runs a shabby hotel in Paligny, France), dies suddenly in unexplained circumstances, the confusion and suspicion which arise bring other dark family secrets - and violence - to the surface. And none of the family, even the good members, go untouched.

©2019 Sadie Jones (P)2019 HarperCollins Publishers

What listeners say about The Snakes

Average customer ratings
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    5 out of 5 stars

Extraordinary!

I will be awhile regaining my footing after two days immersed in this all consuming novel. I could not stop listening; this one grabbed me and carried me away. Richly complex characters, dialogue that flowed like I was a fly on the wall, atmosphere I could smell, see and feel, soul shredding conflicts which are endemic to the human condition. Do not read any spoilers for this unique novel, just let Imogen Church take you on your personal journey with Bea and Dan. Bon voyage...

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5 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Stunning performance by Imogene Church

What kept me riveted to listening was Church’s amazing range of voices. I will look for her as a narrator in future works. She made the audio amazing

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

This books feels very unfinished

All that build up and.... nothing. Let down. I honestly read anything narrated by Imogen Church because she’s the best narrator I’ve ever heard, but this stole couldn’t be saved be her immense talent. I feel like it needed 5 more chapters...

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Très faible; a feckless entity that slinks away.

Like the venom-less snakes in the book, this tale lacks the real juice. Much ado over a temporary jolt to the senses, a slight tear to the skin,

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Pass This One

The premise of this novel seemed great. But it just dragged on and on and most of the characters were insufferable with no redeeming qualities. Sadie Jones actually writes beautifully and offers rich descriptions and brings the setting to life- but I was so frustrated by the characters and their choices and was not satisfied with the ending. Imogen Church is a wonderful narrator and makes the listener feel as if there are actually a number of different voice actors at work- but the parents’ voices were both too angry and whiny- it was exhausting.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Story made me mad

I hated the father...
Did not understand the mother...
Hated the way it ended...
I wanted to kill the killer...I hate men that beat on women...

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Forget it

Worst ending ever. No foreshadowing, no blinking sense at all. What did this ending add? Did it teach anything?

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Not about snakes

I didn't like it. it was long. it had nothing to do with snakes.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

That ending…..

Quite possibly the rest of the book is sitting unpublished somewhere?

It’s not just that the ending is bad or not what I would have chosen, but the ending does nothing. It’s like getting loaded 75% and then dying.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

really???? spoiler

what a weak, pathetic character. to go into such character depth, only to end up with no resolution to the issues and family problems. will never read this author again!

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