The Torment of Rachel Ames

By: Jeff Gunhus

Narrated by: Lisa Stathoplos

Length: 4 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's Summary

Suffering from writer's block, novelist Rachel Ames escapes to a lake cabin to calm her mind and regain a sense of herself. The location is perfect. Isolated. Beautiful. Inspiring. It even comes with a good-looking landlord who shows an interest in her. But she can't shake the sense that something terrible has followed her to the lake, something just beyond her consciousness, something out on the edge where the sounds of a raging fire and sirens linger whenever she slows down to listen. Determined to make the cabin work, she tries to settle in and give her new life a chance. But when strange things begin to happen around her, she wonders if she's made a terrible mistake. As the darkness that's followed her manifests itself in inexplicable ways, her concept of reality is stretched thin and she realizes nothing at the lake is what it seems. As she fights to survive with her sanity intact, she understands too late that the location she's chosen for herself is far from perfect.

©2015 Jeff Gunhus (P)2016 Audible, Inc.

You Are Now Entering.....

So yeah, this would have made a perfect Twilight Zone episode (well, double episode). I've always loved this kind of mindbending, 'just sit back and enjoy the ride' story, but it's been so long since I've read (well, listened to) one, that it took me a while to recognize it.

The Torment of Rachel Ames is an excellent production of a most excellent trip through psychosis, but if you need your t's crossed and i's dotted, don't bother. It is what it is.


Ummm, before I go, just let me say that the story is extremely unpleasant and harrowing. It's the kind of story I would normally have returned unfinished. I suppose it's a testament to author Jeff Gunhus' mastery of storytelling that I not only finished it, but stayed up into the morning hours to do so.

It surprised me...

At first, I was thrown off by the reader's voice. I didn't care too much for it. But, once the story was being told, I just had to see what would happen next. The ending was SOO unexpected and surprising. I really enjoyed this. It kept you guessing and intrigued. This is my first audiobook after an hiatus, and it was a superb welcome back.

Very sad, not what I expected

At a little more than four hours, it seemed horrendously sad and too dark for me. Author and narrator do work well together to bring to life this confusing story with so many twists and turns. For me, it became obvious what Rachel was going through. Toward the end, this book will leave you reeling and crying tears of loss. So many emotions throughout: Guilt, love, selflessness, tragedy, sadness, depression, loss, pure evil. Just when you think it's the ending, surprise, there's more. My jaw dropped! I may have had some plots figured out but not all. This one may not be for everybody, but it is well-written and excellently narrated.

Excellent! 5 stars!

Loved this story! It even made me cry! Not horror in a scary sense. This is a journey into tragedy, love, loss and the frailty of being human.

wow ..... so many twist.

holy shit this book was absolutely amazing ..... I cant even it has so many twist just when u think I know what's going bam you realize you actually know nothing at all!! a must read!

A little bit crazy for my taste.

The story was interesting and a little off the wall and the ending was quite disappointing.

The ending unfortunately felt like patchwork

I made it through to the end because I needed to piece the story together. I was interested enough and needed the ending to help tie the story together. It fell apart for me about 3 -4 chapters near the end. Then there was an attempt to pull it together but sadly I was disappointed. I love a good psychological suspense /horror story but this fell a bit flat.

A deeply disturbing delight

I loved everything about this perfectly paced novella. I'd leave it at that, but a review requires at least fifteen words.

Kind of a let down.

There was such a build up for this story as it went through that when they finally started giving answers, I was less then thrilled. I literally had to rewind at one point bc I zoned out and actually thought I was listening to an entirely different story when I zoned back in. This book was ...eh...

It Caught me by Surprise!

I had made up my mind about the character in this book but then the last few chapters defined the twist. It was not what I expected. I think it is a good choice if you like a bit of intrigue and mystery in your listens!