They're Watching

By: Gregg Hurwitz

Narrated by: Scott Brick

Length: 14 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's Summary

Patrick Davis is a man with troubles. First his Hollywood dreams crumble, then his storybook marriage hits a snag. Finally, DVDs start being delivered to his house – DVDs which show that someone is watching him and his wife, that the two of them are being stalked and recorded by cameras hidden around and within their house. Then the e-mails start, and someone offers to fix everything, to take the mess his life has become and make it all right. Patrick figures it's the offer of a lifetime.

But Patrick couldn’t be more wrong. With every step he is deeper and deeper into the a web of intrigue that threatens everything he still has and values in this world. Before he knows it, he's in and in deep - and the only way out is to outwit and outplay his unseen opponents at their own game.

©2010 Gregg Hurwitz (P)2010 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Critic Reviews

"This is one of those 'can't put it down' novels: a thriller that moves so fast that it leaves you gasping for breath..." ( Daily Mail (UK) on They're Watching)

"Hurwitz frequently sets us up to expect one thing but delivers something entirely different. He keeps us constantly on our toes, and—this is especially good—he keeps us guessing right until the very last pages about exactly who has targeted Patrick and why. Highly recommended, especially for fans of Dean Koontz, Linwood Barclay, and Harlan Coben." ( Booklist)

Buzz-z-z-z-z-z-z

I enjoy (and respect) people's reviews, and appreciate that listeners take the time to share. I read a LOT of your reviews, and I purchase a lot of recommendations (thank you). I'll even go back and follow a book to see how readers experienced it long after I've finished listening. With THEY'RE WATCHING, I have to say, I shared the same experience as the lower-star reviewers (and I don't think a low star review is a mean review!) Over and over in my head while I listened, was this nagging question, "Whaaaat the...?!" on so many levels. This whole ordeal could have been avoided! ...Never have bigger guns been hauled out to hunt a mosquito.

The little mosquito's life is in utter shambles; his wife is cheating, he's been fired, he's out of money, he's losing his dream home, he's a lousy screenwriter, his students don't like him, YET, Omnipotent Global Secret Powers are after this little mosquito. But, like one of Aesop's own mighty little heroes... well, I don't want to ruin it for any future readers.

Suppose I could suspend sanity; enjoy superfluous twists and turns and silly goose chases that go on twice as long as necessary; not question why there are no red flags when people all over the LA socio/economical scale are dropping like flies; believe a little winged mosquito as ballsy as Hurwitz has created here could even buzz off the ground;--the bigger problem with this book is how Hurwitz has no connect with emotion (and you thought I was going to say reality!). He throws in a compulsatory line: I love my wife so much, the poor little boy that will have to grow up without a mother, the abused neighbor aimessly washing dishes over and over, a silent tear rolling down the face of a man patting a dying whale on the back...talk about disconnect! How is it even possible for a writer to fail to elicite compassion for beached whales, slowly dying, with bleeding ears? And narrator Scott Brick (whom I usually enjoy very much) seems to take on the burden of making these characters human, and the plot believable, by delivering an overwrought performance that irritated me almost as much as a mosquito buzzing around my head.

The consensus is that people like Hurwitz as an author, I've read that many of his fans prefer his other books to this one, so I'll try it again. But this one was just one long ridiculous rat maze for poor Patrick (the mosquito) and for the listener.

In a league of it's own.

While browsing the Audible site I often came across this book; but for whatever reason, it never jumped out at me as a selection I cared to get. After reading however that this novel was Scott Brick's selection as his favorite book - out of all the novels he's narrated - I grudging downloaded it; Mr. Brick has so many books under his belt that I felt the recommendation was worth noting.

I have always enjoyed thrillers; but this author deserves a category of his own. Mr. Hurwitz has raised the genre to a whole new level, and I couldn't be happier.

Given the enjoyment that can be found in discovering the twists and turns of this excellent story as it unfolds, I would be doing a disservice to reference any of it here in the review. I can only say that I was constantly kept guessing, creating and discarding different theories, until the end.

This is my top pick in the thriller category.

Annoying....

Any additional comments?

This sort of book is not my usual cup of tea. However, recently I listened to "You're Next" and it had me on the edge of my seat. When I started this one, I could not even believe it was the same reader. I like Scott Brick. But in this book he sounds so whiney.

What's nice is that it all the details get sorted out. It's just too unbelievable for my taste.
For me it was a trial to get through it.

Umm, no. They're not watching.

I was prepared for a wonderful listen after reading the rave reviews. But it just wasn't there. I know the author has a terrific following, so I'll try another book. But this one wasn't it. It was implausible, improbable and it droned on WAY too long.

Skip This One!

The premise of this story could have been good, not great, but the fluff and the ridiculous twists and turned made it into what Melinda of Utah described as a " long ridiculous rat maze." I wish I had listened to Melinda and passed this one by.

At one point the main character wondered if he was in a real life version of "The Game" starring Michael Douglas. There were way too many far fetched and unbelievable things that happened. Yes, we suspend our disbelief and accept the entertainment value of a story. But here you must not only suspend your disbelief but taken for granted, insulted, and thought of as stupid and gullible. For me the worst was asking me to believe that a company can come into your home (undercover) and plant 10 or 15 spy cameras and other devices in your walls and everywhere else that you won't notice something out of place or that there won't be a trace of the intrusion! Okay, I know it's possible, but then the story turns around and tells you that after the homeowners are given a "map" of where all the devices are located and ordered to remove them, that one wire was so long that it wrapped 15 feet around walls and by the time the homeowners had all of the devices out, their house was in shambles and the walls were ripped back to the studs! At that point, I knew I was not going to like the rest of story.

The first 20 (or so) chapters of the story held my interest really well. After that it was a struggle getting through the rest... at the end I didn't care what happened.

I listened because I wanted to be able to write this review. Before writing this, I took a look at what other reviewers had said. I cringed because it seems that I didn't really pay attention and probably skipped Melinda's review altogether. Well, I tell you now don't skip her review, but most of all, I recommend skipping this book.

I agree with one reviewer who said that Scott Brick did his best with what he had to work with, and Brick is one of my favorites. But throughout this book, Brick sounded a little whinny! He sounded like the whine of a child who keeps repeating themselves and asking for something he/she has already been denied. Maybe that's because the story kept repeating itself.

Unbelievable, and Over the Top

The story is totally ridiculous, unbelievable and Scott Brick's performance only makes it worse. The story itself is over-dramatic where it doesn't have to be (or maybe it does, because it is so thin) and Brick, who tends to overdramatize everything anyway, has a field day. All of which made me, the listener, get very annoyed and wonder what I was doing listening to this stuff. I can't even say that it was a waste of time - it goes beyond that. What was the point? And why so long?

loved this book

always love Scott Brick but after reading some of the reviews thought I might not like this book. I loved it...couldn't stop listening...and while I'm quite good at figuring out "who dunnit" this one kept me guessing. I definitely recommend it.

Just did not work for me

I know Hurwitz can write a good story, I loved the first one I listened to by him, and he writes good dialog and the characters are good. The problem with this story is that nobody, even someone from CA could be as stupid as this wannabe screenwriter. The whole time you are listening to this story you are yelling," just call the cops!" The actions of the main character are just to self absorbed and at some point in the story insted of worrying about his fate you start thinking that he is really better off dead and his wife a widow and back on the market as she seems to have something going for her. I will try another book by Hurwitz in the hopes that the first one he wrote was not just a fluke but if this had been the first one I had listened to by him I would not have gone any further with this author.

WOW... just, WOW

Every time I thought I could let out my breath and relax, the plot took a twist and I was back on the ride! To detractors that say it was "over written" I say that the descriptions and details are what put you in the middle of the action and hold you captive. This is my favorite genre and Gregg Hurwitz does it proud. Then there is Scott Brick. What can you say about him other than he makes every book he reads come to life. Loved this one and if you like action thrillers you will too.

Who is watching and recording them?

Gregg Hurwitz writes this interesting suspenseful thriller in which a couple receive DVD's from an unknown persons who are recording their every action including inside their home. Scott Brick does his usual great job of narration.