Unbury Carol

A Novel

By: Josh Malerman

Narrated by: Dan John Miller

Length: 10 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's summary

The New York Times best-selling author of Bird Box returns with a supernatural thriller of love, redemption, and murder.

Named one of the best books of the year by Newsweek.

“This one haunts you for reasons you can’t quite put your finger on.... [Josh Malerman] defies categories and comparisons with other writers.” (Kirkus Reviews)

Carol Evers is a woman with a dark secret. She has died many times...but her many deaths are not final: They are comas, a waking slumber indistinguishable from death, each lasting days.

Only two people know of Carol's eerie condition. One is her husband, Dwight, who married Carol for her fortune and - when she lapses into another coma - plots to seize it by proclaiming her dead and quickly burying her...alive. The other is her lost love, the infamous outlaw James Moxie. When word of Carol's dreadful fate reaches him, Moxie rides the Trail again to save his beloved from an early, unnatural grave.

And all the while, awake and aware, Carol fights to free herself from the crippling darkness that binds her - summoning her own fierce will to survive. As the players in this drama of life and death fight to decide her fate, Carol must in the end battle to save herself.

The haunting story of a woman literally bringing herself back from the dead, Unbury Carol is a twisted take on the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale that will stay with you long after you've heard the final minute.

Praise for Unbury Carol:

“Fantastically clever. A breakneck ride to save a life already lost, proving sometimes death is only the beginning.” (J. D. Barker, internationally best-selling author of The Fourth Monkey)

“Breathtaking and menacing...an intricately plotted, lyrical page-turner about love, betrayal, revenge, and the primal fear of being buried alive.” (Booklist, starred review)

“Unbury Carol is a Poe story set in the weird West we all carry inside us, and it not only hits the ground running, it digs into that ground, too. About six wonderful feet.” (Stephen Graham Jones, author of Mongrels)

“Bleakly lyrical à la Cormac McCarthy and Flannery O’Connor.” (Library Journal, starred review) 

“With vivid prose and characters that leap off the page, guns a-blazing, Unbury Carol creates its own lingering legend, dragging you along like an obstinate horse toward a righteous storm of an ending.” (Delilah S. Dawson, New York Times best-selling author of Star Wars: Phasma)

©2018 Josh Malerman (P)2018 Random House Audio

Interesting Concept, Poor Execution

I loved Bird Box so I was looking forward to this one, and the summary sounded interesting, but it was not handled well. I actually stopped listening halfway through because the story had become so dull and was just plodding along that I couldn't handle it anymore. Even though the characters and atmosphere were unique, the overall plot was also very predictable. This is sadly a skip.

I Pre-Ordered This One Because I Was So Excited

Bird Box is in one of my top 5 books of all time, so I wanted to like this book so much. I loved the concept when reading the synopsis... but somehow it falls short. It seemed to drag, and my mind would wander... not something I typically have a problem with when listening to an audio book or reading a physical copy. Sad I couldn’t give this one a raving 5 Stars... I wanted to so badly 😔

awesome!

great writing, quick engaging read, and wonderful characters. definitely will recommend this one to friends!

Great world and a good yarn

Malerman has created a compelling world with a fun cast of characters. The pacing is good from start to finish, and the narrator did a great job with all the characters.

Loved It!

"When a person is dead.. they're dead no matter who looks at her."

Unless that person happens to be Carol Evers.. Hells Heaven, how I do love a good tale spun by Malerman!!! This one is freaky frontier fun with a sprinkle of enduring love and redemption.

Just ok

This book had a lot of potential, but inevitably fell flat. There were some plot holes that didn’t make sense and the ending was rushed and lazy. The villains were defeated way too easily and the narrator’s tone didn’t really mesh. I’m glad the book was at least relatively short.

Good westerner, amazing narration

The book barely started and it already made me want to keep listening, the characters are well designed and interesting, the narration is the best I've heard and the story finishes, it's not like those books that leave you with unanswered questions.

Not what I expected

Uninteresting characters, poor plot. Wish I had passed on this one, it was not worth my time.

A bit lackluster

I tried to like this book but I found it hard to care about the characters. After reading Bird Box, I wanted to try out some of Josh Malerman’s other offerings but this one had none of the tension I was hoping for. Fell a bit short for me and I found myself bored most of the time.

A lot of plot holes

In order for this storyline to work there were a significant number of plot holes and conveniences taken. The writing was good but the story was incredibly flawed.