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Understudy for Death
- Narrated by: Kaleo Griffith
- Length: 6 hrs and 5 mins
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Understudy for Death
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Publisher's summary
Charles Willeford's legendary lost novel, unavailable since its original publication in 1961.
An Unforgivable Crime.
An Unforgettable Novel.
Why would a happily married Florida housewife pick up her husband's .22 caliber Colt Woodsman semi-automatic pistol and use it to kill her two young children and herself? Cynical newspaper reporter Richard Hudson is assigned to find out - and the assignment will send him down a road of self-discovery in this incisive, no-holds-barred portrait of American marriage in the Mad Men era.
On the 30th anniversary of the death of the masterful novelist the Atlantic Monthly called the "father of Miami crime fiction", Hard Case Crime is proud to present Charles Willeford's legendary lost novel, unavailable since its original publication by a disreputable paperback house in 1961. One of Willeford's rarest titles (copies of the original edition sell for hundreds of dollars), Understudy for Death still has the power to disturb, half a century after its debut.
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Story4 out of 5 stars 51
Collected for the first time, here are the New York stories of one of the 20th century’s definitive chroniclers of the city - the speakeasies and highballs, social climbers and cinema stars, mistresses and powerbrokers, unsparingly observed by a popular American master of realism. Spanning his four-decade career, these more than 30 refreshingly frank, sparely written stories are among John O’Hara’s finest work, exploring the materialist aspirations and sexual exploits of flawed, prodigally human characters and showcasing the snappy dialogue.
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2 out of 5 stars
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I read it because I paid for it.
- By MaryAnn on 10-01-19
By: John O'Hara, and others
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BUtterfield 8
- By: John O'Hara, Lorin Stein - introduction
- Narrated by: Gretchen Mol
- Length: 8 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 63
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 56
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Story4 out of 5 stars 57
A masterpiece of American fiction and a best seller upon its publication in 1935, BUtterfield 8 lays bare with brash honesty the unspoken and often shocking truths that lurked beneath the surface of a society still reeling from the effects of the Great Depression. One Sunday morning, Gloria wakes up in a stranger's apartment with nothing but a torn evening dress, stockings, and panties. When she steals a fur coat from the wardrobe to wear home, she unleashes a series of events that can only end in tragedy.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Wildly Uneven
- By David P on 08-27-15
By: John O'Hara, and others
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Disturbing the Peace
- By: Richard Yates
- Narrated by: Marc Vietor
- Length: 7 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 66
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 56
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Story4 out of 5 stars 57
To all appearances, John Wilder has all the trappings of success, circa 1960: a promising career in advertising, a loving family, a beautiful apartment, even a country home. John's evenings are spent with associates at quiet Manhattan lounges and his weekends with friends at glittering cocktail parties. But something deep within this seemingly perfect life has long since gone wrong.
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5 out of 5 stars
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7 hours and 27 minutes pure blisd
- By Mia on 01-05-13
By: Richard Yates
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A Flash of Green
- A Novel
- By: John D. MacDonald
- Narrated by: Richard Ferrone
- Length: 16 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 69
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 60
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Story4 out of 5 stars 60
A classic novel by John D. MacDonald with an exclusive introduction written and read by Dean Koontz. A Flash of Green tells the gripping story of small-town corruption and two people brave enough to fight back, featuring many of the themes John D. MacDonald explored better than anyone in his legendary career as a leading crime novelist. The opportunists have taken over Palm City. Silent and deadly, like the snakes that infest the nearby swamps, they lay hidden from view, waiting for the right moment to strike. Political subterfuge has already eased the residents toward selling out.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Disjointed depressing
- By Carol I. Meeds on 11-18-22
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The Royal Correspondent
- A Novel
- By: Alexandra Joel
- Narrated by: Caroline Lee
- Length: 14 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 29
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 25
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 25
The author of The Paris Model captures the glamour, style, excitement, and romance of a bygone era in this sumptuous novel - set in the Sydney and London of the 1960s - about an up-and-coming young Australian reporter with a deadly secret.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Story engaging. Narrator not so much.
- By Anne M. Kelley on 09-15-22
By: Alexandra Joel
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In the Bleak Midwinter
- By: Julia Spencer-Fleming
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
- Length: 12 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 449
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 362
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Story4 out of 5 stars 360
Clare Fergusson, St. Alban's new priest, fits like a square peg in the conservative Episcopal parish at Miller's Kill, New York. She is not just a "lady"; she's a tough ex-Army chopper pilot, and nobody's fool. Then a newborn infant left at the church door brings her together with the town's police chief, Russ Van Alstyne, who's also ex-Army and a cynical good shepherd for the stray sheep of his hometown.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Ice Cold Complex Small Town Police Procedural/Mystery
- By Sara on 12-27-14
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Enter Laughing
- A Bio-Novel
- By: Carl Reiner
- Narrated by: Carl Reiner
- Length: 5 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 45
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 35
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Story4 out of 5 stars 35
In his semi-autobiographical, laugh-out-loud novel, Carl Reiner details a young man's frustrations as he works as a machinist's helper and tries to break into show business. Along the bumpy path, the aspiring young actor tries to extricate himself from his overly protective parents - and his two girlfriends - and eventually lands an acting gig with a small theater troupe.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great story telling! Great listening!
- By NYer Lady on 02-08-22
By: Carl Reiner
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Lady Oracle
- By: Margaret Atwood
- Narrated by: Lorelei King
- Length: 11 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 89
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 81
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Story4 out of 5 stars 80
From fat girl to thin, from red hair to mud brown, from London to Toronto, from Polish count to radical husband - Joan Foster is utterly confused by her life of multiple identities. She decides to escape to an Italian hill town to take stock of her life. But first, she must organize her own death.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A Feminist Romp
- By annkpowers on 07-02-22
By: Margaret Atwood
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The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit
- By: Sloan Wilson
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 11 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 105
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 87
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 88
Here is the story of Tom and Betsy Rath, a young couple with everything going for them: three healthy children, a nice home, a steady income. They have every reason to be happy, but for some reason they are not. Like so many young men of the day, Tom finds himself caught up in the corporate rat race - what he encounters there propels him on a voyage of self-discovery that will turn his world inside out.
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5 out of 5 stars
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great read/listen
- By BBJ on 09-26-16
By: Sloan Wilson
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Young Hearts Crying
- By: Richard Yates
- Narrated by: Marc Vietor
- Length: 12 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 60
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 49
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Story4 out of 5 stars 50
Yates movingly portrays a man and a woman from their courtship in the 1950s to their divorce in the '70s, chronicling their heartbreaking attempts to reach their highest ambitions. Michael Davenport dreams of being a poet after returning home from World War II, and at first he and his new wife, Lucy, enjoy their life together. But as the decades pass and the success of others creates a fear of failure in both Michael and Lucy, their once bright future gives way to a life of adultery and isolation.
By: Richard Yates
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Tomorrow Will Be Better
- By: Betty Smith
- Narrated by: Nicola Barber
- Length: 8 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 111
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 98
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 100
Tomorrow Will Be Better tells the story of Margy Shannon, a shy but joyfully optimistic young woman just out of school who lives with her parents and witnesses how a lifetime of hard work, poverty, and pain has worn them down. Her mother's resentment toward being a housewife and her father's inability to express his emotions result in a tense home life where Margy has no voice. Unable to speak up against her overbearing mother, Margy takes refuge in her dreams of a better life.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Heartfelt and Heart-wrenchingly Real!
- By M. Ryder on 02-16-22
By: Betty Smith
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Fletch
- By: Gregory Mcdonald
- Narrated by: Dan John Miller
- Length: 5 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,845
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,657
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,653
The acidly funny first book starring the subversive sleuth in one of the most successful mystery series of all time. Fletch is an investigative reporter whose methods are a little unorthodox. Currently he's living on the beach. He's taking more than a little flak from his editor. She doesn't appreciate his style. Or the expense account items he's racking up. Or his definition of the word "deadline". Or the divorce lawyers who keep showing up at the office. So when multimillionaire Alan Stanwyk offers Fletch the job of a lifetime, which could be worth a fortune, he's intrigued.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Fletch is Literally a Psychopath
- By Kindle Customer on 02-09-21
By: Gregory Mcdonald
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Bright Lights, Big City
- By: Jay McInerney
- Narrated by: Daniel Passer
- Length: 5 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 332
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 273
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Story4 out of 5 stars 276
The tragicomedy of a young man in New York City, a writer, never named, who works as a fact-checker for a prestigious magazine. He struggles with the reality of his mother's death, alienation, and the seductive pull of drugs and a vibrant nightlife.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Curiously, mundanely real
- By Amber on 01-07-12
By: Jay McInerney
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Embassy Wife
- A Novel
- By: Katie Crouch
- Narrated by: Marni Penning
- Length: 13 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 103
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 89
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Story4 out of 5 stars 89
Persephone Wilder, a displaced genius posing as the wife of an American diplomat in Namibia, takes her job as a representative of her country seriously and comes up with an intricate set of rules to survive a range of problems: how to dress in hundred-degree weather without showing too much skin, how not to look drunk at embassy functions, and how to eat roasted oryx with grace. She also suspects her husband is not actually the ambassador’s general counsel but instead a secret agent in the CIA. She takes the new trailing spouse, Amanda Evans, under her wing....
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2 out of 5 stars
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Have narrator re-record this book
- By Amazon Customer on 09-30-21
By: Katie Crouch