Anonymous
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Holly
- By: Stephen King
- Narrated by: Justine Lupe, Stephen King
- Length: 15 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 9,765
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 9,018
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Story4 out of 5 stars 9,016
When Penny Dahl calls the Finders Keepers detective agency hoping for help locating her missing daughter, Holly is reluctant to accept the case. Her partner has Covid. Her mother has just died. And Holly is meant to be on leave. But something in Penny Dahl’s desperate voice makes it impossible for Holly to turn her down. Mere blocks from where Bonnie Dahl disappeared live Professors Rodney and Emily Harris. They are the picture of bourgeois respectability: married octogenarians, devoted to each other, and semi-retired lifelong academics. But they are harboring an unholy secret in the basement.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Investigations in the time of Covid
- By Victor @ theAudiobookBlog dot com on 09-05-23
- Holly
- By: Stephen King
- Narrated by: Justine Lupe, Stephen King
Such a let down
Reviewed: 09-25-23
This is the wrong narrator for the book: she wasn’t able to capture Holly’s presence at all and her tendency to shout the dialogue hit my ear as strident.
It seems also that Holly’s entire personality has changed from prior books in the series. I remember her as having somewhat quirky traits, but this Holly is flat and without her former struggles and inner dialogue. Not that we spend much time with Holly in this novel: more time than is necessary is spent with the creepy villains (with witchy, high-pitched narration).
For me, Holly was one of the more interesting characters from this series, so I was really looking forward to a novel that focuses on her. This isn’t that novel.
The characters constant inquiries of, “Are you vaxxed?” along with mentioning which brand of vaccine they received while urging each other to take off masks was weird and became tedious. Not one person said “vaccination”. always “vaxxed” which I’ve never encountered IRL. This is another pet peeve of mine with King’s recent novels: his use of slang is very narrow and often awkwardly non-modern.
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7 people found this helpful
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We Were the Mulvaneys
- By: Joyce Carol Oates
- Narrated by: J. Todd Adams
- Length: 6 hrs and 56 mins
- Abridged
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Overall3.5 out of 5 stars 207
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 91
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Story4 out of 5 stars 94
The Mulvaneys are blessed by all that makes life sweet: a hardworking father, a loving mother, three fine sons, and a bright, pretty daughter. But an incident occurs on Valentine's Day, 1976 - hushed up in the rural town of Mt. Ephraim, New York and never spoken of in the Mulvaney home - that rends the fabric of their family life.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Doesn't ring true
- By Moire on 09-12-03
- We Were the Mulvaneys
- By: Joyce Carol Oates
- Narrated by: J. Todd Adams
Annoying music
Reviewed: 06-12-23
A really worthwhile listen of a family saga nearly ruined by the addition of music in various parts.
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Alexa, Why Can't You Love Me?
- By: David Rossmer
- Narrated by: Judd Hirsch, Maria Dizzia, Lizan Mitchell
- Length: 1 hr and 17 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,095
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 993
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 986
After 40 years with his beloved wife, Henry is alone for the first time. His sudden bachelorhood is a struggle for him and his daughter Lisa, who is feeling pressure to fill the void. To give Henry the companionship he’s craving, Lisa buys him a personal robotic assistant. The device transforms Henry’s life and inspires him to embrace the possibility of romance during his golden years.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Touché- You Touched A Spot That Found My Soul
- By William on 11-13-20
- Alexa, Why Can't You Love Me?
- By: David Rossmer
- Narrated by: Judd Hirsch, Maria Dizzia, Lizan Mitchell
Fantastic!
Reviewed: 11-22-20
Heartwarming story of the grief of losing a spouse and picking up the pieces. Excellent performances by all actors, but taking off a star overall due to unnecessary musical interludes between scenes.
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Objects of My Affection
- By: Jill Smolinski
- Narrated by: Xe Sands
- Length: 10 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 6,541
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 5,976
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 5,969
In the humorous, heartfelt new novel by the author of The Next Thing on My List, a personal organizer must somehow convince a reclusive artist to give up her hoarding ways and let go of the stuff she’s hung onto for decades.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Performance distracted from the story.
- By A. Adinolfi on 07-20-12
- Objects of My Affection
- By: Jill Smolinski
- Narrated by: Xe Sands
Narrator issue
Reviewed: 11-22-20
I couldn’t tolerate the horrendous narrator. After less than 15 minutes I had to turn it off and delete the book from my library forever.
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Cut and Run
- A Light-Hearted Dark Comedy
- By: Ben Acker, Ben Blacker
- Narrated by: Meg Ryan, D’Arcy Carden, Sam Richardson, and others
- Length: 2 hrs and 44 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 19,367
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 17,210
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Story4 out of 5 stars 17,154
Samantha is a professional seductress and con artist with a heart of gold. If she talked about her work, she’d tell you she only pilfers organs for medical research and that she only takes one kidney, and she only steals those kidneys from dishonest people. It’s hell on her social life. Abe is the doctor and Sam's partner in crime. He isn’t much of a criminal. Except for the kidney stealing. But he’s using that money to fund his research that he anticipates will be able to cure diabetes. So, all for a good cause...? You decide. Of course, it's hell on his social life.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Dumb and funny
- By R. MCRACKAN on 02-01-20
- Cut and Run
- A Light-Hearted Dark Comedy
- By: Ben Acker, Ben Blacker
- Narrated by: Meg Ryan, D’Arcy Carden, Sam Richardson, Rachel Bloom, Ed Begley Jr., Thomas Lennon, Eugene Cordero, full cast
Over produced, under written
Reviewed: 02-10-20
Not sure how they managed to get so many big names to take part in this project. The story was very thin, but the actors did their best with what they had. The whole thing was way over produced, with too many musical breaks (seriously Audible - stop it with injecting music into books). Not engaging, totally forgettable.
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10 people found this helpful
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The Institute
- A Novel
- By: Stephen King
- Narrated by: Santino Fontana
- Length: 18 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 47,275
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 42,570
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 42,388
In the middle of the night, in a house on a quiet street in suburban Minneapolis, intruders silently murder Luke Ellis' parents and load him into a black SUV. The operation takes less than two minutes. Luke will wake up at The Institute, in a room that looks just like his own, except there's no window. And outside his door are other doors, behind which are other kids with special talents - telekinesis and telepathy - who got to this place the same way Luke did: Kalisha, Nick, George, Iris, and 10-year-old Avery Dixon.
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3 out of 5 stars
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I really wanted to like this novel.. but..
- By Wendi on 09-21-19
- The Institute
- A Novel
- By: Stephen King
- Narrated by: Santino Fontana
Quite terrible
Reviewed: 11-03-19
I have enjoyed so much of Stephen King’s work, but I can’t recommend this latest. Zero character development, the story is flat and overly long, with very little to hold your attention. It was a slog to finish .
The children were written SO badly that I was embarrassed for him. Dialogue like “Put an egg in your shoe and beat it” used multiple times by modern day kids? Not likely.
The narrator is not my favorite. He made strange, cartoon like accents for most of the characters and would often neglect to return to his neutral voice once a character stopped speaking and he continued the narrative.
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1 person found this helpful
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The Burgess Boys
- A Novel
- By: Elizabeth Strout
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 13 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,483
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 1,292
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Story4 out of 5 stars 1,290
Haunted by the freak accident that killed their father when they were children, Jim and Bob Burgess escaped from their Maine hometown of Shirley Falls for New York City as soon as they possibly could. Jim, a sleek, successful corporate lawyer, has belittled his bighearted brother their whole lives, and Bob, a Legal Aid attorney who idolizes Jim, has always taken it in stride. But their long-standing dynamic is upended when their sister, Susan - the Burgess sibling who stayed behind - urgently calls them home.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Some Secrets Shouldn't be Kept
- By Susianna on 03-30-13
- The Burgess Boys
- A Novel
- By: Elizabeth Strout
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
What a nothing burger!
Reviewed: 07-24-18
There’s no plot, the story meanders around in aimless circles, populated by forgettable characters. This book left such a faint impression on me that while I just finished listening to it, I’ve already forgotten it. If I had to give a fellow reader a synopsis, I’d fail. Very disappointing, given the high standard set by Olive Kitteridge.
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The Designer
- By: Marius Gabriel
- Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld
- Length: 11 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,274
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,132
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Story4 out of 5 stars 1,129
In 1944, newly married Copper Reilly arrives in Paris soon after the liberation. While the city celebrates its freedom, she's stuck in the prison of an unhappy marriage. When her husband commits one betrayal too many, Copper demands a separation. Alone in Paris, she finds an unlikely new friend: an obscure, middle-aged designer from the back rooms of a decaying fashion house whose timid nature and reluctance for fame clash with the bold brilliance of his designs. His name is Christian Dior.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Copper Is A Feminist Before It Was Cool—1944!
- By Linda on 10-18-17
- The Designer
- By: Marius Gabriel
- Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld
Just awful
Reviewed: 06-10-18
Where to begin? The narrator speaks so slowly, with lengthy pauses between sentences, so I listened at 1.5 speed, which of course, made it sound strange. There is not much story here and even less character development (at one point, Copper enters into a gay relationship, for what reason is never understood). I’m struggling to finish it, with 3 hours left.
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The Good Girl
- By: Mary Kubica
- Narrated by: Lindy Nettleton, Johnny Heller, Tom Taylorson, and others
- Length: 10 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 21,339
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 19,019
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Story4 out of 5 stars 18,984
Born to a prominent Chicago judge and his stifled socialite wife, Mia Dennett moves against the grain as a young inner-city art teacher. One night, Mia enters a bar to meet her on-again, off-again boyfriend. But when he doesn't show, she unwisely leaves with an enigmatic stranger. With his smooth moves and modest wit, Colin Thatcher seems at first like a safe one-night stand. But following Colin home will turn out to be the worst mistake of Mia's life.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Brilliant performances, moving story
- By Roger on 09-11-14
- The Good Girl
- By: Mary Kubica
- Narrated by: Lindy Nettleton, Johnny Heller, Tom Taylorson, Andi Arndt
Not worth the zero dollars I paid for it
Reviewed: 11-16-17
Wow, just terrible. Tried this book because it was a special sale offering at “free”....no money lost, but I’ll never get the time back that I wasted listening to it. The pace was slow, plot unbelievable, characters one-dimensional and plot missing.
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2 people found this helpful
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A Gentleman in Moscow
- A Novel
- By: Amor Towles
- Narrated by: Nicholas Guy Smith
- Length: 17 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 45,054
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 40,767
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 40,596
In 1922, Count Alexander Rostov is deemed an unrepentant aristocrat by a Bolshevik tribunal, and is sentenced to house arrest in the Metropol, a grand hotel across the street from the Kremlin. Rostov, an indomitable man of erudition and wit, has never worked a day in his life, and must now live in an attic room while some of the most tumultuous decades in Russian history are unfolding outside the hotel’s doors. Unexpectedly, his reduced circumstances provide him entry into a much larger world of emotional discovery.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A Reprieve Amidst Ugly News, Relentless Negativity
- By Cathy Lindhorst on 08-27-17
- A Gentleman in Moscow
- A Novel
- By: Amor Towles
- Narrated by: Nicholas Guy Smith
Mystified by all the positive reviews
Reviewed: 07-08-17
Just UGH. I slogged through this incredibly slow, tedious, dull book only because I didn't want to take advantage of my Audible membership by returning (as I had recently returned another book).
Good gawd - there is NO story here! Nothing happens, there is no conflict, no character development, no plot of any kind.
I would rather sit in an isolation chamber for 18 hours rather than listen to it again.
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