Sponsored by The audiobook edition of The Shadows by Alex North, read by Hannah Arterton and John Heffernan.
Stranger Things meets Stephen King’s The Outsider as Alex North returns for another poignant and terrifying supernatural thriller about the sacrifices parents make for their children. Alex Michaelides, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller The Silent Patient, says “If you liked The Whisper Man, you’ll love this. Hugely atmospheric and deliciously creepy, it’s about how the past encroaches on the present, and how dreaming influences reality, until in the frightening world of The Shadows, it becomes harder and harder to tell one from the other… and the nightmare takes over.”
Hola Audiophiles! Como estan? I didn’t get much audiobooking done (or any other reading, for that matter) on account of a temp job I took while sheltering in place in San Diego for the last three weeks. My boss required a constant supply of snacks and chocolate milk, demanded I play Trolls World Tour and his five favorite songs on repeat, and snapped his fingers at me to insist I join him in impromptu dance parties at all hours of the day! Good thing he’s cute, a toddler, and my nephew or I’d have quit on that tiny tyrant.
I’m back in PDX now and have a fresh batch of new audiobooks for you plus lots of Riot audiobook content for you, too.
Ready? Let’s audio.
New Releases – July 7 (publisher descriptions in quotes)
Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall, read by Joe Jameson (romance) – Luc O’Donnell is sort of famous by association, the son of rockstar parents who split up when he was a kid. His dad spent two decades in and out of rehab but is bracing for a comeback, which means Luc will be back in the public eye, too, When one compromising photo threatens to ruin everything, Luc decides a relationship with nice, sweet, squeaky-clean Oliver is the perfect way to clean up his own image. They have close to nada in common, so a fake relationship it is! You know where this is headed…. smoochtown, party of two. (Related: an excellent Twitter thread by Alexis Hall on writing (and reading) queer joy as a political act, a concept I think applies to joy in so many marginalized communities. Also a reminder of how much I enjoy the word “bollocks.”)
Narrator Note: Did you enjoy The Third Wife by Lisa Jewell? Joe Jameson reads that as well as the Spellslinger series by Sebastien de Castell, and lots of other titles.
The Golden Thread by Ravi Somaiya, read by the author (nonfiction, history) – “On Sept. 17, 1961, Dag Hammarskjöld boarded a Douglas DC6 propeller plane on the sweltering tarmac of the airport in Leopoldville, the capital of the Congo. Hours later, he would be found dead in an African jungle with an ace of spades playing card placed on his body.” Sounds like the plot of a thriller, right? Proof yet again that truth is stranger than fiction, and that investigative reporting can be hella interesting to read about.
Narrator Note: The sample of this audiobook convinced me about five seconds in. Somaiya’s voice has the same effect as Colin Firth’s does on me: it calms me and I want to know more.
One to Watch by Kate Stayman-London, read by Kristen Sieh (fiction) – Bea is a super stylish plus-size blogger who’s nursing a broken heart. I’m quoting this next part because it made me LOL for real: “Like the rest of America, Bea indulges in her weekly obsession: the hit reality show Main Squeeze. The fantasy dates! The kiss-off rejections! The surprising amount of guys named Chad!” Though she loves the show, she’s also sick and tired of its lack of body diversity (can I get an amen???). Right when she’s ready to give up on dating entirely, the show calls and asks her to be a contestant. She agrees to go on while making a silent promise to herself: she will under no circumstances fall in love. Try as she might to convince herself that she’s only doing this for exposure and a boost to her career, it all gets a little messy and tangled once the cameras start rolling.
Narrator Note: You may recognize Kristen Sieh from a couple of Hank Green titles or Blitzed by Alexa Martin.
The Son of Good Fortune by Lysley Tenorio, read by Reuben Uy (fiction) – Excel has lived a life of paranoia and secrecy ever since his mother, a former Filipina B-movie action star who now makes her living scamming men online, revealed that Excel is undocumented on his 10th birthday. He’s kept this secret for fear of uprooting his entire life, but now decides to join his girlfriend on a journey south to a fringe desert town outside the normal constructs of society. “After so many years of trying to be invisible, who does he want to become? And is it possible to put down roots in a country that has always considered you an outsider?” Side note: Excel works at a spy-themed pizza shop called The Pie Who Loved Me and I could not love that more.
Narrator Note: Reuben Uy also narrates Lysley Tenorio’s Monstress, a collection from a few years ago that touched on many of the same theme explored in his latest. I highly recommend it.
Latest Listens
As I mentioned earlier, I’m back in Portland and getting back into a reading flow (slowly, don’t at me). I’m almost done with TJ Klune’s The Extraordinaries and unless it totally goes off the rails in this last bit, I think I’m going to love it! This is Klune’s YA debut, one I knew I had to pick up when a Goodreads user called it “soft superhero queer disaster” under a glowing review. It’s delightfully queer AF, kind of cheesy in the best way, and features ADHD representation. Full review next week, but go find some more titles read by Michael Lesley in the meantime. I’m fully prepared to get the rest of his catalog in my queue ASAP. Talk about a dynamic performer!
From the Internets
Summer is for road trips and road trips are for audiobooks! Okay so those road tips may just be a roundtrip journey in your car to get out of the house for awhile thanks to our dear, dear friend La Rona, but audiobooks don’t care that your destination isn’t a vacay locale.
Over at the Riot
Do you know the difference between an audio drama and a full cast audiobook?
In the mood for a thrilling audiobook with complicated relationships? We gotchu.
“But Vanessa, we want more audiobook mysteries!” Well alright then, here you go!
On a recent episode of For Real, our nonfiction podcast, Alice and Kim discussed podcast-ish audiobooks.
Thanks for hanging with me today! Shoot me an email at vanessa@riotnewmedia.com with with all things audiobook or find me on Twitter and the gram @buenosdiazsd. Sign up for the In The Club newsletter, catch me once a month on the All the Books podcast, and watch me ramble about even more new books every Tuesday on our YouTube channel.
Stay bad & bookish, my friends.
Vanessa