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The Invited

Written by: Jennifer McMahon
Narrated by: Amanda Carlin, Justine Eyre
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Publisher's Summary

A chilling ghost story with a twist: The New York Times best-selling author of The Winter People returns to the woods of Vermont to tell the story of a husband and wife who don't simply move into a haunted house - they build one....

In a quest for a simpler life, Helen and Nate have abandoned the comforts of suburbia to take up residence on 44 acres of rural land where they will begin the ultimate, aspirational do-it-yourself project: building the house of their dreams.

When they discover that this beautiful property has a dark and violent past, Helen, a former history teacher, becomes consumed by the local legend of Hattie Breckenridge, a woman who lived and died there a century ago. With her passion for artifacts, Helen finds special materials to incorporate into the house - a beam from an old schoolroom, bricks from a mill, a mantel from a farmhouse - objects that draw her deeper into the story of Hattie and her descendants, three generations of Breckenridge women, each of whom died suspiciously.

As the building project progresses, the house will become a place of menace and unfinished business: a new home, now haunted, that beckons its owners and their neighbors toward unimaginable danger.

©2019 Jennifer McMahon (P)2019 Random House Audio
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What the critics say

“Entertaining. . . powerful. . . supplies a plethora of frights that emerge from believable characters trying to navigate normal lives. McMahon again proves that the modern ghost story is more than things that go bump in the night. It hinges on reality, slowly building to a terror that seems real and sometimes personal, as it does in THE INVITED.”—Minneapolis Star Tribune

“McMahon blends her historical tale of rural Vermont with some crafty ghost stories and makes it impossible for the reader to turn away.”—Suspense Magazine

“[The] blend of ghost story and modern mystery is flawlessly compelling and evocative. A masterful twist on the haunted-house story.”—Booklist (starred review)

What listeners say about The Invited

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amazing

I loved this book, it had me guessing until the end. go get it now!

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Awesome story, girl narrator awful

It's an amazing story. But the female narrator sounds so whinny or something,, it was painful listening to her. But the story was so captivating

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Great story

I enjoyed the story even though the ending was predictable. I did NOT enjoy the narration! At first I thought it was a robotic voice because of the odd inflection at the end of words. It took me a bit longer to get through because I needed breaks from the voice.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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Good Ghost Story

Unexpected twists and turns, although some things were easy to deduce. Surprise ending though. Enjoyable!

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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Great story

It got predictable but I enjoyed the characters and storyline. Great voice acting too 7/10 .

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Worth the Bad Narrator

As other reviews have said, the narrator has some weird accent/inflection to her voice that is very annoying. Examples:
kill = kell
phone of the hook = off the hawk
trick = treck
for = forre

It is very distracting throughout the book, but if you can get past the first couple chapters you do get mostly used to it. I'd say I'm still happy with the audiobook because the story is engaging and well written. The main character is a bit unlikeable at times, but realistic. People have faults and don't always think rationally, as do the characters.

This is the second Jennifer McMahon book I've read and I really like her writing style and the spooky environments she creates. After listening to this one, I'll go back for more, just hopefully with a different narrator.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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Couldn’t listen to the book

My fault, should have listened to the sample more closely. The narrator’s affectation was too much.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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Can't get past the narrator

I'm aborting this mission less than 2 chapters in. The narrator is unlistenable. I don't know what she's doing with her voice at the end of every sentence but it's weird and totally distracting.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Listen To The Sample Before Purchase

You may, like me, be able to get past inadequate narration. I found that the subpar reading of 'The Invited' got more tolerable as the story progressed and setting playback speed to 1.15X softened some of the deficiencies in Justine Eyre's performance - but other reviewers are correct: the reading is hard to get past. You could legitimately decide to pass.. or perhaps buy the text version of this decent ghost story instead.
Eyre has an odd lilting cadence, a nasal tone, and a striking sibilance (hard 's's are softened admirably by the Random House Audio sound engineers.. but still notable).
[N.B: The chapters read by Amanda Carlin are marginally better, but the overall narration is not good].

More fortunately, Jennifer McMahon's story about intentionally building a portal house for spirits on haunted property is an interesting twist on the 'Haunted House' trope. McMahon incorporates some clichés, but does a very good job generating relatable characters, building tension, and describing creepy events vividly.

In toto, this book is likely worth 8.5 stars out of 10.. but the narration takes it down to 4.5. It's still well-worth reading, but the performances may be a game-changer for you. Regardless, horror fans who decide to give it a go should run the playback speed a little higher.

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1 person found this helpful