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  • Ashley Bell

  • Written by: Dean Koontz
  • Narrated by: Suzy Jackson
  • Length: 17 hrs and 26 mins
  • 3.8 out of 5 stars (66 ratings)

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Ashley Bell cover art

Ashley Bell

Written by: Dean Koontz
Narrated by: Suzy Jackson
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Publisher's Summary

Who is Ashley Bell? From number-one New York Times best-selling author Dean Koontz comes the must-listen thriller of the year, perfect for listeners of dark psychological suspense and modern classics of mystery and adventure. Brilliantly paced, with an exhilarating heroine and a twisting, ingenious storyline, Ashley Bell is a new milestone in literary suspense from the long-acclaimed master.

©2015 Dean Koontz (P)2015 Recorded Books

What the critics say

"[Suzy] Jackson narrates with verve and also conveys a folksy quality in Bibi's dialogue with friends, her parents, and her boyfriend, a Navy SEAL. With dramatic flair, Jackson collapses the distance between the protagonist and listeners. Her deliberate pacing and Koontz's inventiveness as a storyteller are a terrific pairing." (AudioFile)

What listeners say about Ashley Bell

Average Customer Ratings
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

the narrator is perfect for this story

loved the story and the performance. action packed right from the beginning to the end

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A mystery

While you're not likely to find this story to be fast paced or pulse pounding there's a mystery that draws you in to the story and an investment in the characters that invoked a need to find the answers. There's a magical quality to many of Dean Koontzs' novels that can't be found in other authors. Included within are enough twists to keep you guessing and as always beautifully written 💖

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Typically "Interesting" Koontz Characters

Struggling 22-year-old author & child of surf-culture 'Bibi Blair' - miraculously cured of cancer by a Golden Retriever that reminds her of her beloved OTRB companion 'Olaf' - is introduced by a psychic masseuse named 'Calida Butterfly' to the concept that, in exchange for her reprieve from death, she has to find and save a mysterious girl known as 'Ashley Bell' - while avoiding "The Wrong People" (mystically-obsessed Nazis) who want to hunt them down. Dean Koontz's unmatched imagination takes readers on an adequately-plotted, often bizarre/always quirky rollercoaster-ride of a paranormal-infused quest.
It doesn't attain the quality of other Koontz offerings (almost reading like a "stream-of-consciousness" exercise at times), but this book is undeniably well-written, thought-provoking, and populated by his characteristic intriguing oddballs.

Reader Suzy Jackson actually strives to *improve* the text.. but falls short. Her diction, timbre, and tone are unimpeachable, her emotiveness is praiseworthy, and she's backed up by exemplary technical support from Recorded Books engineers - but her reading cadence incorporates awkward injudicious pauses (improved with setting playback speed at 1.10X) and her character repertoire includes shrill interpretations of children & annoying "deep-voiced" caricatures of males. In toto, the performance on this project is "average" at best.

The book is also unnecessarily long - but a reasonable 7/10-star distraction for a few quiet afternoons (particularly for those accustomed to Dean Koontz storytelling). When Audible asks for a Credit, however (I got this book as a 'Plus' selection), you can find better options - including Koontz offerings - for your money.

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1 person found this helpful

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

Like watching paint dry

The entire audiobook was shallow, slow and repetitive. I wish I could this time back. Yuck.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Slow, Unoriginal “Wizard-of-Oz”-ish

A girl falls into a deep slumber after a traumatic event and has a dream of a parallel world where her friends and family exist, but not really. I had several thoughts of The Wizard of Oz as I listened to the story; it moved incredibly slow and was extremely predictable; if you’re into mystery, suspense or page-turners, give this one a skip; the actual structure of the writing and the storytelling ability of the author is very impressive. I may try another one of his books just because I like his style. This story wasn’t my favorite.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Very wordy

I actually read the first 21 chapters skipped to the middle and randomly read about three chapters that sounded relevant then went to chapter 121 and finished from there. Don’t think I missed much. Okay book just not a 13 hour novel. Should have been about 7

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1 person found this helpful

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

DNF

Weird story. Thought it might get better as it went on but wasn’t interested at all. DNF at about 30%

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Unlike the majority of his work

A little slow at times, but I could tell Dean was having the time of his life writing this book, digging deep into the character of Bibi. Though different, she is as well-drawn as Odd Thomas, one of Dean Koontz's most-beloved characters.

The length of ASHLEY BELL, the complexities to it, the darkness, the weirdness, the way it becomes a book about writing and the imagination as much as it is a Dean Koontz thriller—all that may dissuade his readers from getting into it. It's quite unlike the majority of his work. If you find his stuff can be a bit formulaic, check out ASHLEY BELL. The dog bits really don't make up much of the plot.

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1 person found this helpful

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

Loooong

This was a hard one to finish. It had good reviews so i was surprised.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Ashley Bell

Had me in the edge of my seat. I enjoyed Suzy Jackson’s narration. Delightful and well done.

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