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Blacktop Wasteland
- A Novel
- Narrated by: Adam Lazarre-White
- Length: 11 hrs and 8 mins
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Blacktop Wasteland
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Razorblade Tears
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- Written by: S. A. Cosby
- Narrated by: Adam Lazarre-White
- Length: 12 hrs
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 81
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 73
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 73
Ike Randolph has been out of jail for fifteen years, with not so much as a speeding ticket in all that time. But a Black man with cops at the door knows to be afraid. The last thing he expects to hear is that his son Isiah has been murdered, along with Isiah’s white husband, Derek. Ike had never fully accepted his son but is devastated by his loss. Derek’s father Buddy Lee was almost as ashamed of Derek for being gay as Derek was ashamed his father was a criminal. Buddy Lee still has contacts in the underworld, though, and he wants to know who killed his boy.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Fantastic book!
- By Anonymous User on 2023-04-27
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All the Sinners Bleed
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 18
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 16
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Titus Crown is the first Black sheriff in the history of Charon County, Virginia. In recent decades, quiet Charon has had only two murders. But after years of working as an FBI agent, Titus knows better than anyone that while his hometown might seem like a land of moonshine, cornbread, and honeysuckle, secrets always fester under the surface. Then a year to the day after Titus’s election, a school teacher is killed by a former student and the student is fatally shot by Titus’s deputies. As Titus investigates the shootings, he unearths terrible crimes.
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5 out of 5 stars
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More Titus Tales Please
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My Darkest Prayer
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 12
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 11
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 11
Whether it's working at his cousin's funeral home or tossing around the local riffraff at his favorite bar, Nathan Waymaker is a man who knows how to handle the bodies. A former marine and sheriff's deputy, Nathan has built a reputation in his small Southern town as a man who can help when all other avenues have been exhausted. When a beloved local minister is found dead, his parishioners ask Nathan to make sure the death isn’t swept under the rug.
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5 out of 5 stars
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First from this Author!
- By Anonymous User on 2023-06-29
Written by: S. A. Cosby
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My Heart Is a Chainsaw
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 59
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 53
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Alma Katsu calls My Heart Is a Chainsaw “a homage to slasher films that also manages to defy and transcend genre.” On the surface is a story of murder in small-town America. But beneath is its beating heart: a biting critique of American colonialism, Indigenous displacement, and gentrification, and a heartbreaking portrait of a broken young girl who uses horror movies to cope with the horror of her own life.
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 80
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 70
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Two criminal empires together control all of New England. Until a beautiful modern-day Helen of Troy comes between the Irish and the Italians, launching a war that will see them kill each other, destroy an alliance, and set a city on fire.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Ok
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Near the Bone
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- Length: 8 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 32
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 29
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Mattie can't remember a time before she and William lived alone on a mountain together. She must never make him upset. But when Mattie discovers the mutilated body of a fox in the woods, she realizes that they’re not alone after all. There’s something in the woods that wasn’t there before, something that makes strange cries in the night, something with sharp teeth and claws. When three strangers appear on the mountaintop looking for the creature in the woods, Mattie knows their presence will anger William. Terrible things happen when William is angry.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Nonstop fear
- By Scott Reid on 2023-06-24
Written by: Christina Henry
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Razorblade Tears
- A Novel
- Written by: S. A. Cosby
- Narrated by: Adam Lazarre-White
- Length: 12 hrs
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 81
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 73
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 73
Ike Randolph has been out of jail for fifteen years, with not so much as a speeding ticket in all that time. But a Black man with cops at the door knows to be afraid. The last thing he expects to hear is that his son Isiah has been murdered, along with Isiah’s white husband, Derek. Ike had never fully accepted his son but is devastated by his loss. Derek’s father Buddy Lee was almost as ashamed of Derek for being gay as Derek was ashamed his father was a criminal. Buddy Lee still has contacts in the underworld, though, and he wants to know who killed his boy.
-
5 out of 5 stars
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Fantastic book!
- By Anonymous User on 2023-04-27
Written by: S. A. Cosby
-
All the Sinners Bleed
- A Novel
- Written by: S. A. Cosby
- Narrated by: Adam Lazarre-White
- Length: 13 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 18
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 16
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 16
Titus Crown is the first Black sheriff in the history of Charon County, Virginia. In recent decades, quiet Charon has had only two murders. But after years of working as an FBI agent, Titus knows better than anyone that while his hometown might seem like a land of moonshine, cornbread, and honeysuckle, secrets always fester under the surface. Then a year to the day after Titus’s election, a school teacher is killed by a former student and the student is fatally shot by Titus’s deputies. As Titus investigates the shootings, he unearths terrible crimes.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
More Titus Tales Please
- By Michelle MacDonald on 2023-07-19
Written by: S. A. Cosby
-
My Darkest Prayer
- A Novel
- Written by: S. A. Cosby
- Narrated by: Adam Lazarre-White
- Length: 9 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 12
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 11
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 11
Whether it's working at his cousin's funeral home or tossing around the local riffraff at his favorite bar, Nathan Waymaker is a man who knows how to handle the bodies. A former marine and sheriff's deputy, Nathan has built a reputation in his small Southern town as a man who can help when all other avenues have been exhausted. When a beloved local minister is found dead, his parishioners ask Nathan to make sure the death isn’t swept under the rug.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
First from this Author!
- By Anonymous User on 2023-06-29
Written by: S. A. Cosby
-
My Heart Is a Chainsaw
- Written by: Stephen Graham Jones
- Narrated by: Cara Gee
- Length: 13 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 59
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 53
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 52
Alma Katsu calls My Heart Is a Chainsaw “a homage to slasher films that also manages to defy and transcend genre.” On the surface is a story of murder in small-town America. But beneath is its beating heart: a biting critique of American colonialism, Indigenous displacement, and gentrification, and a heartbreaking portrait of a broken young girl who uses horror movies to cope with the horror of her own life.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
No neat little bow
- By Lar on 2023-09-11
Written by: Stephen Graham Jones
-
City on Fire
- A Novel
- Written by: Don Winslow
- Narrated by: Ari Fliakos
- Length: 8 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 80
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 70
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 69
Two criminal empires together control all of New England. Until a beautiful modern-day Helen of Troy comes between the Irish and the Italians, launching a war that will see them kill each other, destroy an alliance, and set a city on fire.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Ok
- By Lisa on 2023-07-09
Written by: Don Winslow
-
Near the Bone
- Written by: Christina Henry
- Narrated by: Lisa Flanagan
- Length: 8 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 32
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 29
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 29
Mattie can't remember a time before she and William lived alone on a mountain together. She must never make him upset. But when Mattie discovers the mutilated body of a fox in the woods, she realizes that they’re not alone after all. There’s something in the woods that wasn’t there before, something that makes strange cries in the night, something with sharp teeth and claws. When three strangers appear on the mountaintop looking for the creature in the woods, Mattie knows their presence will anger William. Terrible things happen when William is angry.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Nonstop fear
- By Scott Reid on 2023-06-24
Written by: Christina Henry
Publisher's Summary
2020 LA Times Book Prize - Winner
2021 Anthony Awards - Nominee
2020 Amazon.com Best Books of the Year
2020 Library Journal Best Books of the Year
2020 NPR Best Book of the Year
2020 New York Times Book Review Notable Books of the Year
2020 LA Times Book Prize - Finalist
"Narrator Adam Lazarre-White's voice exudes confidence and depth; his performance is an example of how the best audiobooks deliver pure storytelling." (AudioFile Magazine, Earphones Award winner)
A husband, a father, a son, a business owner...and the best getaway driver east of the Mississippi.
This program includes a bonus conversation with the author.
Beauregard “Bug” Montage is an honest mechanic, a loving husband, and a hardworking dad. Bug knows there’s no future in the man he used to be: Known from the hills of North Carolina to the beaches of Florida as the best wheelman on the East Coast. He thought he'd left all that behind him, but as his carefully built new life begins to crumble, he finds himself drawn inexorably back into a world of blood and bullets.
When a smooth-talking former associate comes calling with a can't-miss jewelry store heist, Bug feels he has no choice but to get back in the driver's seat. And Bug is at his best where the scent of gasoline mixes with the smell of fear.
Haunted by the ghost of who he used to be and the father who disappeared when he needed him most, Bug must find a way to navigate this blacktop wasteland...or die trying.
Like Ocean’s Eleven meets Drive, with a Southern noir twist, S. A. Cosby’s Blacktop Wasteland is a searing, operatic story of a man pushed to his limits by poverty, race, and his own former life of crime.
A Macmillan Audio production from Flatiron Books
“Sensationally good - new, fresh, real, authentic, twisty, with characters and dilemmas that will break your heart. More than recommended.” (Lee Child)
"A fast-paced, fresh take on noir that tears through the underbelly of Virginia." (New York Times)
“Blacktop Wasteland is a guaranteed thriller-of-the-year with muscle and heart and characters who will linger long after the last page is read. S.A. Cosby writes with grit and grace. Do not miss this one.” (Michael Koryta, best-selling author of Those Who Wish Me Dead)
What the critics say
"Narrator Adam Lazarre-White's voice exudes confidence and depth; his performance is an example of how the best audiobooks deliver pure storytelling." (AudioFile Magazine, Earphones Award winner)
Featured Article: 12 Unpausable Can’t Miss Thriller Audiobooks
There is nothing like a great thriller to hook you in, grab your attention, and leave you hanging on every word. Thrillers are some of the most exciting audiobooks out there, and the power of a well-told suspenseful story is virtually unrivalled. From murder mysteries to psychological thrillers, action-packed plots, or intriguing characters, audiobooks in the thriller genre will keep listeners coming back for more. Here we’ve compiled a list of the most unpausable thrillers that will have listeners unable to stop.
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What listeners love about Blacktop Wasteland
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Christina Crawford
- 2020-07-22
Really worthwhile listen.
This one grabbed right from the start, and my interest never flagged. Though flawed, Beauregard tries hard to lead an honest life, be a decent husband, loving father, businessman. However, ia lapse of judgment and hard times, set him and his family on road to disaster. All the characters become so real, you can “see” them. It’s just a fully realized story, not just about cars, crime, hard choices. It’s also about love, caring among friends, family. I especially liked the ending, especially as I believed Beau would not survive last confrontation with Lazy crime boss. Just a great story about choices which determine who we are. Hope this author has a sequel coming soon.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 2020-08-03
What a ride!
man from the first pages of this book and the way the first scentece is written and described makes me feel like I was there. But be prepared once you start this baby there's no shutting down till there's no more pages to turn or minutes to burn. S.A. Cosby really wrote a classic here.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Isaac
- 2022-12-06
Great story and narration
I loved the story and felt the narration was excellent. There were some minor imperfections in the writing, such as predictability, odd POV shifts and over explanation when just painting a picture would have sufficed. However, there were sections of writing that were pure literature - capturing an American reality that is under represented in novels.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- L. Kelman
- 2022-07-13
Authentic story telling
This book was good from start to finish. Colorful characters with context and a great set of action sequences.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- stuartjash
- 2020-07-16
Fantastic All Around
I won't even write a narrator review, simply because Adam Lazare-White perfectly fit this role, and he was absolutely incredible!
I don't know if it's accurate to call BLACKTOP WASTELAND S.A. Cosby's a debut, but if so, this is one of the best debut novels I've ever read. I haven't enjoyed a new author like this since I read Jack Carr's THE TERMINAL LIST.
Beauregard "Bug" is an amazing character. He's not only incredibly dynamic, but it feels like you literally see the character develop right before your eyes. This book felt like a biography or memoir, and it was so real.
This novel kept the petal to the floor - figuratively and literally. I steered through this book in one day. It flew by just like the asphalt underneath Bug. This book has accelerated to then top of my 2020 Reading List as one of my favorites, and it will be one of those books I plan to revisit again and again. It was captivating and was a non-stop thrill ride. Okay, enough with the puns.
Fantastic novel! Highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys thrillers!
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33 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Dobbs
- 2020-07-18
Decent crime novel
The story and characters are fine -- not fantastic but certainly not lacking. However, the writing is really strained. I was tired of the terrible similes about 5 minutes in (seriously, in the first few pages parts of the car are described as being like a cat, like an eagle, like a lion, like a dragon... etc.) and they never seem to end, seemingly minute after minute like waves breaking on the shore -- but they don't break, they just lap because none are dynamic -- they're either strained or they're flat; completely uninspired. I literally rolled my eyes at "like zealots..." in chapter 14.
That said, I do think the book is worth a listen and hope my review doesn't scare anyone away, but I really hope Cosby's editor has a thicker blue pencil next time around. One outstanding simile in a book is far better than 300 bad ones.
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24 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Kindle Customer
- 2020-12-06
Excellent Read
Powerful all the way to the end. Hope this will be a series or at least a second book. I can’t wait to see what happens next in Beauregard's life.
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10 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Ted
- 2021-01-29
Compelling Masterwork
I liked Joe Ide's first novel, IQ. Not so much the successors. Hard for me to believe, but I enjoyed Blacktop Wasteland even more. The books aren't derivative, yet their protagonists in motivation and talents are hauntingly similar. Don't know which came first. Don't care. Although I might have enjoyed IQ less had I read this S.A. Cosby book first.
Adam Lazarre-White's voice feels as compellingly authentic as Cosby's writing. They take me to a place and moment so dramatically... I felt like a witness.
Black Wasteland is a towering crime novel... more importantly it's a greater visit into a bicameral mind that's struggling to pull itself into one whole... struggling to join its understandably fractured pieces. It's also a visit into a culture which generates an ensemble that's simultaneously scary yet logical in its adherence to the rules of survival.
Here's a book that will stay with me written by a master.
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9 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Nicole
- 2020-12-14
Southern rural gangster noir
Action: Gritty, fast-paced, and completely absorbing.
Characters: Predictable, maybe a tad dull.
Prose style: Plenty of wry one-liners, like “He was about as useful as a white crayon,” and “The needle on the temperature gauge was so far in the red, it needed to file for bankruptcy.”
The style can be too on-the-nose: “Beauregard’s mind played him scenes from the past like a home movie spliced together from old 8-millimeter reels.” and “Moths danced around the yellow porch light. Drawn to their death by the same thing that fascinated them.”
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9 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Brent
- 2020-11-08
Needed this one
So glad to have come across this one, it really snapped me out of the doldrums
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8 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- up2me
- 2020-12-19
Loved this book!
The narrator was excellent, the story was profound, the characters were fully realized and I simply loved this book! Listen! Now!
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7 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Jonathan Lee
- 2020-11-25
Phenomenal!
outstanding book! I couldn't put it down, couldn't stop listening to it. the characters are so real and visceral. cannot recommend this book highly enough!
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7 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- David
- 2020-11-24
Gripping
Red clay, white lines, black hearts. Gripping story that races from the first page. The narrator and characters make this poverty-soaked story oh so rich.
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6 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anne Kessler
- 2020-11-16
very well written, dynamic
Although not my typical subject matter i was rapt from the beginning and really cared about the characters
Terrific read.
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6 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Judith Dubois
- 2021-07-14
Great action filled page turner.
Fantastic! And scary. Loved the characters. A vision of the South that is refreshingly different.
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