Listen free for 30 days
-
Diavola
- Narrated by: Andi Arndt
- Length: 10 hrs and 10 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wish list failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy Now for $35.34
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Publisher's Summary
Anna has two rules for the annual Pace family destination vacations: Tread lightly and survive. It isn’t easy when she’s the only one in the family who doesn’t quite fit in. Her twin brother, Benny, goes with the flow so much he’s practically dissolved, and her older sister, Nicole, is so used to everyone—including her blandly docile husband and two kids—falling in line that Anna often ends up in trouble for simply asking a question. Mom seizes every opportunity to question her life choices, and Dad, when not reminding everyone who paid for this vacation, just wants some peace and quiet.
The gorgeous, remote villa in tiny Monteperso seems like a perfect place to endure so much family togetherness—until things start going off the rails—the strange noises at night, the unsettling warnings from the local villagers, and the dark, violent past of the villa itself...
Jennifer Thorne skewers all-too-familiar family dynamics in this sly, wickedly funny vacation-Gothic. Beautifully unhinged and deeply satisfying, Diavola is a sharp twist on the classic haunted house story, exploring loneliness, belonging, and the seemingly inescapable bonds of family mythology.
(Warning: May invoke feelings of irritation, dread, and despair that come with large family gatherings.)
You may also enjoy...
-
Mother Howl
- Written by: Craig Clevenger
- Narrated by: Greg Lockett
- Length: 11 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sixteen-year-old Lyle Edison recognizes the face of a murder victim on the nightly news–the waitress at his local diner. A place he often frequented with his dad. The following day, his father is arrested and charged with her murder. And then, eight further bodies are discovered.
Written by: Craig Clevenger
-
The Package
- Written by: Sebastian Fitzek
- Narrated by: Ari Fliakos
- Length: 6 hrs and 37 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Emma is the one that got away. The only survivor of a serial killer known in the tabloids as “The Hairdresser”, because of the trophies he takes from his victims. The police aren't convinced. Nor is her husband. She never actually saw her tormentor properly, but now she recognizes him in every man she sees. Haunted by the horrifying incident and unwanted notoriety, Emma gives up her job as a psychiatrist and retreats from the outside world to recuperate at home, where it’s quiet. Where she can be anonymous and safe. Where no one can hurt her.
-
-
It was ok
- By Michelle on 2024-07-28
Written by: Sebastian Fitzek
-
What Happened to Nina?
- A Novel
- Written by: Dervla McTiernan
- Narrated by: Kristen Sieh, Stacey Glemboski, Lisa Flanagan, and others
- Length: 10 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nina and Simon are the perfect couple. Young, fun and deeply in love. Until they leave for a weekend at his family’s cabin in Vermont, and only Simon comes home.
-
-
Riveting
- By Kathy on 2024-05-19
Written by: Dervla McTiernan
-
The Cemetery of Untold Stories
- Written by: Julia Alvarez
- Narrated by: Alma Cuervo
- Length: 8 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Alma Cruz, the celebrated writer at the heart of The Cemetery of Untold Stories, doesn’t want to end up like her friend, a novelist who fought so long and hard to finish a book that it threatened her sanity. So when Alma inherits a small plot of land in the Dominican Republic, her homeland, she has the beautiful idea of turning it into a place to bury her untold stories—literally. She creates a graveyard for the manuscript drafts and revisions, and the characters whose lives she tried and failed to bring to life and who still haunt her.
-
-
Creative and fresh
- By Joan M on 2024-08-16
Written by: Julia Alvarez
-
The Memory of Lavender and Sage
- Written by: Aimie K. Runyan
- Narrated by: Caroline Hewitt
- Length: 10 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Food critic Tempèsta Luddington has always felt like the odd person out in her family, ever since she lost her beloved mother at the tender age of thirteen. When her workaholic father passes fifteen years later, Tempèsta is not surprised that the majority of the considerable family money will pass to her dutiful younger brother, Wal. Still, she is left a modest remembrance from her mother, and for the first time Tempèsta has a world of choices before her.
-
-
Lovely, warm, comforting, hopeful
- By Georgina on 2024-08-20
Written by: Aimie K. Runyan
-
The Lost Letters of Aisling
- A Novel
- Written by: Cynthia Ellingsen
- Narrated by: Aoife McMahon, Stephanie Cannon
- Length: 9 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Rainey’s grandmother makes a startling request: Take me home. To Ireland, the country she fled post-World War II. Though they’re inseparably close, Rainey knows few of her grandmother’s secrets. Until they arrive at Aisling—the majestic estate on the southern coast of Ireland where her grandmother was raised—and Rainey discovers a collection of seventy-year-old letters in a trunk.
Written by: Cynthia Ellingsen
-
Mother Howl
- Written by: Craig Clevenger
- Narrated by: Greg Lockett
- Length: 11 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sixteen-year-old Lyle Edison recognizes the face of a murder victim on the nightly news–the waitress at his local diner. A place he often frequented with his dad. The following day, his father is arrested and charged with her murder. And then, eight further bodies are discovered.
Written by: Craig Clevenger
-
The Package
- Written by: Sebastian Fitzek
- Narrated by: Ari Fliakos
- Length: 6 hrs and 37 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Emma is the one that got away. The only survivor of a serial killer known in the tabloids as “The Hairdresser”, because of the trophies he takes from his victims. The police aren't convinced. Nor is her husband. She never actually saw her tormentor properly, but now she recognizes him in every man she sees. Haunted by the horrifying incident and unwanted notoriety, Emma gives up her job as a psychiatrist and retreats from the outside world to recuperate at home, where it’s quiet. Where she can be anonymous and safe. Where no one can hurt her.
-
-
It was ok
- By Michelle on 2024-07-28
Written by: Sebastian Fitzek
-
What Happened to Nina?
- A Novel
- Written by: Dervla McTiernan
- Narrated by: Kristen Sieh, Stacey Glemboski, Lisa Flanagan, and others
- Length: 10 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nina and Simon are the perfect couple. Young, fun and deeply in love. Until they leave for a weekend at his family’s cabin in Vermont, and only Simon comes home.
-
-
Riveting
- By Kathy on 2024-05-19
Written by: Dervla McTiernan
-
The Cemetery of Untold Stories
- Written by: Julia Alvarez
- Narrated by: Alma Cuervo
- Length: 8 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Alma Cruz, the celebrated writer at the heart of The Cemetery of Untold Stories, doesn’t want to end up like her friend, a novelist who fought so long and hard to finish a book that it threatened her sanity. So when Alma inherits a small plot of land in the Dominican Republic, her homeland, she has the beautiful idea of turning it into a place to bury her untold stories—literally. She creates a graveyard for the manuscript drafts and revisions, and the characters whose lives she tried and failed to bring to life and who still haunt her.
-
-
Creative and fresh
- By Joan M on 2024-08-16
Written by: Julia Alvarez
-
The Memory of Lavender and Sage
- Written by: Aimie K. Runyan
- Narrated by: Caroline Hewitt
- Length: 10 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Food critic Tempèsta Luddington has always felt like the odd person out in her family, ever since she lost her beloved mother at the tender age of thirteen. When her workaholic father passes fifteen years later, Tempèsta is not surprised that the majority of the considerable family money will pass to her dutiful younger brother, Wal. Still, she is left a modest remembrance from her mother, and for the first time Tempèsta has a world of choices before her.
-
-
Lovely, warm, comforting, hopeful
- By Georgina on 2024-08-20
Written by: Aimie K. Runyan
-
The Lost Letters of Aisling
- A Novel
- Written by: Cynthia Ellingsen
- Narrated by: Aoife McMahon, Stephanie Cannon
- Length: 9 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Rainey’s grandmother makes a startling request: Take me home. To Ireland, the country she fled post-World War II. Though they’re inseparably close, Rainey knows few of her grandmother’s secrets. Until they arrive at Aisling—the majestic estate on the southern coast of Ireland where her grandmother was raised—and Rainey discovers a collection of seventy-year-old letters in a trunk.
Written by: Cynthia Ellingsen
-
Olivetti
- Written by: Allie Millington
- Narrated by: Christopher Gebauer, Simon Vance
- Length: 4 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Being a typewriter is not as easy as it looks. Surrounded by books (notorious attention hogs) and recently replaced by a computer, Olivetti has been forgotten by the Brindles—the family he’s lived with for years. The Brindles are busy humans, apart from twelve-year-old Ernest, who would rather be left alone with his collection of Oxford English Dictionaries. Once a collector of words, now Olivetti only collects dust. He gets a rare glimpse of action from Ernest’s mom, Beatrice—his used-to-be frequent visitor—only for her to drop him off at Heartland Pawn Shop and leave him behind.
-
-
Lovely book!
- By Dreaaa on 2024-07-28
Written by: Allie Millington
-
Dreadful
- Written by: Caitlin Rozakis
- Narrated by: Keval Shah
- Length: 11 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Gav isn't really sure how he ended up with a castle full of goblins, or why he has a princess locked in a cell. All he can do is play along with his own evil plan in hopes of getting his memories back before he gets himself killed. But as he realizes that nothing—from the incredibly tasteless cloak adorned with flames to the aforementioned princess—is quite what it seems, Gav must face up to all the things the Dread Lord Gavrax has done. And he'll have to answer the hardest question of all—who does he want to be?
-
-
Forgetful Evil Wizard, What’s not to like!
- By DarthGerardius on 2024-09-29
Written by: Caitlin Rozakis
-
Annie Bot
- A Novel
- Written by: Sierra Greer
- Narrated by: Jennifer Jill Araya
- Length: 9 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Annie Bot was created to be the perfect girlfriend for her human owner Doug. Designed to satisfy his emotional and physical needs, she has dinner ready for him every night, wears the pert outfits he orders for her, and adjusts her libido to suit his moods. True, she’s not the greatest at keeping Doug’s place spotless, but she’s trying to please him. She’s trying hard.
-
-
Loved this book!!!
- By Madison Ketelaars on 2024-04-17
Written by: Sierra Greer
-
The Almost Widow
- A Novel
- Written by: Gail Anderson-Dargatz
- Narrated by: Erin Bennett
- Length: 8 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Someone is watching Piper, and she thinks she knows who it is: the bushman. But there’s more than one danger lurking in this temperate rainforest. Poachers are taking down old growth trees and jeopardizing plans for a park, a project Piper is passionate about. When she pressures her husband, Ben, a natural resources officer, to identify the culprits, he takes his drone into the wilderness to track them down. And then, just as a snowstorm hits, he goes missing.
-
-
So many reasons why this is simply bad
- By LoveMyBOOKS on 2024-10-01
Written by: Gail Anderson-Dargatz
-
The Wife You Know
- Written by: Chad Zunker
- Narrated by: Thor Knai, Helen Laser
- Length: 6 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Widower Luke Driskell didn’t expect to fall in love and marry again so quickly. But Ashley and her daughter, Joy, are special—a quality borne out when Ashley rushes into a burning day-care center to save the children. Immediately she’s a social media sensation and hero. Then, just as suddenly, Ashley and Joy disappear into the bitterly cold night. With no trace of their whereabouts, Luke begins a panicked investigation. Alarmingly, he can find no proof that the woman he loves even exists. Left behind: just a hidden stash of fake IDs. Different names. Different cities. Same haunted face.
-
-
Started off good.
- By Wild_heart_gypsysoul on 2024-09-15
Written by: Chad Zunker
-
The Crone of Midnight Embers
- Myrtlewood Crones, Book 1
- Written by: Iris Beaglehole
- Narrated by: Bethan Dixon Bate
- Length: 8 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Delia Spark is caught in a maelstrom. Her former life as a London theatre director is on the brink of implosion amid a scandalous divorce, a tarnished reputation, and, for reasons she cannot fathom, things keep spontaneously combusting around her. Her sixties were supposed to be peaceful, but now even her grown daughter won't return her calls. Escape is the only option.
Written by: Iris Beaglehole
-
The Unquiet Bones
- A Novel
- Written by: Loreth Anne White
- Narrated by: Carly Robins
- Length: 11 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When human bones are found beneath an old chapel in the woods, evidence suggests the remains could be linked to the decades-old case of missing teen Annalise Jansen. Homicide detective Jane Munro—pregnant and acutely attuned to the preciousness of life—hopes the grim discovery will finally bring closure to the girl’s family. But for a group of Annalise’s old friends, once dubbed the Shoreview Six by the media, it threatens to expose a terrible pledge made on an autumn night forty-seven years ago.
-
-
Good for the Genre
- By Anonymous User on 2024-07-25
Written by: Loreth Anne White
-
Sugar, Baby
- Written by: Celine Saintclare
- Narrated by: Sara Novak
- Length: 9 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sugar, Baby follows Agnes, a mixed-race 21-year-old whose life seems to be heading nowhere. Still living at home, she works as a cleaner and spends all her money in clubs on the weekends searching for distractions from her mundane life. That is until she meets Emily, daughter of one of her cleaning clients, who lives in London and works as a model...and a sugar baby, dating rich older men for money. Emily’s life is the escape Agnes has been longing for—extravagant tasting menus, champagne on tap, glamorous hotels with unlimited room service, designer gifts from dates who call her beautiful.
Written by: Celine Saintclare
-
The Book of Doors
- A Novel
- Written by: Gareth Brown
- Narrated by: Miranda Raison
- Length: 13 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Cassie Andrews works in a New York City bookshop, shelving books, making coffee for customers, and living an unassuming, ordinary life. Until the day one of her favorite customers—a lonely yet charming old man—dies right in front of her. Cassie is devastated. She always loved his stories, and now she has nothing to remember him by. Nothing but the last book he was reading. But this is no ordinary book… It is the Book of Doors. Inscribed with enigmatic words and mysterious drawings, it promises Cassie that any door is every door. You just need to know how to open them.
-
-
Absolutely LOVED it
- By TiMiMo on 2024-04-23
Written by: Gareth Brown
-
Gray After Dark
- Written by: Noelle West Ihli
- Narrated by: Megan Tusing, Will Damron
- Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Miley's plans take a terrifying detour when she's abducted during a morning run. Held captive in a desolate off-grid cabin, she'll have to use her athletic prowess, cunning mind, and courage to survive. As the nightmare at the cabin escalates, Miley is forced to form an unlikely alliance and attempt a risky escape.
-
-
Started a bit slow but soon couldn’t stop
- By Andrew Goetz on 2024-06-21
Written by: Noelle West Ihli
-
Night Side of the River
- Ghost Stories
- Written by: Jeanette Winterson
- Narrated by: Jeanette Winterson, Vicky Licorish
- Length: 9 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this delightfully chilling collection, the iconic Jeanette Winterson turns her fearless gaze to the realm of ghosts, interspersing her own encounters with the supernatural alongside hair-raising fictions. Lifting the veil between the living and the dead, Winterson spirits us away to a haunted estate that ensnares a nomadic young couple in its own dark past, a staged immersive ghost tour gone awry, a West Village seance that threatens the bounds between AI and reality, and a vacation home in the metaverse where a widow visits an improved version of her deceased husband.
Written by: Jeanette Winterson
-
The Wrong Daughter
- Written by: Dandy Smith
- Narrated by: Daphne Kouma, Heather Long
- Length: 12 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On the night when Caitlin and Olivia's parents leave them to go to a dinner party both girls are full of excitement about being old enough to stay home alone. What they don't see is the figure watching them through the open window. Who, after the girls have fallen asleep, will turn the handle of the unlocked back door. When their parents return, they will find Olivia's bed empty. Their eldest daughter gone. Never to return. Until now. But is the woman who claims to be Olivia really all she seems? And is everything Caitlin said she saw that night really the whole truth?
-
-
Unrealistic
- By Kathy from Regina, SK on 2024-09-24
Written by: Dandy Smith
What listeners say about Diavola
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- LDanna
- 2024-03-27
The perfect adult family vacay, with demons.
Jennifer Thorne's contemporary spin on the adult family vacation in a gothic haunted house set in a remote villa in tiny Monteperso, Italy, is a funny, painful, sometimes bleak treatise on the inescapable bonds of familial roles assigned in childhood. Combine that with a classic haunting, a hidden tower with a key that you were warned never to enter, and you've got the makings of the gothic thriller that is Diavola,
The seven vacationing family members were well drawn and adapted to traditional family roles. Mostly they were as unlikeable as possible. It seemed incredible that they had all gotten together for a family holiday every year for forever, without at least one of them killing another.
I did have some significant problems with the conclusion, which went on overlong, as thrillers are wont to do, and challenged the willing suspension of disbelief which had served me fairly well till then. I don't think a demon that's haunted a turret in Italy for centuries can just attach itself to a random human and end up riding the subway in NYC. But hey, maybe that's just me.
In general, I loved it. And narrator Andi Arndt's delivery was flawless.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Bookaholic
- 2024-07-27
Jumped the Shark
The dysfunctional family aspects of this novel were brilliantly told. Anyone who has experienced such relationships will recognize the roles played by at least some of the characters. Tuscan culture is beautifully showcased and for the first two thirds of the story, the paranormal aspect is intriguing.
Everything falls apart in the final third and I struggled just to finish this as the storyline became more ludicrous and the writing more self-indulgent. Listening to Anna's verbal streams of consciousness became tedious. By the time the big plot twist was revealed it was too late to be of interest. A literary "I told you so".
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Stefanie Fraser
- 2024-09-25
À Ghost Story with Teeth
I loved it - it was creepy, mysterious (with payoff), and oppressive (both in terms of hauntings and familial tension).
Anna was a fully fleshed out character and her dysfunctional family vacation is one a great number of us can relate to. There was horror and humour and a really good STORY - I absolutely loved it (and I’m pretty picky about my scary stories - I’ll read them all but only truly enjoy a few).
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kathy from Regina, SK
- 2024-08-20
Unlikable main character
Very much disliked this character and never improved as I’d hoped. The storyline could have been interesting but the “scary scenes” weren’t. The story was not very cohesive especially at the end. Would not recommend it.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!