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Oracle

Written by: Andrew Pyper
Narrated by: Joshua Jackson
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Publisher's Summary

Oracle is a psychological thriller audiobook following Nate Russo, an FBI psychic who helps solve abductions and homicides by touching those close to the missing persons. His unique gift comes with a terrible price: He sees the horrific moments before the victims disappeared. This high-stakes mystery, written by best-selling author Andrew Pyper and performed by Joshua Jackson, combines crime investigations with supernatural elements and killer instincts.

©2021 Andrew Pyper Enterprises, Inc. (P)2021 Audible Originals, LLC

Trailer

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About the Author

Andrew Pyper is the award-winning author of ten novels, most recently The Residence, which is being developed as a hybrid documentary/fiction series with Discovery, with Pyper acting as Executive Producer. Among his previous novels, The Demonologist was the winner of the International Thriller Writers Award and his first novel, Lost Girls, was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, and appeared on both the New York Times and Times (UK) bestseller lists. He lives in Toronto.

About the Performer

Joshua Jackson is currently starring as the titular character in Peacock’s limited series Dr. Death. The show, based on the hit Wondery podcast of the same name, tells the terrifying true story of a former neurosurgeon who built a flourishing practice prior to killing and permanently disabling patients during and after complex-yet-routine surgeries. Jackson recently starred opposite Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington in the Hulu limited series Little Fires Everywhere and the Netflix mini-series When They See Us for Ava Duvernay. Well-known as Dawson’s Creek’s fast-talking, self-deprecating Pacey Witter, Jackson has also recently starred on Showtime’s The Affair and FOX’s Fringe.

Jackson’s feature films include The Mighty Ducks trilogy, Crooked Hearts, The Skulls, The Safety of Objects, Apt Pupil, Cruel Intentions, and The Laramie Project, among others. In 2018, Jackson made his Broadway debut in Children of a Lesser God, and his additional stage credits include A Life in the Theatre in London’s West End and the off-Broadway play Smart People. In 2010, he received the Best Actor Genie Award for his starring role in the Canadian independent feature film One Week. A Vancouver native, Jackson divides his time between his hometown and Los Angeles.

Behind the Scenes

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Editorial Review

Lovers of crime fiction and mystery will love this psychological thriller. A gripping, all encompassing story, it will have listeners guessing the whole way through.

Whether you’ve listened to Oracle already, or are discovering the series for the first time, this suspenseful story is just the thing to get you hooked and falling fast into Andrew Pyper’s world. Dive back into a world of thrilling mystery in the second addition of the Oracle audiobook series - Oracle: The Dreamland Murders. This audiobook features all the same main characters listeners have grown attached to, following FBI agent Nate Russo as he tracks the latest evasive serial killer. Just as before, Russo’s special skills lead him on a wild chase of clues, winding their way through a gripping adventure that will have listeners on the edge of their seat unable to pause.

Author Andrew Pyper lives in Toronto and has brought a wealth of Canadian talent to this popular series. His previous books such as The Demonologist, The Only Child, and The Residence brought him both critical and fan raves, and the Oracle series is no different. A New York Times best seller, Oracle has now been adapted into an Audible Original experience. An amazing crime-thriller, this audiobook is a must add to any wish list.

The audiobook adaptation is narrated by actor Joshua Jackson, of famed roles such as Pacey from Dawson's Creek and the screen adaptation of Little Fires Everywhere. Jackson, too, is Canadian, and was born in Vancouver. He brings a wealth of skill and experience to the role, having done a variety of voice acting and narration previously. His voice is rich and easy to listen to, while still delivering the drama and intensity necessary for this high-stakes thriller audiobook. An enticing and action packed story, this series is a must listen.

What listeners say about Oracle

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    5 out of 5 stars

Outstanding story!

It should come as no surprise to ANYONE reading/seeing this review, that the second this was announced I jumped all over it and devoured it ASAP.

Now, obviously you are aware of my fanatical devotion to all things Pyper. But – to be honest – I was very worried about this one. Not that I didn’t think I wouldn’t like it. No, that I wouldn’t even be able to enjoy it. I’ve never done a single audio book before. I’m a very methodical reader and have a schedule and like to stay with it. I also don’t like distractions and enjoy being able to go back and re-read sentences, passages etc and digest sections.

Don’t get me wrong – if you love audio books, all the power to you – but for me, it’s always been tough to consider. I don’t have the time to sit and listen. That’s my reality.

But for this – I knew I’d need to force myself out of my comfort zone and attempt it.

A few things before we dive deeper into what makes ‘Oracle’ tick.

The first – I actually really enjoyed listening to this. It took me maybe three or four chapters to find a groove and to figure out the speed at which I found it to be most enjoyable (1.4x for me).

The second – Joshua Jackson absolutely NAILS this narration. I have no experience with anyone else, but his was picture perfect for narrating the story, for the characters and his delivery specifically for The Bone Man was phenomenal. I’d have to imagine he’s already under contract for the sequel drama ‘Oracle: The Dreamland Murders.’

Lastly – even with this being read by someone else and me not reading this – this is 1000000% an Andrew Pyper book. From the way sentences are crafted, characters dialogue, setting and environment as a character. Time and time again, you know you’re in Pyper’s masterful hands.

What I liked: Nate Russo is a haunted man. Suffering from an ability to connect with people and see events and horrible moments through touch, he’s not only running from his childhood, but also running from the feeling he somehow failed his family.

Pyper takes a simple man and a simple story and infuses it with all of the best bits from his previous work. This is crime-fiction, psychological thriller and haunted house all done to the nth degree. We get the dread of ‘The Guardians’ the hunt of ‘The Demonologist’ and the never ending fear of ‘The Killing Circle.’

But at the heart of this story, we get Nate Russo (who is a full on blend of Bartholomew Crane/Patrick Rush/Danny Orchard/David Ullman) who knows the thing that haunted him in his childhood home, the thing he called The Bone Man, is ultimately responsible for not only Russo’s gift, but also the mysterious disappearances Nate is now involved in solving.

Pyper weaves a fast-paced-who-done-it narrative, while using the small town aspect to make everyone a possible suspect and keeping the reader (listener) guessing with deflections and landmines all over the place. I would estimate that over a dozen times I said to myself ‘ah ha! it’s this character or that character’ and each and every single time I was wrong.

With The Bone Man, Andrew has finally delivered a true ‘monster’ story. The only other book he’s released with anything close to this would be ‘The Damned’ with Ash trying desperately to lure her brother Danny to the underworld. Here, we get a real/imagined, flesh-and-blood boogeyman which made me almost shout with joy when I realized that we were being given this type of story from an author as deft as Pyper. And guess what? He nails that character.

The Bone Man was absolutely terrifying. Every single time Jackson would slip into that voice, that timber and deliver the lines of The Bone Man, it felt like it was right beside me, as Nate did himself. And the beauty of The Bone Man character was that not only did we get a horrific and truly awful back story, but we had a WHY. A why to this man, this creature doing what it was doing and ultimately why he choose these innocent kids over and over again.

The secondary characters were great, Fernandes (I hope I spelled that correctly) and Tillman making for great cohorts to both work with Nate but also to keep him in check when he goes off the rails.

And I’ve often mentioned how Pyper utilizes setting so well. Here, the absolute best set piece was Russo’s childhood home, a place of darkened floor boards and wallpaper peeling from the walls. The descriptions of this place were so well done, so lush and vivid that you could picture it and smell it as though you were there.

*As a side note – I know some of you were thrown off when Joshua Jackson was announced as the narrator. For me, I smiled from ear to ear. Just ask my wife. A few years back I wrote an essay on how Andrew Pyper and The Tragically Hip made me a better writer. Within I reference one of my all-time favorite movies – One Week. Starring? That’s right – Joshua Jackson. You know who has a cameo in it? Gord Downie. The circle/cycle continues. Amazing.

What I didn’t like: It is hard to actually discuss what I didn’t like here – as I need to stay spoiler free – but this is the best I can do: the person ultimately responsible for the main events in this story – I wish we had a bit more of them earlier on and a bit more of their involvement. I can’t describe more of that, but when you listen to this and want to discuss it more later, feel free to DM me.

Why you should buy this: I’ll state this here and now (even though I’ve been practically begging for this since it was announced!) but this really does need to be released as a novel. Not only for those unable to hear or listen to audiobooks, but I think Andrew’s once again delivered a masterclass in story telling and how to phenomenally lay out your beginning, middle and ending. If you’re an Andrew fan, you’re already excited to get on this, but for those who haven’t experienced Pyper’s work yet – this showcases why he’s a master at crime fiction/dark fiction/psychological thrillers and emotional horror. He has a way of weaving words around and having them gnaw at your soul.

Another prime example of why Andrew Pyper is my favorite author. Now, I sit back and await the next novel.

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26 people found this helpful

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

Great expectations, but this one fell short

I love Andrew Pyper and enjoy Joshua Jackson. I know Jackson from Fringe, and thought he'd be good for this story - I was excited to listen to it. But his performance in this was not good at all. I'm amazed by how many are praising it. Screen acting and reading performance are clearly different skills sets. His pacing is erratic, he frequently forgets to change back to his "regular" voice after speaking a sentence in a character voice, and his typically low pitch is so gravelly here it's often painful to listen to. He sounds like maybe at some point in his life he had training to lower his voice below its natural range. It felt like he was working with little prep and no direction, no one listening to the files and giving feedback at all.

I ended up disappointed in the story overall. I'm not sure whether it's just not one of Andrew Pyper's strongest, or if I was so distracted by the shortcomings of the narration that it negatively affected my enjoyment and assessment of the novel. At some point I may try reading it in print to see whether it's better that way.

It's not going to put me off of watching Joshua Jackson again or of reading more Andrew Pyper novels, but I can't recommend this particular combination.

If nothing else, this book gave me a renewed appreciation for the talent and skill of great audiobook performers. Being an actor is not enough to make you excel in this arena.

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15 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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So so

I don't understand why people are so enthusiastic about the narration. to me, Joshua Jackson's narration is monotone, pitched too low for his voice, and cliche tough guy with issues. Of course, the author is responsible for the cliches, but the narrator could have breathed more authenticity into the protagonist. The story is moderately entertaining, but could have been based on more factual experiences from real psychics. Nate could have and should have done his research, as could Andrew Pyper.

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10 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Loved it!

Listening to Joshua Jackson was such a treat, I have always loved his voice, and he did a great job narrating different tones for different characters, it didn't sound awkward or phony to me. And the story was gripping! I didn't want to stop listening, and I didn't want it to end. I hope there's a sequel!

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7 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Not Pyper's best

Normally a big Andrew Pyper fan, but this story fell short for me. The main character was a caricature of a "man's-man" hard-boiled detective, to the point where there was no discernible personality to him. Not even Joshua Jackson's excellent narration could breathe a bit of believability into him. The lack of a sympathetic MC made it difficult to care enough to make it to the end.

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6 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Good narration, slow uninspired story

Definitely not a title you should be spending your money or credit on but as a free title might be worth a listen if you fast forward bits of it. I struggled to stay awake in the middle, and even if I missed some parts, I could follow along. Slow, long and not the most exciting story line, the narrator did a great job though.

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6 people found this helpful

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

Amazing

Absolutely amazing! Loved every minute of this audible book! Great story, great performance and I couldnt stop listening.

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6 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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  • RTA
  • 2021-09-17

Kept me listening

This was a great find. I don’t usually like psychological thrillers but this one was soft and very interesting. I could listen to Joshua Jackson all day long. ~T

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5 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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I am in awe!

This was a gripping, addictive thriller. I was —and still am— on an emotional roller-coaster. In the beginning I tried to work while I listened but by the end of the first hour I was on the couch absolutely spellbound. Oracle is by far one of the best audiobooks I've ever listened to, I can't wait for the rest of the series. Joshua Jackson is a natural storyteller! 10/10 a must listen!

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4 people found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Painful to listen to.

If you pull out all the garbage, this might make a decent short story. Too many cheap clichés, useless descriptions and ridiculous analogies, topped with a terrible narration made it difficult to get through. I love Joshua Jckson, but he clearly wasn't trained for this.
The author manages to keep the suspense going to hold your interest, but this could have been so much better - in both the writing style and the narrator's perfirmance.

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