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  • The Girl with a Clock for a Heart

  • A Novel
  • Written by: Peter Swanson
  • Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
  • Length: 8 hrs and 38 mins
  • 4.0 out of 5 stars (9 ratings)

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The Girl with a Clock for a Heart

Written by: Peter Swanson
Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
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Publisher's Summary

Already optioned for film, The Girl with a Clock for a Heart is Peter Swanson's electrifying tale of romantic noir, with shades of Hitchcock and reminiscent of the classic movie Body Heat. It is the story of a man swept into a vortex of irresistible passion and murder when an old love mysteriously reappears.

On an ordinary Friday evening at his favorite Boston tavern, George Foss's comfortable, predictable life is shattered when a beautiful woman sits down at the bar, a woman who vanished without a trace twenty years ago.

Liana Dector isn't just an ex-girlfriend, the first love George couldn't quite forget. She's also a dangerous enigma and quite possibly a cold-blooded killer wanted by the police. Suddenly, she's back - and she needs George's help. Ruthless men believe she stole some money…and they will do whatever it takes to get it back.

George knows Liana is trouble. But he can't say no - he never could - so he makes a choice that will plunge him into a terrifying whirlpool of lies, secrets, betrayal, and murder from which there is no sure escape.

Bold and masterful, full of malicious foreboding and subtle surprises, The Girl with a Clock for a Heart is an addictive, nonstop thriller - an ever-tightening coil of suspense that grips you right up to its electrifying end.

©2014 Peter Swanson (P)2014 HarperCollinsPublishers

What the critics say

"The pace is fast...and the plot genuinely twisty.... [It is] seemingly pre-measured for the movies...often to good effect; all in all, a quick, deft, promising first crime novel." ( Kirkus Reviews)
"[A] roller coaster thrill-fest of a ride, filled with deliciously wicked moments of mystery, murder, and mayhem, double-cross and deception. A cerebral noir thriller debut." ( New York Journal of Books)

What listeners say about The Girl with a Clock for a Heart

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

Great story but narration wasn’t the greatest

I love Peter Swanson and this story was great however, the narrator didn’t sound like an actual person.. very robotic and almost as if it was an AI recording. Made the book hard to follow in some areas and took away from the suspense. The narrator who read a kind worth killing and a kind worth saving would have done a better job.

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

Good story

I enjoyed the story but the narrator sounded like a monotonous generic male TikTok voice at times. This made is harder to get into the story’s suspenseful parts.

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

Another Winner for Peter Swanson

The Girl with a Clock for a Heart kept me spellbound. I couldn't wait to hear what happened next. What I love about Swanson, in addition to his polished writing, is how each book he writes is an original. He never repeats the same plot twice. And this one's a killer. Also five stars to narrator Paul Boehmer, whose delivery is impeccable. I could listen to him forever.

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  • S
  • 2015-04-19

Can't get past the narration

What disappointed you about The Girl with a Clock for a Heart?

The narration. The voice is flat, no intention, no emotion, nothing.

What was most disappointing about Peter Swanson’s story?

I can't get into the story because the narration makes it so boring I have a hard time following the plot. I quit after the second chapter.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

See above

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Annoyance.

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31 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
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  • Adriana
  • 2015-03-13

A disappointment read!

However his other book was amazing! This is the only reason I went back and purchased this one, I thought It was going to be another hit! I had to make myself press play day after day.. In the hopes that the story would take a turn for the better :(

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24 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars
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  • Aletha
  • 2015-03-19

horrible story

don't waste you're money I kept praying it would end soon. utterly uninteresting story line. flimsy characters to which you won't attach. awful.

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15 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars
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  • elizabeth craven
  • 2016-12-26

Reader not good

This reader is terrible. Bad accents. Over acted. He is so distracting I can't concentrate on the story.

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14 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars
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  • Tamminter
  • 2015-09-21

painful

Would you try another book from Peter Swanson and/or Paul Boehmer?

I thoroughly enjoyed the kind worth killing and got this book because of it. I just kept waiting for it to get good and it just never did.

Would you ever listen to anything by Peter Swanson again?

Yes.

How could the performance have been better?

I am not sure but it could have been better.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

Not really.

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11 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars
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  • PhilR
  • 2015-02-17

Good, except for a few stupid teenager-like moves

Great characters and interesting plot, but moving the story along requires the author to have characters do a few things I'd expect to see in scary horror movies where everyone else knows not to go into the basement. Narrator is good, although a bit grating with some female voices. Never-the-less, I would read the author again and listen to the narrator as well.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars
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  • Elizabeth ♥️
  • 2015-08-22

Decent

Solid book though (in my opinion) not as good as The Kind Worth Killing which was EXCELLENT.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars
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  • Lynn
  • 2017-01-17

Very disappointing

This audiobook was very disappointing. Uninteresting story. Terrible narration. I could not finish this audiobook.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
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  • Lay-J
  • 2017-01-03

Story...awesome...storyteller..not so much!

Book is an awesome story!! It kept me guessing page after page! The Narrator had a voice that I orally made me cringe, like nails to a chalkboard...not trying to be ugly, Mr. Paul!! Maybe if he wouldn't have read it by himself?!? Maybe a couple more ppl narrating the females' parts??? Idk though???!!??

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
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  • tara reeder
  • 2015-09-17

The girl with a clock for a heart

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

This book seemed to follow a fairly predictable course and character introduction and development. What I feel was lacking was more character development from Leanna.
More questions are left unanswered then answered laying the also predictable foundation for a sequel- or trilogy.
The book was captivating and interesting but then strayed just enough into implausible to make this book less enjoyable. Instead of identifying with the main characters strife the reader is left a bit mystified at his purely emotionally driven decisions. This naïveté is hard for the reader to identify with after a while. In part one feels he deserves all bad things and more for being such a love starved puppy. I would have enjoyed seeing a bit more grit in his character development.
However fabulous first book for this author.

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3 people found this helpful