Books
What I'm reading — mostly listening to, really. Audiobooks from the library, the odd ebook, and a paper one now and then.
Audiobook · Finished
The Villa
by Rachel Hawkins · read by Julia Whelan, Kimberly M. Wetherell, Shiromi Arserio
- Status
- Finished
- Format
- Audiobook
- Released
- January 3, 2023
- Publisher
- Macmillan Audio
Subjects
Tags
About the book
Shiromi Arserio, Julia Whelan, and Kimberly Wetherell are the perfect trio to narrate this thriller about an Italian villa with a haunted past.- AudioFile
From New York Times bestselling author Rachel Hawkins comes a deliciously wicked gothic suspense, set at an Italian villa with a dark history, for fans of Lucy Foley and Ruth Ware.
As kids, Emily and Chess were inseparable. But by their 30s, their bond has been strained by the demands of their adult lives. So when Chess suggests a girls trip to Italy, Emily jumps at the chance to reconnect with her best friend.
Villa Aestas in Orvieto is a high-end holiday home now, but in 1974, it was known as Villa Rosato, and rented for the summer by a notorious rock star, Noel Gordon. In an attempt to reignite his creative spark, Noel invites up-and-coming musician, Pierce Sheldon to join him, as well as Pierce’s girlfriend, Mari, and her stepsister, Lara. But he also sets in motion a chain of events that leads to Mari writing one of the greatest horror novels of all time, Lara composing a platinum album - - and ends in Pierce’s brutal murder.
As Emily digs into the villa’s complicated history, she begins to think there might be more to the story of that fateful summer in 1974. That perhaps Pierce’s murder wasn’t just a tale of sex, drugs, and rock & roll gone wrong, but that something more sinister might have occurred - - and that there might be clues hidden in the now-iconic works that Mari and Lara left behind.
Yet the closer that Emily gets to the truth, the more tension she feels developing between her and Chess. As secrets from the past come to light, equally dangerous betrayals from the present also emerge - - and it begins to look like the villa will claim another victim before the summer ends.
Inspired by Fleetwood Mac, the Manson murders, and the infamous summer Percy and Mary Shelley spent with Lord Byron at a Lake Geneva castle - - the birthplace of Frankenstein - - The Villa welcomes you into its deadly legacy.
A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin’s Press.
Audiobook · Finished
The Wife Upstairs
by Rachel Hawkins · read by Emily Shaffer, Kirby Heyborne, Lauren Fortgang
- Status
- Finished
- Format
- Audiobook
- Released
- January 5, 2021
- Publisher
- Macmillan Audio
Subjects
Tags
About the book
Instant New York Times and USA Today Bestseller
Compulsively readable...a gothic thriller laced with arsenic. - - EW
One of the Most Anticipated Books of 2021: CNN
Newsweek
Vulture
PopSugar
Parade
BuzzFeed
E!Online
TimeOut
Woman’s Day
Goodreads
She Reads
Good Housekeeping
CrimeReads
Frolic
Hello!
Mystery and Suspense
January 2021 Indie Next Pick and #1 LibraryReads Pick
A delicious twist on a Gothic classic, The Wife Upstairs pairs Southern charm with atmospheric domestic suspense, perfect for fans of B.A. Paris and Megan Miranda.
Meet Jane. Newly arrived to Birmingham, Alabama, Jane is a broke dog-walker in Thornfield Estates - - a gated community full of McMansions, shiny SUVs, and bored housewives. The kind of place where no one will notice if Jane lifts the discarded tchotchkes and jewelry off the side tables of her well-heeled clients. Where no one will think to ask if Jane is her real name.
But her luck changes when she meets Eddie Rochester. Recently widowed, Eddie is Thornfield Estates' most mysterious resident. His wife, Bea, drowned in a boating accident with her best friend, their bodies lost to the deep. Jane can’t help but see an opportunity in Eddie - - not only is he rich, brooding, and handsome, he could also offer her the kind of protection she’s always yearned for.
Yet as Jane and Eddie fall for each other, Jane is increasingly haunted by the legend of Bea, an ambitious beauty with a rags-to-riches origin story, who launched a wildly successful southern lifestyle brand. How can she, plain Jane, ever measure up? And can she win Eddie’s heart before her past - - or his - - catches up to her?
With delicious suspense, incisive wit, and a fresh, feminist sensibility, The Wife Upstairs flips the script on a timeless tale of forbidden romance, ill-advised attraction, and a wife who just won’t stay buried. In this vivid reimagining of one of literature’s most twisted love triangles, which Mrs. Rochester will get her happy ending?
A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin’s Press
A compulsively readable tale that flips Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre on its head...a gothic thriller laced with arsenic. - EW