Do You Listen to Audiobooks?

I don't listen to audiobooks all that frequently. Usually, I enjoy listening to audiobooks on long car trips, train trips, or plane travel, but unfortunately, I don't travel much by plane or train and long car trips are usually taken with my hubby... So, the two of us end up talking most of the trip or listening to something altogether differently then an audiobook... Like music or talk radio.

When I do listen to audiobooks, I prefer listening to the unabridged version, if it is available.  I was rather pleased recently, when I was able to obtain a couple of unabridged audiobooks on compact disc from Amazon's bargain section and decided to listen to them at home instead of waiting until my next lengthy trip.

Ghost Radio

The first audiobook I listened to was Ghost Radio by Leopoldo Gout. Ghost Radio is a novel that falls into the horror genre, which I thought might be kinda of fun to listen to in audio form.... However, this audiobook failed to entertain. The dramatic reading of this novel was nicely done, but the story fell short of being entertaining... At least for me anyway. The story's premise started off grabbing my attention, but the last quarter of the book lost my attention completely as the story just seemed to unravel.

The following is a product description of Ghost Radio from the author, Leopoldo Gout's website:

From the cramped bowels of a dimly lit Mexican radio station, Ghost Radio is beamed onto the airwaves. More than a call-in show to tell scary stories about vampires and poltergeists, Ghost Radio is a sanctuary for those sleepless denizens of the night, lost half way between this world and the next.

Joaquin, the hip, melancholy host sits deep in a fog of cigarette smoke, fielding calls from believers and detractors alike. He is joined in the booth by his darkly beautiful girlfriend, Alondra, and his engineer, Watts. Before long, a radio conglomerate offers to syndicate their cult show in the U.S., and Ghost Radio becomes a national success - a price at success which Joaquin’s soon begins to regret having paid.

A former punk rocker, Joaquin has had two devastating near-death experiences—accidents of shocking and horrific proportions. He emerged the sole survivor after these events, walking away even as his parents and later, his best friend and cohort in music and mischief, Gabriel, perished. Though a charismatic host, he remains a skeptic even as he begins to notice a curious and troubling phenomenon. Joaquin feels himself drawn further and further into the terrifying stories he solicits on the radio. Slowly he loses control over his circumstances, and finds himself unable to distinguish between the real world and the world populated by the nightmares on Ghost Radio. He is not alone, and as the voices of the dead begin to drift onto the airwaves to tragic results.

Joaquin suspects that someone from his past with a grudge to pay is the agent forcing him to confront his own mortality, save that which is most precious to him, and repair the crumbling wall between the living and the dead.

Perhaps someone else will enjoy or appreciate the storyline more than me.

The Scandal of the Season Book Cover

The second audiobook I listened to was The Scandal of the Season by Sophie Gee, which is historical fiction. The following is a synopsis of this novel found on Amazon:

London, 1711. As the rich, young offspring of the city's most fashionable families fill their days with masquerade balls and clandestine court-ships, Arabella Fermor and Robert, Lord Petre, lead the pursuit of pleasure. Beautiful and vain, Arabella is a clever coquette with a large circle of beaus. Lord Petre, seventh Baron of Ingatestone, is a man-about-town with his choice of mistresses. Drawn together by an overpowering attraction, the two begin an illicit affair. 

Alexander Pope, sickly and nearly penniless, is peripheral by birth, yet his uncommon wit and ambition gain him unlikely entrance into high society. Once there, privy to every nuance and drama, he is a ruthless observer. He longs for the success that will cement his place in society; all he needs is one poem grand enough to make his reputation. 

As the forbidden passion between Arabella and Lord Petre deepens, an intrigue of a darker nature threatens to overtake them. Fortunes change and reputations -- even lives -- are imperiled. In the aftermath, Pope discovers the idea for a daring poem that will catapult him to fame and fortune.

For a debut novel, I found The Scandal of the Season to be very entertaining. The following is a YouTube interview of Sophie Gee, the author of The Scandal of the Season, about the book that I think you'll enjoy.

Until my next post, happy reading!!