Kate Rudd narrates this psychological thriller with a great setup. Amber recounts a dinner party during which she's one of six teens locked in a room. Escape may mean death for one, or all. Chapters in real-time alternate with Amber's flashbacks over a year as she struggles in relationships with the bullying popular girl and with her lifelong friend. Rudd keeps the tension taut in both parts. She is skilled at portraying the complexity of Amber, who is haunted by her sister's death and caught in painful manipulations. Rudd continually turns up the heat--quite literally at the party, where the thermostat is stuck on high and a bomb is ticking, and metaphorically as Amber has a series of epiphanies about what is actually going on. The twists and turns in this thriller don't end.
(Mystery/thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: March 17, 2020
Duration: 9 hrs, 30 mins
DD ISBN: 9780062974907
Publisher: Harper Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
This thriller’s tension never lets up thanks to Amoss’ attentive performance.
Listeners unearth a small town’s sordid past. After spending 10 years trying to escape the shadow of her father, infamous serial killer Gabriel Thorn, 17-year-old Ryan Shipley is forced back to Starling, Tennessee. Narrator Sophie Amoss captures Ryan’s guarded, cynical point of view with an uneasy detachment, while also populating Starling with a full range of Southern small-town folk and true-crime obsessives, all of whom are harboring secrets of their own. Amoss shifts convincingly among them and delivers a tense performance that keeps listeners on edge throughout.
This thriller’s tension never lets up thanks to Amoss’ attentive performance. (Thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: June 30, 2026
Duration: 12 hrs, 24 mins
DD ISBN: 9798217295289
Publisher: Listening Library
Review Posted Online: today
A stellar, immersive auditory experience.
Stunning. Brilliant. Vulnerable. Righteous. Zeno Robinson’s dynamic narration makes this clever political and environmental thriller a tour de force. Benton Young, a love-struck high school senior, posts an earnest and passionate online plea for young people to stand up and demand better for their future. His post galvanizes a youth revolution, and Benton is elected president of the United States. As the movement spreads across the world, more young people are elected to lead nations. As Benton faces roadblocks from problematic adults in government and complicated geopolitics, he realizes that building a new world order is hard—and deadly. Robinson’s nimble and dynamic performance is accompanied by newscasts, social media posts, and intelligence reports, all delivered by a full cast. Listeners will have lingering thoughts about the role we play in our own future.
A stellar, immersive auditory experience. (Thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: May 5, 2026
Duration: 15 hrs, 44 mins
DD ISBN: 9798217171972
Publisher: Listening Library
Review Posted Online: June 9, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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