Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Offer ends May 1st, 2024 11:59PM GMT. Terms and conditions apply.
£7.99/month after 3 months. Renews automatically.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
The Listener cover art

The Listener

By: Robert R. McCammon
Narrated by: Marc Vietor
Get this deal Try for £0.00

Pay £99p/month. After 3 months pay £7.99/month. Renews automatically. See terms for eligibility.

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £18.99

Buy Now for £18.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Listeners also enjoyed...

Mystery Walk cover art
Usher's Passing cover art
Blue World: The Complete Collection cover art
Speaks the Nightbird cover art
The Border cover art
Mine cover art
Stinger cover art
Baal cover art
The Wolf's Hour cover art
Gone South cover art
Boy's Life cover art
Swan Song cover art
They Thirst cover art
Summer of Night cover art
Heartman cover art
Dreamland Burning cover art

Summary

It's 1934. Businesses went under by the hundreds, debt and foreclosures boomed, and breadlines grew in many American cities. In the midst of this misery, some folks explored unscrupulous ways to make money. Angel-faced John Partlow and carnival huckster Ginger LaFrance are among the worst of this lot. Joining together they leave their small-time confidence scams behind to attempt an elaborate kidnapping-for-ransom scheme in New Orleans.

In a different part of town, Curtis Mayhew, a young black man who works as a redcap for the Union Railroad Station, has a reputation for mending quarrels and misunderstandings among his friends. What those friends don't know is that Curtis has a special talent for listening...and he can sometimes hear things that aren't spoken aloud.

One day, Curtis Mayhew's special talent allows him to overhear a child's cry for help (THIS MAN IN THE CAR HE'S GOT A GUN), which draws him into the dangerous world of Partlow and LaFrance.

This gritty Depression-era crime thriller is a complex tale enriched by powerfully observed social commentary and hints of the supernatural, and it represents Robert McCammon writing at the very top of his game.

©2018 Robert McCammon (P)2018 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

“McCammon conjures believable characters whose sympathetic plight pulls the reader headlong into the novel’s volatile mix of crime and fantasy. Its tense finale, paced at breakneck speed, will have readers turning pages until its surprise-packed end.” ( Publishers Weekly)"McCammon masterfully combines historical thriller and supernatural horror in a compelling and suspenseful tale of race, class, and family…" ( Booklist)

What listeners say about The Listener

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    92
  • 4 Stars
    46
  • 3 Stars
    15
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    1
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    103
  • 4 Stars
    29
  • 3 Stars
    7
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    1
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    78
  • 4 Stars
    42
  • 3 Stars
    16
  • 2 Stars
    6
  • 1 Stars
    1

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A Listener Treat!

My only previous experience of Robert McCammon was the wonderfully epic post apocalyptic thriller Swan Song which I would recommend to anyone in a heartbeat. This is a very different and slightly more understated book but the quality of the writing once again stands out.

Set in the depressed background of 1930s America McCammon takes his time early on to draw out his three main characters. We are introduced to a deliciously twisted pair of villains and a true unlikely hero as well as some of the desperation of the times. It's all brought to life by a very steady performance from Marc Vietor who helps considerably in providing the atmosphere.

The supernatural plays an important role in the story but is very modest and the horror is provided totally by the humans in what is indeed a very human story. The pace is upped considerably in the second part of the book draws to a very exciting and satisfying conclusion. For those prone to tears though a hankie will be a sensible precaution at the end.

Well worth a credit and a reminder to me that I need to read more McCammon!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

20 people found this helpful

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

Absolutely great!

The story is well developed from start to finish as are the characters. Marc Vietor's narration is perfect for this book. Highly recommended.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

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

Best Audible book I've had for a long time!

Loved this book. Beautifully written. Gritty, atmospheric and sometimes the context of the times the story is set can be disturbing, but this gives the story authenticity. Well read - just the right amount of voice changes for each character without drawing attention away from the narrative to the narrator.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

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

I just enjoy this author ,he makes me stop and listen to his words and the tale he tells

I would always recommend this author
He tells a very good tale ,the story takes from my busy life and transports me to a different time and place and my imagination creates the faces and places , and It makes me relax
Because the story is so good , it encourages me to listen to more
And I always am disappointed when the tale finishes and I have to find a new book , keep writing , please

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

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

Another great book from Robert McCammon

Two con artists, a man who was what was known as a hearse chaser, selling bibles to bereaved widows and a woman who worked for a show giving sex lessons to men, unite to kidnap the two children of a millionaire. They managed to do this with the help of a cousin of the woman's who is something of a physco. But unknown to them a young black man named Curtis, working as a railway porter has a gift for listening to things other people cannot hear. He has been talking to the little girl in his mind for quite a while, she too is a listener. She manages to send him a message saying they are being driven in a car with their bodyguard with a woman and a man and they have a gun. The race to find and rescue the children is not easy for a black man in the 1930s. It is a hard road to travel. This book is a fast paced thriller with a hint of the supernatural. Nail biting in some parts and sad in others, a must read.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

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

Not his best book but still has moments.

A good, if not original, start to the book is followed by quite a few chapters stretching out a simple plot and explaining the background to the supernatural twist to the tale. It picks up towards the end but each new twist just feels like the author is padding out what he knows to be a thin storyline.

Having said that, he's a great writer and, whilst certainly not his best book, I can't criticise the quality or structure of the writing. It's simply the story which doesn't thrill.

Great narration, though, keeps you listening.

ps. His other works are very good. Start with Speaks the Nightbird - now that's worthy of praise.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

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

sorry, got a bit bored.

love this author, didnt love this book.
it wouldve been much better if it was a romp through the south with pearly and ginger scamming people, a bonnie and clyde story.

half of the story is a kidnap rescue that goes on and on im an unbelievable way and gets boring, i skipped chunks.

mccammon wrote the wrong story after a great start. shame.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

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

The Listener

I mostly liked this book. Good character development, the story was well told and it all flowed nicely, even if it was a bit far fetched. It kept my attention the whole way through.
The narrator was good too, although I did need to speed it up more than usual as the pacing was way too slow for me.

My only issues about the book are that in places it was a bit over written. I'm not sure if that's a real term! If not, I mean it in the way people might say someone over acted a part, but in this case it's the author that has tried a bit too hard to write well and ended up overshooting, leaving it sounding trite and contrived.
Also, endings that tie everything up neatly get on my nerves but that's just personal preference.

p.s. What is the colour of "summer smoke"?? Does it somehow have a different hue than smoke at any other time of the year??! 🤔

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

this is a great book

I loved everything about this book except the ending. The story is very different from what I normally read but I'm so glad I bought it. The additional plus is the reader. He defined every character very clearly and gave depth to them all. The only thing I woruld change would be the length of the book. I wish it had been twice as long but that's only because I got into the story so much.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

A great listen

Skilfully told by the narrator, the Listener captures the contrasting lives and culture of 1930s America. With a compelling storyline and well developed characters, I was enthralled. This is the first book I’ve read by Robert McCammon. I will look for others by the same author.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!