Joseph Balderrama has narrated 8 audiobooks on Listento.it by 8 authors, with an average listener rating of 4.3★ across 165 ratings. The most-rated is Scarred.
Scarred
Summary
The shocking and subversive memoir of a 12-year-NXIVM-member-turned-whistleblower, and her inspiring true story of abuse, escape, and redemption. "Master, would you brand me? It would be an honor." Scarred follows actress Sarah Edmondson's account of her recruitment into the NXIVM cult, founded by Keith Raniere. It narrates in detail the 12 years she spent within the organization, during which she enrolled over 2,000 members, chronicling her breaking point and her harrowing fight to get out, help others, and heal. Complete with personal photographs, this tell-all follows Sarah from the moment she takes her first NXIVM seminar, to the invitation she accepts from her best friend, Lauren Salzman, into DOS - a "secret sisterhood" within the cult - to her journey toward becoming a key witness in the federal case against its founders. Listeners will learn how cults like NXIVM get started, why people get involved (and stay), and the importance of whistleblowers who bring light to illegal and unethical practices. Sarah Edmondson is a Canadian actress and playwright who has starred in the CBS series Salvation and more than 12 films for the Hallmark Channel and Lifetime. She is featured in the CBC podcast Uncover: Escaping NXIVM and The Vow, the upcoming HBO documentary series on NXIVM. Scarred isn't just about NXIVM. It is also a story about abuses of power, the role female friendships play in cults, and how sometimes the search to be "better" can override everything else. A thrilling listen for fans of true crime and cults, as well as listeners of podcasts like My Favorite Murder and Up and Vanished. Great for fans of Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology by Leah Remini, Escape by Carolyn Jessop, Beyond Belief by Jenna Miscavige Hill, and Bad Blood by John Carreyrou. Evokes questions about friendship, ethics, good, and evil, making it a perfect selection for book clubs. Audio edition read by the author.
©2019 Sarah Edmondson and Kristine Gasbarre (P)2019 Hachette Audio
On the Plain of Snakes
Summary
The master of contemporary travel writing, Paul Theroux, immerses himself in the beautiful and troubled heart of modern Mexico. Nogales is a border town caught between Mexico and the United States of America. A 40-foot steel fence runs through its centre, separating the prosperous US side from the impoverished Mexican side. It is a fascinating site of tension, now more than ever, as the town fills with hopeful border crossers and the deportees who have been caught and brought back. And it is here that Paul Theroux will begin his journey into the culturally rich but troubled heart of modern Mexico. Moving through the deserts just south of the Arizona border, Theroux finds a place brimming with charm, yet visibly marked by both the US border patrol looming to the north and mounting discord from within. Attending local language and culinary schools, driving through the country and meeting its people, Paul Theroux gets under the skin of Mexico. From the writer praised for his 'curiosity and affection for humanity in all its forms' (New York Times Book Review), On the Plain of Snakes is an urgent and mesmerising exploration of a region in conflict.
©2019 Paul Theroux (P)2019 W. F. Howes Ltd
Tender Is the Flesh
Summary
Working at the local processing plant, Marcos is in the business of slaughtering humans - though no one calls them that anymore. His wife has left him, his father is sinking into dementia, and Marcos tries not to think too hard about how he makes a living. After all, it happened so quickly. First, it was reported that an infectious virus has made all animal meat poisonous to humans. Then governments initiated the "Transition". Now, eating human meat - "special meat" - is legal. Marcos tries to stick to numbers, consignments, processing. Then one day he's given a gift: a live specimen of the finest quality. Though he's aware that any form of personal contact is forbidden on pain of death, little by little he starts to treat her like a human being. And soon, he becomes tortured by what has been lost - and what might still be saved.
©2017 Agustina Bazterrica. English language translation ©2020 Pushkin Press Limited. Originally published in Argentina in 2017 by Alfaguara as Cadáver Exquisito. All rights reserved. (P)2020 Audible, Ltd. All rights reserved.
The Weapon
Summary
After the October 1973 Arab-Israeli War, OPEC used an oil embargo to punish the US and Europe for its support for Israel. By early 1974, the embargo had plunged the world into an economic crisis. Then on 21st December 1975, Venezuelan Marxist pin-up Carlos the Jackal storms the OPEC HQ in Vienna. He takes 96 hostages, including 11 oil ministers from OPEC countries. This is the story of the siege.
Zubin Varla and Joseph Balderrama star in Jonathan Myerson's thriller - a tense dramatisation of the real-life OPEC siege. One of a season of dramas exploring the history of oil - and the price we've paid for it.
©2019 Lübbe Audio (P)2019 Lübbe Audio
Death on Gibraltar
Summary
Ultimate soldier. Ultimate mission. But will the SAS be able to outfox the IRA as they prepare a deadly reprisal? May 1987: a successful SAS ambush results in the deaths of eight IRA terrorists in Loughgall. Knowing that retaliation is certain and that Gibraltar has been selected by the IRA as a 'soft' target associated with British imperialism, British intelligence goes on the alert. Then two IRA members arrive in Southern Spain under false names, and an Irishwoman, also using a false identity, visits the changing of the guard ceremony outside the Governor of Gibraltar's residence. Intelligence believes the ceremony is likely to be attacked, and the British government sends in the SAS. Tasked with preventing the bombing, if necessary by killing the terrorists, the SAS team will need to call into play all their expertise and tenacity in what will become a deadly game of cat and mouse.
©2016 Shaun Clarke (P)2016 HarperCollins Publishers Limited
Broken Promise
Summary
One secret could destroy a family. One lie could save them. The brilliant prequel to The Boy Who Saw, a gripping thriller from Sunday Times best seller Simon Toyne, featuring the enigmatic Solomon Creed. A stranger Solomon Creed is an outsider with an unknown past, travelling through a remote part of Texas. He doesn’t look for trouble - but trouble finds him. A family At a roadside diner, he runs into a worn-down family whose ancestral land and home is about to be auctioned. But when Solomon suspects it’s worth a lot more than they think, he decides to take things into his own hands. A secret As Solomon races to find hard evidence of the land’s true value, he uncovers a dark truth - hidden for generations - that changes everything. But how far is he willing to go to save a family from potential ruin? And how far will others go to stop him?
©2018 Simon Toyne (P)2018 HarperCollins Publishers Limited
Into Vietnam
Summary
Ultimate soldier. Ultimate mission. But will the SAS survive a nightmare journey into the tunnel lair of the Viet Cong? June 1966: 3 Squadron SAS (Australian Special Air Service) set up a forward operating base in Vietnam's Phuoc Tuy province, a swampy hell of jungle and paddy fields 45 miles east of Saigon, in the heart of enemy territory. The Viet Cong have bases throughout the jungle, and the Australians soon find themselves under constant attack. Enter three members of the legendary 22 SAS to assist in a major assault against the Viet Cong: Sergeant Jimmy 'Jimbo' Ashman, founding member of the Regiment; Sergeant Richard 'Dead-Eye Dick' Parker, veteran of previous SAS operations in Malaya, Borneo and Aden; and Lieutenant Colonel Patrick 'Paddy' Callaghan, pulled out of administration specially for this secret mission. Working under appalling conditions, Brits and Aussies must try to forge themselves into a potent fighting machine, as they have been tasked with the fearsome job of rooting the Viet Cong out of their labyrinthine tunnel system. It will be a journey into hell, and some will never return.
©2016 Shaun Clarke (P)2016 HarperCollins Publishers Limited
The Vow
Summary
The number one ebook best seller! Everything was perfect. And then her fiancé disappeared.... Two weeks before her wedding, a stranger stops Amy in the street and warns her she’s in danger. Then that night, Matt, her fiancé, doesn’t come home. Desperate, Amy calls the police - but when Matt fails to emerge, she’s forced to call off her wedding day. Then another man is reported missing, by a woman called Fiona - a man meeting Matt’s description, who was about to leave his fiancée for her. He was supposed to be moving in with her - but instead, he’s vanished. Amy refuses to believe Fiona’s lover can be her Matt - but photos prove otherwise, and it soon becomes clear that Matt has been leading a double life. As the police dig deeper, two conflicting, yet equally plausible stories emerge from two women who allegedly have never met. The wedding day never happened. But the funeral might.
©2020 Debbie Howells (P)2020 HarperCollins Publishers Limited