Tavia Gilbert has narrated 345 audiobooks on Listento.it by 217 authors, with an average listener rating of 4.4★ across 3,394 ratings. The most-rated is Second Hand Curses.
Flashpoint
Summary
When six-foot redhead ex-cop and Boston-based private investigator Carlotta Carlyle agrees to help an elderly recluse burglar-proof her apartment, the last thing she expected was that the woman would turn up dead. Now Carlotta must find out why the eccentric yet seemingly harmless Valentine Phipps isolated herself - and needed protection. Who would want to hurt Valentine? What was she hiding behind closed doors? Is there a connection between her murder and an age-old mystery that the city’s top brass - and its real-estate moguls - want to keep buried? But the most troubling question of all involves the victim’s home health aide, Gwen: Why did she introduce Valentine to Carlotta in the first place? The race to catch one of Boston’s most ruthless and ambiguous criminals has just begun….
©2013 Brilliance Audio, Inc. (P)2013 Random House Audio
Ex Libris
Summary
Pulitzer Prize-winning literary critic Michiko Kakutani shares her enthusiasm for more than 100 books in a series of succinct, thought-provoking essays. “An ebullient celebration of books and reading.” (Publishers Weekly) “Books can connect people across time zones and zip codes, across cultures, national boundaries, and historical eras”, Kakutani writes in her introduction to Ex Libris. Here listeners will discover novels and memoirs by some of the most gifted writers working today; favorite classics worth listening or relistening; and nonfiction works, both old and new, that illuminate our social and political landscape and some of today’s most pressing issues, from climate change to medicine to the consequences of digital innovation. There are essential works in American history (The Federalist Papers, The Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr.); books that address timely cultural dynamics (Elizabeth Kolbert’s The Sixth Extinction, Daniel J. Boorstin's The Image, Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale); classics of children's literature (the Harry Potter novels, Where the Wild Things Are); and novels by acclaimed contemporary writers like Don DeLillo, William Gibson, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, and Ian McEwan. Ex Libris is an impassioned reminder of why books matters more than ever.
©2020 Michiko Kakutani (P)2020 Random House Audio
The Janes
Summary
The electric follow-up to Louisa Luna's acclaimed thriller Two Girls Down, featuring private investigators Alice Vega and Max Caplan. On the outskirts of San Diego, the bodies of two young women are discovered. They are Jane Does: no names, no IDs, no families looking for them. Fearing a human trafficking ring, the police and FBI ask Alice Vega to help find out who the Janes were - and find the other missing women. Alice Vega has a mind like a steel trap. Along with her partner Cap, she will stop at nothing to find the Janes before it is too late. Louisa Luna is writing new, smart, insightful, relevant classics of crime fiction. Vega and Cap rightfully join the pantheon of the most memorable partnerships in crime fiction.
©2020 Louisa Luna (P)2020 Random House Audio
Masquerade
Summary
A biker. A tattoo artist. A love to last a lifetime. Maddox Cross has always had to be tough. When his father went to jail for murder, the teenager took care of his sister and mother. Now on his own and working security at a night club, Maddox wants to become a tattoo artist - a dream that comes closer to reality when he falls for the hottest, most tatted woman he's ever seen. She's wild and beautiful, and Maddox will do anything to be with her. Bee Malone came to town to open up her new tattoo parlor, Masquerade. Since being kidnapped as a young girl, Bee has had trouble getting close to anyone. But when she meets Maddox, she sees that under his hard biker's body is the sensitive soul of an artist. What starts out as a sizzling one-night stand soon becomes so much more. Bee wants Maddox to join her tattoo business, but letting him into her life means revealing all her most intimate secrets. And as the past begins to intertwine with her present, Bee fears their love may not be as permanent as their ink.
©2014 Nyrae Dawn (P)2014 Hachette Audio
The Guests of August
Summary
Five families come together for a summer vacation that will change their lives forever in this moving tale of love, loss, and hope. The Edwards, the Ames, the Epsteins, the Currans, and the Templetons - five families bound together by the decades-old tradition of spending their August vacation at the idyllic Mount Haven Inn in New Hampshire. Despite living separate, disparate lives, the summer ritual of reconnecting remains an important yearly fixture for the families, with the inn and its tranquil surroundings offering a welcome safe haven and respite from their struggles - a place to draw comfort from their shared past and memories. But strained relationships, heartache, loss, and devastating secrets all come to a head one climactic summer - a summer that will change their lives forever...
©2019 Gloria Goldreich (P)2020 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books
Touch of Red
Summary
New York Times best-selling author Laura Griffin "delivers the goods" (Publishers Weekly) again with this gripping, "spellbinding" (Fresh Fiction) thriller full of twists and turns - the 12th in her best-selling Tracers series. When crime scene investigator Brooke Porter arrives at the home of a murdered woman, the only thing more shocking than the carnage is the evidence that someone escaped the scene. But where is this witness now? A thorough search of the area yields more questions than answers, and before Brooke even packs up her evidence kit, she's made it her goal to find the witness and get them out of harm's way. Homicide detective Sean Byrne has seen his share of bloody crime scenes, but this one is particularly disturbing, especially because Brooke Porter is smack in the middle of it. Sean has had his eye on the sexy CSI for months, and he's determined to help her with her current case - even if it means putting his attraction on hold so he and Brooke can track down a murderer. But as the investigation - and their relationship - heats up, Sean realizes that keeping his work and his personal life separate is more complicated than he ever imagined; especially when the killer sets his sights on Brooke. With Griffin's signature "fully fleshed characters, dry humor, and tight plotting" (Publishers Weekly), Touch of Red demonstrates why she is one of the most acclaimed and popular authors of sexy thrillers today.
©2017 Laura Griffin (P)2017 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.
A Man's Place
Summary
Barely educated and valued since childhood strictly for his labor, Ernaux's father had grown into a hard, practical man who showed his family little affection. Narrating his slow ascent towards material comfort, Ernaux's cold observation reveals the shame that haunted her father throughout his life. She scrutinizes the importance he attributed to manners and language that came so unnaturally to him as he struggled to provide for his family with a grocery store and cafe in rural France. Over the course of the book, Ernaux grows up to become the uncompromising observer now familiar to the world, while her father matures into old age with a staid appreciation for life as it is and for a daughter he cautiously, even reluctantly, admires.
©2019 Dreamscape Media, LLC (P)2019 Dreamscape Media, LLC
Ecstasy
Summary
Gustav Klimt gave Alma her first kiss. Gustav Mahler fell in love with her at first sight and proposed only a few weeks later. Bauhaus founder Walter Gropius abandoned all reason to pursue her. Poet and novelist Franz Werfel described her as one of the very few magical women that exist. But who was this woman who brought these eminent men to their knees? In Ecstasy, Mary Sharratt answers that question. Coming of age in the midst of a creative and cultural whirlwind, Alma Schindler yearned to make her mark as a composer. A brand-new era of possibility for women was dawning, and she was determined to make the most of it. But when Alma lost her heart to the great composer Gustav Mahler, he demanded that she give up music. Torn by her love and in awe of his genius, she had to discover how to remain true to herself and her artistic passion. Part cautionary tale and part triumph of the feminist spirit, Ecstasy reveals the true Alma Mahler: composer, author, daughter, sister, mother, wife, lover, and muse.
©2018 Mary Sharratt (P)2018 Dreamscape Media, LLC
Houses Under the Sea
Summary
Since H. P. Lovecraft first invited colleagues such as Frank Belknap Long and Robert Bloch (among others) to join in his creation of what has come to be known as “The Cthulhu Mythos” (over Lovecraft’s less invocative name of “Yog-Sothery”), dozens of authors have tried their hand at adding to this vast tapestry with varying degrees of success. Some, like the then-teenage Ramsey Campbell, used the Mythos as a starting point to his own career while still finding his own authorial voice. Others, like Stephen King and Neil Gaiman, did so at the height of their careers, paying homage to an author who had been such a tremendous inspiration to them. But no one, absolutely no one, has contributed such a body of brilliant and profoundly original work to the Mythos as has Caitlín R. Kiernan. In this remarkable collection the author has selected over two dozen of her best Lovecraftian tales ranging from 2000s “Valentia” to her more recent classic “A Mountain Walked” as well as including the complete Dandridge Cycle, as well as a new story, “M Is for Mars.” In short, this is a cornerstone volume for Kiernan fans and Mythos devotees alike.
©2018 Caitlín R. Kiernan (P)2021 Blackstone Publishing
The Funeral Dress
Summary
A deeply touching Southern story filled with struggle and hope. Emmalee Bullard and her new baby are on their own. Or so she thinks, until Leona Lane, the older seamstress who sat by her side at the local shirt factory where both women worked as collar makers, insists Emmalee come and live with her. Just as Emmalee prepares to escape her hardscrabble life in Red Chert holler, Leona dies tragically. Grief-stricken, Emmalee decides she'll make Leona's burying dress, but there are plenty of people who don't think the unmarried Emmalee should design a dress for a Christian woman - or care for a child on her own. But with every stitch, Emmalee struggles to do what is right for her daughter and to honor Leona the best way she can, finding unlikely support among an indomitable group of seamstresses and the town's funeral director. In a moving tale exploring Southern spirit and camaraderie among working women, a young mother will compel a town to become a community.
©2013 Susan Gregg Gilmore (P)2014 Audible Inc.
Courting Mr. Lincoln
Summary
When Mary Todd meets Abraham Lincoln in Springfield in the winter of 1840, he is on no one's shortlist to be president. Rough and reticent, he's a country lawyer lacking money and manners, living above a dry goods shop, but with a gift for oratory. Mary, a quick, self-possessed debutante with a tireless interest in debates and elections, at first finds him an enigma. "I can only hope," she tells his roommate, the handsome, charming Joshua Speed, "that his waters being so very still, they also run deep." It's not long, though, before she sees the Lincoln that Speed knows: a man who, despite his awkwardness, is amiable and profound, with a gentle wit to match his genius and a respect for her keen political mind. But as her relationship with Lincoln deepens, she must confront his inseparable friendship with Speed, who has taught his roommate how to dance, dress, and navigate the polite society of Springfield. Told in the alternating voices of Mary Todd and Joshua Speed, and rich with historical detail, Courting Mr. Lincoln creates a sympathetic and complex portrait of Mary unlike any that has come before; a moving portrayal of the deep and very real connection between the two men; and most of all, an evocation of the unformed man who would grow into one of the nation's most beloved presidents.
©2019 Louis Bayard (P)2019 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books
The Perfect Christmas
Summary
Christmas perfect? For Cassie Beaumont, it's meeting her perfect match. Cassie, at 33, wants a husband and kids, and so far, nothing's worked. Not blind dates, not the Internet, and certainly not leaving love to chance. What's left? A professional matchmaker. He's Simon Dodson, and he's very choosy about the clients he takes on. Cassie finds Simon a difficult, acerbic know-it-all, and she's astonished when he accepts her as a client.Claiming he has her perfect mate in mind, Simon assigns her three tasks to complete before she meets him - three tasks that are all about Christmas: being a charity bell ringer, dressing up as Santa's elf at a children's party, and preparing a traditional turkey dinner for her neighbors (whom she happens to dislike). Despite a number of comical mishaps, Cassie does it all - and she's finally ready to meet her match. But just like the perfect Christmas gift, he turns out to be a wonderful surprise!What would the holidays be without a Christmas story from Debbie Macomber?
©2009 Debbie Macomber (P)2009 Brilliance Audio, Inc.
Under the Sign of Saturn
Summary
Sontag's most important critical writings from 1972 to 1980 are collected in Under the Sign of Saturn. One of America's leading essayists, Sontag's writings are commentaries on the relation between moral and aesthetic ideas, discussing the works of Antonin Artaud, Leni Riefenstahl, Elias Canetti, Walter Benjamin, and others. The collection includes a variety of her well-known essays. In "Fascinating Fascism", Sontag eviscerates Leni Riefenstahl's attempts to rehabilitate her image after working for Adolf Hitler on propaganda films during World War II. "Approaching Artaud" reflects on the work and influence of French actor, director, and writer Antonin Artaud. The title essay is a study of the life and temperament of Walter Benjamin, who Sontag describes as a sad and lonesome man. The book also includes the essays "On Paul Goodman", "Syberberg's Hitler", "Remembering Barthes", and "Mind as Passion". Susan Sontag's writings are famously full of intellectual range and depth, and are at turns exhilarating, ominous, disturbing, and beautiful. Under the Sign of Saturn manages to touch on all of these notes and more.
©2013 Blackstone Audio, Inc. (P)2018 Blackstone Audio, Inc.
The After Wife
Summary
After losing her husband, writer Abigail Carson has all but given up on life. Having spent the last year cocooned in her Manhattan apartment, Abigail is suddenly forced to find a new home where she can stretch her dwindling savings. Intent on isolation, she moves to a tiny village in Nova Scotia where she'll have no one to interrupt her solitude. Little does Abigail realize that small-town life offers far less privacy than the big city. With neighbors knocking on the door bearing homemade treats and invitations, Abby soon finds herself immersed in the lives of the people of South Haven. She forms an unlikely friendship with Liam Wright, the handyman renovating her dilapidated cottage, and his daughter, seven-year-old Olive. As the dark cloud engulfing Abigail lifts, she starts to think she may have found love again. But just as Abigail is ready to leap, she discovers Liam carries with him a shocking secret that will ultimately cause everything to unravel. Abigail must decide if she will turn away from his pain or open her heart in the most hopeless of circumstances. Contains mature themes.
©2020 Gretz Corp. (P)2020 Tantor
Dog Gone Ghost
Summary
Who let the dogs...and cats...out? Verity Long's new ghost-hunting career has gone to the dogs - literally. A spirit is releasing animals from their cages at the Sugarland Animal Rescue Center. It's an unusual haunting that gets even more bizarre when she uncovers a new clue in a case of a missing child. Verity vows to reunite the lost boy with his family. And when she does, Verity just might answer the age-old question: Do all dogs go to heaven?
©2017 Angie Fox (P)2018 Audible, Inc.
The Last Tiara
Summary
Sophia Moon had always been reticent about her life in Russia, and when she dies, suspiciously, on a wintry New York evening, Isobelle despairs that her mother's secrets have died with her. But while renovating the apartment they shared, Isobelle discovers something among her mother's effects - a stunning silver tiara, stripped of its jewels. Isobelle's research into the tiara's provenance draws her closer to her mother's past - including the story of what became of her father back in Russia, a man she has never known. The facts elude her until she meets a young jeweler who wants to help her but is conflicted by his loyalty to the Midas Society, a covert international organization whose mission is to return lost and stolen antiques, jewels, and artwork to their original owners. Told in alternating points of view, the stories of the two young women unfurl as each struggles to find their way during two separate wars.
©2021 M. J. Rose (P)2021 Tantor
The Fire Dance
Summary
Detective Inspector Irene Huss hasn't seen Sophie Malmborg for over 15 years, but she's still haunted by the strange young ballerina's role in the fire that killed her stepfather. Why had she refused to speak to Irene and the other case workers? Could an 11-year-old - even one as disturbed and aloof as Sophie - truly be capable of setting her own house on fire? Irene's questions resurface 15 years later, when Sophie disappears and the charred remains of a dancer are found in an abandoned warehouse. Irene has a startling realization that could shed light on the case that has been lingering in the back of her mind since the beginning of her career.
©2014 Helene Tursten (P)2014 Blackstone Audio
Language Arts
Summary
Charles Marlow is a Seattle English teacher who instructs his students to expand their worlds through language. Lately, however, with one child off to college and the pressure from his ex-wife to make plans for their severely autistic son who's about to age out of the system, he prefers the company of the ghosts he turns up in the storage boxes in his crawl space. There he finds the totems that betray the darker moments of his youth - memories that were buried for decades when he met the ambitious and sparkling Alison LeFevre. But the complications of parenthood proved fatal to their marriage, and Charles has been stagnant ever since. Language Arts is a wise and perceptive novel about how accumulated guilt and fear can embalm us in middle age and how one man who lost his way in life and love regains both. Kallos' previous novels include Broken for You and Sing Them Home.
©2015 Stephanie Kallos (P)2015 Recorded Books
Miss Gibson
Summary
Now available in audio, originally published in Women on the Case, an anthology of 26 original stories by the best women in crime writing, a short story featuring Linda Barnes’ feisty, redheaded, ex-cop private investigator, Carlotta Carlyle. Carlotta can’t stay away when she’s offered a beautiful piece of classic blues history - the guitar of blues and gospel legend Reverend Gary Davis - in return for finding and stopping the uncomfortable advances of a blues-singing rock star’s stalker.
©2013 Linda Barnes (P)2013 Brilliance Audio, Inc.
Hope Runs
Summary
Sammy Ikua Gachagua had lost his father to AIDS, his mother to abandonment, and his home to poverty. By age ten, he was living in a shack with seven other children and very little food. He entered Tumaini Children's Home seeing it as a miracle with three meals a day, a bed to sleep in, and clothes on his back. When Claire Diaz-Ortiz arrived in Kenya at the end of an around-the-world journey, she decided to stay the night, climb Mt. Kenya, then head back home to Maine. She entered Tumaini Children's Home seeing it as little more than a free place to spend the night before her mountain trek. God had other plans. Hope Runs is the emotional story of an American tourist, a Kenyan orphan, and the day that would change the course of both of their lives forever. It's about what it means to live in the now when the world is falling down around you. It's about what it means to hope for the things you cannot see. Most of all, it's about how God can change your life in the blink of an eye.
©2014 eChristian (P)2014 eChristian