The Audio Book Geek

Dean Koontz - Brother Odd (Unabridged)

Visit Audible.com and instantly download 3 free audio books, including Brother Odd - By Dean Koontz.

Synopsis:

No one could have imagined Odd Thomas ever leaving the perfect, quirky comfort of Pico Mundo, least of all Odd himself. The little desert town that nurtured Odd all his life is the locus of everything he holds dear: his loyal friends, his ghostly confidants, and the place where he loved and lost his soul mate, the irreplaceable Stormy Llewellyn. Yet leave it he has, to embrace the solitude and peace of an isolated monastery high in the western mountains as he tries to find a way to live fully again.

But Odd has a knack for finding himself in the path of trouble no matter where he goes — even among the eccentric monks in their sanctuary and with his steady spirit companion, the King of Rock 'n' Roll, at his side. For a killer is stalking the ancient holy halls, and Odd is about to meet an enemy who eclipses any he has yet encountered. Get more information about this title at Audible.com...

Elie Wiesel's Night

Visit Audible.com and instantly download 3 free audio books, including Elie Wiesel's Night. You can also rent this title with a 2 week risk-free trial.

Synopsis:

Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and the Congressional Gold Medal, Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel offers an unforgettable account of Hitler's horrific reign of terror in Night. This definitive edition features a new translation from the original French by Wiesel's wife and frequent translator, Marion Wiesel.

Night is an unmistakably autobiographical account of the author's own gruesome experiences in Nazi Germany's death camps. Told through the eyes of 14-year-old Eliezer, the tragic fate of the Jews from the little town of Sighet unfolds with a heart-wrenching inevitability. Even as they are stuffed into cattle cars bound for Auschwitz, the townspeople refuse to believe rumors of anti-Semitic atrocities. Not until they are marched toward the blazing crematory at the camp's "reception center" does the terrible truth sink in.

Recounting the evils at Auschwitz and Buchenwald, Wiesel's enduring classic of Holocaust literature raises questions of continuing significance for all future generations: How could man commit these horrors, and could such an evil ever be repeated? Get more information about this title at Audible.com...

Michael Baigent's The Jesus Papers: Exposing The Greatest Cover-Up In History

Sign up with Audible.com and download 3 free audio books, including The Jesus Papers. You can also rent this title with a 2 week risk-free trial.

Synopsis:

What if everything you think you know about Jesus is wrong? In The Jesus Papers, Michael Baigent reveals the truth about Jesus's life and crucifixion. Despite, or rather because of, all the celebration and veneration that have surrounded the figure of Jesus for centuries, Baigent asserts that Jesus and the circumstances leading to his death have been heavily mythologized.

As a religious historian and a leading expert in the field of arcane knowledge, Baigent has unequaled access to hidden archives, secret societies, Masonic records, and the private collections of antiquities traders and their moneyed clients. Using that access to full advantage, Baigent explores the religious and political climate in which Jesus was born and raised, examining not only the conflicts between the Romans and the Jews, but the strife within the different factions of the Jewish Zealot movement. He chronicles the migrations of Jesus' family, his subsequent exposure to other cultures, and the events, teachings, and influences that were most likely to have shaped his early years. Baigent also uncovers the inconsistencies and biases in the accounts of the major historians of Jesus' time, including Josephus, Pliny, and Tacitus. The enduring influence of these accounts in forming our most common conceptions of Jesus reveals that spin is not a new phenomenon.

Taking us back to sites that over the last 20 years he has meticulously explored, studied, and in some instances excavated for the first time, Baigent provides a detailed account of his groundbreaking discoveries. The evidence he has uncovered has lead him to make shocking new assertions that threaten the conventional account of Jesus' life and death and shake the very foundation of Western thought, based as it is upon the assumption of Jesus's divinity. Ultimately, his investigation raises the hope that we may gain a new understanding of Jesus. Get more information at Audible.com…

Christopher Paolini’s Eragon – Book One of The Inheritance Trilogy

One boy. One dragon. A world of adventure. When Eragon finds a polished blue stone in the forest, he thinks it is the lucky discovery of a poor farm boy; perhaps it will buy his family meat for the winter. But when the stone brings a dragon hatchling, Eragon realizes he has stumbled upon a legacy nearly as old as the Empire itself.

Overnight his simple life is shattered, and he is thrust into a perilous new world of destiny, magic, and power.

With only an ancient sword and the advice of an old storyteller for guidance, Eragon and the fledgling dragon must navigate the dangerous terrain and dark enemies of an Empire ruled by a king whose evil knows no bounds. Can Eragon take up the mantle of the legendary Dragon Riders? The fate of the Empire may rest in his hands.  Get More Information Here…

My Thoughts:

Let me tell you something: the biggest difference between a poor quality audio book, and one that’s hot is the narrator. The narrator of the Eragon audio book, Gerald Doyle, did an incredible job. If you’re reading the book, I suggest you stop and get the audio version of it. You’ll enjoy it so much more!

As far as the story is concerned, Christopher Paolini is on his way to fame and fortune (aside from what he already has). This book definitely competes with some of the more popular fantasy novels out there. Mind you, there are characters in this story that Christopher pretty much copied from the other stories, but it still resonates as a great book. The fact that a fifteen-year-old could write a fantasy novel (let alone at trilogy) of this size is simply amazing.

Also, don’t be tricked into believing this audio book is simply for kids. No, this book is definitely for all ages.

If you're interested, you can download the Eragon audio book (Book One of the Inheritance Trilogy), or rent it here.