Welcome to Brian’s Book Blog’s weekly New and Notable Audiobooks Post for the Week of June 27th.
Comment below on any I missed or what you’re excited about!
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The Bar at the Edge of the Sea by Tom Abrahams
Narrated by Jonathan Davis
Audible
A world underwater. A missing weapon. A fight for redemption.
Zeke Watson has his first mission as a Watcher: a quest to find a kidnapped child who knows the location of a missing weapon. In the wrong hands, the weapon will upset the balance of good and evil across the known universe.
He seeks the child. The weapon. And redemption.
But can he find any of that in a flooded post-apocalyptic world filled with ruthless pirates – where his skills behind the wheel are useless and his newfound power is as unsteady as a skiff on choppy seas?
Don’t miss the thrilling sequel to The Bar at the End of the World. It’s perfect for fans of A.G. Riddle, Hugh Howey, and Stephen King’s Dark Tower series.
Obliteration by James S. Murray, Darren Wearmouth
Narrated by James S. Murray
HarperAudio
Book One’s Review
Book Two’s Review
Evils both above and below ground arise once again, threatening the world and all its inhabitants with extinction in this electrifying science fiction thriller – the final novel set in the Awakened universe – from the number-one internationally best-selling author and star of television’s Impractical Jokers and a best-selling science fiction writer.
Thanks to the heroics of former New York City Mayor Tom Cafferty and his team, the world is once again safe. The villainous Foundation for Human Advancement has been dismantled, the cities of the world are safe from nuclear annihilation, and Cafferty is now on a hunt to decimate every nest of creatures on the planet.
When Cafferty enters a nest underneath the Nevada desert, he is horrified to find it completely empty. It can only mean one thing: the battle for survival is not over. Across the planet, creatures are emerging from their subterranean homes. Now, the all-out war against humanity has begun – a war in which only one apex species will survive. Humankind has finally met its match.
Cafferty knows that only one man can help him stop the onslaught. A man who is despised by the world. A man who has already caused the death of millions. A man who is a sworn enemy hell-bent on taking Tom Cafferty down forever: Albert Van Ness.
But even this desperate move may not be enough to stop the creatures and save humanity….
Black Dawn by K. Gorman
Narrated by Andrea Emmes
Aethon Audio
Genetic engineering. Conspiracy. An unstoppable attack.
Karin Makos lives a lie. Genetically engineered from birth and raised in a scientific compound to gain unnatural powers, she has since escaped and built another life, hidden from those who created her. For her, the chance to pilot a small-time scrounging vessel to remote corners of space is the dream. After years on the run with her sister and enduring the constant paranoia of living planet-side, going off-radar gives her exactly what she wants: Freedom.
That dream is shattered.
A system-wide attack decimates humanity and leaves the survivors scraping for clues. And Karin might know where to look.
But digging into her past comes with a whole new set of secrets and consequences, none of which she wants to face. Plagued by strange dreams of her sister and a sense of growing danger, Karin and the crew of the Nemina must race desperately across space to find their loved ones – and answers.
Like Firefly? Can’t get enough Killjoys? Then this series is for you. Join Karin and the crew of the Nemina in this fast-paced space opera thrill ride that contains strong leads, high-octane action, and more than its share of snark.
Sky Realms Online Books 1-3: A LitRPG Series Box Set by Troy Osgood
Narrated by Pavi Proczko
Aethon Audio
It was a game, now it’s his life.
The Sky Realms Online Books 1-3 Bundle is 30+ hours of epic LitRPG adventure set in a virtual world where anything can happen… maybe even death.
Hall had played the VRMMORPG, Sky Realms Online, since beta. During one gaming session, a freak accident traps Hall and other players in the game. They awaken to find out their bodies are comatose and they have been downloaded fully into the virtual world. Even worse, the rules have changed, they’ve been forced back to level 1, and permadeath might be possible.
Join Hall and his growing circle of friends and enemies, both Players and NPCs, as they discover that Sky Realms Online is not the same game they knew. New lands, new foes, and new mysteries.
Grayhold (Book 1): Hall finds himself trapped in the game world, but not the game that he remembered. Things have changed. Hall gets his first quests, meets his first friends, and finds what could be his future home.
Silverpeak (Book 2): Now the Lord of a ruined village, Hall takes his first steps toward turning Skara Brae into a real village. A journey to the city of Silver Peak Keep involves Hall and friends in a war between guilds.
Axestorm (Book 3): Skara Brae is growing and it’s time to take the next step. Hall and companions journey to the Dwarf fortress of Axestorm Hall in search of an airship. There they encounter more mysteries and another Player, Iron, who is working to conqueror the entire island of Huntley.
Grab this special edition box set today and dive headfirst into the action-packed world of Sky Realms Online. It’s a LitRPG saga perfect for fans of J.A. Hunter, Dakota Krout, and Edward Brody.
What I Know by Miranda Smith
Narrated by Barbara Barnes
Bookouture
My brother was 13 the first time he tried to kill me.
These days, Della is a loving wife, a dedicated teacher, a woman trying to do her best. She has put her past far behind her. But she hasn’t forgotten the lessons she learned.
It’s just a regular morning when Della welcomes Zoey to her English class. She treats her like any other new student: assigns her a desk, hands out the work. But then she meets Zoey’s cold, calculating eyes and freezes as terrifying memories threaten to overwhelm her.
Della knows what evil looks like when it hides behind a confident smile. Her own brother, the town’s darling, couldn’t keep his true nature hidden forever. Della has been watching out for people like him ever since, determined to stop them before it’s too late.
When a student is viciously attacked and Della is sent a detailed account of the crime, she’s more convinced than ever that Zoey has darkness inside her.
But to make people believe her, she needs proof. Will she risk everything to get it? And without it, can she be sure she’s right?
Prepare to be hooked by this dark, gripping crime thriller, perfect for fans of Karin Slaughter, Gillian Flynn, and Rachel Caine.
Serious Potential by Maggie Cummings
Narrated by AJ Ferraro
Bold Strokes Books Inc
Read my review of Perfect Partners by Maggie Cummings
Welcome back to Bay West, the NYC lesbian condo community bursting with friendships, romance, heartache, and girls – everywhere. Meg and Lexi are back with new friends, new romances, and new problems.
California girl Tracy Allen has just dropped in on old friend Meg McTiernan to nurse a bruised ego and a broken heart. Will the lure of life at this lesbian-only development entice her to make a permanent move? Local resident Jennifer Betsy certainly hopes so. Meanwhile, reluctant singleton Meg may have just found the perfect girl in coworker Sasha Michaels. There’s only one problem: Sasha is straight as an arrow…or is she? And Lexi and Jesse are planning a dream wedding that promises to be the lesbian party of the year, so long as they can get past a trio of disapproving mothers, and exes that pop up at every turn.
A Bay West Social Romance: Where there’s always fun, drama, and more than enough love to go around.
Coming Home by Lois Cloarec Hart
Narrated by Anastasia Watley
Tantor Audio
A triangle with a twist, Coming Home is the story of three good people caught up in an impossible situation.
Rob, a charismatic ex-fighter pilot severely disabled with MS, has been steadfastly cared for by his wife, Jan, for many years. Quite by accident one day, Terry, a young writer/postal carrier, enters their lives and turns it upside down.
Injecting joy and turbulence into their quiet existence, Terry draws Rob and Jan into her lively circle of family and friends until the growing attachment between the two women begins to strain the bonds of love and loyalty, to Rob and each other. Contains mature themes.
Lost River by J. Todd Scott
Narrated by T. Ryder Smith
Penguin Audio
A blistering crime novel of the opioid epidemic – and its cops, villains, and victims – written by a 25-year veteran of the DEA.
Angel, Kentucky: Just another one of America’s forgotten places, where opportunities vanished long ago, and the opioid crisis has reached a fever pitch. When this small town is rocked by the vicious killing of an entire infamous local crime family, the bloody aftermath brings together three people already struggling with Angel’s drug epidemic: Trey, a young medic-in-training with secrets to hide; Special Agent Casey Alexander, a DEA agent who won’t let the local law or small-town way of doing things stand in her way; and Paul Mayfield, a former police chief who’s had to watch his own young wife succumb to addiction.
Over the course of 24 hours, loyalties are tested, the corrupt are exposed, and the horrible truth of the largest drug operation in the region is revealed. And though Angel will never be the same again, a lucky few may still find hope.
Fractured Tide by Leslie Lutz
Narrated by Chloe Dolandis
Blink
Lost meets Stranger Things in this eerie, immersive YA thriller, thrusting 17-year-old Sia into a reality where the waters in front of her and the jungle behind her are as dangerous as the survivors alongside her.
Sia practically grew up in the water scuba diving, and wreck dives are run-of-the-mill. Take the tourists out. Explore the reef. Uncover the secrets locked in the sunken craft. But this time…the dive goes terribly wrong.
Attacked by a mysterious creature, Sia’s boat is sunk, her customers are killed, and she washes up on a deserted island with no sign of rescue in sight. Waiting in the water is a seemingly unstoppable monster that is still hungry. In the jungle just off the beach are dangers best left untested. When Sia reunites with a handful of survivors, she sees it as the first sign of light.
Sia is wrong.
Between the gulf of deadly seawater in front of her and suffocating depth of the jungle behind her, even the island isn’t what it seems.
Haunted by her own mistakes and an inescapable dread, Sia’s best hope for finding answers may rest in the center of the island, at the bottom of a flooded sinkhole that only she has the skills to navigate. But even if the creature lurking in the depths doesn’t swallow her and the other survivors, the secrets of their fractured reality on the island might.
Fractured Tide:
Is an eerie and immersive YA thriller told through journal entries from a daughter to her father
Unfolds through the eyes of a narrator who keeps you guessing until the very end
Is a gripping mix of suspense and horror; perfect for listeners ages 13 and up
Oopsie Daisy by Iris Morland
Narrated by Kelsey Navarro, Aaron Shedlock
Dreamscape Media, LLC
Check out my review of another Kelsey Navarro Romance – AWK-WEIRD
You know when you meet your new professor, and he ends up being the same man you had a one-night stand with three months ago?
Okay, maybe not. Let me explain.
I hadn’t intended to sleep with my professor. I might be known as the impulsive prankster daughter in my family, but I’m not insane. I just wanted to have some fun in Ireland at my sister’s wedding – and maybe lose my virginity, too.
When I met Lochlann Gallagher at a pub one night, I couldn’t resist him. He was hot, Irish, and entirely set on seducing me. One unforgettable night under the sheets with him, and my V-card went up in smoke.
Well, that night had one itty-bitty consequence because Lochlann totally made my eggo preggo.
And if this story isn’t crazy enough, Lochlann is not just my baby daddy: He’s now my professor and my advisor for grad school. Somehow we have to figure out a way not to reveal this rapidly gestating secret while resisting the explosive attraction between us.
But there’s one more complication to this story: I think I’m totally falling for my baby daddy. Oopsie daisy.
- Love at First Set by Jennifer Dugan (Narrated Narrated by Lori Prince) - September 26, 2023
- New and Notable Audiobook Releases for the Week of September 23rd on Brian’s Book Blog - September 23, 2023
- Fly With Me by Andie Burke (Narrated by Chelsea Stephens) - September 22, 2023
Fractured Tide was really good!