Welcome to Brian’s Book Blog’s weekly New and Notable Audiobooks Post for the Week of March 20th.
Comment below on any I missed or what you’re excited about!
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Infinite 2 by Jeremy Robinson
Narrated by R.C. Bray
Self Published
Infinite2 is a bold continuation of Robinson’s best-selling science fiction novel, packed with mystery, action, and mind-bending twists.
Over a million books sold!
William Chanokh is immortal…and he’s trapped on the Galahad, an interstellar starship on a never-ending journey through open space.
His only companions are Capria – mortal and in cryo-sleep – and Gal, an artificial intelligence, and the love of his life, with whom he spends every waking moment in the “Great Escape”, a virtual paradise. After untold years living countless lives, Gal begins acting strange. Possessive. Violent. Paranoid.
Positive that something in the real world is causing her to malfunction, Will attempts to leave the Great Escape, but he finds himself a prisoner. Guided by a voice from reality, he is thrust into a series of torturous narratives, each one designed to break his will and keep him trapped in virtual reality.
Betrayed by his digital love, his long-term memory overwritten, and enduring violent manipulation, Will painfully peels back layers of simulation, fighting to reach reality 1.0 – where the nightmares are real.
Maybe.
New York Times and number-one Audible best-selling author Jeremy Robinson takes listeners on a heart-wrenching journey to the edge of the universe and beyond, where distinguishing reality from simulation might be impossible.
Pandora’s Oracle by Calum Chace
Narrated by Calum Chace
Self Published
Humanity creates god. Can humanity survive?
The mind of a student named Matt has been uploaded into a supercomputer, but before he can achieve a fraction of his potential, his uploaded mind is captured and effectively frozen by a group within the US intelligence services. A couple of years later, this group need Matt’s help to tackle an existential threat to humanity. The risks are terrifying, but Matt agrees to help – after all, he has his own plans for the future.
Pandora’s Oracle is a high-concept techno-thriller which describes our future after the arrival on earth of the first artificial super-intelligence. It is the sequel to Pandora’s Brain.
The Bounty Hunter by Jasper T. Scott
Narrated by Luke Daniels
Podium Audio
From outlaw, to bounty hunter, to vigilante: Revenge is just the beginning.
Cade Korbin became a bounty hunter because he knew what it was like to be hunted. What he didn’t know was who he’d end up hunting. When it suited the Coalition, Cade was a Paladin, a member of their elite special forces. He did their dirty work and cleaned up their messes. Until his dark ops went public, and Cade was drummed out of the service with a dishonorable discharge. As if he’d ever been doing anything but following orders.
Forced to the fringes of society by his service record, Cade broke the law just to survive. Then the Enforcers caught him, and he served his time. Sick of the hypocrisy in the supposedly Utopian Coalition, he crossed over to the other side and made a life among his former enemies in the Free Systems Alliance. Now, he hunts the galaxy’s worst lowlifes, for a fee, and the only orders he takes are his own.
But when his past catches up with him, Cade is forced to fight for more than just credits…this time, he’s in it for revenge.
Win by Harlan Coben
Narrated by Steven Weber
Brilliance Publishing
From a #1 New York Times bestselling author comes this thrilling story that shows what happens when a dead man’s secrets fall into the hands of vigilante antihero – drawing him down a dangerous road.
Over twenty years ago, the heiress Patricia Lockwood was abducted during a robbery of her family’s estate, then locked inside an isolated cabin for months. Patricia escaped, but so did her captors – and the items stolen from her family were never recovered.
Until now. On the Upper West Side, a recluse is found murdered in his penthouse apartment, alongside two objects of note: a stolen Vermeer painting and a leather suitcase bearing the initials WHL3. For the first time in years, the authorities have a lead – not only on Patricia’s kidnapping, but also on another FBI cold case – with the suitcase and painting both pointing them toward one man.
Windsor Horne Lockwood III – or Win, as his few friends call him – doesn’t know how his suitcase and his family’s stolen painting ended up with a dead man. But his interest is piqued, especially when the FBI tells him that the man who kidnapped his cousin was also behind an act of domestic terrorism – and that the conspirators may still be at large. The two cases have baffled the FBI for decades, but Win has three things the FBI doesn’t: a personal connection to the case; an ungodly fortune; and his own unique brand of justice.
The House Uptown by Melissa Ginsburg
Narrated by Emily Shaffer
Macmillan Audio
Melissa Ginsburg’s The House Uptown is an emotional coming-of-age novel about a young girl who goes to live with her eccentric grandmother in New Orleans after the death of her mother.
Ava, 14 years old and totally on her own, has still not fully processed her mother’s death when she finds herself on a train heading to New Orleans, to stay with Lane, the grandmother she barely remembers.
Lane is a well-known artist in the New Orleans art scene. She spends most of her days in a pot-smoke haze, sipping iced coffee, and painting, which has been her singular focus for years. Her grip on reality is shaky at best, but her work provides a comfort.
Ava’s arrival unsettles Lane. The girl bears an uncanny resemblance to her daughter, whom she was estranged from before her death. Now her presence is dredging up painful and disturbing memories, which forces Lane to retreat even further into her own mind. As Ava and Lane attempt to find their way and form a bond, the oppressive heat and history of New Orleans bears down on them, forcing a reckoning neither of them are ready for.
A Macmillan Audio production from Flatiron Books
“Ginsburg’s brilliance is on full display in The House Uptown. By giving us these layered, complicated characters, all suffering from previous traumas, Ginsburg reveals how the past keeps reaching toward us, and what we’ll do to stay out of its reach. It’s a book that breaks you down, even though you can’t put it down.” (Kevin Wilson, NYT best-selling author of Nothing to See Here)
Heart Smart by Emma Lee Jayne
Narrated by Natalie Duke, Connor Crais
Smartypants Romance
Dr. Maximillian Ramsey has a problem….
I’m a jerk. Everyone I know or have ever worked with agrees. “Misanthropic asshole” is the term I hear most often.
I don’t care what other people think, as long as they leave me alone to focus on my research on soil microbiology. Plus, I walk with a cane thanks to a childhood accident. I have scars on my face. And if that isn’t enough to scare people off, my bad attitude and general grumpiness seal the deal. Which is just the way I like it.
Except, I’ve been short listed for one of the most prestigious academic fellowships around. To win it, I’ll have to give a series of speeches. On a stage. With an audience. While being filmed.
Yeah. None of that is going to happen.
Unfortunately, my boss has a plan. He brings in one of the communications lecturers to give me a “make over,” help me write the speeches, and manage my social media.
But the last thing I need is some nosy, bossy, gorgeous woman meddling in my life.
And Holly is the solution….
I’m a mere communications lecturer at a prestigious research university. I’m used to being outclassed and under-educated compared to the PhDs who surround me.
But I’m good at what I do. Brilliant, actually.
When Max’s boss (who happens to be my ex-husband) begs me to help transform this beast of a man into someone worthy of the fellowship, I have my work cut out for me.
It’ll take a lot of badgering, blatant manipulation, and some outright thievery to get Max to cooperate. All of which I handle with the enough professionalism and restraint that should earn me a fancy grant.
What I can’t handle is how unexpectedly attractive I find the stubborn and brilliant man.
This is a battle of wills and wits, and neither is prepared to admit defeat …
Heart Smart is a full-length contemporary romance and can be listened to as a stand-alone. Book 2 in the Work for It series, Educated Romance World, Penny Reid Book Universe.
Derailed by Dominique Thomas
Narrated by Mari
Podium Audio
“To whomever much is given, much will be required.”
For Jaylah, the scripture couldn’t be more true. Reporting the news is what she does. All she’s ever wanted was to be the next Oprah; a dignified Black woman who pushes against every stereotype of what America labels a Black women to be.
Due to a traumatic past, she’s turned her back on her race. She mingles with a few Black women, but Black men are just no good to her. So, when she’s propositioned by her boss to infiltrate a prominent Black family in the city of Detroit, she jumps at the opportunity. The family is in the media because of a high-profile case, and Jaylah wants nothing more than to expose the family for how corrupt they are…and level up in her career even more. Her path to greatness is so close she can taste it.
But everything changes when she meets Oshun David Lacoste.
Jaylah finds herself at a crossroads in life. The pain she thought she’d forgotten resurfaces. The mask that she’s been wearing for years starts to slip, and she’s vexed about what to do. When she derails from her scheme to take down the Lacoste family, Jaylah will be left with one weighty decision that will change her life forever. Making the wrong one isn’t an option for her.
Fall of Radiance by Blake Arthur Peel
Narrated by Michael Kramer, Kate Reading
Aethon Audio
Get the Fall of Radiance boxed set, featuring all five action-packed books in the best-selling epic fantasy series – including adventure, magic, war, and a bond between warriors that can’t be broken.
Magic has protected Tarsynium for a thousand years, shielding its people from being ravaged by bloodthirsty demons. When a young ranger’s apprentice named Owyn Lund discovers that the Arc of Radiance has been breached, he tries to warn anybody who will listen.
But legends aren’t supposed to be real.
When a village is mysteriously destroyed, rangers, mages, and rebels all point the finger, blaming each other for the demons’ brutality. However, Zara Dennel, a mage’s ward, has heard Owyn’s tale – and she’s inclined to believe him.
Together, they must prove that friendship is greater than intolerance, unity is more important than division, and that even the most powerful magic can sometimes not be enough.
Failure means the end of all things. A second – and lasting – Doom.
Buy this special edition omnibus to experience a saga with something for every fan of epic fantasy. Suitable for all ages, it’s perfect for fans of Sabaa Tahir, Sarah J. Maas, and Brandon Sanderson.
Narrated by the award-winning duo: Michael Kramer and Kate Reading.
Books included in the set:
Book 1: Ranger’s Oath
Book 2: Doom Bringers
Book 3: War Echoes
Book 4: Exiles
Book 5: Prince of Darkness
The Shadow File by A.C. Fuller
Narrated by Joe Hempel
OrangeSky Audio
America’s intelligence security is in the hands of a million private contractors. Now one hacker may bring down their entire system.
Four months ago, Alex Vane’s friend James Stacy was murdered by private security contractors working for the intelligence-industrial complex. Alex exposed the killers, but most of the system survived, including the amoral torturer known only as Amand.
From within Cuba’s internet desert, James’ widow, Innerva Shah, seeks her own kind of revenge. After quietly penetrating the system of contractors that run America’s security, she’s launching the largest ransomware attack in history, with the aim of burning that system to the ground.
But when Alex learns that Amand and his forces may be closing in on Innerva, he must make a desperate attempt to save her. With Innerva’s surrender-or-die deadline only hours away, Alex finds himself in Cuba, threatened from every direction, and the only person he can count on is the wife he almost lost.
No Pain, No Gaines by Chip Gaines
Narrated by Chip Gaines
Thomas Nelson
No Pain, No Gaines is a by-the-bootstraps manual for building a network of people you can count on. Fair warning: Building it will be painful, but what you’ll gain is something strong, something reliable, and something that can change the world.
Spoiler alert number one: This is a book about networks
Spoiler alert number two: This is not a book about networking
Not networking in the traditional sense, anyway. It’s not about how to leverage your interactions with everyone you meet in an all-out sprint to get ahead. It’s about how to find a group of real people who will stand beside you as you bust your butt, who believe that authentic human connection is more important than any other earthly thing, and who bet on each other instead of the status quo. People with beating hearts and passions who live and love and try and fail and try again. People who lift you up and give your life meaning.
Written for anyone who believes that relationships are more than transactions, and who is looking to build a network of people they can count on, No Pain, No Gaines will coach you on how to
look outside yourself and your circle and foster connections with others
value what you bring to the table
resist the status quo
find the risks worth taking
engage and be awake to life, not asleep at the wheel
get comfortable with being uncomfortably kind
build a network you trust and then, trust the network you build
Chip Gaines has been building that kind of network his whole life, and he can tell you, it doesn’t come easy. The good stuff never does. It requires faith in people. It requires hope. And it requires a willingness to grow even when it hurts. In No Pain, No Gaines, through hard-won lessons and personal stories, Chip will coach you on how to build a network of your own that will make your life rich and your relationships run deep.
- New and Notable Audiobook Releases for the Week of March 25th on Brian’s Book Blog - March 25, 2023
- Charm City by Monica McCallan (Narrated by Lori Prince) - March 24, 2023
- Snapped (Agent Jade Monroe #1) by C. M. Sutter (Narrated by Meghan Kelly) - March 21, 2023
