My Five Favourite Audiobooks of 2020
In years gone by the audiobook was my go-to option when I was commuting to work and back. Since March 2020 my work has never been more than 10 metres from my bed so for a while it seemed there may not be a “best audiobooks” post for 2020. However, shortly before the March lockdown commenced we welcomed a puppy to the Grab household and the long walks I have been taking since the summer (when his wee legs were able to start doing long walks) meant the audiobooks made an appearance after all. Hurrah for puppies and brilliant stories.
As tradition demands I shall start to wind down the year by sharing the five audiobooks I listened to in 2020 which brought the most enjoyment. They are not in any order and I don’t have a “best” but if you asked me to recommend a good audiobook I would tell you to listen to any one of these.
Beast – Matt Wesoloski
Elusive online journalist Scott King examines the chilling case of a young vlogger found frozen to death in the legendary local ‘vampire tower’, in another explosive episode of Six Stories….
In the wake of the ‘Beast from the East’ cold snap that ravaged the UK in 2018, a grisly discovery was made in a ruin on the Northumbrian coast. Twenty-four-year-old vlogger Elizabeth Barton had been barricaded inside what locals refer to as ‘The Vampire Tower’, where she was later found frozen to death.
Three young men, part of an alleged cult, were convicted of this terrible crime, which they described as a ‘prank gone wrong’.
However, in the small town of Ergarth, questions have been raised about the nature of Elizabeth Barton’s death and whether the three convicted youths were even responsible.
King speaks to six witnesses – people who knew both the victim and the three killers – to peer beneath the surface of the case. He uncovers whispers of a shocking online craze that held the young of Ergarth in its thrall and drove them to escalate a series of pranks in the name of internet fame. He hears of an abattoir on the edge of town, which held more than simple slaughter behind its walls, the tragic and chilling legend of the ‘Ergarth Vampire’.
Both a compulsive, taut and terrifying thriller and a bleak and distressing look at modern society’s desperation for attention, Beast will unveil a darkness from which you may never return….
The Unwanted Dead – Chris Lloyd
Paris, June 1940.
The Nazi occupation of Paris begins. Detective Eddie Giral – a survivor of the last World War – watches helplessly on as his world changes forever. But there is something he still has control over.
Finding whoever is responsible for four murdered refugees: the unwanted dead, forgotten amid the headlines.
To do so, he must tread carefully between the Occupation and the Resistance, all the while becoming whoever he must be to survive in this new and terrible order descending on his home.
The Point of No Return – Neil Broadfoot
How far would you go to find the truth?
After more than a decade of being in prison for the brutal murder of two Stirling University students, Colin Sanderson has been released after his conviction was found to be unsafe.
Returning home to a small village not far from Stirling, Sanderson refuses police protection, even in the face of a death threat. But the PR firm that has scooped him up to sell his story does know of a protection expert in Stirling. They want Connor Fraser.
Connor reluctantly takes the assignment, partly as a favour to DCI Malcolm Ford, who is none too keen to have Sanderson on the loose, particularly as he was involved in the original investigation that saw him imprisoned.
When a body is found, mutilated in the same way as Sanderson’s victims were, all eyes fall on the released man. But how can he be the killer when Connor’s own security detail gives him an alibi?
As Connor races to uncover the truth, he is forced to confront not only Sanderson’s past, but his own, and a secret that could change his life forever.
The Law of Innocence – Michael Connelly
The most important case of his life.
Only this time the defendant is himself.
The law of innocence is unwritten. It will not be found in a leather-bound code book. It will never be argued in a courtroom. In nature, for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. In the law of innocence, for every man not guilty of a crime there is a man out there who is. And to prove true innocence the guilty man must be found and exposed to the world.
Heading home after winning his latest case, Defence Attorney Mickey Haller – the Lincoln Lawyer – is pulled over by the police. They open the trunk of his car to find the body of a former client.
Haller knows the law inside out. He will be charged with murder. He will have to build his case from behind bars. And the trial will be the trial of his life.
Because Mickey Haller will defend himself in court.
With watertight evidence stacked against him, Haller will need every trick in the book to prove he was framed.
But a not-guilty verdict isn’t enough. In order to truly walk free, Haller knows he must find the real killer – that is the law of innocence….
Crime doesn’t come better than Connelly.
Red Desert – Paddy Magrane
When a violent attack on his girlfriend tears Tom’s life apart, escape makes perfect sense. He takes a job with an oil company, providing therapy to staff cooped up in a camp in Southern Iraq. Nice pay packet, if you don’t mind being stuck in the desert surrounded by unexploded mines and cluster bombs.
On his arrival, an explosion outside the camp leaves four men dead. Something about it doesn’t make sense, and Tom starts to ask questions. His curiosity begins to get him into trouble – especially with the former soldiers who work there as security contractors. When the camp is attacked and Tom is shipped home, he continues his investigations. Working with a journalist pursuing a story about a cover-up, Tom looks into a notorious army barracks. But then the journalist falls beneath a tube train. Falls, or is pushed? With an unseen enemy closing in, will Tom’s search for the truth end in his death, too?
Set between London, Berlin and Iraq, this white-knuckle suspense thriller is perfect for fans of The Hurt Locker, American Sniper and Homeland.