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  • The Life We Bury

  • By: Allen Eskens
  • Narrated by: Zach Villa
  • Length: 8 hrs and 23 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (121 ratings)

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The Life We Bury cover art

The Life We Bury

By: Allen Eskens
Narrated by: Zach Villa
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Publisher's Summary

College student Joe Talbert has the modest goal of completing a writing assignment for an English class. His task is to interview a stranger and write a brief biography of the person. With deadlines looming, Joe heads to a nearby nursing home to find a willing subject. There he meets Carl Iverson, and soon nothing in Joe's life is ever the same. Carl is a dying Vietnam veteran-and a convicted murderer. With only a few months to live, he has been medically paroled to a nursing home after spending thirty years in prison for the crimes of rape and murder.

As Joe writes about Carl's life, especially Carl's valor in Vietnam, he cannot reconcile the heroism of the soldier with the despicable acts of the convict. Aided by his skeptical neighbor, Lila, Joe throws himself into uncovering the truth. Thread by thread, he begins to unravel the tapestry of Carl's conviction. But as he and Lila dig deeper into the circumstances of the crime, the stakes grow higher. Will Joe discover the truth before it's too late to escape the fallout?

©2014 Allen Eskens (P)2015 Tantor

Critic Reviews

"More complications ensue, until the novel's satisfying resolution." ( Publishers Weekly Starred Review)

What listeners say about The Life We Bury

Average Customer Ratings
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Exceptional reading.

The narrator brought to life the feast of words that kept me captivated from start to finish. Descriptive, captivating and somewhat surprising with a well rounded ending. Well done. Would definitely recommend!

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narration

The narrator was brilliant. The story was good with twists that I didn't see coming.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Excellent

The story kept me interested from beginning to end, listened to it in one day. You couldn’t help but like the characters. The narration was wonderful, such a lovely easy voice to listen to.
I know I will read this again. 10/10

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Loved it.

A terrific book. Fast and so enjoyable. A bit of romance and a enjoyable ending. Not too many bloody corpses yes I like this author.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Well paced and beautifully narrated

This book is quietly compelling and full of twists and turns, and well rounded characters. The narrator brought energy to the character development and kept me listening. A really enjoyable read

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Pleasant surprise

This was a nice easy little listen
Little twists and turns
Narrator was also good and easy to listen to.

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Worthwhile!!

Really enjoyed this story, great characters and a believable tale set in a very realistic world.

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    4 out of 5 stars

Edge of the seat

Although parts of the plot were slightly improbable and the ending was a neatly tied bow, I was mostly on the edge of my seat waiting to hear what would happen next in this story.
The narration by Zach Villa was excellent - a well modulated voice, great story telling ability and none of the characterisations grated.
I've listened to many audiobooks and this is the first one I just couldn't put down.

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Excellent story

Great story with lots of unforeseen twists and turns and wonderful clear narration- very enjoyable

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    5 out of 5 stars

Good yarn with a cuppa.

Easy to listen to the narrator. Twists and turns that are unexpected yet makes sense.

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