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  • Dead Silence

  • By: S.A. Barnes
  • Narrated by: Lauren Ezzo
  • Length: 13 hrs and 8 mins
  • 4.1 out of 5 stars (88 ratings)

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Dead Silence cover art

Dead Silence

By: S.A. Barnes
Narrated by: Lauren Ezzo
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Publisher's Summary

"The audiobook read by Lauren Ezzo makes for compulsive, edge-of-seat listening."—Buzzfeed

"Ezzo's dark tone and emotional connection terrify and comfort listeners in equal measure. Not for the faint of heart."—AudioFile Magazine

Titanic meets The Shining in S.A. Barnes’ Dead Silence, a SF horror novel in which a woman and her crew board a decades-lost luxury cruiser and find the wreckage of a nightmare that hasn't yet ended.

Claire Kovalik is days away from being unemployed—made obsolete—when her beacon repair crew picks up a strange distress signal. With nothing to lose and no desire to return to Earth, Claire and her team decide to investigate.

What they find at the other end of the signal is a shock: the Aurora, a famous luxury space-liner that vanished on its maiden tour of the solar system more than twenty years ago. A salvage claim like this could set Claire and her crew up for life. But a quick trip through the Aurora reveals something isn’t right.

Whispers in the dark. Flickers of movement. Words scrawled in blood. Claire must fight to hold onto her sanity and find out what really happened on the Aurora, before she and her crew meet the same ghastly fate.

A Macmillan Audio production from Tor Nightfire

©2022 S.A. Barnes (P)2022 Macmillan Audio

Critic Reviews

"This story slides and slithers from creepy and atmospheric to skin-crawling, edge-of-your-seat terror." —T. Kingfisher, author of The Hollow Places

"Barnes ably conjures the kind of haunting setting and atmosphere required for this Event Horizon-esque novel, providing an effective sense of immediacy to Claire's frequently shifting and at times tenuous grip on reality. Recommended for fans of claustrophobic space horror."—Booklist

Dead Silence mixes horror, mystery and sci-fi into a thrill ride sure to shock you out of your reading rut. ...a claustrophobic race against time as the ship’s horrors begin to affect the crew one by one. Dread slowly builds as small, frightening moments inside the Aurora multiply, showcasing Barnes’ patient plotting and steady pacing. This is one of those time-warp books—the ones where you look away from the clock, then look back and it’s suddenly way past your bedtime.”—BookPage, Starred Review

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What listeners say about Dead Silence

Average Customer Ratings
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant

This book had me on tenterhooks the entire time. I haven't read / listened to something so quickly in ages (although it helps that I'm on holidays)
Performance was fantastic, really suited the tone of the novel and emphasised the content.
If you're looking for a space-based sci-fi thriller then this is the book for you.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Binge listened. Very enjoyable.

Creepy ghost ship full of dead. A great story, unsettling thou a bit predictable.

I think the narrator did a great job. There was a few loud outbursts that took me by surprise and I had to turn it down.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Solid holiday read

I struggled with the protagonist's perpetual self-flagellation; in my opinion it could have done with a more ruthless editor. I would have loved a little more thematic exploration of the causes of the horror, and less reiteration of the protagonist's depth of self-doubt. That said, this is a solid entry among stories inspired by Alien, and other corporate space-dystopias. Overall, a good holiday book.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Ben
  • 14-12-2023

Amazing performance

Great book, really hooks you in, and the narrator was fantastic! So emotive, it really was a performance

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Too much yelling and a self absorbed main character

Dead silence is a very interesting story and the universe it is set in is well thought out, however the author has spent too much time being over descriptive of the main characters emotions, not believable that she would ever be allowed to lead any team. Its is a similar story to ghost ship but set in space.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Great Performance

Great Performance and a good book, really enjoyed the intense anxiety driving scenes whispered by the narrator

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Titanic II or The Space Overlook

Outstanding!
Dead Silence's inspirations are quite obvious but there's plenty here to keep even the most jaded horror buff listening. Characters are likeable and interesting and the plot scampers along fast enough that you won't want to take off the headphones. Lauren Ezzo's reading does it more than justice too.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

A most enjoyable nail-biter

When I first started into this book I became very worried that it was just a retelling of the 2002 film Ghost Ship, just set in space. Thankfully it is not and became so much more. I thoroughly enjoyed it and would love for there to be a sequel.
I have to say that Lauren Ezzo (the narrator), is possibly the single best choice for this book. Her portrayal of the main character is absolutely spot on and totally submersive. I could literally feel the horror that she was living.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Slow but good

The narration is excellent, but the story is bit slow with some inner monologues repeating information a bit much.
Builds a great atmosphere and characters throughout the story.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great space horror

I liked this book a lot the story gets 5 stars but the wild changes in the volume of the narration really took me out of it. I spent half the time adjusting the volume so I could hear without my ears hurting.

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