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If We Were Villains

A Novel

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If We Were Villains

By: M. L. Rio
Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
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About this listen

Oliver Marks has just served 10 years in jail - for a murder he may or may not have committed. On the day he's released, he's greeted by the man who put him in prison. Detective Colborne is retiring, but before he does, he wants to know what really happened a decade ago.

As one of seven young actors studying Shakespeare at an elite arts college, Oliver and his friends play the same roles onstage and off: hero, villain, tyrant, temptress. But when the casting changes, and the secondary characters usurp the stars, the plays spill dangerously over into life, and one of them is found dead. The rest face their greatest acting challenge yet: convincing the police, and themselves, that they are blameless. Intelligent, thrilling, and richly detailed, If We Were Villains is a captivating story of the enduring power and passion of words.

©2017 M. L. Rio (P)2017 Macmillan Audio Coming of Age Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Mystery Suspense Thriller & Suspense Fiction Exciting

Critic Reviews

"Much like Donna Tartt's The Secret History, M. L. Rio's sparkling debut is a richly layered story of love, friendship, and obsession.... If We Were Villains will keep you riveted through its final, electrifying moments." (Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney, New York Times best-selling author of The Nest)
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Most relevant
Great story but it felt like it ended to meet a deadline, not because it was over.

Shakespeare

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I had heard great things about this book so I listened wondering if it would be able to live up to the expectation. It did, then left me with that ending!

Loved it!

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I enjoyed the story but felt abit flat at times and I had to push myself through it abit. But overall I felt it was a good story .

Performance

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This is the perfect combination of a fantastic book with a fantastic reader. Petkoff captures Oliver and each character excellently and the quoted Shakespeare was equally superb. A thrilling story with some real characters you can love. Highly recommend, especially if you are a fan of the theatre or Shakespeare, this will tickle your fancy and your inner theatre kid in just the right ways.

'Lets sit upon the ground and tell sad stories...'

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A three-act roller coaster of suspense and romance. I’ll be thinking about the ending long after the book is closed.

I’ll be thinking about this novel for a while

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