If We Were Villains cover art

If We Were Villains

A Novel

 Preview
Try Premium Plus free
1 credit a month to buy any audiobook in our entire collection.
Access to thousands of additional audiobooks and Originals from the Plus Catalogue.
Member-only deals & discounts.
Auto-renews at $16.45/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

If We Were Villains

By: M. L. Rio
Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
Try Premium Plus free

Auto-renews at $16.45/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $26.99

Buy Now for $26.99

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)
All stars
Most relevant
Great story but it felt like it ended to meet a deadline, not because it was over.

Shakespeare

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
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!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
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

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Beautiful, sensual, tragic. Perfect work of queer dark academia, which the voice actor brings to life wonderfully. Possibly my new favourite book.

Exquisite

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
He was amazing. The book I could was ok, give or take, but the narrator did an amazing job.

Narrator should get an award

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This book kept me reading until the very end, I just wanted to know what happened. Overall it’s a good book and I 100% recommend it.

What a book!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
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...'

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
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

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
After about 2 hours I couldn’t stop. Just keep listening. Fun love entertain sad enjoyable

Slow to start but keep listening

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The story is already interesting and is only improved by Robert Petkoff’s performance. Each line is delivered in purposeful indifference or heartbreaking emotion depending where you’re at in the story. My favourite narrator yet!

Brilliant performance

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews
In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.