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Tall Bones

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Tall Bones

By: Anna Bailey
Narrated by: Natalie Simpson
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

A Guardian Book of the Month.

When 17-year-old Emma leaves her best friend, Abi, at a party in the woods, she believes, like most girls her age, that their lives are just beginning. Many things will happen that night, but Emma will never see her friend again.

Abi's disappearance cracks open the façade of the small town of Whistling Ridge, its intimate history of long-held grudges and resentment. Even within Abi's family, there are questions to be asked - of Noah, the older brother whom Abi betrayed, of Jude, the shining younger sibling who hides his battle scars, of Dolly, her mother and Samuel, her father - both in thrall to the fire and brimstone preacher who holds the entire town in his grasp. Then there is Rat, the outsider, whose presence in the town both unsettles and excites those around him.

Anything could happen in Whistling Ridge, this tinder box of small-town rage and all it will take is just one spark - the truth of what really happened that night out at the Tall Bones....

©2021 Anna Bailey (P)2021 Penguin Audio Crime Fiction Genre Fiction Psychological Suspense Thriller & Suspense Fiction Small Town Crime

Critic Reviews

"A wonderfully haunting debut." (Jane Harper, author of The Dry)

"Irresistible, compelling." (Paula Hawkins, author of The Girl on the Train)

"A clever, twisting debut, about the dark side of small town America. It is packed with secrets like firecrackers ready to ignite." (Francine Toon, author of Pine)
All stars
Most relevant  
It took me a while to get into Tall Bones, but once I found its rhythm I enjoyed it. I was also initially distracted by having a third person narrator with a British accent telling an American story with American characters. In fact Natalie Simpson did a great job. The novel certainly doesn’t glorify small town America. It was more like an American nightmare:
One worth reading though.

Initially confusing

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I’m really over books about kidnapping or disappearing teenaged. Where’s the murders.? And the American accents drive me insane.

Dull dull

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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.