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The Reservoir cover art

The Reservoir

By: David Duchovny
Narrated by: David Duchovny
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Publisher's Summary

The Reservoir follows an unexceptional man in an exceptional time. We see our present-day pandemic world and New York City through the eyes of a former Wall Street veteran, Ridley, as he, in his enforced quarantined solitude, looks back upon his life. He examines his wins, his failures, the gnawing questions - his career, his divorce, his estranged daughter - and questions what it all means and who he really was. 

Sitting and brooding night after night, gazing out his huge picture window high above the Central Park reservoir, Ridley spots a flashing light in an apartment across the park as if a lonely quarantined person is signaling him in Morse code. His determination to find out who this mystery woman is, this fellow quarantine damsel in distress trapped in her own Fifth Avenue tower, leads him on an epic quest that will ultimately tempt him with either delusional madness or the fulfillment of his own mythic fate. Is he a dying man going mad or an Everyman metamorphosing into a hero? Or both? We accompany Ridley as he leaves the safety of his apartment window to save the Fifth Avenue femme fatale and descends into a dangerous, increasingly surreal world of the global conspiracies, madness, and sickness of this viral time; beyond that, into the enduring mysteries of love and fatherhood; and deeper still, into the bedrock mystery of life itself. As Ridley's actions grow more and more uncharacteristic, he realizes the key to all the mysteries of now and even all of history seem to lie deep beneath the freezing waters of the reservoir.

The Reservoir is a twisted rom-com for our distanced time when the merest touch could kill and conspiracy theories propagate like viruses - a present-day union of Death in Venice, Rear Window, and The Plague.

©2021 David Duchovny (P)2021 Audible Originals, LLC.

What listeners say about The Reservoir

Average Customer Ratings
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    4 out of 5 stars

ignore the haters, worth a listen

There is a faint level of ridiculousness to reviewing somebody else's heartfelt expression, their art. Because, that's what this audio experience is. Also, modicum of idiocy acknowledged, a review is what this, this, is.

So, the short version is, buy this thing. It is worth both your money and time.

It is funny. There are elements of jaded truth. David's, Han Solo like, one eyebrow raised performance is great, as expected.


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1 person found this helpful

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

Strange journey

What did I just listen to? I went along for the ride and it was indeed a strange one that only ended up making some kind of sense at the end. This novella is a study on isolation in society and during the pandemic (I think?) I didn't know that David Duchovny was an author. Strange.

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

Gritty pandemic narrative

Maybe you have to be familiar with David Duchovny's acting style to appreciate that both his wtiting & his narration style are similar. Gritty, dark, funny, in parts juvenile and self-indulgent, maybe even a little borderline innappropriate at times although strangely equally relateable; I loved it. Dont be put off by people saying he swears too much- there's probably 4 swear words in the whole thing & it's not exactly a novella for kids. I wanted to understand why everyone was complaining about the speed of narration but I can't justify it when you can literally speed it up or slow it down as you please (I had it on minus 95 & it seemed perfect). And yes, it's rambling, the narrator (Ridley) is a lonely guy in the middle of a pandemic basically sharing his journal so I'm not sure why people would expect differently. I thought it was a great novella, not too much of a storyline but thats ok, I really enjoyed listening to it.

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

Entertaining but completely lost

Very interesting, but who really knows what was happening in that story, I was looking for an xfiles type story this was strange but not what I was expecting

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Surprising

This work was beautifully crafted. I was surprised to enjoy it as much as I did. Moving

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    4 out of 5 stars
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Symbols, Symptoms and Bears

Enjoyed this story, very easy to listen to and performance was engaging and inviting. Ridley, as the protagonist was entertaining in a specimen under a microscope kind of way, the events befalling him intriguing and amusing. Could easily picture this as a short film or Black Mirror episode. Worth investing your precious reading/listening time into this... for what it's worth The Reservoir is the length of an 8.8km walk with your dogs at a steady clip.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Great listen

Really enjoyed this book. David Duchovny’s voice was easy to listen to and made the characters come alive. I listened to it while on a road trip through North Queensland.

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4 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Interesting take on the new normal

Not bad for a semi-professional writer, had to slow down narration as DD is a bit too fast for my liking, but overall a good story with a predictable twist.

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

Pandemic is taking over our stories

Book 51 of 2021;
The Reservoir (audible)
-David Duchovny
David Duchovny silky voice was almost hypnotizing whilst reading his own written word to me…
The Reservoir follows an unexceptional man in an exceptional time. We see our present-day pandemic world and New York City through the eyes of a former Wall Street veteran, Ridley, as he, in his enforced quarantined solitude, looks back upon his life. He examines his wins, his failures, the gnawing questions - his career, his divorce, his estranged daughter - and questions what it all means and who he really was. 
Sitting and brooding night after night, gazing out his huge picture window high above the Central Park reservoir, Ridley spots a flashing light in an apartment across the park as if a lonely quarantined person is signaling him in Morse code. His determination to find out who this mystery woman is, this fellow quarantine damsel in distress trapped in her own Fifth Avenue tower, leads him on an epic quest that will ultimately tempt him with either delusional madness or the fulfillment of his own mythic fate. Is he a dying man going mad or an Everyman metamorphosing into a hero? Or both? We accompany Ridley as he leaves the safety of his apartment window to save the Fifth Avenue femme fatale and descends into a dangerous, increasingly surreal world of the global conspiracies, madness, and sickness of this viral time; beyond that, into the enduring mysteries of love and fatherhood; and deeper still, into the bedrock mystery of life itself. As Ridley's actions grow more and more uncharacteristic, he realizes the key to all the mysteries of now and even all of history seem to lie deep beneath the freezing waters of the reservoir.
The Reservoir is a twisted rom-com for our distanced time when the merest touch could kill and conspiracy theories propagate like viruses
 
Another free listen on Audible. I enjoyed this…it was different for me BUT filled my drive to work at Ballina this morning.
 
4/5⭐️
 
Happy reading x

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

What.

I don't know... I don't understand what I just listened to. It started out casual... then three quarters in the author got high.

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