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The Commuter

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The Commuter

By: James Patterson, Aaron Tracy
Narrated by: Lizzy Caplan, Richard Schiff, Thomas Lennon, James Urbaniak, Sarah Steele, Terrence Terrell, Nicolas Dromard, Wolf Williams, full cast
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About this listen

When a woman overhears a murder plot on her morning commute, she races to stop it—only to be pulled in deeper than she ever could have imagined.

Amy Nichols (Lizzy Caplan) was an FBI agent with a dogged need to protect everyone—until that instinct caused her to mishandle a crisis, lose innocent lives, and lose her job. Now a civilian working in private security, that mistake still haunts her.

One morning on the commuter train, she overhears a young couple plotting a murder. Ignoring warnings from her family and friends, Amy’s instinct to protect and serve compels her to investigate. But the further she goes, the more she finds her own life in danger.

Filled with mystery, suspense, and more twists and turns than a rail line, The Commuter is a gripping thriller by James Patterson, the world’s best-selling author.

Available in Dolby Atmos on Audible.

Please note: This audio drama is for mature audiences only. It contains strong language, violence, and sexual content. Discretion is advised.

©2025 James Patterson Entertainment, Inc. (P)2025 Audible Originals, LLC. Crime Thrillers Mystery Thriller & Suspense Exciting
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James Patterson
Aaron Tracy

Meet the Creators

James Patterson is the world’s bestselling author and most trusted storyteller. He has created many enduring fictional characters and series, including Alex Cross, the Women’s Murder Club, Michael Bennett, Maximum Ride, Middle School, and I Funny. Among his notable literary collaborations are The President Is Missing, with President Bill Clinton, and the Max Einstein series, produced in partnership with the Albert Einstein Estate. Patterson’s writing career is characterized by a single mission: to prove that there is no such thing as a person who "doesn’t like to read", only people who haven’t found the right book. He’s given over three million books to schoolkids and the military, donated more than seventy million dollars to support education, and endowed over five thousand college scholarships for teachers. For his prodigious imagination and championship of literacy in America, Patterson was awarded the 2019 National Humanities Medal. The National Book Foundation presented him with the Literarian Award for Outstanding Service to the American Literary Community, and he is also the recipient of an Edgar Award and nine Emmy Awards. He lives in Florida with his family.

Meet the Creators

Aaron Tracy is a writer, producer, and the founder of the award-winning audio company Parallax. Tracy has created many original audio dramas for iHeart and Audible, most recently Supreme: The Battle for Roe, starring Maya Hawke and William H. Macy, which won the 2024 Best Fiction (Scripted) Webby Award. His audio series also include an underdog NBA story with Steve Nash and Glen Powell, a legal mystery with Mary-Louise Parker, a comedic revenge tale with Kelly Ripa, and several thrillers with James Patterson. Tracy’s first show, the Webby-winning The Coldest Case with Aaron Paul, ranked in the global Top 10 of all Audible downloads in its first year of release. Tracy’s TV credits include Law & Order: SVU (NBC), The Tap (USA), and Sequestered (Sony’s Crackle), which he created and ran for two seasons. Tracy is on faculty at Yale.

What listeners say about The Commuter

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Profile Image for Dr. Anne M. Jensen

Very entertaining!

Just like an old fashioned radio play! Love the actual acting and sound effects! A great listen!

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Immersive cast told with Dolby Atmos

A very immersive story, with a fully immersive cast (told with Dolby atmos). It's well written with a great cast of characters.

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Profile Image for LUCY

Performance

An easy enthralling quick story between other big ones. Great characters. A movie in a book. Classic James Patterson.

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Profile Image for Anonymous User

Enjoyable

Fantastic voice actors, many plot twists, funny moments and a satisfying conclusion. A fun listen.

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Profile Image for Sarah

loved

really enjoyed the actors playing the characters, felt very immersive. Lizzy Caplan is great!

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Profile Image for Vru

A very immersive experience

Thanks to Dolby Atmos and the actors, it was a brilliant experience listening to the story as it unfolded. Had it not been for these factors, it would've been a slightly frustrating listen. The plot twists were actually great and I couldn't see them coming. However, the characters were very annoying, including the protagonist. They were all depicted as having highly dysregulated emotions- loud, trigger happy, cannon mouthed. It was as if none of them had any situational awareness. And if this was displayed by the protagonist, then it was showed as bravado in the story. But if the same was displayed by an antagonist or a grey character, it was shown as a villainous trait. Very two- dimensional characterisation, overall.
Cannot fault the storyline and its twists though.

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Profile Image for PathReg

Okay for a free listen

Just didn’t flow. Character development was poor and the writing of an FBI agent was quite unbelievable / a bit hokey. But perhaps that was the idea? Felt quite dialled in.

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This is a radio play, not a book

A bit jarring to find that you're listening to an old fashioned radio play, not a narrated short story or novella.
The miscommunication moments were too plentiful and therefore annoying.
The main character was a mot very bright loose cannon rather than a maverick, so it was difficult to care what happened to her, or why.
Good production values, not done on the cheap.
I felt like I was listening to a TV show, so it was not satisfying for me. I'd rather have read a Patterson book than listen to this - at least it was short.

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Profile Image for Renee Lothian

I want more

Loved this so much. Suspenseful and moves quickly. I looked forward to my own commute each day to listen to this.

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Profile Image for Susan

Entertaining!

I love audiobooks like this, with a full cast and sound effects, it's like watching a movie with your eyes closed. Although sometimes there was a little bit too much noise in the background making it difficult to hear the narrators/plot but other than that a good short thriller, it was a little predictable as with a lot of crime thrillers but still very entertaining. Definitely recommend listening to this, perhaps on a long 'commute' somewhere! 😉

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