Those Who Wish Me Dead Audiobook
By: Michael Koryta
Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
Published by: Hachette Audio 06/03/2014
When 13-year-old Jace Wilson witnesses a brutal murder, he’s plunged into a new life, issued a false identity and hidden in a wilderness skills program for troubled teens. The plan is to get Jace off the grid while police find the two killers. The result is the start of a nightmare.
The killers, known as the Blackwell Brothers, are slaughtering anyone who gets in their way in a methodical quest to reach him. Now all that remains between them and the boy are Ethan and Allison Serbin, who run the wilderness survival program; Hannah Faber, who occupies a lonely fire lookout tower; and endless miles of desolate Montana mountains.
The clock is ticking, the mountains are burning, and those who wish Jace Wilson dead are no longer far behind.
©2014 Michael Koryta (P)2014 Hachette Audio
Warm
10 hrs and 30 mins
Whispersync for Voice-ready
Those Who Wish Me Dead Audiobook Sample
I will admit that I knew nothing about this author going into this book. I selected to review this book based pretty much on the narrator, Robert Petkoff, who I love and list in my top five favorite narrators. I read the synopsis and thought it sounded interesting. Not knowing what I was getting into, I will say that I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book.
We have Jace, a thirteen year old boy, who witness to a murder while outside. His parents chose to send him to a wilderness survival camp for troubled boys under a false identity instead of witness protection. The men who are after him are good, very good. They’ve never left anyone alive before and they don’t plan to start with this boy.
Ethan agrees to take the boy at the request of a former student, who was trying to protect the boy and felt she couldn’t. She said that the men after him were too good. She wants him off the grid and away from cell phones, cameras, etc. Ethan couldn’t say no, knowing that he might be signing the boy’s death warrant.
The hitmen, Jack and Patrick are brothers and are a creepy pair. When they talk to their victims, they do it by talking back and forth to each other instead of talking to the victim. It is chilling to listen to. They are true sociopaths and feel nothing when they kill and tortureto get the information they need.
There are some things that are not completely believable, but for the most part, I thought the story was real enough. The kid was smart, too smart, I don’t think so, but maybe. My biggest thing is you don’t take a person who has severe burns out of a hospital and put them on horseback in the mountains the next day. Also, the horse hasn’t been ridden in months because of a fractured leg. You are not going to get on it and go up into the mountains, with not just one, but two riders.
Overall, I say that the story was extremely suspenseful and I really wanted to make time to listen. Yes, this was a book where I was finding things to clean so I could keep listening. I would say that the narration helped with the story some too. I don’t know if I would’ve liked it as much if I had read versus listening to it.
Did mention that Petkoff is one of my top five favorite narrators ever? This is the first story I’ve listened to where he was narrating something besides Kresley’s Cole Immortals After Dark series. At first, I wasn’t sure I was doing the right thing.
Petkoff is great with accents and there are no accents in this story. Then we get to the two hitmen. He really brought their sociopathy to life. The way he had these two talking to each other gave me goosebumps. Once again, he does a great job with women’s voices. You could feel the fear that some of the characters felt throughout the story. Once again, Petkoff nails it. Still one of my top five favorite narrators.
Narrator Robert Petkoff
Robert recently starred as King Arthur in the TUTS production of CAMELOT, which ran January -February in 2013.
Robert starred in ANYTHING GOES on Broadway as Lord Evelyn Oakleigh, a love interest for brassy Reno Sweeney (played by Tony Award winner Sutton Foster), in the Roundabout Theatre production of ANYTHING GOES at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre at 124 West 43rd Street in 2012.
Robert performed as Buddy in FOLLIES with the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, directed by Gary Griffin, which closed on November 13, 2011.
I like to thank Hachette Audio for providing me with a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.
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38 Comments
This sounds great Melanie! And I loved the small clip when I was recording it. I added it to my wish list, and I think this might be my next listen 🙂
Good job!
Thanks. I really enjoyed this listen. Petkoff does a great job with all the different characters. As if there was any doubt.
Great review! You really covered the best of Petkoff’s performance. This was my first by him but not my last.
Thanks. I HIGHLY recommend the Immortals After Dark series that Petkoff reads. There are several different accents (I like the Scottish and Russian the best). He pulls of the snarky characters too.
I concur about the horse and the patient. Similar things like this makes my eye roll too when a hero/heroine is badly hurt and medicated but has the energy to have monkey sex? I don’t think so.
That was a little silly. But I still enjoyed the story overall. Had had one earlier this year with the hero having a temperature of 104 or something and they had crazy monkey sex. He was a shifter, but still. I know these are fiction, but it can still be off-putting.
I need to branch out and try male narrated audiobooks. So far I’ve only been liking the females ones >.<
I listen to mostly female narrators too. I usually pick the books on the author, not the narrator, so it isn’t really by choice. I did pick this book by narrator and I’m glad I did. I’ll be looking at more of his work.
Now this is right up my alley and I need to try this narrator you love so much! Wonderful review 🙂
Thanks. This is not my favorite work by him. He does great Scottish and Russian accents, which this doesn’t have, but it was still great. I found him narrating IAD by Kresley Cole. I will be looking to see what else he has available.
I get very nervous when it has a strong suspense element in the book. Not sure if I can read a straight up suspense novel. I do enjoy Petkoff audios too.
BTW, Author is cutie patuti. Great Review Melanie!
This wasn’t the most intense suspense I’ve ever read, but it did have its moments. Petkoff’s version of the villains was really creepy.
Robert Petkoff is one of your top 5 narrators? Hmm… I don’t think that I’ve listened to anything by him; I must make a note to look him up on Audible ASAP. It’s always a good sign when you go purposefully looking for stuff to clean in order to squeeze in more audiobook time. LOL I recently discovered romantic suspense, so perhaps it’s time I gave the straight-up fiction version a try too. You gals keep making me explore uncharted territory with your reviews! Happy Friday. 🙂
Sexy Scottish werewolves. I don’t think I’ve mentioned that in a few days. This is the first book that I’ve listened to that was not part of the Immortals After Dark series by Kresley Cole, but I enjoyed it a lot because of his narration. I will be looking up more books by him, that is for sure.
Quit it!!! Why must you keep rubbing my kryptonite in my face? That’s just plain C-R-U-E-L!
My list of favorite male narrators is very short (3 or 4) and Petkoff is #1.
I love when that happens … you pick up the book for the narrator first and ended up liking it. This sounds interesting, but yeah, the unbelievable stuff like the whole horse thing would’ve bugged me. Guess he wasn’t so smart after all. lol.
Yeah, luckily that wasn’t a huge part of the story. It bugged me at first, but I just took it for what it was and let it go. I didn’t want it to ruin the story for me. I will be looking to see what else I can find that he has narrated, that is for sure.
Ahhh that does sound suspenseful. I’ve not heard of the author before. Glad it turned out to be a nice surprise. Love when that happens 🙂
This is a new to me author too. I enjoyed the book, don’t know if I would’ve like it as much if I read it, but hey I enjoyed listening. The story was suspenseful. The villains were weird, especially thanks to the narrator’s characterization of them.
Nice Melanie. One that title will definitely draw you in first. ts awesome when you go into a story not knowing what to expect and end up enjoying it and big plus to the narrator as well 🙂
Thanks. The title is an eye catcher, that’s for sure. This is my first attempt at picking a book by narrator. I’m going to try again soon and hope it wasn’t just luck. 🙂
OOh you have me shivering in my timbers. I have to admit to LOVING a good thriller. Thanks!!
Deb
I hope you get a chance to try it.
I’ve found a few books because I loved the narrator, so glad it worked out for you too. Sounds like there was a bit of suspension of belief with the horse and burns but besides that a very interesting concept. Worth checking out for sure! Great review!
This is my first book that I’ve found based on narrator. I hope it won’t be my last.
Thanks. YES, I want him for my GPS as well. Could we get him to replace Siri, too?
I like him better for IAD. With the snarkiness and accents, he really gets to show his talents. Here, most of the characters are more “normal”, with the exception of the hitmen. He really nails them and I don’t know that every narrator would have gotten the creepy factor of them. Petkoff is a true talent.
You know that I don’t read much suspense, but I’ll definitely have to check this one out. It sounds great, AND, completely coincidentally, I just got my first Petkoff audiobook. Hopefully I’ll like him as much as you do 😉 Great review, Melanie!
Thanks. I LOVE Petkoff. I think you will love him two. He does great accents and is wonderful with snarky characters, in the IAD world.
I want to try this one just because Petkoff is the narrator.
That’s what got me hooked and then I really enjoyed the story. I hope you enjoy.
psssst your “Follow via Email” actually says “Fallow via email” thought you might want to know.
anyhow onto the book – I’m totally right there with you with a specific narrator prompting or tempting me into reading something I don’t think I would have noticed otherwise.
Thanks for catching that.
I love that we can find books by narrators and not just authors. It helps me to find new authors sometimes too.
Thanks! I changed it right away. I normally catch things like after a couple days, but It’s been a few month since and I never did.
Thank you Tabitha 🙂
I love a good suspenseful read. Thanks or sharing.
It was a good suspense with a great narrator.
I don’t think I have listened to anything narrated by Robert Petkoff. This one sounds like a good book to start. Thanks for the recommendation.
He is one of my favorite narrators. He also does Kresley Cole’s Immortals After Dark series. This author/narrator pairing have a new book out this month. I have requested it from library. I hope it is as good.