Unspeakable Things Audiobook By Jess Lourey cover art

Unspeakable Things

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Unspeakable Things

By: Jess Lourey
Narrated by: Caitlin Kelly
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Buy for $19.07

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Inspired by a terrifying true story, a heart-pounding novel of suspense about a small Minnesota town where nothing is as quiet - or as safe - as it seems.

Cassie McDowell’s life in 1980s Minnesota seems perfectly wholesome. She lives on a farm, loves school, and has a crush on the nicest boy in class. Yes, there are her parents’ strange parties and their parade of deviant guests, but she’s grown accustomed to them.

All that changes when someone comes hunting in Lilydale.

One by one, local boys go missing. One by one, they return changed - violent, moody, and withdrawn. What happened to them becomes the stuff of shocking rumors. The accusations of who’s responsible grow just as wild, and dangerous town secrets start to surface. Then Cassie’s own sister undergoes the dark change. If she is to survive, Cassie must find her way in an adult world where every sin is justified, and only the truth is unforgivable.

©2019 Jess Lourey (P)2019 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved

Accolades & Awards

Anthony Award
2021
Anthony Award Thriller & Suspense Psychological Mystery Suspense Exciting Scary Heartfelt

Critic reviews

"Part suspense, part coming-of-age, Jess Lourey’s Unspeakable Things is a story of creeping dread, about childhood when you know the monster under your bed is real. A novel that clings to you long after the last page."--Lori Rader-Day, Edgar Award-nominated author of Under a Dark Sky

Editor's Pick

Unspeakable crimes, unpauseable suspense
"Accomplished author Jess Lourey drew on one of her childhood’s defining memories—the famous abduction of 11-year-old Jacob Wetterling in Paynesville, Minnesota—to craft this intensely suspenseful and haunting novel. Told from the perspective of 12-year-old Cassie McDowell, it starts as a coming-of-age tale set in the 1980s—think Trapper Keepers, Pac-Man, and references to "Chester the Molester." But as that last one suggests, the dread creeps in fast. Something isn’t right in the McDowell family…or their town, where boys start to disappear and then return, their changed demeanors hinting at shocking trauma. Lourey is a master at building unrelenting suspense, and prolific narrator Caitlin Kelly delivers an excellent portrayal of Cassie’s ordeal—and the process by which an entire community comes to terms with its deep, collective grief."
—Kat J., Audible Editor

All stars
Most relevant
I kept waiting for it to get good, but it ultimately didn't deliver. I thought the end was picking up...then it was finished.

Eh.

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More, More, More!!!!
This author, story line, and narrator, were ALL INCREDIBLE!!!!
I can't say enough good things about this book. The nostalgia brought back great memories of growing up in the 80's. The narrator captured the characters so well.

AMAZING!!!!

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not in the top 50 i have listened too! pretty corny actually. wish i would have returned it but kept thinking it would get better.

ok is all i can say

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narrator was good. nothing kept happening. a let down till the end. excited then disappointment

left me hanging. then nothing.

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narrator eludes to major family problems which are never fully revieled or resolved, just stressful.

If you want an anxiety induced stomach ache

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