Audiobooks narrated by Ari Fliakos

"After forty years, John Irving returns to the world of his bestselling classic novel and Academy Award-winning The Cider House Rules, revisiting the orphanage in St. Cloud's, Maine, where Dr Wilbur Larch takes in Esther, a Viennese-born Jew whose life is shaped by anti-Semitism. Esther Nacht is born in Vienna in 1905. Her father dies on board a ship from Bremerhaven to Portland, Maine, and anti-Semites murder her mother in Portland. In the orphanage at St. Cloud's, it's clear to Dr Larch, the physician and director of the orphanage, that the abandoned child not only knows she's Jewish, but she's familiar with the biblical Queen Esther she was named for. Dr Larch knows it won't be easy to find a Jewish family to adopt Esther; he doubts he'll find any family to adopt her. When Esther is fourteen, soon to become a ward of the state, Dr. Larch meets the Winslows, a philanthropic family with a history of providing for unadopted orphans. The Winslows aren't Jewish, but they detest anti-Semitism and similar prejudice. Esther's gratitude to the Winslows is unending. As she retraces her steps to her birth city, Esther keeps loving and protecting the Winslows – even in Vienna. The final chapter of this historical novel is set in Jerusalem in 1981, when Esther is seventy-six."

John Irving (Author), Ari Fliakos (Narrator)

Audiobook

Hole in the Sky: A Novel

"A Native American first contact story and gripping thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of Robopocalypse 'Thrilling and personal... an important addition to the landscape of science fiction.'-Pierce Brown, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Red Rising 'Hole in the Sky is mind-bending… indigenous knowledge collides with science fiction in a thrilling page-turner.'-Sterlin Harjo, filmmaker and writer of Reservation Dogs On the Great Plains of Oklahoma, in the heart of the Cherokee Nation, a strange atmospheric disturbance is noticed by Jim Hardgray, a down-on-his-luck single father trying to reconnect with his teenage daughter, Tawny. At NASA's headquarters in Houston, Texas, astrophysicist Dr. Mikayla Johnson observes an interaction with the Voyager 1 spacecraft on the far side of the solar system, and she concludes that something enormous and unidentified is heading directly for Earth. And in an undisclosed bunker somewhere in the United States, an American threat forecaster known only as the Man Downstairs intercepts a cryptic communication and sends a message directly to the president and highest-ranking military brass: "First contact imminent." Daniel H. Wilson's Hole in the Sky is a riveting thriller in the most creative tradition of extraterrestrial fiction. Drawing on Wilson's unique background as both a threat forecaster for the United States Air Force and a Cherokee Nation citizen, this propulsive novel asks probing questions about nonhuman intelligence, the Western mindset, and humans' understanding of reality."

Daniel H. Wilson, Ph.D. (Author), Ari Fliakos, Kholan Studi, Matt Godfrey, Sacha Chambers (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Million-Dollar Car Detective: Inside the Worldwide Hunt for a Stolen $7 Million Car

"A stolen car worth $7 million. A broke private investigator. Best friends turned worst enemies. And the global manhunt neither saw coming. In 2001, thieves parked a box truck in front of an aging tycoon’s factory, cut the phone lines, and used an overhead crane to lift out their prize: a 1938 Talbot-Lago T150C-SS Teardrop coupe—“the most beautiful car in the world” and one of only two in existence—then they disappeared into the night. The tycoon died. The trail went cold. End of story. Until it wasn’t. In 2015, Joe Ford was a PI trying to scrape together enough money to help his daughter, who suffers from a disease causing her to go blind, when he got a tip. A mechanic in the French Alps had been burned by a thief and had a secret to share: the location of the missing Talbot-Lago. The reward for finding the car would mean Joe could not only save his daughter’s sight but also set his family up for life. Using skills gleaned from his mentor Chris Gardner, who taught Joe everything he knew about the business of rare luxury cars, the investigation would span a decade and involve the FBI, Interpol, a global crime ring … and a shocking betrayal. Elite racing machines, high-end thefts, and billionaires who will stop at nothing for a moment of glory—The Million-Dollar Car Detective is unlike any heist story ever told."

Stayton Bonner (Author), Ari Fliakos (Narrator)

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The Best Short Stories 2025: The O. Henry Prize Winners

"The prestigious annual story anthology, featuring prize-winning stories by a diverse and exciting array of writers, including Wendell Berry, Alice Hoffman, Dave Eggers, Ling Ma, Lori Ostlund, and Anthony Marra. Continuing a century-long tradition of cutting-edge literary excellence, this year's edition contains twenty prizewinning stories chosen from the thousands published in magazines over the previous year. Guest editor Edward P. Jones has brought his own refreshing perspective to the prize, selecting stories by an engaging mix of celebrated names and emerging voices. The winning stories are accompanied by an introduction by Jones, observations from the winning writers on what inspired them, and an extensive resource list of magazines that publish short fiction. THE WINNING STORIES "The Stackpole Legend," Wendell Berry "The Arrow," Gina Chung "That Girl," Addie Citchens "The Pleasure of a Working Life," Michael Deagler "Blackbirds," Lindsey Drager "Hearing Aids," Clyde Edgerton "Sanrevelle," Dave Eggers "Stump of the World," Madeline ffitch "Shotgun Calypso," Indya Finch "City Girl," Alice Hoffman "Sickled," Jane Kalu "The Spit of Him," Thomas Korsgaard, translated from the Danish by Martin Aitken "Winner," Ling Ma "Countdown," Anthony Marra "Just Another Family," Lori Ostlund "Mornings at the Ministry," Ehsaneh Sadr "Rosaura at Dawn," Daniel Saldaña París, translated from the Spanish by Christina MacSweeney "Three Niles," Zak Salih "Strange Fruit," Yah Yah Scholfield "Miracle in Lagos Traffic," Chika Unigwe"

Edward P. Jones (Author), Abigail Reno, Angel Pean, Ari Fliakos, Chandler Gregoire, Chris Andrew Ciulla, Heni Zoutomou, JD Jackson, Kaleo Griffith, Michelle H. Lee, Nkeki Obi-Melekwe, Philip Hernandez, Rebecca Lowman (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Illustrated Man

"A new recording of Ray Bradbury's The Illustrated Man, narrated by Marin Ireland, Ari Fliakos, and Prentice Onayemi! The Illustrated Man, a classic collection of interconnected stories, is a seminal work in Ray Bradbury's career, whose extraordinary power and imagination remain undimmed by time's passage. Ray Bradbury brings wonders alive. For this peerless American storyteller, the most bewitching force in the universe is human nature. In these eighteen startling tales unfolding across a canvas of tattooed skin, living cities take their vengeance, technology awakens the most primal natural instincts, and dreams are carried aloft in junkyard rockets. Provocative and powerful, The Illustrated Man is a kaleidoscopic blending of magic, imagination, and truth—as exhilarating as interplanetary travel, as maddening as a walk in a million-year rain, and as comforting as simple, familiar rituals on the last night of the world."

Ray Bradbury (Author), Ari Fliakos, Marin Ireland, Prentice Onayemi (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Project: How Project 2025 is Reshaping America and the World

"Brought to you by Penguin. INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER In the months leading up to the 2024 presidential election, news spread about Project 2025, a nearly 1,000-page document published by the conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation. The debates—and anxiety—surrounding this initiative have only increased as authors of the Project assume positions of power in the second Trump administration. So, what is Project 2025, exactly? Who wrote it, what does it actually say, and what does it mean for everyday people around the world, across the political spectrum, in the years to come? In The Project, award-winning journalist David A. Graham offers much-needed context and distills the essential elements of this sprawling document. Breaking down the Project’s strategy for transforming—and radically empowering—the executive branch, Graham then explains what the architects behind Project 2025 would do with that power: restoring traditional gender norms and the supremacy of the nuclear family, decimating the civil service, performing mass deportations, reducing corporate regulation and worker protections, and more. Project 2025 is the intellectual blueprint for the new administration, Graham argues, and its tenets should not be legible only to policy wonks. Authoritative yet highly accessible, The Project demystifies it for those whose lives it will impact most. 'Essential and authoritative. Sheds serious light on the dark money, dark ideas & dark souls propelling Trump’s cruelty and betrayal of the USA' - James O'Brien © David A. Graham 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025"

David A. Graham (Author), Ari Fliakos (Narrator)

Audiobook

Legends and Soles: Business, Creativity and Basketball – A Memoir of an Improbable Life

"The brilliant autobiography from the ‘saviour of Nike’ If you’re a sneaker head, you know him as the Savior of Nike. If you’ve watched Air you saw Matt Damon’s portrayal of the man who discovered Michael Jordan and how he revolutionized the payment structure of endorsements for athletes. Legends and Soles tells Sonny’s story – his blind-sided firing by Nike Chairman Phil Knight, the landmark 2021 Supreme Court decision that upended big-time college sports, the countless days and nights of watching athletes compete, and so much more that only Sonny can retell. Written in collaboration with six-time New York Times bestselling author Armen Keteyian, Legends and Soles provides truth to storylines and headlines including: · Vaccaro’s pivotal role in the never-before-told story of the courting and signing of Michael Jordan · How Nike, at the behest of an embittered Knight, went as far as having the Portland FBI investigate Vaccaro who was working for archival Adidas on a RICO charge of corporate espionage · His close relationships with NBA superstars Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Kevin Garnett and Tracy McGrady and Hall of Fame coaches Jerry Tarkanian of UNLV and John Thompson of Georgetown · The high stakes drama behind the O’Bannon lawsuit that changed the entire landscape in college sports · Filled with in-depth stories and photos illuminating some of Sonny’s most treasured career memories, Legends and Soles is the long-awaited memoir of a giant in the story of American sports."

Sonny Vaccaro (Author), Ari Fliakos, Pam Vaccaro (Narrator)

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The Third Realm

"Brought to you by Penguin. If no one ever died, what would happen then? For several days, a bright new star in the sky above Norway has blazed over the restless lives of those below. Tove, an artist, is consumed by intense creativity as she spirals towards psychosis. Line falls in love with a musician named Valdemar and is lured to a secret death metal gig in a remote forest. Geir, a policeman, is investigating a ritual murder but chances upon something more horrifying even than the bodies in the trees – the last bodies he sees, because, as undertaker Syvert is the first to realise, people have stopped dying since the star appeared. What is haunting the world – and why? With The Third Realm, Karl Ove Knausgaard expands the spellbinding universe of The Morning Star and The Wolves of Eternity, as a cast of new and familiar characters begins to tell the story in the round. With each thrilling page, the possibility emerges that a malign force is at large, and that perhaps no one is beyond its reach. PRAISE FOR KARL OVE KNAUSGAARD: 'Addictive' Daily Telegraph 'Knausgaard retains the ability to lock you, as if in a tractor beam, into his storytelling' New York Times ‘Casts an existential spell…captivating… Big themes — the cosmos, death and resurrection — are amplified through ghostly visitations, doppelgänger lives and the question of what, if anything, lies beyond human existence’ Financial Times © Karl Ove Knausgaard 2024 (P) Penguin Audio 2024"

Karl Ove Knausgaard (Author), Ari Fliakos, Edoardo Ballerini, Kelsey Jaffer, Neil Hellegers, Nina Yndis, Raphael Corkhill, Saskia Maarleveld, Vas Eli (Narrator)

Audiobook

I'm Starting to Worry About This Black Box of Doom: A Novel

"A standalone darkly humorous thriller set in modern America's age of anxiety, by New York Times bestselling author Jason Pargin. Outside Los Angeles, a driver pulls up to find a young woman sitting on a large black box. She offers him $200,000 cash to transport her and that box across the country, to Washington, DC. But there are rules: He cannot look inside the box. He cannot ask questions. He cannot tell anyone. They must leave immediately. He must leave all trackable devices behind. As these eccentric misfits hit the road, rumors spread on social media that the box is part of a carefully orchestrated terror attack intended to plunge the USA into civil war. The truth promises to be even stranger, and may change how you see the world. A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin’s Press."

Jason Pargin (Author), Ari Fliakos (Narrator)

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The Second Coming

"A luminous novel from the New York Times bestselling author of City on Fire, plunging us deep into the lives of a teenage girl and her father as they navigate love, grief, addiction, redemption and connection. When 13-year-old Jolie Aspern drops her phone onto the subway tracks in 2011, her estranged dad, Ethan, seems like the furthest thing from her mind. A convicted felon and recovering addict, Ethan has always struggled to see past himself. But then a call from his ex makes him fear their daughter's in deeper trouble than anyone realises. Believing he's the only one who can save her, he decides to return to New York with a gift: the whole of his life, its hard-won triumphs and harrowing mistakes... So begins the intimate epic of Jolie and Ethan: child and adult, apart and together, different yet the same. Their journey toward each other will face opposition from grandparents and siblings and friends. It will strain connections with roommates and benefactors and a probation officer desperate to help. It will push Jolie out past her depth with a mysterious admirer, and Ethan in over his head with his first love, Jolie's mom. But as father and daughter struggle to find their footing, new vistas beckon: from a surf break in mid-'90s Delaware to group therapy during the Great Recession, from an encampment at Occupy Wall Street to a HoJo on Maryland's Eastern Shore, from the heights of the Brooklyn Bridge to horizons seldom seen in fiction. The Second Coming is at once an incandescent feat of storytelling and an exploration of an enduring mystery: can we ever really outrun the past, stay true to ourselves while still chasing something new? Full of music and pathos and passion, this beautifully attuned work of fiction makes good Garth Risk Hallberg's extraordinary promise."

Garth Risk Hallberg (Author), Ari Fliakos, Gail Shalan (Narrator)

Audiobook

An Honest Living

"Brooklyn, mid-2000s. After leaving behind the comforts of a prestigious law firm, a restless attorney attempts to make ends meet by picking up odd jobs from a colourful assortment of clients. When the mysterious Anna Reddick turns up at his apartment with ten thousand dollars in cash and asks him to track down her missing husband, he trusts it will be an easy case. That is until the real Anna Reddick shows up - a magnetic but unpredictable literary prodigy - and he finds himself out of his depth and drawn into a series of deceptions involving Joseph Conrad novels, unscrupulous booksellers and seedy real estate developers. Set against the tail end of the analogue era, An Honest Living is a gripping story of artistic ambition, obsession, and the small crimes we commit against one another every day."

Dwyer Murphy (Author), Ari Fliakos (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Real Education of TJ Crowley: Coming of Age on the Redline: An Audio Drama

"Set in 1968 after the slaying of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., this immersive audio dramatization, inspired by the author’s own experiences, features an award-winning cast of 15 actors, in a fast-paced, suspenseful coming-of-age story. With his father’s mysterious disappearance and his brother Ronnie enlisting in the Vietnam War, 13-year-old TJ Crowley is left alone with his racist, unstable mother, Kate. The newly enforced Fair Housing Act results in the unthinkable for the Crowleys when a Black family, headed by the eminent Dr. Washington, crosses the racial red line and moves in next door. Kate is quick to warn TJ that their new neighbors are strictly off-limits and makes a panicked call to beg Ray, her old flame, to travel to their home in Wichita Kansas to help deal with “the problem next door.” At his now integrated junior high, TJ resents that teachers tell him he must get to know his Black classmates, yet he understands that staying out of trouble can only help assure him an all-important spot on the basketball team. At school, a violent confrontation with Leon, the tough new kid in 7th grade, lands them in the principal’s office. And at home, Ray ropes him into building a fence that will send the Washingtons a message that they’re not welcome. But the fence can’t quiet the sounds of unfamiliar music floating over the fence nor hide the strength and beauty of his new classmate, Ivy Washington, who fiercely stands up for what she believes in. Over time, TJ begins to question the lessons he’s learned at home and decides to accept Dr. Washington’s invitation to visit their family. Devastated when his poor grades and bad behavior keep him from the basketball team, TJ turns to the doctor, a former athlete, who coaches him for the track team, teaching him how to throw the shot put. When TJ’s secret visits to the Washingtons are discovered, and a series of escalating hate crimes point to Ray, TJ is forced to make a defining choice that will forever change his life. Performed by Dani Martineck, Dion Graham, Tavia Gilbert, Johnny Heller, Kevin R. Free, Shayna Small, Ari Fliakos, Michael Crouch, Kirby Heyborne, Graham Halstead, Peter Berkrot, Thérèse Plummer, Brittany Pressley, John Wright, and Sheila Brown Kinnard, playing the role inspired by her mother, Josephine Brown. Grant Overstake, a storyteller and educator, draws from his background as a former Miami Herald sports writer and decathlon All-American to write authentic sports themed novels of raw emotion. Grant and his wife, Claire, sing in the multicultural ARISE Ensemble, who’s music is featured in this program. An award-winning producer and director with over 400 titles to her credit, May Wuthrich is a former actor with a background in traditional book publishing and book-to-screen script development. Presented by Grain Valley Publishing “The gospel music of the ARISE Ensemble enhances the listening experience. The audio drama has moments of remarkable verisimilitude: from the play-by-play announcing of a basketball game to the whirring of a helicopter in Vietnam. Performed by a gifted cast, this slice of our history stays with the listener.” —AudioFile (Earphones Award winner)"

Grant Overstake, May Wuthrich (Author), Ari Fliakos, Brittany Pressley, Dani Martineck, Dion Graham, Graham Halstead, John Wright, Johnny Heller, Kevin R. Free, Kirby Heyborne, Michael Crouch, Peter Berkrot, Shayna Small, Sheila Brown Kinnard, Tavia Gilbert, Thérèse Plummer, a full cast (Narrator)

Audiobook

Audiobooks Narrated by Ari Fliakos