Audiobooks narrated by Ari Fliakos

The Real Education of TJ Crowley Audiobook

It’s 1968, during the heart of the Civil Rights Movement and TJ Crowley, a young white teenager, faces a critical choice when a Black family, the Washingtons, crosses the city’s racial redline and moves next door. As racial tensions surge, TJ questions his prejudices and forms secret friendships with his Black peers and the doctor next door, who becomes his mentor and sports coach. The story unfolds in the wake of the slaying of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., passage of the Fair Housing Act and school integration. Inspired by the author’s own story and historical events, including the characters of Dr. Val Brown, Josephine Brown and Sheila Brown Kinnard. The story plays out against the background of a nation divided over civil rights and the Vietnam War. As an immersive experience, The Real Education of TJ Crowley offers an authentic and relatable exploration of racial awakening and the ongoing fight for justice and equality. In so doing, it challenges us to confront our own biases and consider the choices we make in times of social change.

Grant Overstake, May Wuthrich (Author), A Full Cast, 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 (Narrator)

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Bunyan and Henry; Or, the Beautiful Destiny: A Novel

A large-hearted reimagining of beloved all-American legends, this epic debut novel brings men of myth Paul Bunyan and John Henry alive like never before, teaming up for an adventure quest with deeper interrogations of race, class, and industrialization. Paul Bunyan-legendary larger-than-life American lumberjack-is a man down on his luck. With a load of family debts on his broad back, he ekes out a miserable miner's life in Lump Town, a bleak hamlet controlled by famed industrialist El Boffo. When Bunyan's wife Lucette falls ill with a disease caused by the toxic mineral Lump, he embarks on a quest to save her. His only guide: the Chilali-a mysterious creature who speaks only in questions. Bunyan's path leads to The Windy City-and to John Henry. Henry is not yet the "steel-drivin'" man known to folklore, but a fugitive on the run from a rigged, racist prison system. As Bunyan and Henry strive to reunite with the families they love, they must work together to solve riddles, forge weapons, brawl with a behemoth, and confront at every turn the relentless, duplicitous El Boffo. A richly imaginative reinvention of myth, Bunyan and Henry is at once a timeless quest, a fresh origin story, and an urgent modern fable that wrestles with the two sides of the American dream-its wild idealism and cruel underbelly-to inspire the awakening of the folk hero in us all.

Mark Cecil (Author), Ari Fliakos, Jd Jackson, TBD, Tanis Parenteau (Narrator)

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Tracers in the Dark: The Global Hunt for the Crime Lords of Cryptocurrency

From the award-winning author of Sandworm comes the propulsive story of a new breed of investigators who have cracked the Bitcoin blockchain, exposing once-anonymous realms of money, drugs, and violence. "[An] absorbing narrative… Each key section of the book... unfolds like a compact mystery." (New York Times Book Review) Over the last decade, a single innovation has massively fueled digital black markets: cryptocurrency. Crime lords inhabiting lawless corners of the internet have operated more freely-whether in drug dealing, money laundering, or human trafficking-than their analog counterparts could have ever dreamed of. By transacting not in dollars or pounds but in currencies with anonymous ledgers, overseen by no government, beholden to no bankers, these black marketeers have sought to rob law enforcement of their chief method of cracking down on illicit finance: following the money. But what if the centerpiece of this dark economy held a secret, fatal flaw? What if their currency wasn't so cryptic after all? An investigator using the right mixture of technical wizardry, financial forensics, and old-fashioned persistence could uncover an entire world of wrongdoing. Tracers in the Dark is a story of crime and pursuit unlike any other. With unprecedented access to the major players in federal law enforcement and private industry, veteran cybersecurity reporter Andy Greenberg tells an astonishing saga of criminal empires built and destroyed. He introduces an IRS agent with a defiant streak, a Bitcoin-tracing Danish entrepreneur, and a colorful ensemble of hardboiled agents and prosecutors as they delve deep into the crypto-underworld. The result is a thrilling, globe-spanning story of dirty cops, drug bazaars, trafficking rings, and the biggest takedown of an online narcotics market in the history of the Internet. Utterly of our time, Tracers in the Dark is a cat-and-mouse story and a tale of a technological one-upmanship. Filled with canny maneuvering and shocking twists, it answers a provocative question: How would some of the world's most brazen criminals behave if they were sure they could never get caught?

Andy Greenberg (Author), Ari Fliakos (Narrator)

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When McKinsey Comes to Town: The Hidden Influence of the World's Most Powerful Consulting Firm

Brought to you by Penguin. An explosive exposé of the world's most prestigious and successful management consultancy 'Panoramic, meticulously reported and ultimately devastating' Patrick Radden Keefe, author of Empire of Pain 'Every page made my blood boil' Joseph E. Stiglitz, Nobel laureate, author of The Price of Inequality McKinsey earns billions advising almost every major corporation as well as countless governments, including Britain's, the USA's and China's. It boasts of its ability to maximise efficiency while making the world a better place. Its millionaire partners and network of alumni go on to top jobs in the world's most powerful organisations. And yet, shielded by non-disclosure agreements, its work remains largely secret - until now. In this propulsive investigation, two prize-winning journalists reveal the reality. McKinsey's work includes incentivising the prescription of opioids; ruthless cost-cutting in the NHS; executing Trump's immigration policies (the ones that put children in cages). Meanwhile its vast profits derive from a client roster that has included the coal, tobacco and vaping industries, as well as some of the world's most unsavoury despots. And for the last six decades, McKinsey has been the brains behind many of the most loathed and controversial business practices: mass lay-offs, outsourcing overseas, soaring executive pay, as well as the key innovations that led to the financial crash. McKinsey proudly insists it is a values-led organisation. When McKinsey Comes to Town is a parable of values betrayed: a devastating portrait of a firm whose work has often made the world more unequal, more corrupt and more dangerous. © Walt Bogdanich & Michael Forsythe 2022 (P) Penguin Audio 2022

Michael Forsythe, Walt Bogdanich (Author), Ari Fliakos (Narrator)

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The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Man: A Memoir

Brought to you by Penguin. The raw, candid, unvarnished memoir of an American icon. In 1986, Paul Newman and his closest friend, screenwriter Stewart Stern, began an extraordinary project. Stuart was to compile an oral history, to have Newman's family and friends and those who worked closely with him, talk about the actor's life. And then Newman would work with Stewart and give his side of the story. The only stipulation was that anyone who spoke on the record had to be completely honest. That same stipulation applied to Newman himself. The project lasted five years. The result is an extraordinary memoir, culled from thousands of pages of transcripts. The book is insightful, revealing, surprising. Newman's voice is powerful, sometimes funny, sometimes painful, always meeting that high standard of searing honesty. The additional voices - from childhood friends and Navy buddies, from family members and film and theater collaborators such as Tom Cruise, George Roy Hill, Martin Ritt, and John Huston -that run throughout add richness and color and context to the story Newman is telling. Newman's often traumatic childhood is brilliantly detailed. He talks about his teenage insecurities, his early failures with women, his rise to stardom, his early rivals (Brando and Dean), his first marriage, his drinking, his philanthropy, the death of his son Scott, his strong desire for his daughters to know and understand the truth about their father. Perhaps the most moving material in the book centers around his relationship with Joanne Woodward - their love for each other, his dependence on her, the way she shaped him intellectually, emotionally and sexually. THE EXTRAORDINARY LIFE OF AN ORDINARY MAN is revelatory and introspective, personal and analytical, loving and tender in some places, always complex and profound. © Paul Newman 2022 (P) Penguin Audio 2022

Paul Newman (Author), Ari Fliakos, Clea Newman Soderlund, Emily Wachtel, January Lavoy, Jeff Daniels, John Rubinstein, Melissa Newman (Narrator)

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All The Old Knives: Now A Major Film

'This is one of the sparest, most elegant spy novels I have come across in a long time . . . Written in glistening prose - with not a word wasted - it proves Steinhauer truly is John le Carré's rightful heir.' – Daily Mail Now a major film on Prime Video starring Chris Pine, Thandiwe Newton and Jonathan Pryce. Celia used to lie for a living. Henry still does. Can they ever trust each other? Six years ago, Henry and Celia were lovers and colleagues, working for the CIA station in Vienna, until terrorists hijacked a plane at the airport. A rescue attempt, staged from the inside, went terribly wrong. Everyone on board was killed. That night has continued to haunt all of those involved; for Henry and Celia, it brought to an end their relationship. Celia decided she'd had enough; she left the agency, married and had children, and is now living an ordinary life in the Californian suburbs. Henry is still a CIA analyst, and has travelled to the US to see her one more time, to relive the past, maybe, or to put it behind him once and for all. But neither of them can forget that question: had their agent been compromised, and how? And each of them also wonders what role their lunch companion might have played in the way things unfolded . . . All the Old Knives is Olen Steinhauer's most intense, most thrilling and most unsettling novel to date - from the New York Times bestselling author deemed by many to be John le Carré's heir apparent.

Olen Steinhauer (Author), Ari Fliakos, Juliana Francis Kelly (Narrator)

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City on Fire

“One of America’s greatest storytellers.” – Stephen King “No one fuses action with emotion like Winslow.” – The Times The new thriller from the #1 international bestseller – the start of a brand new trilogy ‘Superb. This is storytelling with a keen edge. City on Fire is exhilarating to read.’ — Stephen King A Times Best Book for 2022 Providence, RI, 1986. Twenty-nine-year-old Danny Ryan is a hard-working longshoreman, loving husband, loyal friend, and occasional “muscle” for the Irish crime syndicate that oversees much of the city. He yearns for something more and dreams of starting over fresh, someplace far away. But when a modern-day Helen of Troy triggers a war between rival mob factions, Danny is embroiled in a conflict he can’t escape. Now it is up to him to step into the breach to protect his family, the friends who are closer to him than brothers, and the only home he’s ever known. Exploring classic themes of loyalty, betrayal, honour, and corruption on both sides of the law, City on Fire is a contemporary Iliad from Don Winslow, “one of America’s greatest storytellers” (Stephen King).

Don Winslow (Author), Ari Fliakos (Narrator)

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The Russian: (Michael Bennett 13). The latest gripping Michael Bennett thriller

Brought to you by Penguin. As Detective Michael Bennett's wedding day approaches, a killer has a vow of his own to fulfil... Weeks before NYPD Detective Michael Bennett is to marry his long-time love, Mary Catherine, an assassin announces their presence in the city with a string of murders. All of the victims are young women. And each has been killed in a manner as precise as it was gruesome. Tasked with working alongside the FBI, Bennett uncovers multiple cold-case homicides across the country that fit the same distinctive pattern. Bennett promises Mary Catherine that the case won't affect their upcoming wedding. But, as he struggles to connect the killings, Bennett may be walking into a deadly trap. © James Patterson 2021 (P) Penguin Audio 2021

James Patterson (Author), Ari Fliakos (Narrator)

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Maggie Brown & Others: Stories

In this powerful and virtuosic collection of interlocking stories, each one 'a marvel of concision and compassion' (Washington Post), Peter Orner, a National Book Critics Circle Award finalist and 'master of his form' (New York Times), takes the short story to new heights. Through forty-four compressed gems, Peter Orner, a writer who 'doesn't simply bring his characters to life, he gives them souls' (NYT Book Review), chronicles people whose lives are at inflection points, gripping us with a series of defining moments. Whether it's a first date that turns into a late-night road trip to a séance in an abandoned airplane hangar, or a family's memories of the painful mystery surrounding a forgotten uncle's demise, Orner reveals how our fleeting decisions between kindness and abandonment chase us across time. These stories are anchored by a poignant novella that delivers not only the joys and travails of a forty-year marriage, but an entire era in a working-class New England city. Bristling with the crackling energy of life itself, Maggie Brown & Others marks the most sustained achievement to date for 'a master of his form' (New York Times). - A New York Times Notable Book - Longlisted for the Simpson/Joyce Carol Oates Prize - An Oprah Magazine Best Book of 2019 - Kirkus 'Best Short Fiction of 2019'

Peter Orner (Author), Ari Fliakos, Brittany Pressley, Peter Orner (Narrator)

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The Office: The Untold Story of the Greatest Sitcom of the 2000s: An Oral History

The untold stories behind The Office, one of the most iconic television shows of the twenty-first century, told by its creators, writers, and actors When did you last hang out with Jim, Pam, Dwight, Michael, and the rest of Dunder Mifflin? It might have been back in 2013, when the series finale aired . . . or it might have been last night, when you watched three episodes in a row. But either way, fifteen years after the show first aired, it's more popular than ever, and fans have only one problem--what to watch, or read, next. Fortunately, Rolling Stone writer Andy Greene has that answer. In his brand-new oral history, The Office: The Untold Story of the Greatest Sitcom of the 2000s, Greene will take readers behind the scenes of their favorite moments and characters. Greene gives us the true inside story behind the entire show, from its origins on the BBC through its impressive nine-season run in America, with in-depth research and exclusive interviews. Fans will get the inside scoop on key episodes from 'The Dundies' to 'Threat Level Midnight' and 'Goodbye, Michael,' including behind-the-scenes details like the battle to keep it on the air when NBC wanted to pull the plug after just six episodes and the failed attempt to bring in James Gandolfini as the new boss after Steve Carell left, spotlighting the incredible, genre-redefining show created by the family-like team, who together took a quirky British import with dicey prospects and turned it into a primetime giant with true historical and cultural significance. Hilarious, heartwarming, and revelatory, The Office gives fans and pop culture buffs a front-row seat to the phenomenal sequence of events that launched The Office into wild popularity, changing the face of television and how we all see our office lives for decades to come.

Andy Greene (Author), Ari Fliakos, Brittany Pressley, Fred Berman, Holter Graham, Jonathan Davis, Josh Cohen, Obi Abili, Oliver Wyman, P.J. Ochlan, Sean Runnette, Sullivan Jones, Therese Plummer, Thérèse Plummer, Various (Narrator)

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The Nine: A Novel

Hannah Webber fears she will never be a mother, but her prayers are finally answered when she gives birth to a son. In an era of high-stakes parenting, nurturing Sam's intellect becomes Hannah's life purpose. She invests body and soul into his development, much to the detriment of her marriage. She convinces herself, however, that Sam's acceptance at age fourteen to the most prestigious of New England boarding schools overseen by an illustrious headmaster, justifies her choices. When he arrives at Dunning, Sam is glad to be out from under his mother's close watch. And he enjoys his newfound freedom?until, late one night, he stumbles upon evidence of sexual misconduct at the school and is unable to shake the discovery. Both a coming-of-age novel and a portrait of an evolving mother-son relationship, The Nine is the story of a young man who chooses to expose a corrupt world operating under its own set of rules?even if it means jeopardizing his mother's hopes and dreams.

Jeanne Mcwilliams Blasberg (Author), Ari Fliakos, Marnye Young (Narrator)

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First Cosmic Velocity

A stunningly imaginative novel about the Cold War, the Russian space program, and the amazing fraud that pulled the wool over the eyes of the world. It's 1964 in the USSR, and unbeknownst even to Premier Khrushchev himself, the Soviet space program is a sham. Well, half a sham. While the program has successfully launched five capsules into space, the Chief Designer and his team have never successfully brought one back to earth. To disguise this, they've used twins. But in a nation built on secrets and propaganda, the biggest lie of all is about to unravel. Because there are no more twins left. Combining history and fiction, the real and the mystical, First Cosmic Velocity is the story of Leonid, the last of the twins. Taken in 1950 from a life of poverty in Ukraine to the training grounds in Russia, the Leonids were given one name and one identity, but divergent fates. Now one Leonid has launched to certain death (or so one might think...), and the other is sent on a press tour under the watchful eye of Ignatius, the government agent who knows too much but gives away little. And while Leonid battles his increasing doubts about their deceitful project, the Chief Designer must scramble to perfect a working spacecraft, especially when Khrushchev nominates his high-strung, squirrel-like dog for the first canine mission. By turns grim and whimsical, fatalistic and deeply hopeful, First Cosmic Velocity is a sweeping novel of the heights of mankind's accomplishments, the depths of its folly, and the people--and canines--with whom we create family.

Zach Powers (Author), Ari Fliakos (Narrator)

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Audiobooks Narrated by Ari Fliakos