Audiobooks narrated by Staci Snell

From the acclaimed author of Monkey Hunting (A miracle of poetic compression . . . An epic of anecdotes, a vista of brief and beautiful glimpses -Los Angeles Times Book Review), a lyrical, haunting, deeply moving new novel. Late 1960s. We meet three children: Enrique Florit, from Cuba, living in southern California with his flamboyant magician father . . . Marta Claros, getting by in the slums of San Salvador, forced to leave school to help support her family, her beloved older brother having already left home . . . Leila Rezvani, a well-to-do surgeons daughter in Tehran, her mother concerned only with appearances, her father an often foolishly vocal opponent of the Shah. As we follow them across the next twenty years we see chance draw Leila and Marta into Enriques life -Leila and Enrique loving and losing each other, Marta the means to renewed hope for Enrique -and, throughout, good luck or bad tilting life one way or another for all of them. With its cast of vividly drawn characters, its graceful movement through time, and its subtle revelation of the essential hopes and doubts of ordinary people whose lives are made extraordinary by circumstance, A HANDBOOK TO LUCK is Cristina Garcías most beautiful, elegiac, and deeply emotional novel yet.

Cristina Garcia, Cristina García (Author), Staci Snell (Narrator)

Audiobook

A Kiss Before Dying

In partnership with Texas Monthly, Pamela Colloff's "A Kiss Before Dying" is now available as an audio download, where the length and timeliness of a podcast meets the high-quality production of a full-length audio program. Few stories feel as classic as a well-told ghost story, the kind that makes your hair stand on end or sends chills down your spine even years after its alleged happening. Almost as classic are those stories that take place in high school, starring the jocks, the cheerleaders, and the outsiders; nostalgic for a time that almost certainly never was and yet remains a stalwart of American storytelling. Pamela Colloff's "A Kiss Before Dying" is both kinds of story and what's more, it's all true. Betty Williams was an outsider at a time when conformity was king: Texas in the 1960s. Mack Herring was the quintessential football player, handsome and well-liked by the sweater set-wearing girls Betty scoffed at. When their unlikely relationship came to an end and Betty's life began to spiral, she asked for death and Mack was more than happy to oblige. The resulting trial of Betty Williams's murder would shock no one familiar with the resolutions of today's rape cases. In "A Kiss Before Dying," Pamela Colloff weaves together a story that's part true crime, part high school classic, that feels at once contemporary as it does of another time.

Pamela Colloff (Author), Karissa Vacker, Staci Snell (Narrator)

Audiobook

A Whole New Light

From the heat of an Acapulco night... Cyn McCall knew she could always count on her late husband's friend and business partner, Worth Lansing. He could make her laugh and forget her problems. She could tease him about his many romantic entanglements. The last thing Cyn expected was to find herself longing for a man who could never settle down.

Sandra Brown (Author), Staci Snell (Narrator)

Audiobook

Accidental Happiness: A Novel

Someone once told me that groupings of objects should be displayed in threes. Three provides both tension and balance among items of varying size and heft. My sister's accident made me an only child; my husband's accident made me a widow. Part of me will always believe that Angel was the third, the one that left me with hope. After her husband's unexpected death at the age of thirty-six, Gina Melrose becomes a live-aboard on his boat, docked at a marina in coastal South Carolina, near the home she and Ben once shared. In this temporary, borrowed existence on the water, she settles into numb survival. But Gina finds her life taking yet another dramatic turn late one night when a woman named Reese disrupts her quiet world. With Reese comes a daughter: a charming girl named Angel. After a rough start, Gina realizes that, strange as it may seem, she's drawn to both Reese and Angel. Their sudden appearance shatters the stillness and Gina is remade. She is fascinated by Reese, who seems both invincible and vulnerable and whose past may hold the key to Gina's future. Gina begins to realize that for the first time since Ben's death, she's getting her senses back. As both pain and joy reenter her world, Gina discovers that she is able to accept feeling in order to live fully once more. But the biggest surprise for Gina is her relationship with Angel. After the painful loss of her sister during childhood, Gina had decided that she would never have children of her own. Struggling through conflicted emotions, Gina's finds her life unexpectedly transformed by the precocious little girl who may be Ben's daughter. This tender, poignant novel movingly explores the bonds of family and the resilience of hope. In the accomplished tradition of the novels of Elizabeth Berg and Anita Shreve, Jean Reynolds Page's Accidental Happiness is a lyrical, enthralling drama unafraid to examine complex relationships with a clear eye and an honest heart. From the Hardcover edition.

Jean Reynolds Page (Author), Staci Snell (Narrator)

Audiobook

Blown

Former CIA analyst Francine Mathews has created one of the toughest female secret agents weve seen in a long time.* Using her firsthand expertise of international espionage, Mathews offers another brilliantly realized suspense novel so intense, so authentic, it lethally blurs the line between fact and fiction. In Blown, Caroline Carmichael returns in a white-hot tale of terror on the streets of Washington, where one woman must gamble her life to save her country. As thousands of runners line up for the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, D.C., no one suspects that in a matter of hours the event will become a race between life and death. CIA analyst Caroline Carmichael is about to tender her resignation, when the first reports of a terrorist attack pour in -and she instantly recognizes the hand of an enemy shes battled for years: the 30 April Organization. The neo-Nazi group is alive and well and operating in the United States, assassinating top officials and abducting a vulnerable child from the front ranks of a state funeral. When Carolines husband, Eric, is arrested in Germany as a 30 April operative, Caroline has no choice but to take to the streets -and target the evil herself. Eric has worked as a legend for years -a false identity so perfect, the CIA believes hes dead -and gone deep undercover within the terrorist group Caroline is determined to destroy. Now his covers been blown, and Erics intimate knowledge of 30 Aprils plans makes him a target for both sides: the killers hes betrayed, and the American government hes sworn to protect. Torn between a desire to save her husband and her duty to save her country, Caroline is drawn back into a treacherous labyrinth where trusting others is as good as suicide. For the enemy this time wears a familiar face: that of an American patriot, waving his flag alongside his gun. To stem disaster, Caroline has only one choice: to betray everyone in which she believes -or everyone she loves. For an agent without cover -an agent whos blown -is worse than betrayed: shes as good as dead. *USA Today From the Hardcover edition.

Francine Mathews, Francine Matthews (Author), Staci Snell (Narrator)

Audiobook

Demon Rumm

When Rylan North flashes Kirsten Rumm his heart-stopping smile, she knows she can't refuse him...even if letting the actor share her home for a week will force her to relive the last terrible days before her stunt pilot husband fell prey to his own daring acts. Rylan is the perfect choice to play "Demon" Rumm in the movie about his life: no one is more brash, bold, or demanding. But before Rylan immerses himself in Kirsten's world, he must exorcise the explosive secrets that haunt her dreams...and gamble she'll find the courage in his arms to risk loving again... "From the Hardcover edition.

Sandra Brown (Author), Staci Snell (Narrator)

Audiobook

Dreaming of Her

In partnership with Texas Monthly, Pamela Colloff's "Dreaming of Her" is now available as an audio download, where the length and timeliness of a podcast meets the high-quality production of a full-length audio program. On March 31, 1995, South Texas came to a standstill as the shocking news spread that the hugely popular Tejano singer Selena Quintanilla Perez had been shot and killed in Corpus Christi. She was a girl from the barrio whose voice won her a Grammy, sold millions of albums, and turned her into a sensation unlike any other. When she was murdered, Selena seemed to take with her the aspirations of fans across the globe. Fifteen years later, in this exclusive oral history, her family, bandmates, and friends recall the life and devastating death of a star who still mesmerizes us all.

Pamela Colloff (Author), Staci Snell (Narrator)

Audiobook

Eleven: A Mystery

Who is Sam, and what do his strange dreams mean? The shock of icy water as a boat crashes onto rocks feels real; so does the castle high above him that is almost hidden in the mists. And what about the number eleven woven into all those dreams? The papers Sam finds in the locked box in the attic may hold the answers-if only he could read them. But to Sam, words are like spiders flexing their thin legs as they move across the page. Words are impossible. It's wood that Sam understands, wood that he loves to shape and to build with. Caroline, the new girl, who bursts into Sam's classroom one day and warns him that she's not there to stay, helps build a castle with him, and reads those papers. Together they set out to discover who Sam really is and where he belongs.

Patricia Reilly Giff (Author), Staci Snell (Narrator)

Audiobook

For Laci: A Mother's Story of Love, Loss, and Justice

Laci Rocha Peterson, 8 months pregnant, was last seen by her sister, Amy, in the late afternoon of December 23, 2002. She spoke to her mother, Sharon Rocha, at 8:30 p.m. that night. This would be the last time anyone from her immediate family ever spoke to her. A search began which lasted an agonizing four months. Sadly, Laci Peterson and her son Conner were found dead on the shores of San Francisco Bay on April 18, 2003. Her husband, Scott, was eventually arrested and charged with the murder of Laci and Connor. After a sensational, media-saturated trial, Peterson was found guilty of capital murder and was sentenced to death on March 16, 2005. This book deals with the story in three separate sections: first, Sharon describes the ordinary, loving life her daughter led, including fond memories of her childhood and adolescence. Second, it covers her marriage, disappearance, the community's moving search for her, and her and Connor's eventual recovery from San Francisco Bay. Third, it tells the story of the trial in detail not before revealed. Sharon will also talk about victim's rights, a subject on which she now campaigns regularly. From the Hardcover edition.

Sharon Rocha (Author), Staci Snell (Narrator)

Audiobook

Golden Threads

Dear Reader, As most of you probably know by now, I began my career writing series, or category, romance. I am very proud of my roots in romance, and consider myself lucky to have served a solid writing apprenticeship in a genre that allowed me to combine various elements in pursuit of a good story. Because love stories can be told against the backdrop of history or within the framework of mystery, suspense, fantasy, paranormal, and even horror plots, I was able to exercise those writing muscles over time, undoubtedly leading to the suspense/thriller novels I'm writing today. Romance is no longer the central focus of what I write, but it remains at the heart of all my work. So I give you here a romantic story with an edge of suspense, first published in 1989. Lara Callahan has come to the small town of Pinewood to start over and to hide. Devon Shane has come looking for answers. When the wary woman and mysterious man take roles in a community theater production, they risk far more than the judgment of an audience. They risk their very lives. Because both of them have secrets. Both are living a lie. And both know the first rule of survival is Tell no one. It's a rule they'll have to break. Kay Hooper

Kay Hooper (Author), Staci Snell (Narrator)

Audiobook

Harmless

BONUS FEATURE: Exclusive Author Interview EMMA: Sometimes it’s easier to tell lies than it is to tell the truth. ANNA: We could pull this one off, no problem at all. MARIAH: You’ve told lies before, haven’t you? Everyone’s told lies. One Friday night Emma, Anna, and Mariah, three best friends, are out doing something they shouldn’t. Then a cell phone rings. One girl’s mother wants to know why they aren’t where they said they’d be. They make up a story so they won’t get in trouble at home. It seems like the easy way out. What happens next challenges their friendship, their community, their relationships with their families, and their sense of themselves. What happens next shows the harm one lie can do. Told in the voices of the three girls who must learn to live with the lies they tell, Harmless is a gripping and provocative audio full of startling turns and surprises.

Dana Reinhardt (Author), Donna Rawlins, Lynde Houck, Staci Snell (Narrator)

Audiobook

Kiss Me, Kill Me

And while we may like to believe that crimes of the heart only victimize those who aren't careful, this page-turning collection of must-read accounts will convince you otherwise. America's #1 true-crime writer, Ann Rule reveals how lovers become predators, how sex and lust can push ordinary people to desperate acts, and how investigators and forensics experts work to unravel the most entangled crimes of passion. Extracting behind-the-scenes details, Rule makes these volatile relationships utterly real, and masterfully re-creates the ill-fated chains of events in such cases as the ex-Marine and martial arts master who seduced vulnerable women and then destroyed their lives...the killer whose calling card was a single bloodred rose...the faithless wife who manipulated and murdered without conscience...the blind date that set the stage for a killer's brutality...and more. In every case, the victim -- young and innocent or older and experienced -- unknowingly trusted a stranger with the sociopathic skill to hide their dark motives, until it was too late to escape a web of deadly lies, fatal promises, and homicidal possession.

Ann Rule (Author), Staci Snell (Narrator)

Audiobook

Audiobooks Narrated by Staci Snell