Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

  • Chiefs

  • Will Lee, Book 1
  • By: Stuart Woods
  • Narrated by: Mark Hammer
  • Length: 17 hrs and 23 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (53 ratings)
Offer ends May 1st, 2024 11:59PM GMT. Terms and conditions apply.
£7.99/month after 3 months. Renews automatically.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Chiefs cover art

Chiefs

By: Stuart Woods
Narrated by: Mark Hammer
Get this deal Try for £0.00

Pay £99p/month. After 3 months pay £7.99/month. Renews automatically. See terms for eligibility.

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

Buy Now for £28.99

Buy Now for £28.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Listeners also enjoyed...

Under the Lake cover art
Dirt cover art
Elvis Presley: A Southern Life cover art
The Broken King cover art
The Black Echo: Special Edition cover art
New Spring cover art
The Woodcutter cover art
The Poet cover art
In Cold Blood cover art
The Neighbor cover art
The Life We Bury cover art
No Country for Old Men cover art
Iron Lake cover art
Speaks the Nightbird cover art
In the Heat of the Night cover art
Carnal Innocence cover art

Summary

In 1919, Delano, Georgia, appoints its first chief of police. Honest and hardworking, the new chief is puzzled when young men start to disappear. But his investigation is ended by the fatal blast from a shotgun. Delano's second chief-of-police is no hero, yet he is also disturbed by what he sees in the missing-persons bulletins. In 1969, when Delano's third chief takes over, the unsolved disappearances still haunt the police files.

Author Stuart Woods' riveting novel spans three generations while also probing deep into Southern small-town attitudes and behavior. The residents of Delano, with their reluctance to disturb a familiar social order, provide the perfect backdrop for this tale of dark secrets and murder.

Over 40 years ago, Woods found a battered chief-of-police badge in his grandmother's house. It had belonged to his grandfather, who had been shot in the line of duty. The story of the lawman's death inspired Woods to write Chiefs, which won an Edgar Award and was made into a popular TV miniseries.

©1981 Stuart Woods (P)2006 Recorded Books LLC

Critic reviews

"A riveting story of the Deep South that mixes murder mystery with political intrigue." ( Publishers Weekly)
"A fascinating, compelling tale." ( The New York Times)
"The homey wisdom of [Hammer's] voice, coupled with Woods's engaging story, makes this audiobook memorable." ( AudioFile)

What listeners say about Chiefs

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    39
  • 4 Stars
    6
  • 3 Stars
    5
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    1
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    17
  • 4 Stars
    2
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    17
  • 4 Stars
    2
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful listen

I was a bit unsure if I would enjoy the political side of this, but it is brilliantly narrated and written. I tried to make it last, but was unable to let go of the ipod as the plot unfolded.
If you do not listen to this you have missed something special.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

My most favourite book of all time

it pains me that no one I ever come across has ever read this book. it is simply the best story I have ever read. I must the 25 times in and it just gets better. the narrative is exceptional, the story never let's up. it is amazing.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Faultless!

First rate in every respect, wonderful writing wonderful narration and a complete absence of padding. I just did not want this book to end.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

A very fine book and superbly narrated

I've not much to add to what other reviewers have said. This is a very fine book indeed, and works on three levels - as a first class thriller/detective story, as a thoughtful novel of the Deep South's painful evolution from racism, and a very convincing picture of how a town evolves and grows over time. Despite its length, the book never slackens in pace or lose the interest.

The narration is really fine too - apart from a rather clunky English accents for one of the characters, but this is only a minor point.

Strongly recommended.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

What a pleasure

There is nothing of this book I would not recommend: content or narration. The author's knitting together of the crime, the decades, racial issues and three of the town's police chiefs was compelling. There was no point in any of the hours and minutes of listening to this book when I did not care what would happen next. This was also thanks to the beautiful narration. Southern American accents have never been my favourate but I might now have to change my mind.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

One of the best page turners I've read in ages .

if this book doesn't keep you on the edge of your seat nothing will! and I'm sure you'll fall off that edge many times as the plot twists and turns throughout many decades

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Huge Story Spanning Generations

I thoroughly enjoyed this. it's divided into 3 parts and the gear change is always difficult, but I soon found myself invested in each new section.
The narrator is perfect, the exact fit for the story.
I never give away a plot in a review, suffice it to say this one weaves in and around small town Georgia, the politics and the Politics of the place and the evolution of both.
There is a crime story underpinning it and an enormous historical car crash approaches throughout, which we will know, but the characters will not.
Excellent stuff.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

A wonderful audiobook

I have just listened to Chiefs and cannot recommend it too highly; it works both for lovers of a great detective story and those who like a very good story, beautifully narrated.

Like many of the books I've chosen since joining Audible, this is yet another author I seem to have missed - much to my regret - but I certainly cannot wait until next month when I will listen to the same author again.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Exceptional

Over the past couple of years I have listened to a constant stream of crime and thriller audiobooks. Though most are enjoyable, there are very few that stand out as memorable. This is one. It is a well written and beautifully read. It made an impression on me to an extent that I remember the plot and characters and enjoyed the fact that not all the ends were tied up at the end. I can recommend this as a truly entertaining download.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Soft and hard

A fascinating listen. It starts gentle and entices you with the story of a small town at its origins, then just as you are drawn into the characters the vice starts to turn and the darkness underneath comes out. Three times you learn to like people then learn to fear for their lives. Three times the social history of America at the grass roots is exposed. Well worth listening to.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!