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The Life We Bury

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The Life We Bury

By: Allen Eskens
Narrated by: Zach Villa
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About this listen

College student Joe Talbert has the modest goal of completing a writing assignment for an English class. His task is to interview a stranger and write a brief biography of the person. With deadlines looming, Joe heads to a nearby nursing home to find a willing subject. There he meets Carl Iverson, and soon nothing in Joe's life is ever the same. Carl is a dying Vietnam veteran-and a convicted murderer. With only a few months to live, he has been medically paroled to a nursing home after spending thirty years in prison for the crimes of rape and murder.

As Joe writes about Carl's life, especially Carl's valor in Vietnam, he cannot reconcile the heroism of the soldier with the despicable acts of the convict. Aided by his skeptical neighbor, Lila, Joe throws himself into uncovering the truth. Thread by thread, he begins to unravel the tapestry of Carl's conviction. But as he and Lila dig deeper into the circumstances of the crime, the stakes grow higher. Will Joe discover the truth before it's too late to escape the fallout?

©2014 Allen Eskens (P)2015 Tantor Amateur Sleuths Crime Detective Dysfunctional Relationships Genre Fiction Mystery Psychological Suspense Thriller & Suspense Murder Fiction Exciting Scary Student Thriller Psychological Suspense

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Critic reviews

"More complications ensue, until the novel's satisfying resolution." ( Publishers Weekly Starred Review)
All stars
Most relevant
Loved this book. Excellent to listen to to and from work. Only flaw was the constant “I said” “he said”. I found this to be unnecessary. Other than that Amazing

Brilliant

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The narrator was great, soothing to listen to despite the grim story line. I guess the twists in the story but enjoyed it nonetheless. Well worth a listen.

Great narration

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Loved this book, the narration was outstanding too. Best book I’ve read in a long time. The story was compelling, the characters were vivid, dimensional and interesting. Kept me hooked from the first chapter and didn’t disappoint. Superb!

What a stunning book!

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I found this novel similar to Jodie Picoult's writing initially, although towards the end it did seem to become rather unrealistic. Overall I would recommend it, and I will read another from this author to see if that is his style. The story was an interesting angle on a murder and it really gripped me. I kept grabbing a few minutes here and there. I also found myself thinking of the characters when I was not listening. That is a sure fire way to know I am engrossed in the book.

Interesting, thought provoking.

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I thought this book was full of surprises, twists and turns, with some wonderful characters and a great ending that leaves you with a good feeling. Highly recommend! This is my first book with this author, will be looking for more now.

Fantastic story!

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