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Usher's Passing
- Narrated by: Scott Aiello
- Length: 16 hrs and 54 mins
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Usher's Passing
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Summary
Poe's classic tale lives on in this Gothic novel of ancestral madness in the mountains of modern-day North Carolina, from a New York Times best-selling author.
Ever since Edgar Allan Poe looted a family's ignoble secret history for his classic story "The Fall of the House of Usher", living in the shadow of that sick dynasty has been an inescapable scourge for generations of Usher descendants. But not for horror novelist Rix Usher. Years ago he fled the isolated family estate of Usherland in the menacing North Carolina hills to pursue his writing career. He promised never to return. But his father's impending death has brought Rix back home to assume the role of Usher patriarch - and face his worst fears.
His arrival forces him to confront a devious and impassive family and his vulnerable sister's slow descent into insanity. Stirring memories of the grim folktales born out of the surrounding Briartop Mountains and the terrifying legends of missing children, Rix knows that in the dark, twisted corridors of Usherland, that dreadful something he saw as a young boy is still there. It's waiting for him, as decayed and undying as the Usher heritage and more depraved than anything Poe could have imagined.
This eerie novel by the Bram Stoker Award-winning author of Swan Song and Boy's Life is "a frightening pleasure" and a worthy tribute to the master who inspired it (St. Louis Post-Dispatch).
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What listeners say about Usher's Passing
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- j parsons
- 09-01-22
not bad but over long
liked the overall concept of the story but it felt overlong and I really hated the characterisation of some of the characters by the reader...like he loved doing the accents but didn't think about the personality...but a listenable book all the same and I did finish it at least!
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- L M
- 19-07-23
Atrocious accents
Literally couldn't get past the first chapter in this because of the horrible, horrible "British" accent, Literally the worst and most jarringly awful comedy Scottish accent, I had to turn it off, Un-listenable. (I'm Scottish)
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 20-03-23
Excellent story
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and although it was long I didn’t feel that it dragged. I thought the narration was very good with one exception. I think that maybe some US listeners may not what a Welsh accent sounds like but this was nothing like it. It was a bad Scottish accent and nothing like Welsh. That aside I’d recommend this book.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Kunde
- 06-02-23
wonderful story
this guy gets better and better,. the pure story telling is wonderful and the reading excellent.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Kay
- 23-03-24
Disappointing
I bought this book because I really like the series with Matthew Corbett as the protagonist. This was very disappointing by comparison. The story was slightly disjointed, and the horror element was just that, horror for horror sake, with everything and the kitchen sink thrown at it.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Jim Brown
- 28-11-19
The Scottish accent.
The English, Scottish, Irish acents are just AMAZING. Please come to the UK and actually listen to the accent, the Ushers are from Wales not Scotland. 😂😂😂😂
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8 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 26-10-21
Typical McCammon
Ignoring the Scottish voiced Welsh man in the opening chapter and the poorly voiced Jamaican in the next....this is a great book. Well narrated and typical McCammon
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Mr. D. Kerr
- 08-11-21
A Story Greater than its Performance
Usher's Passing is an unusual fusing of different ideas that shouldn't work, but through the skill of the writer: do. It imagines the infamous Usher family from Poe's tale as a continuing dynasty of arms manufacturers who possess a history shrouded in mystery and riddled with tragedy and violence. The patriarch of the family, Weylan Usher, is dying and the black sheep of the family, Rix Usher, returns to the family estate at the behest of his mother, only to reopen old wounds and become dragged into old conflicts.
The story moves between the modern era and the past of the family and intertwines aspects of urban legend, horror, family drama and even a slight touch of science fiction to produce a captivating concoction that concludes with an ending that leaves you satisfied. I highly recommend Robert McCammon's writing in general. His talent is enviable.
The narration, however, is a different story. To describe the performance as "uneven" would probably be most kind. Some sections are okay, and serviceable, but other parts will make you cringe. I really think they should have researched how the Welsh accent actually sounds, for starters. Also, moments of fear or anger are overdone, the volume of the narrator also becomes so loud that the recording is just plain distorted. A voice director should have reigned this in. It's jarring and really pulls you out of the story, much to my consternation.
The story is great, but approach the narration with some trepidation.
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5 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Bellscats
- 01-10-21
I'd love to give "performance" a minus score
I shouldn't have bothered with this after reading previous reviews. But I like the author, so I decided to give it a go.
The narrator is dreadful. The story repeatedly says the Ushers came from Wales so why does he read them in a Scottish accent? At least I assume it's Scottish. It certainly isn't Welsh. The Rastafarian isn't much better but at least he doesn't have much to say.
It is painful to listen to.
I can't return it but I can't listen to it either.
Thanks Audible.
Addd note: I went back to it after a few weeks & did persevere with it to the end. It was an effort & I can't say it got any better. It's just that now I feel better about saying it was awful.
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2 people found this helpful