Resort

By: Oli Isaac

Narrated by: Phia Saban, Daryl McCormack, Charlotte Ritchie, Firdous Bamji, Brandon Bassir, Raghad Chaar, Joseph Balderrama, Norah Lopez Holden

For fans of moody and escapist psychological thrillers such as Patricia Highsmith’s The Talented Mr. Ripley or the new Audible Original The Chateau, this is your next suspenseful listen.

Step into the hauntingly beautiful world of Resort by Oli Isaac–a fractured and surreal drama that blurs the lines between reality and illusion.

Clara, a mystery shopper scraping by in London, is a compulsive chameleon, more comfortable playing a role than she is in her own skin. A once-in-a-career opportunity to review a luxury resort pairs her with a faux fiancé—Avery—and introduces her to a rarefied world of wealth and reinvention. Amid seductive opulence and the shadows of past lies, Clara faces a chilling question: Can you ever truly escape yourself?

Starring Phia Saban (House of the Dragon), Daryl McCormack (Peaky Blinders, Bad Sisters), and Charlotte Ritchie (You), Resort is a slow-burn, mesmerizing audio experience across twelve chapters. Directed by Julia Head with sound design by Mikhail Fiksel, the team behind Massive.

Playwright Oli Isaac was awarded a commission through the Audible Emerging Playwrights Fund, an initiative dedicated to developing innovative original plays driven by language and voice. As an Audible-commissioned playwright, they received funding and creative support to develop Resort.

©2025 Oliver Smith (P)2025 AO Media, LLC.

An Experience

I am uncertain what on earth I just listened to... but I suppose it was intriguing in a guilty pleasure kind of way of watching someone whose an utter mess try to keep things together and avoid crashing and burning. I can't say much for the plot as I'm uncertain what it is. Surreal is certainly one way to describe it, another one would be a hot mess, but for what ever reason I kind of liked it and even found some food for thought. That's in no way saying this is deep, the depravity shown here almost comes of as comical and preachy. Our main character didn't earn my sympathy anymore than the people shown in Tiger King or something like that, but two of the side characters caught on her way did make my cold heart feel something.

The performances were pretty great, but the ambient sounds and music became near painfully loud compared to dialogue at certain points, artistic choice I'm sure, but in this case one I fundamentally disagree with. If it was tad lower at "times of distress" where it's supposed to create feeling of discomfort to the listener I'd have been fine with it. I like the ambience, but I don't actually want to suffer and have to focus on hearing the actors words. It's like when a movie is almost too dark to see what's happening so you shut all other light sources.

It's too short for me to actually spend a credit on, but I don't regret spending time listening to it trough Audible+ catalogue. I honestly don't know why I came off this enjoying it, there is likely something wrong with me. If you don't mind spending much of the time just in the characters head while karma throws her past at her and she continues to make questionable life choices... I mean look, you likely know if you'll like this or not

my brain hurts

this could be a really good story when I read the title details I was excited to listen to it but I cannot with all the background sounds. it's just way too much and loud and sometimes you can't even hear the person narrating speaking completely because of the background sound. I'd really like to finish this story but I just can't all I can hear in the background sounds and can't concentrate on the narration. if they do redo this book without the background sound or least toning them down I would try listening to it again.

Breathy vocal fry narration

This had an interesting premise, but the narration was extremely distracting for what is supposed to be a suspense novel. The sound effects also made it hard to hear half of what was being said. I don’t get why the protagonist’s internal monologue would be sexy, breathy vocal fry voice. Perhaps it would work for one of her “scripts” but not as the narrator.

Good start, lost its way at midpoint

Good start, lost its way at midpoint...

Left bamboozled at 3/4 to end... Tough to follow...

Very Good Slow Burn

This was a really well written, unique story. The audible book was free with my membership and honestly, it was the best freebie audible book I've received so far. Phia Saban narrated the character Clara and she was amazing. I hung on her every word and I never lost interest. I just really enjoyed the entire book from chapter 1 to the end. I'll be looking for more novels by Oli Isaac and more narration by Ms. Saban