True Crime Winner: West Cork
This was a good year to be a true crime fan. The genre is booming, and the bar is set high: the finalists here are so good it’s downright criminal to pick a winner. But taking into account all factors—gripping story, stellar production, investigative and ethical rigor—one rose to the top. West Cork, about the unsolved murder of a French woman (Sophie Toscan du Plantier) on a remote coast of Ireland in 1996, is an intricately reported masterpiece of content and form. Journalists Sam Bungey and Jennifer Forde have unprecedented access to the main suspect and townspeople, but nothing is certain as they untangle two decades of secrets and gossip amid a masterful soundscape that transports you straight to the setting. I listen to a lot of true crime, and not much still haunts me almost a year later. West Cork does. —Kat, Audible EditorRunners-Up
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I'll Be Gone in the Dark
- One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer
- By: Michelle McNamara
- Narrated by: Gabra Zackman, Gillian Flynn - introduction, Patton Oswalt - afterword
- Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
A masterful true crime account of the Golden State Killer - the elusive serial rapist turned murderer who terrorized California for over a decade - from Michelle McNamara, the gifted journalist who died tragically while investigating the case.
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A haunting masterpiece
- By Kat - Audible on 03-02-18
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The Cadaver King and the Country Dentist
- A True Story of Injustice in the American South
- By: Radley Balko, Tucker Carrington, John Grisham - foreword
- Narrated by: Robert Fass
- Length: 14 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
In The Cadaver King and the Country Dentist, Radley Balko and Tucker Carrington write a true story of Southern Gothic horror - of two innocent men wrongly convicted of vicious crimes and the legally condoned failures that allowed it to happen. Balko and Carrington will shine a light on the institutional and professional failures that allowed this tragic, astonishing story to happen, identify where it may have happened elsewhere, and show how to prevent it from happening again.
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Gothic Horror-Show, With A Few Digressions
- By Gillian on 03-01-18
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Evil Has a Name
- The Untold Story of the Golden State Killer Investigation
- By: Paul Holes, Jim Clemente, Peter McDonnell
- Narrated by: Paul Holes, Jim Clemente
- Length: 6 hrs and 13 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
For his victims, for their families and for the investigators tasked with finding him, the senselessness and brutality of the Golden State Killer's acts were matched only by the powerlessness they felt at failing to uncover his identity. Then, on April 24, 2018, authorities arrested 72-year-old Joseph James DeAngelo at his home in Citrus Heights, Calif., based on DNA evidence linked to the crimes. Amazingly, it seemed, evil finally had a name. Please note: This work contains descriptions of violent crime and sexual assault and may not be suitable for all listeners.
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Audible Raises The Bar On True Crime Genre
- By R. Squyres on 11-16-18
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The Library Book
- By: Susan Orlean
- Narrated by: Susan Orlean
- Length: 12 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
On the morning of April 29, 1986, a fire alarm sounded in the Los Angeles Public Library. As the moments passed, the patrons and staff who had cleared out of the building realized this was not the usual false alarm. As one fireman recounted later, “Once that first stack got going, it was good-bye, Charlie.” The fire was disastrous: It reached 2,000 degrees and burned for more than seven hours. By the time it was extinguished, it had consumed 400,000 books and damaged 700,000 more.
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Had To Turn It Off
- By Meg on 01-17-19
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I'll Be Gone in the Dark
- One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer
- By: Michelle McNamara
- Narrated by: Gabra Zackman, Gillian Flynn - introduction, Patton Oswalt - afterword
- Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A masterful true crime account of the Golden State Killer - the elusive serial rapist turned murderer who terrorized California for over a decade - from Michelle McNamara, the gifted journalist who died tragically while investigating the case.
-
-
A haunting masterpiece
- By Kat - Audible on 03-02-18
-
The Cadaver King and the Country Dentist
- A True Story of Injustice in the American South
- By: Radley Balko, Tucker Carrington, John Grisham - foreword
- Narrated by: Robert Fass
- Length: 14 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In The Cadaver King and the Country Dentist, Radley Balko and Tucker Carrington write a true story of Southern Gothic horror - of two innocent men wrongly convicted of vicious crimes and the legally condoned failures that allowed it to happen. Balko and Carrington will shine a light on the institutional and professional failures that allowed this tragic, astonishing story to happen, identify where it may have happened elsewhere, and show how to prevent it from happening again.
-
-
Gothic Horror-Show, With A Few Digressions
- By Gillian on 03-01-18
-
Evil Has a Name
- The Untold Story of the Golden State Killer Investigation
- By: Paul Holes, Jim Clemente, Peter McDonnell
- Narrated by: Paul Holes, Jim Clemente
- Length: 6 hrs and 13 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For his victims, for their families and for the investigators tasked with finding him, the senselessness and brutality of the Golden State Killer's acts were matched only by the powerlessness they felt at failing to uncover his identity. Then, on April 24, 2018, authorities arrested 72-year-old Joseph James DeAngelo at his home in Citrus Heights, Calif., based on DNA evidence linked to the crimes. Amazingly, it seemed, evil finally had a name. Please note: This work contains descriptions of violent crime and sexual assault and may not be suitable for all listeners.
-
-
Audible Raises The Bar On True Crime Genre
- By R. Squyres on 11-16-18
-
The Library Book
- By: Susan Orlean
- Narrated by: Susan Orlean
- Length: 12 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On the morning of April 29, 1986, a fire alarm sounded in the Los Angeles Public Library. As the moments passed, the patrons and staff who had cleared out of the building realized this was not the usual false alarm. As one fireman recounted later, “Once that first stack got going, it was good-bye, Charlie.” The fire was disastrous: It reached 2,000 degrees and burned for more than seven hours. By the time it was extinguished, it had consumed 400,000 books and damaged 700,000 more.
-
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Had To Turn It Off
- By Meg on 01-17-19