Graveyard Shift

A Novella

De: M. L. Rio

Narrado por: Jess Nahikian, M. L. Rio, Max Meyers, Si Chen, Susan Dalian, Tim Campbell

This program features multicast narration.

The author of sales sensation If We Were Villains returns with a story about a ragtag group of night shift workers who meet in the local cemetery to unearth the secrets lurking in an open grave.

Every night, in the college’s ancient cemetery, five people cross paths as they work the late shift: a bartender, a rideshare driver, a hotel receptionist, the steward of the derelict church that looms over them, and the editor-in-chief of the college paper, always in search of a story.

One dark October evening in the defunct churchyard, they find a hole that wasn’t there before. A fresh, open grave where no grave should be. But who dug it, and for whom?

Before they go their separate ways, the gravedigger returns. As they trail him through the night, they realize he may be the key to a string of strange happenings around town that have made headlines for the last few weeks—and that they may be closer to the mystery than they thought.

Atmospheric and eerie, with the ensemble cast her fans love and a delightfully familiar academic backdrop, Graveyard Shift is a modern Gothic tale in If We Were Villains author M. L. Rio’s inimitable style.

A Macmillan Audio production from Flatiron Books.

©2024 M. L. Rio (P)2024 Macmillan Audio

Reseñas de la Crítica

"This place has everything—rats, fungus, thrills, chills, mysteries, hostile incidents—and M.L. Rio deftly weaves it all together into a short, sweet (okay maybe not that sweet) story. A rad, crisp, creepy read."—Chuck Wendig, bestselling author of Black River Orchard and The Book of Accidents

“Like all M. L. Rio's work, Graveyard Shift is shot through with cool, heavily dosed with ennui, and dense with people-pleasures. Within this tangled skein of complicated characters (ranging from sweetly unhinged to truly problematic), Rio presents a world of nihilistic macabre only to strip it back, painting the gruesome with a softer brush and her singular gift for portraiture.”—Olivie Blake, bestselling author of Atlas Six

“Graveyard Shift is wonderful—dark, strange and hair-raisingly tense—it spills over with atmosphere, full of flawed, fascinating characters. I raced through it.”—Catriona Ward, bestselling author of The Last House on Needless Street

It was a bit boring

It was a bit boring to me. It had 5 pov and was a lot to keep up with for only 10 chapters

The story.

I need more. There’s enough to hook the reader in but there needs to be so much more time and information gathered.

Scooby-Doo gang with a nicotine addiction

“Hannah home again, among the monsters. “ ch 5

A cast of characters that we learn about as the mystery that's discovered in the graveyard is uncovered.

I thought this was an intriguing story, while there was a scene or two that made me uncomfortable.

The reason this isn't a five star for me is because I just wanted to know how the story plot ends up & more about these characters, which I understand wasn't the point of the novella.

Though I like the themes and ideas that this story explored along with how M L Rio wrote this little horror/thriller tale.

All POVs were boring

The narrations were excellent. The story is in my personal opinion boring. I love horror and this was not it.

Okay but not great

So story moved well, characters okay, overall didn’t pull me in the way i had hoped

The Narration. Made Me. Want. to. Scream?

To me the narration was painfully bad. I'm struggling to push through the last 30 minutes.

Intriguing

I liked the different perspectives of each character and the premise. Though I understand it is a novella, I believe this would be even better if the book was longer.

Great story, flat ending

Enjoyed this novella! Just wish the ending wasn’t left feeling like unfinished business. Lots of build up to be left out in the cold lol

Great cast

The cast that read this was really good. The story was okayish and the vibes were what kept me coming back to read this.

Creepy vibes

I have to admit, my experience reading this novella was a bit disjointed. Perhaps it’s because I started on a plane, managed to only get through half of it during my flight, and then finished the rest today as I listened and read maybe I should just have listened because I loved the narrators. Maybe this story is better consumed in one sitting—it's hard to say. I found myself wondering if I might not be sophisticated enough for this particular reading, because I’m left feeling a bit bewildered.

From what I gathered, the story revolves around a diverse group of characters: some are students, including a bar owner and a front desk clerk, while a notable character named Hanna works as an Uber driver. Then there's Eddie, who I think might have been a student as well, or possibly just a journalist working for the campus newspaper—it's not quite clear. Another intriguing figure is Tuck, a man living in an abandoned building.

This eclectic group, referred to as the anchorites, stumbles upon a rather strange site: a hole in the cemetery that piques their curiosity. Their investigation leads them down a path of bizarre discoveries, filled with unsettling events. While the atmosphere certainly had a creepy, cemetery vibe, I feel like I missed some crucial context or meaning, and it left me feeling a bit unsettled.

As I reflect on it, I’m not sure if the book lived up to its $18 price tag. On one hand, it was entertaining enough, but the ending felt abruptly cut off and left me wanting more. It seemed deliberately ambiguous, which might have been the author's intention. However, I can't help but view that as a bit of a cop-out. It feels somewhat lazy to me when authors leave their stories open-ended, claiming they want readers to use their imaginations to conjure an ending. After all, if it’s your story, shouldn’t you provide a satisfying conclusion?

This leaves me pondering whether I would be willing to read another book by this author. Honestly, I'm not sure. The experience was perplexing, and while I appreciate an author experimenting with narrative structure, I feel a desire for more closure in a story.