Jaws

By: Peter Benchley

Narrated by: Erik Steele

Length: 9 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's summary

Jaws is the classic blockbuster thriller that inspired the three-time Academy Award-winning Steven Spielberg movie and made millions of beachgoers afraid to go into the water. Experience the thrill of helpless horror again—or for the first time!

Jaws was number 48 in the American Film Institute's 100 Years...100 Movies, and the film earned the coveted number-one spot on the Bravo network's 100 Scariest Movie Moments countdown.

This timeless tale of man-eating terror that spawned a movie franchise, two video games, a Universal Studios theme park attraction, and two musicals is finally available on audio for the first time ever!

©2002 Peter Benchley (P)2009 BBC Audiobooks America

Jaws

First read the book when it came out and read it more then once - great summertime read. At the time I was a young mom of three and vowed that my little ones would never swim in the ocean, of course, that vow was broken many times over. Decided that it would be a great summertime Audible book and I was right - love it - it is like visiting with an old friend - bringing back good memories. Also Erik does a great job.

bad story but quality performance

This book aged like milk. If you are a fan of the movie or are in anyway critical of the stories you consume you will be bitterly disappointed. however the same cannot be said for Erik Steele's performance which was excellent and brought like to these otherwise dull characters.

Loved this Shark tale

I saved this listen for the beach vacation so I might have enjoyed it even more because of that - just fun. I was very surprised how different the book is from the movie. I rented the movie after the listen and plot varies greatly. I prefer the book. Much more backstory. Movie is great for suspense but listen to the book for a real story. Excellent narrator - great listen.

Not safe to go onto Audible

I love this book even if every character is a complete a-hole, personally I had forgotten how anticlimactic the ending is and how long the chapters were. If you have not read Jaws give it a read I rate it 10 Matt Hooper climaxes out of 10

a bit disappointed

Maybe because the movie scares me half to death as a kid when I saw, or because there was no theme music every time the shark showed up, but it just wasn't as suspensfilled as I thought it would be.
I could also do without all the bawdy talk and swearing. almost didn't finish this one because of those 2 things, didn't add anything to the story for me.

Story does not age well

Finally decided to read this book this summer. The story is slightly different than the amazing film, but what was really startling was the racism and sexism. It's not just subtle racism, it's over-the-top (there's a black man on the loose raping white women, etc.).

A classic from the 1970's

I have long planned to get around to reading this book. Now, after listening to it, I have to feel that it would have been better to have gotten to it a few decades ago.

While the story is fine, it is very slightly dated. That's not the issue. The very popularity of the film has, after all this time, so far out shown the book, as to make it seem derivative of the movie. Yes, it's weird to say that, but that is the feeling I get here.

One cannot divorce the film from the story, and, at least in my mind, the book suffers due to this. The book dwells much more on the town and it's economic woes and less on the conflict with the shark. Again, while not wrong in doing so, it feels off simply because we have all seen the film so frequently that it comes across as superfluous information.

The author did a very good job on the book and the story. So good that it has become a victim of its own success. This is a good novel. It deserves to be read and enjoyed. Simply be aware that, if you are like me, it is difficult to separate the two versions of the story.

entertaining

entertaining book for adults but a little sexually explicit for younger viewers. as well as the profanity.

A classic

Great book. I recall when it came out and was followed by the movie. It was just as much fun listening to it as reading it and watching the movie back then. The inflation of the dollar always cracks me up.

Amazing

Little different than the movie but still it is a great book.You won’t be disappointed in any way