Preview

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

The Dead Travel Fast

By: Deanna Raybourn
Narrated by: Charlotte Parry
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $21.95

Buy for $21.95

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

A husband, a family, a comfortable life: Theodora Lestrange lives in terror of it all.

With a modest inheritance and the three gowns that comprise her entire wardrobe, Theodora leaves Edinburgh—and a disappointed suitor—far behind. She is bound for Romania, where tales of vampires are still whispered, to visit an old friend and write the book that will bring her true independence.

She arrives at a magnificent, decaying castle in the Carpathians, replete with eccentric inhabitants: the ailing dowager; the troubled steward; her own fearful friend, Cosmina. But all are outstripped in dark glamour by the castle’s master, Count Andrei Dragulescu.

Bewildering and bewitching in equal measure, the brooding nobleman ignites Theodora’s imagination and awakens passions in her that she can neither deny nor conceal. His allure is superlative, his dominion over the superstitious town, absolute—Theodora may simply be one more person under his sway.

Before her sojourn is ended—or her novel completed—Theodora will have encountered things as strange and terrible as they are seductive. For obsession can prove fatal…and she is in danger of falling prey to more than desire.

©2010 Deanna Raybourn (P)2010 Audible, Inc.
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Editorial reviews

Brooding as black licorice, The Dead Travel Fast by Deanna Raybourn is lush and Gothic, a romance shadowed by the diabolical legacy haunting a gloomy castle in the Transylvania of 1858. Heroine Theodora Lestrange is a coltish Scottish novelist confined by spinsterhood to dwell under her straight-laced brother-in-law’s roof. Her life is a stifling casket until girlhood friend Cosmina invites Theodora to her crumbling ancestral home in Romania. Will passion trump virtue? Charlotte Parry narrates and her impudent Theodora disarms with an Edinburgh burr that thickens with indignance or tenderness, exposing vulnerability. Parry also reveals Theodora’s core loneliness with faltering pauses and hard swallows. She’s equally refined navigating palace intrigues in Transylvania without resorting to derivative “I vant to suck your blood” Dracula-like accents.

The Dead Travel Fast is built on foreshadowing, moodiness, and Theodora’s magnetic attraction to remote Count Andrei Dragulescu, lord of the castle. Once listlessly betrothed to his cousin Cosmina trembly and spooked the Count is intrigued by Theodora’s skittish, impulsive intelligence. She, in turn, pines for his distant smoldering. Things upend, though, when a servant girl is killed, two bite marks on her neck. Her murder tips the village into frenzy. For in Transylvania, land of devout believers, superstition is fact and vampires masquerade as noblemen. “I was not given to somnambulism,” Theodora frets, upon awakening to ominously unknotted plaits. “But I might be well capable of unbinding my hair ribbons in my sleep.”

Charlotte Parry wisely forgoes formulaic bantering to slow dance through Theodora and Andrei’s mutual resistance to animal instincts. Her Theodora and Andrei are guarded and flawed, scorning any hint of neediness. The audiobook resolves realistically, for among the undead, as in the living, the path to true love is frequently ruined by stakes through the heart. Nita Rao

Critic reviews

“With a strong and unique voice, Deanna Raybourn creates unforgettable characters in a richly detailed world. This is storytelling at its most compelling.” (Nora Roberts)

"Theodora is a delightful heroine, so much so that cruel, petty, misogynistic Andrei never really seems worthy of her....Raybourn's intriguing treatment of vampire legends will delight fans of the genre." ( Publishers Weekly)

What listeners say about The Dead Travel Fast

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    279
  • 4 Stars
    156
  • 3 Stars
    112
  • 2 Stars
    26
  • 1 Stars
    17
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    281
  • 4 Stars
    96
  • 3 Stars
    59
  • 2 Stars
    7
  • 1 Stars
    8
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    222
  • 4 Stars
    118
  • 3 Stars
    77
  • 2 Stars
    21
  • 1 Stars
    13

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

The Dead travel fast

Spooky people living in Transylvania make up the cast in this gothic style story starring a Scottish woman. Love this kind of historic romance mystery!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great Story

I enjoyed the story and loved the strength and independence of Theodora. The narrator did a beautiful job of bringing the characters to life.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

absolutely perfect

this is my first 5 star all the way review. I couldn't ask for more. everything about this book is perfection. from the perfection of cadence in the narrator to the twists and turns of the plot to the florid and atmospheric wordsmithing. I rarely buy books from the romance package as I can just download them again when I wish to but I will be purchasing this. if you liked wuthering heights, crimson peaks, penny dreadful or any other Victorian horror romance this book is for you. even if you arent a "romance novel fan" this book is for you. I've recommended it to so many people and will continue to do so. so glad I found it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Slow

Really slow. There were about three hours worth of performance. The bad foreign accents were embarrassing.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

This was really great

I really enjoyed this book. It was well thought out and the characters were very believable. I’m unsure why it got negative reviews as this was one of the better reads I have had in sometime. I will definitely be looking for more books from this author.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Entertaining Gothic Mystery

Charming Gothic mystery with great surroundings! What self-respecting Gothic mystery would not take place in Edinburgh and move on to Transylvania, then have a handsome - if somewhat sinister - count as a possible love interest?

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

loved it

omgosh another Deanna Raybourn novel down and I'm never disappointed. I'm on to my next, the hard part is which one.
I highly recommend Deanna Raybourn's books

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

The Dead Travel Slowly...

It was a good partial retelling of the Dracula story from a woman’s pov, but it was a bit too long for my tastes. Some of the time spent maundering on about vampires & werewolves could’ve been put to better use showing how the Count became a better man & how he decided she was worthy as a wife after all. That bit was skimmed over much to quickly, imo.

But the narrator was excellent. Great voices made it easy to tell who was speaking whether or not we were told outright.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Delightful gothic romance

I'm a fan of Deanna Raybourn and although this gothic romance is a bit of a departure from her usual books, I thoroughly enjoyed listening. The narrator is excellent and added a lot to my enjoyment. This book is very atmospheric and descriptive so if you want fast moving action, look elsewhere. I loved the characters and the setting.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent story line

Lots of twists and turns. Great build up to the ending A fun book to follow.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!