Readers know that few authors are able to create an atmosphere of unease and terror as well as Oates, a fact confirmed by the four novellas presented here.
In the title story, “Evil Eye,” a young woman has recently become the fourth wife of a highly demanding man. When his first wife comes to stay with them, she warns the new bride that her husband is insane, and that she must find a way to protect herself. In “So Near Anytime Always,” a fateful meeting in a library leads to a boy's obsessive interest in a teenage girl. In “The Execution,” spoiled college student Bart Hansen has forgotten to factor in one person in his plan to commit the perfect, brutal crime: his mother. And in “The Flatbed,” a beautiful young woman struggles with frigidity until a shocking act releases her.
All the novellas in this collection revolve around the theme of love gone wrong—horribly, shockingly wrong.
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“Shrewd and unnerving…Oates’s deft tales of vulnerable women with surprisingly deep reservoirs of strength and a capacity for revenge are infused with wry and knowing commentary on the battle between the sexes, the justice system, and the consequences of entitlement.”
— Booklist
“Exquisitely suspenseful…The relationships between the damaged, sometimes monstrous individuals who people these pages will keep the reader riveted.”
— Publishers Weekly (starred review)“With her focus on deviant and twisted characters, Oates continues to be a worthy descendant of the gothic tradition of Edgar Allan Poe.”
— Kirkus ReviewsBe the first to write a review about this audiobook!
Joyce Carol Oates, an award-winning author of fiction, nonfiction, short stories, plays, and novellas, is the author of some of the most enduring fiction of our time, including two New York Times bestsellers. Her books have won the National Book Award, O. Henry Award, the Jerusalem Prize, and the National Humanities Medal, among others. Her work has been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize several times. She has been a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters since 1978.
Donna Postel, an Earphones Award–winning narrator, is absolutely passionate about audiobooks and has narrated close to fifty titles across multiple genres, from memoir and biography to literary fiction, romance, mystery, and suspense. She uses her innate curiosity, talent, and decades of experience on stage and in the recording studio to bring books to life. When she’s not in the studio, she can be found down at the barn cleaning up after and occasionally riding horses.
Luci Christian is an actress and writer, known for her voice-over performance in One Piece, Starship Troopers: Invasion, and Appleseed Alpha, among many other animated films and television series. She has been married to Michael Bell since 2008. They have two children.
Luci Christian is an actress and writer, known for her voice-over performance in One Piece, Starship Troopers: Invasion, and Appleseed Alpha, among many other animated films and television series. She has been married to Michael Bell since 2008. They have two children.
Chris Patton has narrated over seventy-five audiobooks. His voice can be heard narrating such titles as Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, the dystopian juggernaut Yesterday’s Gone, Clive Barker’s Books of Blood series, and two titles by Joyce Carol Oates. Chris began his career in theater at age ten, and his voice-over career at twenty-nine. Since then, he has voiced over two hundred anime titles, numerous commercials and e-learning and industrial projects, and several video games. He’s also fronted a synthpop band called Paul Lynde Is Dead, written a teen urban fantasy about an emo vampire called Scene Immortal, and has appeared as a special guest at more than eighty-five pop-culture conventions.
Tamara Marston has been an actor, singer, and director for more than thirty years. A career performer and musician, she has toured nationally with several groups and appeared on The Arsenio Hall Show and A&E’s Goodtime Café. Dividing her time between acting and singing gigs, choral conducting, music and stage directing, jingle and voice-over work, private and public teaching, and family, Tami feels very fortunate to make her living working in the arts.