Play Audiobook Sample
Sleeping Beauty Audiobook
Play Audiobook Sample
(3.00) - 316 listener ratings
Quick Stats About this Audiobook
Total Audiobook Chapters:
Longest Chapter Length:
Shortest Chapter Length:
Average Chapter Length:
Audiobooks by this Author:
Publisher Description
Sleeping Beauty plunges private detective Lew Archer into a fascinating and intricate case connected to a disastrous oil spill on the southern California coast. It leads Archer into a load of trouble involving ransom, a lethal dose of Nembutal, the death of a stranger found floating off shore, and three generations of the imposing Lennox family, whose offshore oil platform caused the spill.
The young Lennox heiress—glimpsed for a haunting moment on the beach, clutching an oil-drenched sea bird in her arms—has disappeared, and while on her trail, Archer finds himself journeying into the hidden lives of a family twisted by money, power, and a compulsive instinct for infidelity.
If any writer can be said to have inherited the mantle of Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler, it is Ross Macdonald. Sleeping Beauty is crime fiction at its best.
Download and start listening now!
"I think that Ross MacDonald may be the perfect airplane author. Sleeping Beauty was a very satisfying detective story. Very accessible, plenty of intrigue and completely devoid of the crap devices that destroys contemporary mystery fiction. Not a classic by any means, but very good. "
— Markgroner (4 out of 5 stars)
Quotes
-
“Sleeping Beauty is particularly complex and satisfactory…It is a marvelous formula that Macdonald has found; the wonder is that he keeps improving it.”
— Newsweek -
“Ross Macdonald is either part or wholly wizard…conjuring the magic of real mystery…A masterpiece.”
— Chicago Tribune Book World -
“Archer solves crimes with the instincts of a psychologist and the conscience of a priest, and the mid-twentieth-century Southern California setting is a wonderful ride in the Wayback Machine.”
— Los Angeles Times, praise for the series -
“Not since the novels of Nathanael West has the theme of American innocence grinding to a stop at the polluted waters of the Pacific so consistently reverberated through a body of writing.”
— Detroit News, praise for the series -
“Ross Macdonald remains the grandmaster, taking the crime novel to new heights by imbuing it with psychological resonance, complexity of story, and richness of style.”
— Jonathan Kellerman, #1 New York Times bestselling author, praise for the author
Awards
-
A Los Angeles Times Pick of the Best Mystery Series
Sleeping Beauty Listener Reviews
-
" A pretty good book! If I want a good solid Murder Mystery I'll certainly read another of his! I kind of like a book that has more going on then just going from clue to clue to clue. But it was still interesting and kept you guessing. "
— Heather, 7/9/2011 -
" I think that Ross MacDonald may be the perfect airplane author. Sleeping Beauty was a very satisfying detective story. Very accessible, plenty of intrigue and completely devoid of the crap devices that destroys contemporary mystery fiction. Not a classic by any means, but very good. "
— Markgroner, 4/19/2011 -
" More of the hard-boiled LA detective Lew Archer. Most of the characters in this are pretty forgettable, but Archer is not. And it's a satisfying read, especially if you live in LA, I suspect. "
— Kate, 3/3/2011 -
" Sleeping Beauty is not my favorite fairtytale... "
— Mareena, 2/26/2011 -
" I read that book a long time ago!! "
— Shahmeer, 11/9/2009 -
" I read that book a long time ago!! "
— Shahmeer, 7/13/2009 -
" A pretty good book! If I want a good solid Murder Mystery I'll certainly read another of his! I kind of like a book that has more going on then just going from clue to clue to clue. But it was still interesting and kept you guessing. "
— Heather, 9/12/2008 -
" Sleeping Beauty is not my favorite fairtytale... "
— Mareena, 6/16/2007
About Ross Macdonald
Ross Macdonald (1915–1983) was the pen name of Kenneth Millar. For over twenty years he lived in Santa Barbara and wrote mystery novels about the fascinating and changing society of his native state. He is widely credited with elevating the detective novel to the level of literature with his compactly written tales of murder and despair. His works have received awards from the Mystery Writers of America and of Great Britain, and his book The Moving Target was made into the movie Harper in 1966. In 1982 he was awarded the Eye Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Private Eye Writers of America.
About Grover Gardner
Grover Gardner (a.k.a. Tom Parker) is an award-winning narrator with over a thousand titles to his credit. Named one of the “Best Voices of the Century” and a Golden Voice by AudioFile magazine, he has won three prestigious Audie Awards, was chosen Narrator of the Year for 2005 by Publishers Weekly, and has earned more than thirty Earphones Awards.