James Orr—husband, father, reliable employee and all-around model citizen—awakes one morning to find half his face paralyzed. Waiting for the affliction to pass, he stops going to work and wanders his idyllic estate, with its woodland, uniform streets and perfectly manicured lawns. But there are cracks in the veneer. And as his orderly existence begins to unravel, it appears that James himself may not be the man he thought he was.
A deeply unsettling story of creeping horror that consistently confounds expectations, The Alarming Palsy of James Orr introduces a writer of extraordinary and disturbing talents.
Download and start listening now!
“This book reads like an insidious suburban nightmare, pared down to its bare essentials. A highly controlled and expert commentary on the fickleness of our modern life.”
— Book Riot
“Lee’s writing pulses with humor and an appreciation of the abject silliness of human beings…He writes with a needle, and with a short-story master’s eye for structure.”
— Sunday Times (London)“Tom Lee’s clipped, cold-blooded sentences form a thin mantle over the sinisterly simmering plot of this mesmerizing first novel.”
— Financial Times (London)“Perception and reality blur in a compelling fable about otherness, anxiety and the alienating effects of illness…Darkly comic fun…[A] compelling mystery.”
— Guardian (London)Be the first to write a review about this audiobook!
Tom Lee’s fiction and essays have appeared in the Sunday Times, Esquire, Prospect, and Zoetrope, among others. He is also the author of Greenfly, a collection of short fiction. His work has been short-listed for the Sunday Times EFG Private Bank Short Story Award and long-listed for the Notting Hill Essay Prize. He currently teaches undergraduate and postgraduate creative writing at Goldsmiths College in London.
Matthew Lloyd Davies is a veteran actor, director, and Audie Award–winning audiobook narrator. Highlights of his acting career include regular appearances with the Royal Shakespeare Company, Royal National Theatre in the West End, on international tours, and in award-winning television shows and films. He has experience in radio, a master’s degree in directing, and extensive experience in presenting at corporate events.