A page-turning psychological thriller from the "talented young" author of Finny (Boston Globe)
To Sam Blount, meeting Julia is the best thing that has ever happened to him.
Working at the local college and unsuccessful in his previous relationships, he'd been feeling troubled about his approaching fortieth birthday, "a great beast of a birthday," as he sees it, but being with Julia makes him feel young and hopeful. Julia Stilwell, a freshman trying to come to terms with a recent tragedy that has stripped her of her greatest talent, is flattered by Sam's attention. But their relationship is tested by a shy young man with a secret, Marcus Broley, who is also infatuated with Julia.
Told in alternating points of view, The Preservationist is the riveting tale of Julia and Sam's relationship, which begins to unravel as the threat of violence approaches and Julia becomes less and less sure whom she can trust.
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“The Preservationist effectively mixes literary thriller and realistic horror, as characters’ secrets are revealed with increasing creepiness, and the story moves from a series of deceptively mundane events to unbearable foreboding as the three suspiciously circle one other, landing the reader in a happily torturous state of anxiety.”
— Booklist
“I couldn’t help but race through The Preservationist, the story was that urgent and perfectly paced. Each of the characters, from the kindest to the creepiest, is rich, haunted, and compellingly alive.”
— Marisa de los Santos, New York Times bestselling author“The Preservationist offers that rare alchemy of page-turning suspense and first-rate writing. I raced to the explosive conclusion, then found myself haunted by it. One of my favorite thrillers of the year, it’s a book you don’t want to miss.”
— Otto Penzler, Edgar Award–winning editor and founder of the Mysterious Press“The ending is stellar.”
— RT Book Reviews“Arriving at college with heavy emotional baggage, Julia picks the wrong guy to unload on: cue the slow build to mayhem…What distinguishes this book is Kramon’s willingness to put predator and prey on almost equal footing: The predator is inhumane but not inhuman.”
— Kirkus ReviewsBe the first to write a review about this audiobook!
Justin Kramon is the author of the novel Finny. A graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, he has published stories in Glimmer Train, Story Quarterly, Boulevard, Fence, TriQuarterly, Alaska Quarterly Review, and others. He has received honors from the Michener-Copernicus Society of America, Best American Short Stories, the Hawthornden International Writers’ Fellowship, and the Bogliasco Foundation. He has taught undergraduate and graduate fiction writing courses at Gotham Writers’ Workshop, Haverford College, the University of Iowa, Arcadia University, and elsewhere. He lives in Philadelphia.
Charlie Thurston is an experienced audiobook narrator, actor, and playwright who has received numerous Earphones Awards for his work. He has appeared on Law and Order: SVU, and his voice can be heard in audiobooks such as The Oracle Year, Southernmost, The Terranauts, and The Unfinished Life of Addison Stone.