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Carrion Comfort

By: Dan Simmons
Narrated by: Mel Foster, Laural Merlington
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Summary

"Carrion Comfort is one of the three greatest horror novels of the 20th century. Simple as that." (Stephen King)

"Epic in scale and scope but intimately disturbing, Carrion Comfort spans the ages to rewrite history and tug at the very fabric of reality. A nightmarish chronicle of predator and prey that will shatter your world view forever. A true classic." (Guillermo del Toro)

"Carrion Comfort is one of the scariest books ever written. Whenever I get asked the question Who's your favorite author? my answer is always Dan Simmons." (James Rollins)

"One of the few major reinventions of the vampire concept, on a par with Jack Finney's Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Richard Matheson's I Am Legend, and Stephen King's Salem's Lot. (David Morrell)

THE PAST...

Caught behind the lines of Hitler's Final Solution, Saul Laski is one of the multitudes destined to die in the notorious Chelmno extermination camp. Until he rises to meet his fate and finds himself face to face with an evil far older, and far greater, than the Nazis themselves...

THE PRESENT...

Compelled by the encounter to survive at all costs, so begins a journey that for Saul will span decades and cross continents, plunging into the darkest corners of 20th century history to reveal a secret society of beings who may often exist behind the world's most horrible and violent events. Killing from a distance, and by darkly manipulative proxy, they are people with the psychic ability to "use" humans: read their minds, subjugate them to their wills, experience through their senses, feed off their emotions, force them to acts of unspeakable aggression. Each year, three of the most powerful of this hidden order meet to discuss their ongoing campaign of induced bloodshed and deliberate destruction. But this reunion, something will go terribly wrong. Saul's quest is about to reach its elusive object, drawing hunter and hunted alike into a struggle that will plumb the depths of mankind's attraction to violence, and determine the future of the world itself...

©2009 Dan Simmons (P)2011 Brilliance Audio, Inc.
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What listeners say about Carrion Comfort

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

bloody long

great performance, some super evil characters and good story. however, it is far too long. the part in German town seems to go on forever and the whole thing could've been cut by 30%. some horrifying moments but struggle to see how King thinks its one of the scariest, it's more so they are evil people rather than scary.

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1 person found this helpful

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

Bit of a long one

I like Dan Simmons books and this one is OK, not the most terrifying book ever, or whatever Steven King said. It's OK, the performance is OK as well, took me a while to get into the book as a whole but one thing you have with this book is lots of time. It's quite long, bit more condensed and it could have been quite exciting. If you have 30 hours to kill and have read most of the other great horror, this book is OK.

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2 people found this helpful

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

A dark and capturing book

This is quite a long book but it seemed to fly past in no time at all. When I finish a book I usually start another book pretty soon afterwards. But, with Carrion Comfort, I wanted to wait a while to let it settle and so that I could think about the amazing journey I had just finished.

I have an image in my head that appears relatively early on in the book and which became suddenly more meaningful at the end. The scale of the plot is extraordinary and it is a pure, dark delight to read (or to have read to you - and brilliantly by Mel and Laural too!).

Dan Simmons is rapidly becoming one of my favourite authors!

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1 person found this helpful

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

Different take on Vampires

Both narrators done an excellent job wether they portraied male or female characters which is always a bonus. I thought the story was brilliant and would definitely recommend giving it a go. It is really graphic at times and not for the lighthearted or those easily offended. 10/10

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

Racism and anti-semitism went beyond characters

For such a long book with an in-depth build-up the end was sudden, simple and unsatisfying.
The main (evil) protagonists are racist and anti-semitic and it gets tiresome.
I'm not confusing the views of the author with those expressed by characters when I say that I felt, at times, the prejudices crept into the story beyond the bad actors themselves. For example if a character is male and black and large it isn't necessary to refer to him every time as "the big black man".
He tells a good story and created some vivid characters but if I could have the nearly 40 hours back to listen to something else I would.

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1 person found this helpful

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

Grating narration

The fake southern american accent of the female narrator is so painfully bad that I struggled to get through even part of chapter one, despite restarting it twice. The male narrator is great - his segments flew by (although the tone he took for the inner voice bordered on hammy).

I've heard great things about this book and wanted to keep going, but I'm just going to buy the actual book instead. I listen to podcasts all the time so hearing comprehension isn't an issue for me, just terrible readings.

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

An epic tale of revenge and horror

Whilst long, and occasionally slightly drawn out, this is an example of epic story telling, with many amazing fleshed out characters and central driven plot.

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1 person found this helpful

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

Even better than Summer of Night

I can't believe I missed this masterpiece! I have read and reread Summer of Night several times over the years, and I always enjoy Simmons' story telling.

Then, through Audible's recommendations, I discovered Carrion Comfort. Some reviews say it is too long at just under 40 hours. I am almost sad it was over so soon! The characters are described so vividly you feel like you know them personally, no matter if they are good or bad people. And the plot has enough plausible connections to the real world to be believable and relevant. Although it would have been even more so had I read it closer to its original publication date.

Like Summer of Night, I am going to enjoy listening to this book again in a few years. The narrators also deserve credit for bringing the characters to life, both are excellent at that.

Thanks for the recommendation, Audible!

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2 people found this helpful

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

let down

Hard work to finish the narration wasn't bad but I was really disappointed with the story especially after reading Terror.

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

A great book

Great story! The end game part is a bit too slow/lengthy and could have been shortened but a great book!

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