What were you doing at 23? Well, Ira Levin was writing this incredible masterpiece. Suspenseful and full of twists, it has aged surprisingly well as a book and it’s still impossible to put down. In other ways it does seem old-fashioned but, as long as you keep in mind that it was written in 1953 and the story is set at the beginning of that decade, it is not surprising how everybody, including a pregnant woman, smokes; or how suicide seems more appealing than having a child out of wedlock. This is a pulp classic full of memorable characters. The lead is immoral, materialistic and a complete b@stard and I was still rooting for him. How does Levin accomplish that is outstanding. The voice that George Newbern lends him doesn’t hurt, fitting him perfectly. He is gruff, rough and you can picture the character completely. His voices for the rest of the cast are also well-rounded and he even makes the female characters distinguishable from one another by their ages. The foreword, read by Rory Barnett, adds some context to the story. It does contain spoilers, so I left it for the end. This audiobook is a great way to read this classic for the first time, or revisit it if you’re familiar with the printed version.
I chose to listen to this audiobook and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, #NetGalley/#Blackstone Publishing.

A Kiss Before Dying written by Ira Levin and narrated by George Newbern & Rory Barnett is an awesome vehicle to bring this incredible work of fiction into the 21st century while retaining its autheentic, original magnificence

The narration is sublime, absolutely perfect to reflect the era and storyline and utterly captivating

I read A Kiss Before Dying many, many years ago and enjoyed it immensely then, so to see it as an audiobook, I snapped it up and I was so glad I did! You know when narrators really, really "get" a book and bring it to life? This is absolutely the case here. If ever you want to have a great introduction to audiobooks, here is one

A Kiss Before Dying deserves the accolade of being one of the greatest Mystery/ Thriller books of all time (Time Magazine) due to its incredible skill in turning a simple premise into a deep analysis of the criminal mind alongside the pitfalls of materialistic greed and how far people will go to get rich

A brilliant masterpiece, highly recommended

Thank you to Netgalley, Blackstone Publishing - Audiobooks, the author Ira Levin and exceptional narrators George Newbern and Rory Barnett