A.A. Abbott

GREAT CRIME STORY WRITER

psychological

Multi-Tasking & More: Why We Adore Audiobooks (and Why We Don’t)

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AA Abbott's Chilling Psychological Thriller BRIGHT LIES is now available on audiobook so you can listen through headphones

Before the audiobook version of my thriller, BRIGHT LIES, was released, I ran an online survey about audiobooks. Why did readers love them – or, in some cases, hate them?

Scores on the Doors – those audiobook survey results

Before going into detail, I should comment on the people I surveyed. I write psychological thrillers and mysteries, so naturally, many of those I asked were thriller fans. For instance, I approached my newsletter subscribers, and Facebook groups dedicated to crime fiction and Audible books. It’s hardly surprising that 94% of the 182 respondents loved audiobooks, 73% listened to audiobook thrillers and 60% to mysteries. Non-fiction, adventure stories and historical fiction were also popular with at least 25% of the readers who replied. Nearly half preferred an audiobook to a paperback or ebook.

83% were over 45, perhaps a reflection of Facebook’s popularity in older age groups. However, although I expected a majority of readers to identify as female, I  didn’t think as many as 90% would do so. The age and gender of survey participants explains why so few listened to young adult fiction (6%) or horror (10%). Romance listeners (13%) lagged behind sci-fi (14%) and fantasy (23%).

Despite the skewed audience, the survey results were interesting. Readers generously explained the pros and cons of audiobooks, recommended their favourites, and gave price-saving tips. If you’re on a budget, fear not – it is possible to get hold of audiobooks for free, or certainly cheaply.

Why audiobooks?

Of the 47% who preferred audiobooks to any other format, the reason most often cited was that listeners could multi-task. You can drive, go for a walk, do the chores and even (in one instance) do a boring low-paid job while enjoying audiobooks. Others said they were relaxing, helped reduce eyestrain, eased the loneliness of isolation in the pandemic and really brought a story to life. The last point depended heavily on the quality of narrator. Listeners felt the narrator could make or break a book. Angus King, Jim Dale, Stephen Fry and Stephen Mendel were repeatedly praised.

34% listened when travelling, 28% when exercising or doing chores and 38% when chilling out at home.

Why not?

Audiobooks were left on the shelf by those who preferred to imagine the characters’ voices for themselves, who thought reading was quicker or had hearing problems. A couple of readers had never yet found a narrator they liked: either the voice was irritating or it failed to hold their interest and they zoned out. One respondent was annoyed that audiobooks sent them to sleep (although audio fans mentioned it as a point in favour). Others recognised that audiobooks were expensive to produce, and their high price was justified, but it sadly made them unaffordable on a limited budget. The money-saving tips below should help!

Free and cheap audiobooks

For those on a budget, helpful readers suggested borrowing audiobooks for free from the local library. Free Audible codes are sometimes offered in Facebook groups in exchange for a review. Promotional sites like Chirp also have cheap daily deals, such as 99p/99c audiobooks. (I take the Chirp newsletter myself and have been impressed by the range and quality of deals on offer.) Even full price titles can be purchased at a discount by buying an ebook from Amazon and upgrading to audio. The combined cost is usually much less than the Audible price.

Listening to sample clips on Amazon removes the guesswork, too: if you like a sample, you know you won’t be wasting your time and money.

Recommended writers and narrators for audiobooks

As well as the narrators mentioned above, certain writers were very, very popular. JK Rowling and LJ Ross led the pack, followed by Val McDermid, Peter James, JD Kirk, Elly Griffiths, Denzil Meyrick, James Patterson, Stuart McBride and Terry Pratchett. Others who received several mentions included Stephen King and Agatha Christie. Naturally, given the groups surveyed, there was a preference for crime writers.

Finding audiobooks

Amazon/Audible was the biggest source of recommendations for new audiobooks, followed by social media, libraries, friends, bloggers and Goodreads. Only 6% took any notice of ads. Facebook was by far the most popular social media source (but this is no surprise, given that I mainly surveyed Facebook groups).

More advice from those in the know – publishers, take note!

Seasoned audiobook listeners had several pieces of advice for authors and publishers. They would like to see a wider range of titles in audio, but stressed that good narration and production were essential. Audiobooks should be proofed just like the printed page: there is no excuse for errors. Listeners were looking for narration with a pleasant voice, accuracy and sympathy for the story. They disliked an unduly slow narrator, a heavy regional accent or someone who mispronounced words. Where a series was recorded in audio, they pleaded for the same narrator to be used throughout.

Rumours of death are much exaggerated

Audiobook sales have been rising for years, and rumours of their demise as a result of the pandemic are much exaggerated. Although commuting is down on pre-pandemic levels, housework, gardening, exercising and chilling in an armchair still lend themselves to audiobook listening. It is a flexible format which is here to stay.

I am thrilled that my psychological thriller BRIGHT LIES is now out in audiobook! It’s been narrated by the amazing Eilidh Beaton. Eilidh has already worked with other respected psychological thriller writers, including the excellent Keri Beevis. Hear a clip of Eilidh narrating BRIGHT LIES, here (just click on the arrow under the book cover). She channels teenage Emily’s naiveté and David’s creepiness really well.

In many countries, Amazon will let you add an audio upgrade to your ebook at a modest cost, so do check your local Amazon site!

Make Your Dreams Come True

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Make Your Dreams Come True by Writing A Book

Make Your Dreams Come True Day

Imagine you had a magic wand that could make all your dreams come true. Wouldn’t that be brilliant? Now, step back from fantasy to reality. There is a way to realise those dreams without magic or megabucks. It’s called setting goals. On Make Your Dreams Come True Day, why not take time out to do it? Even ten minutes can take you closer to achieving your desires.

Realistic Goals

It’s crucial to have realistic goals. That might mean breaking down a task into chunks, or setting less arduous goals as stepping stones. For example, if you want to write a novel but you haven’t even written a short story yet, set yourself the target of producing a short tale first. You’ll feel good when you achieve that first success and you’ll have developed skills that will help you in your ultimate aim.

We can learn from big corporations here. If you’ve ever worked for one, you’ll be used to agreeing SMART objectives with your manager – that is, you’ll agree on tasks which are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-bound. Employers do this for a reason. They know that SMART goals are likely to succeed.

A Case Study in SMART Objectives – The Vodka Trail

Looking back at my writing resolutions for 2016, #1 was to write a sequel to my British mystery thriller, The Bride’s Trail. This ticked all the SMART boxes – it was:

Specific – I would write another thriller about glamorous Kat, shy Amy and arrogant Ross.

Measurable – the objective would be met when the book was published.

Achievable – I’d already written and published one thriller a year from 2013 to 2015.

Relevant – I’m a writer, after all.

Time-bound – I announced to the world that I’d do it in 2016, but in my mind, I gave myself 6 months from mid-January.

The Vodka Trail, the twisting tale of Kat’s kidnap by terrorists, was published on 18 July 2016! The rest of the thrilling series – The Grass Trail, The Revenge Trail and The Final Trail – followed in 2017, 2018 and 2019. As with my latest novel, dark psychological thriller Bright Lies, I plotted each book in advance and planned chunks – chapters – before sitting at my laptop to write them.

My Top Tip

My Top Tip is: Share Your Goals! Just as I did when announcing my writing resolutions for 2016, tell others of your plans and they’ll help you to stay accountable for them.

Whether your dream is to change jobs, write that novel or make the world a better place, I wish you the very best of luck!

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Bright Lies, heralded by respected American review site Readers’ Favorite as “5 star compelling drama” had its origin in a dream 30 years ago. In that dark night-time fantasy, Emily emerged fleeing from danger and finding sanctuary with troubled nightclub DJ Jack in his Birmingham squat. It has taken many years to channel that dream into a book, but the great reviews prove it was worth it. Click on the book’s cover here to start reading.

A woman dreaming about psychological thriller BRIGHT LIES

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Book Review – Friend Indeed, by Katharine D’Souza

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Friendship, secrets & failed relationships

I was addicted from the very first moment I picked up one of Katharine D’Souza’s novels. Her intelligent women’s fiction is so easy to read that normal life takes a back seat until the book is finished. Fortunately, Friend Indeed is a short novella of 90-odd pages. You can zip through it in a few hours, although it will stay with you long afterwards. Leaving a sense of unease in its wake, the story studies friendship, secrets and failed relationships.

Jane, the narrator, shares her birthday with schoolfriends Maya and Sandra. As grammar school girls with the world at their feet, they swore they would meet up on their fiftieth birthday. That’s why Jane and Sandra travel from Birmingham to Maya’s flash party in London.

A unlikeable narrator

Maya is the only one of the trio to escape their hometown. She’s a respected journalist, her weekly columns read avidly by the other two. Sandra is pleased for her and thrilled to be included in her birthday plans. By contrast, Jane feels overshadowed and resentful of Maya’s success.

Jane is honest in revealing her thoughts to the reader: possibly too frank. She comes across as a reliable narrator, but not a likeable one. If I met her at a party, I’d avoid her like the plague. Ms D’Souza deals with her gently, however.  There is a hint that Jane is capable – perhaps – of  leaving envy behind.

Domestic noir

This is no crime thriller, but in its exploration of family drama and secrets, it verges on domestic noir. For a short book, Friend Indeed has a powerful, lingering effect. Don’t be surprised if old friends invade your nightmares once you’ve read it.

Friend Indeed by Katharine D'Souza - abook that explores secrets, lies and domestic noir

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Do you enjoy a really dark slice of domestic noir? My new psychological thriller, Bright Lies, delivers exactly that. Emily is only 13 when David becomes her stepfather, and she’s thrilled that the handsome artist wants to mentor her. She doesn’t know she’ll end up running for her life…
“Compelling drama – 5 stars” – Readers’ Favorite, USA.

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Book Review – The Babysitter, by Phoebe Morgan

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The Babysitter by Phoebe Morgan is a gripping psychological thriller. When a celeb's lover is murdered, where is the baby she was caring for?

A murder mystery packed with twists

Wine, sunshine and good company – the ingredients for a perfect holiday. Siobhan jets off with high hopes to join her sister, Maria, in a French villa. Family life has been stressful for Siobhan. Perhaps now she can rebuild her relationships with her cheating husband, Calum, and teenage daughter, Emma.

Siobhan is starting to relax when the French police bring news that Calum’s lover has been murdered back home in Suffolk. Even more horrifying, the little girl she was babysitting has disappeared.

For Siobhan, it’s the beginning of a nightmare. TV celeb Calum is the prime suspect. He’s shipped back to England for questioning by the local police. Meanwhile, the women hide out from the media circus in the family home.

Suffolk police are under pressure to solve the murder mystery and find Baby Eve, but progress is slow. Phoebe Morgan cleverly uses flashbacks and switches point of view so that the reader – and indeed the police – are never quite sure who did it. The final revelation is a satisfying twist.

Domestic noir

If the story has a central message, it’s that you can’t truly know and trust those closest to you. Siobhan has comes to (uneasy) terms with Calum’s philandering, but is he capable of murder? Is Maria more than a supportive sister and aunt? Are there cracks in Baby Eve’s parents’ perfect marriage? Did Calum’s lover steal the baby for herself before her untimely death? This searing slice of domestic noir peels away the happy façade of each household to reveal raw pain beneath. As in real life, the end of the story is all about moving on rather than living happily ever after.

The Babysitter is available on Amazon and in all good bookshops.

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Do you love a gripping psychological thriller? Subscribe for my short and interesting monthly newsletter to hear about my next book. It’s out in November 2020 and it has tension and twists to die for.

Book Review – Killing The Girl, by Elizabeth Hill

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Desire, Secrets and DeathKilling The Girl is a page turner suspense thriller about secrets desire and death

An explosive tale of desire, secrets and hard-nosed commerce, “Killing The Girl” is a psychological thriller like no other. It begins with a coming-of-age story. Fifteen-year-old Carol Cage lives in a council house on the edge of Bristol. A tomboy whose older brothers have taught her to drive, she loves nothing better than taking the wheel of a car or scrumping apples with her best friend. Local farmer’s son, Perry, his crush on Carol painfully obvious, holds no attraction for her. Childhood mischief comes to an end, however, when Carol falls under Frankie’s spell. Nineteen-year-old Frankie is visiting a relative whose posh house nearby is a mirage of unattainable wealth to the council kids. He seems impossibly handsome and sophisticated.

It doesn’t take long for the reader, or indeed many of the adult characters in the book, to realise that Frankie is just using Carol. However, Carol is besotted and ignores all the well-intentioned warnings until she finds out the hard way. Then, nightmarishly, she attacks Frankie when he pushes her too far.

Love or Money?

Perry is Carol’s saviour, helping her cover up Frankie’s death. He claims it is because his father’s farm would face impossibly steep outgoings if land that Carol has inherited falls into new hands. Although undeniably true, it is also clear that Perry still carries a torch for Carol – a torch that burns for nearly five decades while they co-exist as neighbours. Then the council announces it will build a ring road through the land where Frankie is buried. Can Carol continue to escape justice?

The Corpse Count Rises

Once the bulldozers move in, more secrets are revealed. There are heart-stopping moments as Carol unravels the hidden agendas of those she has loved and trusted. The story, written from Carol’s point of view, portrays her as a mild-mannered woman buffeted by the whims of others. However, the corpse count keeps rising…

Page Turner

Although this is Carol’s story, the supporting characters are sharply observed and interesting, too. Even the gloriously-named socialite Izzy Dewberry-Newberry is well-described in a couple of lines. Likewise, the social mores of the 1970s – the acceptance of drink-driving, the Bristol tobacco factory jobs handed down from one generation to the next – leap from the page. Exquisitely written, full of surprises as layers of secrets and lies are peeled back, “Killing The Girl” is a page turner par excellence. Elizabeth Hill is definitely a writer to watch.

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Like Elizabeth Hill, I’m a British thriller writer. If you love a suspense-filled story uncovering secrets of the past, try “The Vodka Trail”. Vodka salesman Marty Bridges couldn’t save his business partner’s life. Blamed by the dead man’s daughter for his death, Marty finds new evidence – but dare he tell her?

Book Review – the Mind Cops

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A book review looking at 3 great psychological profiling specialists, or mind copsSometimes, the most gripping crime stories are true tales written by the law enforcers charged with bringing criminals to justice. The Netflix show, “Mindhunter”, cast a spotlight on psychological profiling, a relatively recent weapon in the fight against crime.  Qualified psychologists on both sides of the Atlantic have written about their successes in solving cases by getting under the skin and into the brain of an unknown perpetrator.

Their skill produces uncanny results. John Douglas, writer of “Mindhunter”, tells the cops to look for a man with a speech impediment. When they get their man several murders later, he turns out to have a stutter. How spooky is that?

 

A serial killer template

In fact, he isn’t the first stammering killer John Douglas has encountered, and he won’t be the last. Douglas’ book and similar chronicles from British psychologists David Canter and Paul Britton, reveal that many serial killers are stamped out of the same mould. They‘re socially inadequate, with a history of bed-wetting, fractured relationships and minor sex offences. As their experience and confidence of delinquency grows, their activities increase in severity. Douglas, Canter and Britton practically provide a template for a serial killer, and I’m sure some fiction writers use it.

All three writers briefly explain how they became involved in this line of work, then get into the real meat: a detailed account of cases they’ve solved. Douglas also built his knowledge by interviewing serial killers who had already been captured. Bored after long years inside the prisons where they would see out the rest of their lives, many agreed to talk to him.

Netflix & Hollywood

Based in the FBI’s special unit at Quantico, Virginia, John Douglas inspired the Silence of the Lambs as well as his own Netflix series. His case studies – based on the maxim familiar to HR managers, that past activities predict the future – are interesting and well-written. The only downside is an occasional hint of arrogance. This is not the case with Paul Britton, who has a more self-effacing, perhaps typically British, approach to his abilities. In his first book, “The Jigsaw Man”, he includes a chapter on a case where he was unsuccessful. When a beautiful young model, Rachel Nickell, was murdered in a London park, Britton’s lengthy and expensive sting operation led to the arrest of the wrong man. It is sad that, twenty years later, Britton is still pilloried by the media for this failure. He’d applied scientific rigour in the case and had made it clear that it wasn’t open and shut. It unfortunately overshadows his numerous successes. For instance, his work was instrumental in bringing murderer Rose West to justice and to identifying Michael Sams, who held estate agent Stephanie Slater as a hostage in a wheelie bin and killed another woman. Britton’s “The Jigsaw Man” is a thrilling read, as is its sequel, “Picking up the Pieces”.

David Canter, another Englishman, was heavily influenced by the FBI’s techniques. His book, “Criminal Shadows”, is more academic than the others, but still a page turner. The chapter on Criminal Maps – plotting the location of crimes to identify the villain – is especially compelling. Thanks to him, police arrested London’s evil Railway Rapist (who also murdered three women) and the young Brummie sex offender who dragged his OAP victims onto the roofs of tower blocks.

All three writers offer fascinating insights into the criminal mind, as well as an entertaining read. Even if fiction is usually your bag, you’ll find Douglas, Britton and Cantor have plenty of true tales to interest you.

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I’m an English crime thriller writer, and invested in these books as research: to understand how a serial killer thinks. Not all fit the socially inadequate sex offender model – some are charming psychopaths, while others fall under the spell of a sadistic lover. One day, this research will find its way into another tense and twisting crime thriller, so do sign up for my monthly newsletter to find out more! You’ll also receive a free e-book of short stories.