The Glister: A Novel

by John Burnside Narrated by John Lee

Overview

Fifteen-year-old Leonard describes his hometown as a contemporary hell: part industrial ruin, part Dante's Inferno. The poisoned woods and the derelict buildings are haunted by wild children, a strange, sickly fauna, and the mysterious Moth Man, an itinerant ecologist who appears to be conducting a bizarre survey into local insect populations, but might just as easily be the angel of the Lord. Every year or so, a boy from Leonard's school disappears, vanishing into the wasteland of the old chemical plant. Nobody knows where these boys go, or whether they are alive or dead. Without evidence to the contrary, the authorities claim they are simply runaways. But Morrison, the town policeman, knows otherwise. Determined to learn the truth for himself, Leonard takes refuge in the poisoned ruins of the plant, where he renews his friendship with the Moth Man and exacts a shocking revenge on the policeman before entering the mysterious Glister.

Editorial Reviews

JUNE 2009 - AudioFile

A British town is dying from years of industrial pollution by the factory that once provided the economic lifeblood for the community. John Burnside's novel uses the dying town as a backdrop for an insidious mystery involving the ritualized murder of young boys. Narrator John Lee expertly translates the story of the dreary, doomed village to the spoken word. His Scottish accent only adds to the foreignness of the world that Burnside paints. With Lee’s mesmerizing delivery the story slips from one character to another as easily as it slides from the past to the present. This is a book you won't be able to turn off as you search for the thread that connects the mystery. M.S. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine

Product Details

BN ID:	2940169861266
Publisher:	Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Publication date:	03/10/2009
Edition description:	Unabridged

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