Black River Orchard

A Novel

De: Chuck Wendig

Narrado por: Xe Sands, Brittany Pressley, Sean Patrick Hopkins, Cindy Kay, Kalani Queypo, Gabra Zackman, Victor Colomé

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A small town is transformed when seven strange trees begin bearing magical apples in this masterpiece of horror from the author of Wanderers and The Book of Accidents.

“This masterful outing should continue to earn Wendig comparisons to Stephen King.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

LOCUS AWARD FINALIST • AN NPR BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR

It’s autumn in the town of Harrow, but something besides the season is changing there.

Because in that town there is an orchard, and in that orchard, seven most unusual trees. And from those trees grows a new sort of apple: strange, beautiful, with skin so red it’s nearly black.

Take a bite of one of these apples, and you will desire only to devour another. And another. You will become stronger. More vital. More yourself, you will believe. But then your appetite for the apples and their peculiar gifts will keep growing—and become darker.

This is what happens when the townsfolk discover the secret of the orchard. Soon it seems that everyone is consumed by an obsession with the magic of the apples . . . and what’s the harm, if it is making them all happier, more confident, more powerful?

Even if something else is buried in the orchard besides the seeds of these extraordinary trees: a bloody history whose roots reach back to the very origins of the town.

But now the leaves are falling. The days grow darker. It’s harvest time, and the town will soon reap what it has sown.

©2023 Chuck Wendig (P)2023 Random House Audio

Reseñas de la Crítica

“Chuck Wendig is one of my very favorite storytellers. Black River Orchard is a deep, dark, luscious tale that creeps up on you and doesn’t let go.”—Erin Morgenstern, author of The Night Circus

“An epic saga that is at once a propulsive horror novel and a parable, a thriller and a cautionary tale, Black River Orchard is the immensely talented Chuck Wendig at his finest.”—Lisa Unger, New York Times bestselling author of Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six

“A gripping story of love and legacies gone rotten, deeply rooted in the landscape and as twisty and gnarled as an ancient apple tree.”—T. Kingfisher, USA Today bestselling author of What Moves the Dead

Good story, but to long.

This story was intriguing at first, but halfway through it got so monotonous. I liked the story but it could have 8 hours shorter. Still, it was an original, creative concept that made me want to finish it. I will be reading more from the author.

Who knew an 🍎 could be scary? 🤷🏻‍♂️

To avoid spoiling this brilliant book, I’ll simply say that it’s a talented horror writer, supported by a team of top notch narrators, that has me afraid to bite into another apple.

You’ll never look at apples without wondering

This book and the excellent narrators are responsible for me losing a couple night’s sleep. The characters and their relationships are well defined. The unbelievable is very believable. I highly recommend the audio version of this.

Took a while… but realllllly good

It took me a while to accept the style of this book. Three narrators didn’t make sense to me at first. The initial dive into the science of apples was interesting, especially as the son of an orchardist, and I grew up on an apple orchard! But it was hard to believe apples could be credibly central to a horror novel and it seemed like I should be taking notes for a test!

I put the book down for a few days than tried it again and it just got better and better in a very carefully constructed way. The characters start out as caricatures of people I know and slowly got more complex as the book went on, thank goodness because most seemed really shallow at first.

I saw one comment about this being a “woke” book but I think the reader missed the point. It echos lots of modern themes and generally from a left-of-center perspective but thats only a problem for those who bury themselves in an echo chamber of conservative ideology. Political overtones and an allegory for modern Trumpist authoritarianism? Well, yea, I think so.

So after reading so many books where the guy with the biggest guns and hardest fists wins, this one doesn’t ignore the tendency. After all, this is ‘Merica, and you can’t escape the fall-back position of guns-as-a-solution like a British author can, but instead of falling into the trap, it looks at the trap and plays with it a wee bit.

And as the book went on, I found it very authentic and well-researched in many ways. Like I said, I grew up around orchardists and the author nailed it, right down to the Jack knife coming out of the pocket to cut up the apple. After a while, the idea of a horror story centered on apples became especially funny to me who, as a youth, swore they were evil things as I spent days and days pruning , thinning and picking them year after year.

So, good read, fresh, long but well-narrated once I got used to it, and worth the effort. Well done!

WOW...creative, imaginative

Character development enhanced the story which surprisingly kept my interest to the finish. I did not expect the book to be so entertaining and spooky. Narration was so interesting using multiple speakers.

The storytelling was incredibly engaging and well done

This was one of the better books I've read this year. I'm a huge Steven king fan and this scratches that old SK The Stand era itch. The narration was some of the better I've heard. Wendig is one of my favorite contemporary authors.

Wendig delivers a stellar, epic horror

Wendig is at the top of his game here. Fans of King-style summer horror blockbusters will revel in all the sweet, apple splendor.

sinister

wonderful creeping dread
perfect autumn read that makes me crave pie or cider and also never want to step foot in an orchard again.

Great book, interesting readers

Xe’s team was again, fantastic. Only gripe is that one of the readers is a manuscript reader and that became off-putting. I sped to 1.5 on his parts. Overall, highly recommend!

Excellent story and audio!!

The story is imaginative, scary, insightful and so entertaining. The readers are wonderful. Highly recommend!!