Jane Bites Back

By: Michael Thomas Ford

Narrated by: Katherine Kellgren

Length: 7 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's summary

Two hundred years after her death, Jane Austen is still surrounded by the literature she loves, but now it's because she's the owner of Flyleaf Books in a sleepy college town in Upstate New York. Every day she watches her novels fly off the shelves along with dozens of unauthorized sequels, spin-offs, and adaptations. Jane may be undead, but her books have taken on a life of their own. To make matters worse, the manuscript she finished just before being turned into a vampire has been rejected by publishers116 times. Jane longs to let the world know who she is, but when a sudden twist of fate thrusts her back into the spotlight, she must hide her real identity and fend off a dark man from her past while juggling two modern suitors.

Will the inimitable Jane Austen be able to keep her cool in this comedy of manners, or will she show everyone what a woman with a sharp wit and an even sharper set of fangs can do?

©2009 Michael Thomas Ford (P)2010 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"This is a genre-busting and only occasionally bodice ripping romp that keeps us from taking crime too seriously." (The Boston Globe)

Worth a second listen!

First listened to on long rides with husband. We're now on Jane's next audio book. Actually found the set be searching for performer! Enjoyed a second listen to this first one while commuting solo.

Loved it!

A great story that kept me interested. The narrator nailed it and was easy to listen to.

If Jane Austen were alive...

If Jane Austen were alive today, or yes a vampire I think she’d love this, and I’m sure Micheal Thomas Ford was imagining just that. I love the Charlotte Bronte angle as Jane Eyre, still one of my favorites (well above Wuthering Heights). I think even the literary snobs would enjoy this. If not, you don’t know what you’re missing. This is not the first time I’ve read this book, and I’m sure it won’t be the last time. I didn’t love Katherine Kelgren’s narration, but it worked.

It was alright, once you make it through

I actually purchased this book to read one summer, but kept putting it off until I decided I should just listen to it instead. I'm glad I did as I probably would have never finished it, had I started to read it myself.
I love Jane Austen and thought the idea of her as a vampire novel, and interesting. The story starts off interesting enough, but starts to drag in the middle, so much so that I almost didn't finish listening. I found myself without anything else on my playlist and decided I would go ahead and finish it on the first leg of a long car ride. And, it does get better. I'm glad I finished it. The story picked up about half way through and became a lot more enjoyable. The narrator did an excellent job, she is terrific with accents, thus making the characters much more vivid.
I'd recommend if the subject Really appeals to you and you can make a go of it in one shot, thus getting over the 'dull bits' with relative ease.

Bloody good fun!

First time I saw this book at my local Border's, I wasn't sure if I would like it, thinking it would be violent and full of grotesque sex scenes. However, I eventually relented due to my curiosity and love of Katherine Kellgren's excellent narrative abilities. It has everything one could hope for- romance, humor, intrigue, splendid characters, a little action and- of course- vampires. However, this is a book definitely for adults due to some foul language and a couple of sex scenes- it wasn't too explicit - just a little unexpected.
If there was anything I didn't like, it would have to be that Jane Austen (aka Jane Fairfax) seemed to be a bit unperceptive of people's underhandedness and the lack of action ( expected more). Otherwise, it was very enjoyable.

Utterly Rediculous

Admittedly, I bought this book with low expectations. I don't typically like audio books, but I had a credit and bought this on a whim. I figured it would be a relatively light-weight book and would be an adequate listen while I awaited the release of a book I've been anticipating for months. I was sorely disappointed. Eight hours I will never get back.

The protagonist, Jane Fairfax (formerly Austen), is a vampire. She runs a small book store and has just gotten news her manuscript is going to be published. This is the first book of hers published since the last Jane Austen book published before her "death." Throughout the story, Jane is besieged by disaster after disaster that are nothing short of ridiculous.

After a while the calamities cease to even be entertaining in their ridiculousness, but become tiresome and boring. It isn't until the last 35 minutes or so of the reading that it gets interesting again, albeit still ridiculous.

Jane's relationship with her suitor, Walter, is flat and lacks much feeling at all. The most entertaining character is her gay publisher, Kelly. The antagonist, Lord Byron (a vampire and Jane's sire), seems to lack any real motivation for his fascination with Jane, though his back story is interesting in the very end.

All of this said, Katherine Kellgren does an excellent job reading this book. I typically find narrators to read too slowly or put awful voices to the characters. Kellgren does a fantastic job bringing Jane and her supporting characters to life.