The Bird Eater

By: Ania Ahlborn

Narrated by: Peter Berkrot

Twenty years ago, the mysterious death of his aunt left Aaron Holbrook orphaned and alone. He abandoned his rural Arkansas hometown vowing never to return, until his seven-year-old son died in an accident, plunging Aaron into a nightmare of addiction and grief. Desperate to reclaim a piece of himself, he returns to the hills of his childhood, to Holbrook House, where he hopes to find peace among the memories of his youth. But solace doesn't come easy. Someone - or something - has other plans.

Like Aaron, Holbrook House is but a shell of what it once was, a target for vandals and ghost hunters who have nicknamed it "the devil's den." Aaron doesn't believe in the paranormal - at least, not until a strange boy begins following him wherever he goes. Plagued by violent dreams and disturbing visions, Aaron begins to wonder if he's losing his mind. But a festering darkness lurks at the heart of Holbrook House…a darkness that grins from within the shadows, delighting in Aaron's sorrow, biding its time.

©2014 Ania Ahlborn (P)2013 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

Dark

It was a slow burn. I feel like I could’ve finished it sooner if it was more fast paced. I can see it being a Netflix series in the future. The narrator does the best job he can bringing the dark edge of the book to life.

WAS THE NARRATOR ON A BREATHING MACHINE!!!!

Every other sentence the narrator took a large breath. Hey Pete, why didm' t you add some open mouthed chewing to the loud breathing, that would have been the cherry on my ear sunday!

Just ok

It’s not bad, it’s not great. Not scary, it’s just more spooky. That’s about it

Scary from beginning to end! Narrator- UGH

I loved the intensity from the first chapter forward. Ania doesn’t hold back. The creeping doom for the main character is not predictable. Despite my complete enjoyment of the novel and the fact that I missed sleep because I needed to listen to it, I did have an issue with the narration.
What I did not like was the narrator. Ugh. He was trying way too hard to be scary and gruff, he took in a breath to punctuate every sentence, and he had no Arkansas accent.

Very much enjoyed it

Great story and engaging. I didn’t hear the same issues as others mentioned with the narrator… not the best, but not the worst either!

Amazing!

I wasn't too sure about this book, but let me tell you! It had me captivated from beginning to end.

Pulled me in from the beginning

Love this one. This reminded me of The Shining and Secret Window, Secret Garden by King. She is a very visual writer and the scenes she wrote were terrifying. Will be picking up more Ania Ahlborn today.

Captivating but interrupting

like most Ania's work, I am always at a take or leave it approach.
I heavily enjoyed this book, far more then The Seed I read/listened to prior.

The use of the same narrator is a welcomed familiar choice but I always feel as if they are just too...try hard. and thats how most Ahlborn books feel like. Try Hards to be uber edgy and spooky, gritty and coarse. I've found that re reading the books vs listening to the audio makes the story better for me and rhats the experience I've had with most her stories.

the story goes from captivating and then deeply dips off, it took me maybe a month to finish this one with how often it would get slow, narrative repetitive, and quiet frankly boring. While I can appreciate the amount of description she puts into setting a scene and how vividly she can get across the image, it truly gets exhausting after a while. Most of this book felt like run on narratives of framed art work and less of the story.

The feelings of the characters

This book was eerie and creepy, while also capturing real life feelings through the characters (loss, grief, blame, depression, anxiety etc.). Love this authors work and would definitely recommend this book.

I liked this book alot!!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

The story was scary, just the right amount! I like the narrator, I'd recommend this book to someone who likes supernatural books! I was never bored or too scared...just the right amount!

What about Peter Berkrot’s performance did you like?

I think he was emotional when needed, he did other "voices" well...he was pleasant to listen to.