Authors From ISIS AUDIO BOOKS

Barbara Taylor Bradford

When she had the idea for her first novel, the rags-to-riches story of the indomitable Emma Harte, Barbara Taylor Bradford sat down and wrote a 12-page outline, which she showed to a friend. By chance, he happened to be seeing an American editor who "was looking for a big, old-fashioned family saga." Bradford met with the editors, who said they wanted 200 pages. When she appeared with two shopping bags and 1,592 pages of manuscript, they were overwhelmed. However, she had to wait only two days before they bought the book. After some editing, A Woman of Substance exploded onto the publishing scene in 1979.

Simon Brett

“Do you re-read your own books, Mr. Brett?” It’s a question which, as an author, I’m asked surprisingly often, and it’s one to which, these days, I tend to give the answer, “No and yes.”

No, I’m not one of those writers whose idea of a pleasant evening is luxuriating in his own prose, marveling at the euphony of its juxtapositions, the aptness of each sparkling image. I don’t have that kind of attitude about my work. I enjoy the writing process, but I also enjoy drawing a firm line under the end of a book and getting the wretched thing off my desk. For months of composition I live and dream with the book’s characters. But the minute I finish, I depart abruptly from their world and return to my own.

Lee Child

Among mystery aficionados, Lee Child has become a household name. His nine novels featuring wandering ex-M.P. Jack Reacher have all done extremely well, beginning with his award-winning debut novel, Killing Floor (1997). Reacher is a mysterious but attractive character, traveling silently across the country, finding trouble and then resolving it. His adventures have taken him from Key West to Maine, from Chicago to L.A., and points between. Readers are sometimes surprised to learn that an author with such a clear grasp of America is an Englishman who spent 18 years working for Granada Television in the UK.

Bernard Cornwell

“In the end,” says Bernard Cornwell, “we all write what we like to read.”

Nicci French

In most of their novels, the husband and wife duo of Nicci Gerrard and Sean French (alias Nicci French) entertains readers with clever, suspenseful tales of damsels in distress. Awful things seem to happen to the nicest women. “A lot of our heroines,” Nicci Gerrard explains to AUDIOFILE, “don’t want to be in the thriller they’re in. They really want to be in a romance novel.”

Alan Furst

“I write out loud,” explains Alan Furst, the master of historical espionage. “I find myself dry-mouthed after a couple of hours of writing. I am writing by the sound of the prose. No other way.”

Philippa Gregory

Philippa Gregory’s novels are fast moving and well researched, but perhaps their greatest strength is how they rescue women from “the shadows of history.” Take Mary Boleyn, for example, the heroine of THE OTHER BOLEYN GIRL and one of Gregory’s favorites. “She’s an extraordinary character, and she’d been largely lost to history before I read her story and presented it to a world that had forgotten her.”

Denise Mina

There’s a reason Denise Mina’s stories about crime-busting newspaper reporters in 1980s’ Glasgow sound authentic: She’s heard reporters’ stories firsthand. And, considering the Scots writer’s success with novels like FIELD OF BLOOD and THE DEAD HOUR, it’s hard to believe that she was ever anything but a successful writer.

John Mortimer

Novelist/playwright John Mortimer’s writings share a preoccupation with lawyers (he himself is a barrister), a satiric
edge softened by the gentleness of his wit and a whimsical melancholy underlying his humor. Moreover, he writes for the ear. He composed his first play, The Dock Brief, for radio; only later did it gain success with Michael Hordern on the West End and Broadway. Even his novels and memoirs seem designed to be read aloud. Perhaps that’s why he’s one of England’s most “audiobooked” living authors. Somewhere around 30 Rumpole of the Bailey titles alone are currently available. Mortimer’s favorite narrators of his own works are Leo McKern and Martin Jarvis. He, too, has stepped to the mike from time to time recording his memoirs. (Alas, Mortimer’s readings are available only in the U.K.) AudioFile was, therefore, pleased to ask Yuri Rasovsky, who produced the first American radio production of The Dock Brief, to phone him on our behalf.

Stef Penney

Scottish-born Stef Penney burst onto the literary scene in 2006 with her first novel, the Costa Prize-winning THE TENDERNESS OF WOLVES, a mystery featuring an immigrant farmer’s wife in remote 1867 Canada. Her second novel, THE INVISIBLE ONES, is a noir drama set against England’s Gypsy community in the 1980s. The story is told from two points of view: that of a troubled private eye who had left the Gypsy life behind and that of a 14-year-old boy who is trying to understand his place in the Gypsy community.

Terry Pratchett

We are saddened that Terry Pratchett passed away in March 2015.

Nine-year-old witches with first sight and second thoughts, luggage that travels by itself, and six-foot dwarfs--these are are just a few of the delightful characters that inhabit Terry Pratchett's long-running Discworld series--a wondrous universe that combines the trappings of fantasy (wizards, dragons, elves, etc.) with some of the wittiest, silliest, most penetrating satire being written today.

Ian Rankin

Sound emanates from Ian Rankin’s novels, whether in print or on audio. His books, featuring Detective Inspector John Rebus, are dark and edgy police dramas set in the author’s native Scotland. But instead of bagpipes you’re more likely to hear the Rolling Stones or The Cure.

The latest audiobook reviews, right in your inbox.

Get our FREE Newsletter and discover a world of audiobooks.

37 Silver St. Portland, ME 04101 | (800) 506-1212 | [email protected]