Review: The Anatomy of Desire by L.R. Dorn
The Anatomy of Desire
by L.R. Dorn
Narrators: Santino Fontana, Shelby Young, Marin Ireland, JD Jackson, Dan Bittner, Vikas Adam, Gabra Zackman, Fred Berman, Darrell Dennis, Oliver Wyman, Jonathan Davis, Hillary Huber, Lisa Flanagan, Sharahn LaRue
Thanks so much to HarperAudio, Libro.fm for the gifted audiobook and William Morrow for the advanced readers copy.
Publisher: HarperAudio
Publish Date: May 11, 2021
Audiobook
8 hrs 14 min
Standalone
Genres: Thriller, Suspense, Crime Fiction
For fans of riveting true crime docuseries a la Serial and Making a Murderer, The Anatomy of Desire is a modern tale of crime and punishment exploring unbridled ambition, blinding passion, and the dark side of desire
Claire Griffith has it all, a thriving career, a gorgeous boyfriend, glamorous friends. She always knew she was destined for more than the life her conservative parents preached to her. Arriving in Los Angeles flat broke, she has risen to become a popular fitness coach and social media influencer. Having rebranded herself as Cleo Ray, she stands at the threshold of realizing her biggest dreams.
One summer day, Cleo and a woman named Beck Alden set off in a canoe on a serene mountain lake. An hour later, Beck is found dead in the water and Cleo is missing. Authorities suspect foul play, and news of Cleo’s involvement goes viral. Who was Beck? An infatuated follower? Were she and Cleo friends or lovers? Was Beck’s death an accident . . . or murder?
Told in the form of an immersive investigative docuseries, L. R. Dorn’s brilliant reimagining of Theodore Dreiser’s classic crime drama, An American Tragedy, captures the urgency and poignance of the original and rekindles it as a very contemporary and utterly mesmerizing page-turner.
My Review:
It wasn't until this year that I could do audiobooks and this is my first full cast audio, which I loved listening to! I still haven't made my way into podcasts but after listening to this book, maybe I'll give them a go. Written in a docu-series form, I enjoyed this take away from original crime format.
I had absolutely no idea that his was a retelling of An American Tragedy, a book I had never heard of - though if you have, you'll probably already know how The Anatomy of Desire will go. We see more and more how books are incorporating social media and influencer life into their stories. As we know, social media has made a HUGE impact, both good and bad, in this world and this story definitely touches on the darker side of influencer success.
I really enjoyed listening to this docu-series type format and I do love the legal side of thrillers - though they're sometimes not quite realistic and I felt this one was definitely off a bit buttttttt it's fiction and it made these scenes very entertaining to listen to. I did flip through the ARC I received and the whole book appears to be in a transcript type format so I'm not sure how it would have resonated for me had I read this with my eyes and not my ears. Even so, while there were no big twists or reveals and we got to learn more about Cleo, Beck and their relationship, I felt this story flowed well. I do think this a testament to the narrators. Big applause to them! However, over all it was a middle of the road kind of read for me. A lot that I liked but nothing that really wowed me overall within the story itself.
★★★
No comments
Leave a Comment