Envy

Abridged
Author: Sandra Brown
Narrator: Victor Slezak
Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Thriller, Thriller
Publisher: Encore Publishing
Date: March 2004
Length: 6 hours
Ratings:
  • Book Rating: 4/5
Formats:
  • CD

Overview

New York book editor Maris Matherly-Reed knows a bestseller when she sees one -- even if it is a tantalizing partial manuscript submitted by a writer identified only as P.M.E., with the return address of an obscure island off the Georgia coast. Maris is intrigued enough to search for him.

Her trip to Georgia to meet the mysterious author takes her to an eerie, ruined cotton plantation, where Maris finds Parker Evans, a man confined to a wheelchair who carefully hides his past. Coaxing his novel from him chapter by chapter, Maris gets caught up in his tale of two friends who rent a boat with a young woman for a night of sex and drinking. Only one person will return from that trip.

Disturbed about her sexual attraction to Parker and worried about her marriage to author and her co-publisher Noah Reed, Maris returns to New York where the delivery of Parker's newest chapters convince her they are more than fiction. She wonders how well she knows her husband and begins a harrowing search for a truth that ties back to a terrifying crime and a will use her, or anyone, to get his revenge.

"Envy" explores the way love and hatred shape lives in a breathtaking story of suspense.

Reviews (34)

Interesting

Written by Susan on July 10th, 2008

  • Book Rating: 5/5

The story was riveting. Bit a few nails and hated putting it down....However, this book was made even more exciting by the reader. Powerful and exciting.

Got me hooked

Written by Colleen on May 27th, 2008

  • Book Rating: 5/5

Very intriguing. It had me listening closely to the very end. I wanted to listen to parts of it again just to catch additional hints. Enjoyed the suspenseful story line.

Envy

Written by Gloria Nowicki on May 2nd, 2008

  • Book Rating: 5/5

Frankly I did not expect to like or get into this book but got very interested in the plot as it thickened with lots of twist and turns - some edge of the seat reading.

Pretty Good

Written by dlct on April 25th, 2007

  • Book Rating: 4/5

I really loved the interweaving of the author's writing of his "novel" and the story unfolding. The narrator was very good and the twists were believeable, if not entirely surprising. Then again, I think the reader is meant to figure this one out.

Envy

Written by Laurajean on February 2nd, 2007

  • Book Rating: 4/5

The book was excellent. The characters were developed with depth and a keen sharpness. However, I didn't like the narrator. I found his voice to be too slow and lifeless and his southern drawl displeasing.

Loved it!

Written by Pamela on November 6th, 2006

  • Book Rating: 5/5

This was a well written, well-performed audio production. I loved the story and wish I'd rented the unabridged version so it wouldn't have ended so quickly. The story within the story technique kept me spellbound. Excellent use of plot and characterization, too. Rent it and enjoy!!!

Envy

Written by Anonymous on October 26th, 2006

  • Book Rating: 3/5

Good book. I thought the narrator did a good job also. Though it was somewhat predictible I do recommend the book. Entertaining.

Envy

Written by Linda from Houston, TX on October 2nd, 2006

  • Book Rating: 5/5

Really a great, story but the narrator is extemely annoying to listen to. The characters are so whimy and the southern accent is terrible. Characters who are young are made to sound like old men and it really takes a lot away from the story itself. Might be one of the books that the reader should really read themselves to appreciate the characters more fully. But S Brown really has a winner of a story in this page turner.

Great Story

Written by Jessica on August 9th, 2006

  • Book Rating: 4/5

This is a great story within a story. A "page turner" that keeps your attention and makes you want to stay in the car to hear more. The only problem I have with this selection is the narrator. Can't stand him. His southern accent stinks and unfortunatly, most of the characters are supposed to have one. I believe one gentleman was supposed to be english but the accent sure wasn't. Weird. Also, the way he "speaks" for the women, including the main character, makes them sound whiney or vapid or rude. I think I would like this book more if I had just read it myself. However, the story itself is great and the narration should not be held against a wonderful author.

My Kind of Book

Written by JF on May 3rd, 2006

  • Book Rating: 5/5

This was a great book with lots of twist and turns - edge of the seat reading.

Author Details

Author Details

Brown, Sandra

Sandra Brown is the author of fifty-six New York Times bestsellers, including PLAY DIRTY, which was released in August 2007 by Simon & Schuster. Her other recent bestsellers include Ricochet (2006), Chill Factor (2005), White Hot (2004), Hello, Darkness (2003), The Crush (2002), Envy (2001), The Switch (2000), The Alibi (1999), Unspeakable (1998) and Fat Tuesday (1997), all of which have jumped onto the Times bestseller list in the number one to five spot.

Brown began her writing career in 1981 and since then has published seventy novels, most of which remain in print. As of 1990, when Mirror Image made The New York Times bestseller list, each subsequent novel, including reprints of earlier books, have become Times bestsellers. In 1992 her novel French Silk was made into an ABC-TV movie. Brown now has seventy million copies of her books in print worldwide, and her work has been translated into thirty-three languages.

A lifelong Texan, Sandra Brown was born in Waco, grew up in Fort Worth and attended Texas Christian University, majoring in English. Before embarking on her writing career, she worked as a model at the Dallas Apparel Mart, and in television, including weathercasting for WFAA-TV in Dallas, and feature reporting on the nationally syndicated program “PM Magazine.” She is much in demand as a speaker and has appeared at the National Book Festival in Washington, D.C. and the Texas Book Festival in Austin, TX, as well as charity functions throughout the year. Court TV also sought Brown to host the 2007 premier of its popular series “Murder by the Book.”

Awards and commendations include the 2007 Texas Medal of Arts Award for Literature, the American Business Women’s Association’s Distinguished Circle of Success, B’nai B’rith’s Distinguished Literary Achievement Award, the A.C. Greene Award and the Romance Writers of America’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Sandra has also been named Thriller Master for 2008, the top award given by the International Thriller Writer’s Association. In addition, Sandra is a member of Author’s Guild, Mystery Writers of America, Novelists, Inc., Literacy Partners, and a founding member of International Thriller Writers.

Sandra and her husband Michael Brown live in Arlington, Texas.