The Luminous Dead cover art

The Luminous Dead

A Novel

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The Luminous Dead

By: Caitlin Starling
Narrated by: Adenrele Ojo
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About this listen

"This claustrophobic, horror-leaning tour de force is highly recommended for fans of Jeff VanderMeer’s Annihilation and Andy Weir’s The Martian." (Publishers Weekly)

A thrilling, atmospheric debut with the intensive drive of The Martian and Gravity and the creeping dread of Annihilation, in which a caver on a foreign planet finds herself on a terrifying psychological and emotional journey for survival.

When Gyre Price lied her way into this expedition, she thought she’d be mapping mineral deposits and that her biggest problems would be cave collapses and gear malfunctions. She also thought that the fat paycheck - enough to get her off-planet and on the trail of her mother - meant she’d get a skilled surface team, monitoring her suit and environment, keeping her safe. Keeping her sane.

Instead, she got Em.

Em sees nothing wrong with controlling Gyre’s body with drugs or withholding critical information to “ensure the smooth operation” of her expedition. Em knows all about Gyre’s falsified credentials and has no qualms using them as a leash - and a lash. And Em has secrets, too....

As Gyre descends, little inconsistencies - missing supplies, unexpected changes in the route, and worst of all, shifts in Em’s motivations - drive her out of her depths. Lost and disoriented, Gyre finds her sense of control giving way to paranoia and anger. On her own in this mysterious, deadly place, surrounded by darkness and the unknown, Gyre must overcome more than just the dangerous terrain and the Tunneler that calls underground its home if she wants to make it out alive - she must confront the ghosts in her own head.

But how come she can’t shake the feeling she’s being followed?

©2019 Caitlin Starling (P)2019 HarperCollins Publishers
Fiction Horror Psychological Science Fiction Space Exploration Scary Solar System Exciting Mars Space

What listeners say about The Luminous Dead

Average Customer Ratings
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  • Overall
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    5 out of 5 stars

Utterly enthralling

I could hardly stop listening to this one. It was superb, and I genuinely felt every ounce of terror and confusion that Gyre felt when she was cut off from Em. Fantastic writing from Ms Starling, and wonderful performance by Ms Ojo.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

not my type of book

very repetitive... sometimes boring... sometime annoying...definitely not my type of book. Extremely descriptive!!! Gyre is emotionally dysregulated and has some kind of reactive attachment.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Different but good

Was not what I expected, I was expecting more about the cave creatures, saying that I really enjoyed it. You could really feel the connections made between the characters. Great portrayal of feelings/emotions. Great narration. Would recommend the book

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Great concepts weighed down by doughy writing.

Ojo has a beautiful voice, but like many narrators, falls into a distracting singsong rhythm.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Best Thriller/Horror Story

I loved the overall story. The details of the sci-fi world made it so interesting to listen to. The voice actor realllly bring this story to life. I don’t think I would of enjoyed it as much if I just read the book myself. She does an amazing job of voice all the characters and puts so much emotion into it. Absolutely fantastic story and dramatic reading.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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5 stars

Think gothic in space. Think a haunted house in another planet's unexplored caves. It's character-driven and psychologically paced. It's not for everyone but, damn, it works for me!

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Not for me

Slow, very repetitive, and both characters motivations seem very far-fetched.
You'd think in a novel with only 2 characters, The narrator could do a different voice for each, but no. Also she puts emphasis on odd words.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Loved the plot of this

In some bits it got boring but the plot was amazing and I would love a second book

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Annoyingly repetitive

This could have been a great short story but instead it was the same thing over and over again, far too long, not enjoyable at all!

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

This isn’t a horror book.

The protagonist lies about their experience to land a job and then constantly complains, attempts to blackmail, falls in love with, refuses to listen to, swears at, tries to blackmail again, is constantly antagonistoc towards their employer whilst in a life or death environment.

The book started interestingly enough,
I could get into the setting, a cave explorer in a futuristic suit monitored remotely by a handler who has secretive motives.
They lied about their experience to pull the job and the handler is being cagey about what the actual job entails or how many others have attempted it.

But a majority of the book is the protagonist being an asshole to the handler, and the handler for some reason making their intentions unclear for no real reason.
Apart from coming across a few dead bodies from previous expeditions there was no horror.

I didn’t make it to the end, I bailed when the protag started having feelings for the handler and then next minute went back to yelling at them. Should’ve read the reviews before I got it.

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