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The Weight of Silence

By: Heather Gudenkauf
Narrated by: Jim Colby, Eliza Foss, Cassandra Morris, Andy Paris, Therese Plummer, Tony Ward
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Publisher's Summary

It happens quietly one August morning. As dawn's shimmering light drenches the humid Iowa air, two families awaken to find their little girls have gone missing in the night. Seven-year-old Calli Clark is sweet, gentle, a dreamer who suffers from selective mutism brought on by tragedy that pulled her deep into silence as a toddler. Calli's mother, Antonia, tried to be the best mother she could within the confines of marriage to a mostly absent, often angry husband. Now, though she denies that her husband could be involved in the possible abductions, she fears her decision to stay in her marriage has cost her more than her daughter's voice.

Petra Gregory is Calli's best friend, her soul mate and her voice. But neither Petra nor Calli has been heard from since their disappearance was discovered.

Desperate to find his child, Martin Gregory is forced to confront a side of himself he did not know existed beneath his intellectual, professorial demeanor.

Now these families are tied by the question of what happened to their children. And the answer is trapped in the silence of unspoken family secrets.
©2009 Heather Gudenkauf (P)2009 Recorded Books, LLC
Family Life Literary Fiction Mystery Suspense Marriage Fiction Disappearance
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Critic Reviews

  • Edgar Award Finalist, Best First Novel, 2010
"Every so often you get really lucky, and a book comes along that just knocks your socks off: an absorbing, engrossing, suspenseful read that you just want to keep paging through, a novel that feels a lot like running downhill - fast and a little breathless - until it all winds down and wraps up. The Weight of Silence is exactly this kind of book.... Jodi Picoult has some serious competition in Heather Gudenkauf. [She is] an author to watch.” (Bookreporter.com)
"Deeply moving and exquisitely lyrical, this is a powerhouse of a debut novel. Heather Gudenkauf is one of those rare writers who can tell a tale with the skill of a poet while simultaneously cranking up the suspense until it's unbearable." (Tess Gerritsen)
"Gudenkauf moves the story forward at a fast clip and is adept at building tension. There's a particular darkness to her heartland, rife as it is with predators and the walking wounded, and her unsentimental take on the milieu manages to find some hope without being maudlin." ( Publishers Weekly)

What listeners say about The Weight of Silence

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Profile Image for Rozanne

The Weight of Silence

Intense, Chilling, Suspenseful & Sad. Lots of twists & turns that keep you guessing until the end.
I really liked the multiple narrators

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Profile Image for JanieO

JUST FANTASTIC

How many superlatives can I use to describe this book; lets see. Great narration, wonderful character development, the ultimate family drama/thriller. The best twists and turns and so brilliantly written.

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Profile Image for HB

Neither a mystery nor a thriller

Rating: 3.5 (above average) It was a very good 1st book. But it was really not much of either a mystery or a thriller. I would classify it as an emotional small town drama. Be sure that’s what you want before you start it.

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