Night of the Animals: A Novel
Written by Bill Broun
Narrated by Ralph Lister
3/5
()
About this audiobook
In this imaginative debut, the tale of Noah’s Ark is brilliantly recast as a story of fate and family, set in a near-future London.
Over the course of a single night in 2052, a homeless man named Cuthbert Handley sets out on an astonishing quest: to release the animals of the London Zoo. When he was a young boy, Cuthbert’s grandmother had told him he inherited a magical ability to communicate with the animal world—a gift she called the Wonderments. Ever since his older brother’s death in childhood, Cuthbert has heard voices. These maddening whispers must be the Wonderments, he believes, and recently they have promised to reunite him with his lost brother and bring about the coming of a Lord of Animals . . . if he fulfills this curious request.
Cuthbert flickers in and out of awareness throughout his desperate pursuit. But his grand plan is not the only thing that threatens to disturb the collective unease of the city. Around him is greater turmoil, as the rest of the world anxiously anticipates the rise of a suicide cult set on destroying the world’s animals along with themselves.
Meanwhile, Cuthbert doggedly roams the zoo, cutting open the enclosures, while pressing the animals for information about his brother. Just as this unlikely yet loveable hero begins to release the animals, the cult’s members flood the city’s streets. Has Cuthbert succeeded in harnessing the power of the Wonderments, or has he only added to the chaos—and sealed these innocent animals’ fates?
Night of the Animals is an enchanting and inventive tale that explores the boundaries of reality, the ghosts of love and trauma, and the power of redemption.
Bill Broun
BILL BROUN has worked as a newspaper and magazine journalist in both the US and the UK. He was appointed a resident fellow at Yale University in 2002, where he lectured in English and journalism, and currently serves as Associate Professor of English at East Stroudsburg University. Born in Los Angeles to an English father and an American mother, he now lives in Hellertown, Pennsylvania.
Related to Night of the Animals
Related audiobooks
The Optimistic Decade Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Shade Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Above Us Only Sky Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Twice Lived Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEthan Frome Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsY Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The American Fiancee: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dollmaker: A Novel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Box: A Novel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Wreck of the Golden Mary Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Faller Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sea Creatures: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Flying Shoes Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Rebellion: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Year of Disappearances: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Song Is You Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The O'Briens Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Honey: A Novel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Reunion Of Ghosts: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tomboy: A Jane Benjamin Novel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIn the Distance With You Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Outside Lands: A Novel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWinter of the Wolf Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Summer We Read Gatsby: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Hitchers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Into Captivity They Will Go Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEngland, England: A Novel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOne Brilliant Flame: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5High Dive Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Pennies From Heaven Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Literary Fiction For You
The Alchemist Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Song of Achilles: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The House in the Cerulean Sea Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Blood Meridian: Or the Evening Redness in the West Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Picture of Dorian Gray: Classic Tales Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The One Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5All the Sinners Bleed: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Yellowface: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Demon Copperhead: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Hunger Games Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Remarkably Bright Creatures: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Road Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes: A Hunger Games Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5It Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dutch House: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Parable of the Sower Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Tom Lake: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Name of the Wind Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Left Hand of Darkness Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Stardust Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5All the Light We Cannot See: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ocean at the End of the Lane: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5In Five Years: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Anxious People: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Bell Jar Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cloud Cuckoo Land: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Measure: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Poisonwood Bible Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Hate U Give Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Their Eyes Were Watching God Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Reviews for Night of the Animals
25 ratings3 reviews
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Overly verbose, making it a chore to get through, but I did like the focus on the animals escaping the captivity we've imposed on them. To me the book said a lot about the human bubble.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5What a strange, strange book—like nothing I've ever read. Very interesting, a bit shaggy, some beautiful language, big themes, a dystopian future, politics, animal ethics, cults, addiction, and a whole lot of other stuff to chew on. Which is to say, more later.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I was not content with having started this book until I completed it. Almost every time I picked it up I thought "should I just quit this one or not". Some part of the world created in this book made me continue. I guess I just wanted to know what happened to the animals and while the dialogue was hard to swallow it had a nice rhythm. The future created in this book was interesting. I wish there'd been more details about that actually, especially prior to the end of the book. I'm glad I finished but not sure its one I could recommend to anyone.