
The Insect Farm
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Narrated by:
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Rupert Degas
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By:
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Stuart Prebble
About this listen
An eerie debut suspense novel that explores how little one man may know his own brother - and his own mind.
Each of the Maguire brothers has his own driving, single-minded obsession. For Jonathan it is his magnificent, talented, and desirable wife, Harriet. For Roger it is the elaborate universe he has constructed in a shed in their parents' garden, populated by millions of tiny insects. While Jonathan's pursuit of Harriet leads him to feelings of jealousy and anguish, Roger's immersion in the world he has created reveals a capability and talent that are absent from his everyday life.
Roger is known to all as a loving, protective, yet simple man, but the ever-growing complexity of the insect farm suggests that he is capable of far more than anyone believes. Following a series of strange and disturbing incidents, Jonathan begins to question every story he has ever been told about his brother - and if he has so completely misjudged Roger's mind, what else might he have overlooked about his family and himself?
The Insect Farm is a dramatic psychological thriller about the secrets we keep from those we love most and the extent to which the people closest to us are also the most unknowable. In his astounding debut, Stuart Prebble guides us through haunting twists and jolting discoveries as a startling picture emerges: One of the Maguire brothers is a killer, and the other has no idea.
©2015 Stuart Prebble (P)2015 Hachette AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
What listeners say about The Insect Farm
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Overall
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Performance
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- Beth
- 07-14-15
O'Nan or Dostoyevsky?
If you could sum up The Insect Farm in three words, what would they be?
Eloquent, poetic, dark
What about Rupert Degas’s performance did you like?
He did a wonderful job of portraying the completely different characters with his tone of voice without sounding contrived or silly.
Any additional comments?
I simply could not decide if I thought this was more like Crime and Punishment or A Prayer for the Dying. I wasn't even sure I liked it, but I sure did listen attentively to every moment.
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- MB
- 04-02-23
Interesting & Enjoyable
Excellent! Good writing & very interesting story - while I was pretty sure where story was going the author kept me intrigued throughout
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- Kristian Berger
- 08-08-15
Awesome
Loved it and couldn't stop listening! I wish there were more books from this author.
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- B.
- 08-18-15
Great imagination and twists!
Interesting and thoughtful. Not what I expected! Well done. I had thoughts about the end but the end was revealed until "the end". Enjoyable book. I also like bugs but am not as knowledgable
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- Eva
- 04-14-23
Excellent story - compelling characters.
This is a great story which, unlike so many mysteries, is perfectly structured and has a satisfactory and clever conclusion. The two main characters are wonderfully developed and the narrator does a fantastic job with the younger brother who is surely on the spectrum. The only thing that made little sense to me was why the female character was so enamored by the older brother. But this is a terrific mystery.
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- StylishGal
- 09-25-15
Fantastic!
Don't let the title put you off for this is a real gem. I throughly enjoyed this audio book & the reader was phenomenal. From the start, you'll be hooked. Each chapter builds on the other until the very end, revealing a climatic twist that you probably didn't see coming.
Highly recommend!
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- Linda
- 03-02-25
Such well developed characters
This was an interesting story that deals with 2 brothers and their devotion to each other. The characters are so well developed with many pieces to who they are.
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- DobieChuck
- 07-22-15
Compelling and poetic
This is not a facst paced action packed thriller... It is a very eloquently conceived and intricate mystery... Th slow easy pace works and compels interest... The fraternal component is well done... A few imaginative twists during the last quarter or so of the book are tantalizing and weaved in superbly... The narration is first rate w/ a fitting delivery... It basically comes down to a story of what brothers sill do for one another, often w/o the other brother truly knowing or understanding what one will do to protect the other... Worth the credit, and Worth a re-read after digested the first time... Poetic w/o being sappy...
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7 people found this helpful
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- Kim
- 09-15-15
Perfectly written mystery
What about Rupert Degas’s performance did you like?
The narrator gave each character a great voice.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
Yes! Could not turn it off.
Any additional comments?
This was perfectly written and a great listen. The characters were well developed and the story was easy to follow. I thought I had it figured out several times but I was wrong!
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- H&R
- 08-27-21
Very interesting
It's not a typical murder mystery. But it was a lot of fun. I was hoping there was a little more at the end.
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