Audiobook8 hours
The Cloud of Unknowing
Written by Thomas H. Cook
Narrated by Stephen Hoye
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
4/5
()
About this audiobook
David Sears grew up in the shadow of his brilliant younger sister, Diana, convinced by their father that she would accomplish great things. Instead, she married and had a son, Jason, who-like David and Diana's father-is schizophrenic. Her husband, Mark, a geneticist, never made peace with Jason's condition.
Perhaps this is why, when Jason drowns, Diana will not accept the authorities' conclusion that his death was accidental. Or perhaps Diana is going mad. She begins to send David faxes and e-mails about ancient murders, driven by her growing belief that the earth is Gaia, a living witness to her son's murder who could give evidence in the case she is building against her husband. David soon fears for his own family's safety as the seductive qualities of Diana's manic energy become impossible to ignore.
In The Cloud of Unknowing, Cook explores the power of blood and family mythology.
Perhaps this is why, when Jason drowns, Diana will not accept the authorities' conclusion that his death was accidental. Or perhaps Diana is going mad. She begins to send David faxes and e-mails about ancient murders, driven by her growing belief that the earth is Gaia, a living witness to her son's murder who could give evidence in the case she is building against her husband. David soon fears for his own family's safety as the seductive qualities of Diana's manic energy become impossible to ignore.
In The Cloud of Unknowing, Cook explores the power of blood and family mythology.
Author
Thomas H. Cook
THOMAS H. COOK was born in Fort Payne, Alabama. He has been nominated for Edgar Awards seven times in five different categories. He received the Best Novel Edgar, the Barry for Best Novel, and has been nominated for numerous other awards.
More audiobooks from Thomas H. Cook
Dangerous Women: Original Stories from Today's Greatest Suspense Writers Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Bibliomysteries Volume 1 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Master of the Delta Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sandrine's Case Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Early Graves: A True Story of Murder and Passion Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsInstruments of Night Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Red Leaves Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Blood Echoes: The Infamous Alday Mass Murder and Its Aftermath Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related to The Cloud of Unknowing
Related audiobooks
Cloud of Unknowing Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Outlaw Christian: Finding Authentic Faith by Breaking the 'Rules' Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5inhale (exhale): A 40-Day Journey of Breathing in Grace and Living Out Hope Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Reawakening the Spirituality of Men Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDrowning in Plain Sight : A Survival Story Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5O Captain! My Captain! Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGrowing Up Psychic: My Story of Not Just Surviving but Thriving and How Others Like Me Can, Too Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Cloud of Unknowing Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Jewels of Happiness: Practical Inspiration and Wisdom for Your Life’s Journey Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Finding Fish: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Christ: A Crisis in the Life of God Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hearing the Word in An Empty Sky: A Christian-Buddhist Dialogue Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Prophet by Kahlil Gibran Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsChristine Sussman: Court Order Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBread For The Journey Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBreaking Free: My Life With Dissaociative Identity Disorder Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Revelations of Divine Love Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Joshua: The Homecoming Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Exploded Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLiving in the Heart of Gratitude Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Bible (KJV NT 01: The Sermon On the Mount, Matthew 5-7) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I'm Looking Through You: Growing Up Haunted: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Delusion Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Resurrection: The Message Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5On the Duty of Civil Disobedience Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Way Of The Zen Cowboy: Fireside Stories From A Globetrotting Rhythmatist Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Gospels of Jesus: A Map of Transformation Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Morkie: A Cross Between a Maltese and a Yorkshire Terrier Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lonesome Lies Before Us: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Montaro Caine Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Psychological Fiction For You
The Last Mrs. Parrish: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Magic Hour Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Notes from the Underground Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Housemaid Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Collected Regrets of Clover: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Wife Upstairs Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Yellow Wallpaper Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Strange Sally Diamond Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Stillhouse Lake Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Butterfly Garden Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This is How We End Things: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5My Dark Vanessa: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Perfect Child Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Secrets of Us Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Stillwater Girls Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Head Full of Ghosts Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cutting Teeth: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Good Lie Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5You Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Bell Jar Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Notes on an Execution: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Storyteller Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Other Name: Septology I-II Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Overstory Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Misery Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Chestnut Man: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I Know This Much Is True Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The St. Ambrose School for Girls Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Salem Falls Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Junket Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related categories
Reviews for The Cloud of Unknowing
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
4/5
8 ratings6 reviews
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Murder, schizophrenia interwoven in a family story about how the past forms our present. Interesting if sort of predictable and somewhat confusing.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I thoroughly enjoyed this psychological drama of madness, obsession, and family secrets. I will definitely read more books from this author.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Murmur of Stones is the gripping story of a woman who begins to suspect that her husband drowned their schizophrenic son. Her father was paranoid schizophrenic, is she too? The story is told by her brother, who it seems has escaped the family curse. I loved this book. Both the way the story was told and the shifting sands of the story itself. Who was murdered...and by whom? And how many deaths were there...3 or 4? On the last page we find out there were 3 deaths, the final victim will survive. One death was murder for sure, one suicide...but was she given any other choice, and one...was it deliberate murder or a death by misadventure?
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Wow. Every book by Thomas H. Cook has that same, inexorable quality to it; but played out in a different way each time. This is the best mystery novel I've read this year.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Cloud of Unknowing (also the Murmur of Stones) by Thomas H. Cook is a 2007 Publisher’s Weekly Best Mystery. Cook is a favorite author of mine, so I was looking forward to reading this book.David and Diana are brother and sister whose father had schizophrenia. Diana’s son has recently drowned, and her behavior is becoming more and more erratic. She starts researching about strange ancient murders and starts suspecting her husband in their son’s death. David is worried that she is starting to develop schizophrenia as well. He even begins to wonder if he should put her away for her own good. Was Diana’s son murdered or was it an accident?I was a little disappointed in this book. My two favorites of his are Breakheart Hill and the Edgar-winning The Chatham School Affair. If you’ve never read Cook before, I suggest you start with one of those two.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A lawyer is questioned by a detective about a crime which is unclear at first. In a family riddled with paranoid schizophrenia, Dave has watched his father be committed twice and die at home under the care of his sister, and then his young nephew deteriorate and drown in the family's pond. The sister is convinced her husband killed the boy and proceeds, in a downward spiral, to try to prove it, even as she begins to exhibit their father's paranoia. As Dave is questioned, the consequences of these actions, and Dave's part in the tragedy which ensues, are slowly revealed in a tense story which is extremely hard to put down.