Audiobook Review ~ The Runaway by Peter J. Thompson

​Author: Peter J. Thompson
Narrator: Gary Tiedemann
Length: 8 hours 51 minutes
Publisher: Peter J. Thompson⎮2019
Genre: Suspense
Release date: Jan. 30, 2019

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A corrupt corporation. Ruthless assassins. Will the family that runs together... die together?
Fifteen-year-old Zach Monaghan has a target on his back. In the witness protection program for his father's whistleblowing, he's now run away, back to his old home in Chicago.Zach wants to get back to his friends and to Lindsey, the girl he'd met right before being whisked off in the middle of the night. But escaping his fake identity won't last long if two contract killers catch up to him...
Big Joe Gorski has climbed the ladder from street thug to tycoon. Now he's got it all--riches--status--police, and politicians in his pocket. But life at the top is suddenly unsteady and one slip can bring it all down. With a scheming partner, politicians who won't stay bought and Feds breathing down his neck,Gorski has to move carefully. But being careful goes against his nature. He's a raging bull and he'll do whatever it takes to keep what he has ... let the bodies fall where they will.
As the ruthless killer draws closer to Zach, surviving the greedy corporate plot may force the whole family to get their hands bloody...
The Runaway is a fast-paced thriller with dizzying twists and turns. If you like non-stop action, high-stakes tension, and large casts of compelling characters, then you'll love Peter Thompson's gripping novel.
Buy Links
Buy on Amazon⎮Audible

REVIEW

​Audiobook Review
Story 5 Stars
Performance 5 Stars
Overall 5 Stars 


Thompson delivers a heart-pounding thrill ride in The Runaway. All the characters are well thought out with complex stories if their own. It is an edge of your seat, thrilling, suspense, novel. I look forward to checking out other works by this author.

The narrator, Gary Tiedemann, really made this story come to life. He individualized each character and made them seem authentic. The heightened suspense kept me on edge. 

​About the Author: Peter J. Thompson
Peter Thompson grew up on the east side of Chicago, in the shadow of the steel mills where the air was sooty and smelled of sulfur. His life wasn’t always so gritty, but the grit and realism finds its way into his thrillers. He has always loved stories of every kind, and one of his joys is finding a way to get inside character’s heads, seeing the world as they see it and feeling their triumphs, pain, and fear. He visualizes his characters when he writes, and they are larger than life in the big screen of his imagination.

Before pursuing his passion and becoming a full-time author, he tried his hand at everything from factory work, breaking cement in a construction crew, running his own pizza shop, and he was a well-regarded presence in the mortgage industry for nearly thirty years. When he isn’t writing, Peter loves, spicy food, live music, and exciting and thought-provoking books and movies. He is a fitness buff who loves to spend time with his grown sons and is looking forward to traveling the world and seeking adventures with his lovely partner.

To get in touch, find out more about future projects, please stop by www.authorpeterthompson.com. Sign up for his reading list to find out about new releases and receive free perks.
Website⎮Twitter⎮Facebook⎮Goodreads

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About the Narrator: Gary Tiedemann
Gary Tiedemann is a full-time voice-actor and narrator of audiobooks, with over 60 unabridged titles narrated and counting. He has voiced countless commercials and multimedia productions in addition to spending over 10 years on stage performing improv, sketch comedy and original works of theatre. Gary is a graduate of Tulane University in New Orleans. He currently splits his time between Florida and Chicago. See more at www.garytiedemann.com
Website⎮Twitter⎮LinkedIn

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AUTHOR INTERVIEW 

1. Tell us about the process of turning your book into an audiobook.
   

I’ve always loved audio books, going back to when they were on cassette tape. Listening to an audio book creates a movie in your head, and I wanted this experience for my novels. I worked with ACX to create the Audiobook and it was a great educational experience. My plan was to release three stand-alone thrillers, one after the other. The first novel was Living Proof, and I put that up for audition, asking for samples with parts of three different scenes. The idea was to see how the narrator handled different situations. One part was the beginning, because it has to sound great to hook the listener. The second was an action scene, and the third was a conversation with the lead and co-lead, so I could hear how the narrator handled the back and forth and the gender switch. It was more involved than a lot of auditions, so I was amazed at the response. I only had it up for a few days and I turned it off at about 70 auditions. I listened to the full  audition from each, and there were a lot of talented narrators. Some would nail one section, though, and sound weaker in another. I narrowed it down to three that I liked a lot, and asked for one more sample from each. Gary Tiedemann stood out from the others, and he was enthusiastic about the project. He has finished the narration on all three projects now, and I love the way he tells the story, and makes the characters come alive. He is in the top tier of narrators and I know I was lucky to find him.

1. Do you believe certain types of writing translate better into audiobook format?
   

I do. Any story that really stimulates the senses is a great candidate for audio. By that, I don’t mean flowery language, but stories that are visual make great audio. When you are listening to a story, you start playing it out in your head. It becomes a movie in your mind. With a good narrator and a good story the words fall back and the images take over. Good conversations crackle. A good narrator makes the characters real.

1. Was a possible audiobook recording something you were conscious of while writing?
   

Not specifically, but I loved listening to audio and I was aware of the potential. I have always been part of a writer’s group and part of that process is reading your work out loud. You get a different feel for your own writing when you speak it. There’s been times when I’ve read over a passage and thought it read fine, but it sounded clunky when read out loud. So I think it’s important to pay attention to how the story sounds as well as reads. It’s exciting to hear my story in finished audio, and I hear it with a greater appreciation, and it sounds fresh to me.   

1. How did you select your narrator?
   

Gary Tiedemann is my narrator, and he is a true professional. I found him through ACX. I’d put up an audition and received over 70 applications in the firs few days. I asked each narrator to give a sample to see how the narrator handled different situations. I had them read part of the beginning, part of an action scene, a fight, and then a conversation between the male and female leads. Some people sounded great in parts, but didn’t fit in as well with others. Gary was one of the ones that stood out in every type of narration, and someone I knew I would enjoy listening to through the full journey until the end of the book. I narrowed it down to 3 narrators and had them read a bit more. Again, Gary stood out. We’ve worked together on three projects now, and I think we’ll be working together for a long time to come. He has a big fan base now, and I know he is going to be a big name in the audio field as time goes on. I am thankful to have found him.   

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The Runaway Giveaway: $100 Amazon Gift Card