Elysiana
- Author Chris Knopf
- Narrator Jim Meskimen
- Publisher Blackstone Publishing
- Publish Date 8 September 2010
- Run Time 9 hours and 31 minutes
- Format Audio
- Genre Thriller / suspense fiction.
Click to open directly in the xigxag app.
Flexible Pricing & Rewards For Listening
At xigxag, the more you read, the less you pay* on select audiobook and x-book® titles, as in the table below. Pricing updates automatically in the app and resets one year after your first purchase. And you can always find a selection of brilliant titles available for only $7.95.
*Only the full price titles you buy count toward your personal pricing tier. Full price titles don’t include Listen for Less or other books bought with a voucher or discount code.
Titles Purchased
- 1-5
- 6-10
- 11-15
- 16-20
- Over 20
Price p/Title
- $13.95
- $12.95
- $11.95
- $10.95
- $9.95
Listen to a sample
What to expect
Gwendalynn Anders, a mid-Western girl who’s never seen the ocean, wonders what was in that joint she smoked a week before waking up on Elysiana and why it feels like the trip will last the entire summer of 1969.
Jack Halcyon, living atop an abandoned twenty-story hotel, wonders how he’s able to ponder the incongruities of life after leaving a big chunk of his brain at the scene of an accident.
Borough council president Norman Harlan wonders what cruel god put him on an equal footing with Avery Volpe, the fearsome captain of the Beach Patrol.
Twelve miles long and a mile wide, Elysiana is an island off the coast of New Jersey sitting astride the convergence of powerful fault lines, social, political, and existential. It’s a place of beauty and insanity, shared by the angelic and profane, where cops, criminals, prodigies, and the promiscuous find themselves at the haphazard mercy of a lunatic providence.
Other players include a globe-trotting whiz kid, an Italo-Hispanic crime boss, a surfing aesthete and his vulgar roommate, a career car-stereo thief, and a seven-year-old girl who’s probably spent too much time with the dead bodies in the dunes.
This is a story that could have only happened on the Jersey Shore during the summer of ’69, a time when the social fabric was tearing apart, in a place where that fabric had never been very well knit together. Elysiana is both a fabulist’s look at a lost time and place and a hurtling thriller. It’s a tale of two types of transition: the personal and the grand, all played out within the isolated magic of a barrier island.
Critics Review
“Smart dialogue and sharp social observations distinguish this stand-alone thriller from Knopf.”
“Without undue drama Jim Meskimen recounts the antics of a diverse group of characters on the New Jersey barrier island of Elysiana in the summer of 1969. Political infighting between the mayor, the island president, and the beach patrol, as well as the drug traffickers and drinkers, is the focus of the plot, along with the romantic intrigues of several lifeguards. Meskimen creates believable characters and plants only a few classic ‘Joizey’ voices to sharpen the character depictions and amuse.”
“Elysiana is a departure for Knopf, whose Sam Acquillo mysteries have won reviewers raves, but he nails it. The…plot proves ultimately to be sly, and Knopf’s sweet-spirited style recalls memories spurred by faded home movies of long-ago vacations. His bio says that he was a New Jersey lifeguard back in the day, and he captures the zeitgeist of the Shore perfectly. Every shoobie on the beach who eschews MTV’s odious Jersey Shore should be reading Elysiana this season.”
“Chris Knopf is, to say the least, no slouch when it comes to storytelling…[with] sharp dialogue, strong pacing, and complex characters…With Elysiana, his latest novel, Knopf breaks new ground by plying the tools of the suspense trade to a tale that’s equal parts mystery, romance, nostalgia, and political intrigue…the makings of the perfect summertime page-turner…Juggling a half-dozen or so major characters whose paths cross in the most Shakespearean of ways, Knopf never misses a beat…Knopf is a literary craftsman of the highest caliber. With Elysiana, moreover, he lets his imagination run wild and, in so doing, rivals even the Beach Boys at evoking the classic American summer of our collective dreams.”
More from the same
Author
Narrator
About xigxag
Experience the best audiobooks with xigxag, an innovative and user-friendly audiobook platform designed for seamless discovery, purchase, and enjoyment of your favorite titles. Our flexible pricing model offers bestselling audiobooks for less, providing affordable prices and the best audiobook deals without requiring a subscription. Perfect for gifting, xigxag also features convenient audiobook gift cards and in-app audiobook gifting options.
Beyond the listening experience, xigxag stands as an exciting alternative to big tech, embodying a strong commitment to sustainability and ethical practices. As the only B Corp certified UK audiobook service, we ensure a guilt-free listening experience from a leader in audiobook innovation.
Effortlessly search audiobooks, access honest audiobook reviews that evaluate both the content and narration, and easily discover hidden gems. Whether you prefer to download or stream top audiobook titles, xigxag provides the best possible listening experience anytime, anywhere, on the UK’s best independent audiobook app. Discover the future of audiobooks today.