The Quiet

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What to expect

Read by Annabel Scholey, known for her roles in the BAFTA-winning The Sixth Commandment, The Split, and Rivals.

This audiobook is accompanied in part by a spine-tingling yet euphoric soundscape, composed by the author, Barnaby Martin, and also includes a fascinating audio-exclusive Q&A between himself and Annabel.

‘Riveting. Martin weaves an inspired premise into an engrossing and wholly original adventure.’ – Ernest Cline, author of Ready Player One

'An intellectually compelling, emotional and timely read. Martin has taken a motif of dystopian writing and films – a single parent and child – and has reworked it within a fresh landscape. The Quiet is a feat of writing that foregrounds the value of kindness and communication in a world bent on segregation and misinformation.' – The Bookseller

* * *

A mother's love can be deafening . . .

Isaac is Hannah’s entire world. She knows that her son is gifted, and that those gifts make him vulnerable. To keep him safe, she spends every waking moment by his side. If she lets her guard down, lets him out of her sight, lets him show what he’s capable of, he will be taken from her.

When the Soundfield arrived twenty years ago, the world changed with it. Now, people are forced to live at night due to the deadly heat of the day, food and water are scarce, and everyday life is punctuated by the constant and disconcerting hum from the Field. A brilliant scientist, Hannah spent her early career working on the enigma of the Soundfield, looking for answers; now, resigned, she has focussed all her energies on keeping Isaac living, not just alive.

To do so, she will have to lie to the people she knows and hope she can trust the ones she doesn't. Because the only thing more dangerous than her lies, is the truth of what she has done.

* * *

'As fascinating as it was terrifying.' – Holly Seddon, author of The Woman on the Bridge

''The Quiet took my breath away. gripping, fiercely intelligent and quietly heartbreaking. I will think of Isaac for a long time to come' – Emma Kavanagh, author of To Catch A Killer

'A clever and unique dystopian premise, this was spare and tense, gripping and heartbreaking' – Louise Swanson, author of End of Story

Critics Review

Riveting. Martin weaves an inspired premise into an engrossing and wholly original adventure
Ernest Cline, author of Ready Player One
An intellectually compelling, emotional and timely read. Martin has taken a motif of dystopian writing and films – a single parent and child – and has reworked it within a fresh landscape. The Quiet is a feat of writing that foregrounds the value of kindness and communication in a world bent on segregation and misinformation
The Bookseller
An extremely tense plot delivered through elegant prose. I found The Quiet as fascinating as it was terrifying
Holly Seddon, author of The Woman on the Bridge
The Quiet took my breath away. Gripping, fiercely intelligent and quietly heartbreaking. I will think of Isaac for a long time to come
Emma Kavanagh, author of To Catch A Killer
A dystopian thriller with heart. With echoes of The Road this is a really special book. It's about connection, about hope. Tense and utterly fascinating
Carys Green, author of Always on My Mind
What a beautiful book, whose final pages I literally read in complete quiet. A clever and unique dystopian premise, this was spare and tense, gripping and heartbreaking. Ultimately about the sacrifices we make for a beloved child
Louise Swanson, author of End of Story
The Quiet is a propulsive, cerebral sci-fi thriller that asks important questions about our world today. Martin conjures a chillingly believable dystopia, but never loses sight of the characters that are finding their way through this fragile landscape. Hannah and Isaac's bond is deeply felt and had me rooting for them from the very start
Danielle Giles, author of Mere
A haunting journey into an eerily oppressive, near-future dystopia in which a child's song could be their family's undoing, is deftly realised by Barnaby Martin and had me hooked from the very first page
Leigh Radford, author of One Yellow Eye

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