Almost ready!
In order to save audiobooks to your Wish List you must be signed in to your account.
Log in Create accountShop small, give big!
With credit bundles, you choose the number of credits and your recipient picks their audiobooks—all in support of local bookstores.
Start giftingLimited-time offer
Get two free audiobooks!
Nowโs a great time to shop indie. When you start a new one credit per month membership supporting local bookstores with promo code SWITCH, weโll give you two bonus audiobook credits at sign-up.
Sign up todayChain-Gang All-Stars
This audiobook uses AI narration.
Weโre taking steps to make sure AI narration is transparent.
Learn moreBookseller recommendation
“Behind this near-future Death Race/Mad Max style story is an absolutely exceptional novel which masterfully critiques the American justice system and holds a mirror up to the way society consumes โrealityโ. It is challenging and does not shy away from hard truths of inequality and exploitation, exposing just how close the world currently is to this imagined future. The plot is pacey and gripping, the characters feel real in their shades of grey and whilst there is no escaping the savage violence there is still love and humanity. Read it, be angry, be scared, be informed.”
— Eloise • Falmouth Bookseller
Bookseller recommendation
“Chain-Gang All-Stars is narrated in multiple POVs and shares the adrenaline-pumping, heart-breaking tale of a for-profit prison system and its program to make gladiators out of common people in order to fight to the death for their freedom. A fascinating critique of what it means to be human through a fast-paced story. ”
— Lindsey • Bookish
Bookseller recommendation
“I finished this amazing book in two days. Simply could not put it down. My experience of dystopian fiction is quite limited but the premise of this really grabbed me. You follow a chain gang from NYC who are forced to fight for the promise of their freedom. A promise which has never been truly fulfilled. Echoes of the slavery regime and prison system that the USA has always struggled to come to terms with. Using themes of fear and false imprisonment to show how disadvantaged and marginalised people could be demonised and used for corporate financial gain. Ultimately the book is about love in extraordinary circumstances between two warrior women. The fight scenes are incredible and the side characters are, without exception, enthralling and engaging.”
— Dan • Bookbugs and Dragon Tales
Bookseller recommendation
“A brilliant audio that really brings this gritty book to life, it really takes it to another level. ”
— Jackie • Padstow Bookseller
Welcome to Chain-Gang All-Stars - the popular and highly controversial programme inside America's prison system. In packed arenas, watched by millions of live-stream viewers, prisoners compete as gladiators for the ultimate prize: their freedom.
Fan favourites Loretta Thurwar and Hamara 'Hurricane Staxxx' Stacker are teammates and lovers. Thurwar is nearing the end of her time on the circuit, free in just a few matches, a fact she carries as heavily as her lethal hammer. As she prepares for her final encounters, as protestors gather at the gates, and as the programme's corporate owners stack the odds against her - will the price be simply too high?
Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah was raised in Spring Valley, New York, and now lives in the Bronx. His debut collection, Friday Black, was a New York Times bestseller, won the PEN/Jean Stein Book Award and the William Saroyan International Prize for Writing, and was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circleโs John Leonard Award and the Dylan Thomas Prize. His first novel Chain-Gang All-Stars was a finalist for the National Book Award for Fiction, shortlisted for the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize and the Books Are My Bag Awards, and selected as a New York Times Top Ten Books of the Year. Adjei-Brenyah is a National Book Foundationโs โ5 Under 35โ honoree.