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The Peculiarities by David Liss
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The Peculiarities

$26.24

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Narrator Hannibal Hills

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Length 15 hours 14 minutes
Language English
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From popular historical fiction author David Liss (A Conspiracy of Paper) comes the tale of a clueless young man embroiled in a deadly supernatural mystery in Victorian London. Rooted in strange conspiracies and secret societies, this absurdist comedic romp combines strange bedfellows with murderous creatures, resulting in an unexpectedly delightful consequences.

Thomas's problems are more serious than those of a typical young Victorian gentleman. His elder brother may be sabotaging the family's bank. His childhood friend has died under mysterious circumstances. Far worse, leaves are sprouting on Thomas's skin. Perhaps it is all the fault of the long-rumored "Peculiarities" lurking in London's grey fog?

Proper society scoffs at the notion of magic, even as it seeps into their buildings, transfiguring the rich and poor alike. If Thomas is going to save the family business—and stop turning into a tree—he'll need help from some rather improper companions. Desperate for counsel, he seeks the advice of a lycanthropic medium and London's unacceptable occult society . . . including a strange fellow named Aleister Crowley.

David Liss is currently a doctoral candidate in the Department of English at Columbia University, where he is completing his dissertation on how the mid-eighteenth-century British novel reflects and shapes the emergence of the modern idea of personal finance. Liss has received several awards for his work, including the Columbia President's Fellowship, an A. W. Mellon Research Fellowship and the Whiting Foundation Dissertation Fellowship. He is the author of the Benjamin Weaver series.

Hannibal Hills has been a "performer" from the beginning. At school, he trained in acting and theater arts at Southampton College, and also received a diploma in television. Although he performed in many stage plays (by Lorca, Brecht, Stoppard, Pinter, and, of course, Shakespeare), he also helped produce original works, and soon found himself mostly in the directing role. More recently, in March of 2020, he won the "Best Newcomer" award (no small feat for this middle-aged guy!) as part of his regional media's annual theater awards. In March of 2021, he was thrilled to receive three Independent Audiobook Award nominations. Hannibal was also a top wedding and memorial celebrant, before he could no longer fight the urge to leap into audiobook performance. It's a supreme pleasure for Hannibal to bring good writing off the page and into the minds and hearts of listeners. As a professional narrator, he devotes himself to understanding a text, and giving a book life with his voice-in a way that creates true entertainment, enlightenment, or merely an escape. Hannibal's vocal style is warm, clear, and sophisticated, with a depth of emotion from connecting with each project he takes on. Although he specializes in dramatic fiction, especially involving complex plots and highly charged emotion, his nonfiction is performed in a way that brings the truth of the text to both the heart and mind of the reader.

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Reviews

"Hannibal Hills narrates with an entertaining exaggeration that emphasizes the humorous aspects of David Liss's novel." ---AudioFile Expand reviews
Celebrate indie bookstores with our limited-time sale! Shop the sale