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The Assistant
- Narrated by: Laura Kirman
- Length: 10 hrs and 50 mins
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The Assistant
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Summary
What would you do if your home assistant turned evil?
She’s in your house. She controls your life. Now she’s going to destroy it.
From the number-one Sunday Times best seller.
She watches you constantly.
Newly divorced Jo is delighted to move into her best friend’s spare room almost rent-free. The high-tech luxury Camden flat is managed by a meticulous home assistant, called Electra, that takes care of the heating, the lights - and sometimes Jo even turns to her for company.
She knows all your secrets.
Until, late one night, Electra says one sentence that rips Jo’s fragile world in two: ‘I know what you did’. And Jo is horrified. Because in her past she did do something terrible. Something unforgivable.
Now she wants to destroy you.
Only two other people in the whole world know Jo’s secret. And they would never tell anyone. Would they? As a fierce winter brings London to a standstill, Jo begins to understand that the assistant on the shelf doesn’t just want to control Jo; it wants to destroy her.
This edition includes an exclusive interview with S.K. Tremayne, discussing audiobooks, his writing style, the genesis of his chilling idea for The Assistant, and more.
Critic reviews
"Terrifyingly believable and utterly, utterly gripping. One of my top reads of the year." (Lisa Jewell)
"The Assistant is the definition of suspense!" (Jeffery Deaver)
"Chilling." (Sunday Times)
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What listeners say about The Assistant
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Passion for Podencos
- 19-01-20
Brilliant Concept but soon became unbelievable ...
For me the Assistant is just so wonderfully and evocatively written with charm, charisma, glamour and intrigue and the totally of the moment topic of "Alexa" like devices and the frighteningly fast evolution of technology especially in the field of AI ... so much potential but the unwelcome inclusion of mental health problems just diluted it all and then when thinly covered plot holes gaped it just became too implausible and petered out to be a disappointingly tiny sum of all its dazzling parts.
Hard to assign stars for also as parts are even beyond 5 star including the excellent narration by the superbly cast Laura Kirman and the zeitgeist concept. I loved many of the other topics, the main character, the glam bestie Tabitha, the ex husband and all the other characters plus the chic setting but the plot holes, possibility of madness cliche and galloping growth of implausibility struggled to be worthy of even a single star.
What a shame and a waste of 5 star writing and themes on a plot which just fell apart through becoming unbelievable a clever girl like Jo would have worked out how to avoid all the shenanigans early on but instead of simply stepping aside when this train of torment headed her way - she ran down the tracks away from it for the sake of keeping an implausible plot in play.
It was so beautifully written and with this on-trend cracker of a suspense device it started off so well.
Then came the fears of madness and with it the fears that this thriller was following the greatest suspense novel cop out ever -that it was all just the product of a troubled mind.
I don't know much about Schizophrenia - other than reading that because of some similar symptoms, differentiating between it and Bipolar disorder can sometimes be difficult - but I did find myself wondering if it was being accurately described in the book. Rightly or wrongly I was not at all convinced that it was at all plausible that Schizophrenia would present like this and I began to feel that a subject with so much gravitas was perhaps being used in a disrespectful way which made me feel a bit uneasy.
Things then became much more extreme and a huge hole in the plot appeared and for me it went from a 5 star thriller to a 2 star damp squib as had the main character who was written to be clever. fun and likeable had not been swamped with all this thinking she was developing a hereditary psychosis - she would have sorted the whole thing out in a moment either using a phone, videoing what was happening to see if it was really happening or simply using her feet to walk out and although there was a sort of reason offered as to why she could not do the latter, it was all fairly weak.
This is a huge shame as if the " Alexa"style vehicle could have been used to its full potential, without the psychosis being mixed in as a possible explanation, it would have been brilliant as the setting, characters and general style were just so well written and engaging plus great casting of narrator who gave such a great read.
This is my third S. K. Tremayne book to read and my varying enjoyments of them are as mysterious as the books themselves. I loved the Ice Twins which I read about 5 years ago - I skipped The Fire Twins as reviews were so poor and I really hated "Just Before I Died" due to all the needless animal cruelty like the sheep caught up in barbed wire (which had nothing whatsoever to do with the plot and was just upsetting) and it seemed like the author really disliked animals the way he wrote about them. Plus the endless, endless almost forensically detailed description of Dartmoor National Park which really dragged - though there was one spellbindingly well written chase scene which really was nail biting and showed huge writing talent ... and then The Assistant.
So much promise, so much wonderful atmospheric writing, so much suspense and intrigue, such a glittering cast and stylish writing, such a fascinating and timely concept ............ all muddied by the cliche of asking the question if it is really happening or it just that the central character is simply imagining it all.
What a waste of what could have been one of my favourite books ever but it just did not have the legs to carry it all the way there.
4 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Jo
- 08-01-20
The Assistant
Overall I enjoyed this book and was hooked on the ‘who dunnit’ aspect! I did find myself rolling my eyes a few times when Jo allowed herself to be blackmailed! Either she had a mental illness or she didn’t..you can’t just switch them on and off!
However despite most of the characters seeming to be completely self absorbed and obnoxious I still listened to the end!
2 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- M Ryan
- 28-12-19
could of been so better
it was far too long for my liking and I feel like it could have done being done within 5 hours instead of 10. I got this back on my birthday and I was really looking forward to it but sadly the story is just so far-fetched and the first clue given is clearly the murderer anyway.
I think the reviews are good because of Alexa but sadly for me it was just far too unbelievable and you continuously made to feel like she's going mad
2 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Anne K Robinson
- 01-01-21
Loved it and hats it
I usually figure out whodunit in most books but I didn’t in this one so that was a plus point. It was well written and the characters were interesting but… It was so STRESSFUL . There was not one happy moment in the book, it was disaster page after page and if, like me, you get really involved with the characters in a good book, you will not find it a relaxing read.
1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Debs
- 26-09-20
Superb
Absolutely fantastic, brings the negative possibilities of all the smart tech devices in your home, when they are being controlled by someone who wants revenge. Narration was fantastic. Story line great, great plot, superbly thought out. I would highly recommend this.
1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- Mrs Cross
- 03-06-20
Not what we're used to.
This book isn't what were used to at all. Takes a little while to get into but has lots of twists and turns. You feel desperately sorry for Jo, the main character when she thinks she's gone mad when technology takes over. No-one believes her when she asks for help from her so called friend's. Didn't expect the end at all. All in all, I enjoyed this book, when is the next one coming?? : D
1 person found this helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 12-05-20
Slow to get going
This took an age to get going and I nearly gave up. Last third was better but book full of cardboard unbelievable characters. Not a fan.
1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Sharon
- 11-04-20
Brilliant
Great read didn't want to put it down from start to finish not knowing what was going to happen
1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anne-Marie Lavelle
- 16-03-20
excellent very original
excellent...original and great performance and utterly scary! You will love it and won't be able to put it 8
1 person found this helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Jamie L
- 08-03-20
Creepy
An interesting premise but lacks pace and shock.
Typical story with a good twist. Slow in places and a bit out there.
Might read some more of the author.
1 person found this helpful