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Thirteen Storeys

By: Jonathan Sims
Narrated by: Ayesha Antoine, Aysha Kala, Ben Elliot, Cloud Quinn, Jonathan Sims, Jot Davies, Katherine Press, Katie Leung, Laurence Dobiesz, Lula Suassuna, Sophie Roberts, Theo Solomon
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Summary

Thirteen voices. Thirteen storeys. One dinner party to die for.

An innovative haunted house tour-de-force from the creator of THE MAGNUS ARCHIVES podcast.

GOING UP?

A dinner party is held in the penthouse of a multimillion-pound development. All the guests are strangers - even to their host, the billionaire owner of the building
.
None of them know why they were selected to receive his invitation. Whether privileged or deprived, they share only one thing in common - they've all experienced a shocking disturbance within the building's walls.

By the end of the night, their host is dead, and none of the guests will say what happened. His death has remained one of the biggest unsolved mysteries - until now.

But are you ready for their stories?

'A modern horror classic from one of the most exciting writers in the field today' Starburst Magazine

'Combines a creeping sense of unease with all-out gore . . . Nerve-jangling.' Guardian

'A wonderfully creepy climax, hitting that perfect spot of uncanny horror' Grimdark Magazine

©2020 Jonathan Sims (P)2020 Orion Publishing Group
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What listeners say about Thirteen Storeys

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Interesting, some good parts.

Overall good, it felt at times like a book of short story's, which was not a problem for me. The characters were good, and most of them were believable. It was building towards a really good end, and when it came it rather disappointing, which was a shame. Still an entertaining listen, and I will definitely keep my eyes out for more by this author.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Thirteen Stories

I loved it. Such a great story. Exciting, well written and narrated. Will definitely read another Jonathan Sims

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Tour de Force!

Haven't enjoyed a book so much for ages! Classic Algernon Blackwood meets Shirley Jackson?
Jonathan Sims triumphantly leaps from podcast to first novel & narration is top notch.
Well worth a whirl!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Really enjoyed this.

the weaving together of the different threats of the story is great. can feel the influence of the Magnus Archives in the writing. will definitely listen again

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Great Premise

The story is original, however it becomes repetitive and feels too long. The ending was Great!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

I can’t recommend it enough

I greatly enjoyed this story; The variation in narration, heart of the story and depth of description and characterisation gripped me from the outset, and despite the themes that continued through each chapter it never felt repetitive.
The final chapter gave me literal shivers at points, and made me question how I would respond in the position of the characters. To say more would be to spoil it, and I highly encourage you to climb the Thirteen Storeys and see for yourself. I greatly look forward to more work by Jonathan Sims.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

enjoyed the story

I liked how there were different narrators and enjoyed the storyline and the imagery but I kept falling asleep

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great book

Gripping story and vivid details. Made me check dark corners. Performed really really great also.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Readable but Underwhelming

If you've read your fair share of fantastical horror and dipped into anthologies you would have gone into Sims' debut with certain expectations. Not all of these were met, sadly.

What was offered was a mystery at the outset, akin to Columbo or Agatha Christie - a grisly murder of a multi-billionaire, we may suspect who has done it (the stars of the stories?), we may not. There were rumours of many other bodies... what will happen in the ensuing storeys/stories?

Each separate story doesn't rise in a vertical ascent, which would have been a nice touch, but does feature a number of diverse characters from in and around the fictional Banyan Court, Tower Hamlets. There emerge little crossovers between the different storylines as the book goes on. The cast of characters grows to an almost unmanageable size.

And so we get to the issues that are the reason for the 3 stars:
* the characters are pretty well-written but there are three at least that are investigating the building or inhabitants in some way
* there's really no horror until about 60% of the way in (I was even thinking it was appropriate for our 14 year old) as it read more like YA
* what horror there is, along the lines of "is it all in their heads, are they haunted, is the building sick" is done in a sub-King style that has you wishing you were reading that superior author
* there's nothing original in the ghosts, tech-goes-mad, obsessions with stains/artwork, I can see them but you can't...
so...
You really needed things to be tied together in a satisfactory denouement. Without giving everything away, the ending doesn't give you the answers you have craved from the start. You know Tobias Fell died, but the manner in which it happened is disappointing. The events immediately leading up to it don't make a lot of sense. It's confusing and you are still trying to figure out the internal logic of the piece.

It mostly keeps you reading - there are a few lulls - and I wanted to find out what occurred in that Penthouse, which makes the ending even more anticlimactic. There's a lot of commentary on "poor doors", corporate negligence, everyday evil and the closed-off nature of modern society but the villain is too comic book villainy and his "solution" makes zero sense.

The truth of the matter is that the real villains we have - zillionaires of multinationals, world leaders, etc - don't believe they are evil or even nasty people and they work in a system that allows them to carry on just fine. This book is perhaps a limp wristed slap across the cheek of that problem. Perhaps.

Would I recommend?
Not really. Pick up a true anthology from Stephen King, watch Black Mirror, read a few articles on 2020. There's your spine tingling psychological horror.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

boss

loved it. The intertwine of stories quite spooky. really binged on this easy to listen to and good twists

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