Ghost Radio audiobook

4.5 StarsIf you are going to read this book, then you absolutely must check out the audiobook version. The plot revolves heavily around radio broadcasting, so the auditory angle really added another dimension to the story. Pedro Pasca put on an amazing performance, creating a creepy atmosphere. This book has very low ratings online and I can honestly understand why. The plot was incredibly slow pace. The narrative seemed to meander around, seemingly without direction. The story shifted between the past and present with mini ghosts stories woven into the narrative, as we listen in on calls made to Ghost Radio. Honestly, I did consider DNFing this book the first time I read it, but I am so glad that I kept going. For me, the story came together in an incredibly satisfying way with a memorable ending.So while this book won’t appeal to everyone, it certainly was for me. Upon rereading, I fell deeper in love with the book and was able to fully appreciative the intentional narrative choices.I would encourage readers to check it out for themselves if they have the opportunity to experience the audiobook version. I would particularly recommend this one to readers who enjoy slow burns and atmospheric horror stories.

*Audiobook version*Let’s be completely honest here. What brought me here was Pedro Pascal. I usually prefer physical books to audio, but when I heard Pedro Pascal voiced some, I did some browsing and found Ghost Radio. I had no idea what to expect of this title. I thought that maybe I should read it in the daylight, maybe it would freak me out too much otherwise. What it actually ended up reminding me of was The X-Files or The Twilight Zone, which is totally up my alley. Without giving too much away, I wouldn’t say it was particularly scary. Spooky, maybe? (After all, it was hard to feel frightened with Pedro Pascal’s calming voice. Ahem.)This book genuinely impressed me. I have never read anything like it. In the end (again, trying to be vague), I was left wanting more. I have questions, but they’re probably better left unsaid. The main characters were definitely not what I’m used to. They weren’t exactly likeable, and I couldn’t relate to them, so I was unsure of how I’d be able to attach myself to the story. When Joaquin starts losing his grasp on reality, I was sucked in. The only thing keeping me from giving it a five star rating was the pace; the story got slow at times, making me wonder where it was really going. “Slow burn” is definitely the phrase I’d use to describe it. The payoff was worth it. The mini ghost stories kept the tone consistent, which I thought helped drive the plot. I have not read nor seen the print version.I think the audio would be pretty superior to the printed version due to the nature of the subject matter (a radio show), because you would need some really different formatting of the print version to get the same points across. Even then, I’m not sure it would do the story justice. I’m not sure if the print version could truly engulf someone as easily as the audio. Ghost Radio is definitely a book I’m planning on listening to again.

I listened to this as an audio book.This was a really good concept, and the story was captivating at times as well. Overall I really liked it. There were some minor issues I had with it though.The main character and his girlfriend could be dicks at times. Their first meeting consisted of mocking someone at a party and then leaving the party, the host of which had assumed he was in some sort of relationship with the woman. She was unapologetic, which just struck me as insensitive. They both should have been clearer about their intentions, but the way she blew him off without any empathy for his feelings just seemed rough. But not all characters are supposed to be likable, right?The protagonist is aggressive and pushy. I understand that characters can’t be perfect all the time though, especially as they descend into madness.The ghost radio program stories were cool, but were unrelated to the storyline. I kept waiting for some unifying thread, but you know what? There doesn’t have to be. The stories reminded the audience that the radio show was still going on, and were a nice break from the central story.The ending seemed a bit vague, like a lot of questions were raised that we never got all the answers to, but sometimes we don’t get all the answers in real life either. Is it a failing of the book or just a reflection of reality. It is up to you.Ultimately any issue I had with the book can be forgiven, and overall I had a good time listening to it. I came away learning some new things as a person and as a writer. It had a nice paranoid vibe to it as well, which always resonates with me. And you have to admit that title is pretty sweet.

First of I will admit I mainly got the Audiobook of this because it is read by Pedro Pascal. But I have to say that I enjoyed it immensly. The scene setting and atmosphere it created was perfect for a ghost story. I loved the small stories the were "on the show" in between the main plot. In one review I read that the book meandered and was all over the place. While this is true to some effect, I did not feel that it was a bad thing. I think it only got you deeper and deeper into the disconection of reality expierenced by the protagonist. In short I totally loved the ghost story and would strongly recommend the audiobook!

Joaquin has had the Dead Kennedys song "Kill The Poor" stuck in his head all week, so when Gabriel starts humming it in the hospital, Joaquin joins in. From that point forward, the boys, whose parents just crashed into each other leaving both boys as orphans, find their lives completely intertwined. They even end up living with relatives in the same neighborhood. They're also both intrigued with noise and form a band that takes "found sounds" and arranges them into music. After Gabriel's death, Joaquin begins to listen even harder to the noises around him, hoping to find a hidden message there from Gabriel. He turns the dials of his radio hoping to pick up a ghostly voice in the static. As a final hope for some contact from the world beyond, Joaquin starts up a radio show similar to one they listened to together in the hospital where they first met, Ghost Radio. He takes calls from people with paranormal stories to tell, but really he hopes beyond hope that perhaps one day Gabriel will call in.Strangely, the song "Kill the Poor" is a common thread that runs through Joaquin's life from the moment he meets Gabriel: "Efficiency and progress is ours once more now that we have the neutron bomb. It's nice and quick and clean and gets things done. Away with excess enemy, but no less value to property. No sense in war but perfect sense at home." Joaquin starts to feel as if perhaps he is a neutron bomb, bringing death to everyone he loves. The more he thinks of this, the more bizarre his life becomes. He can't tell the difference between life and the lucid dreams he begins to have. But suddenly everything makes sense to him in one lucid moment that determines the future of those he loves.Leopoldo Gout does a great job of storytelling. I found myself drawn into the story, and I read most of it in one sitting. I looked forward to the few stories of the paranormal that were told over the airwaves of Ghost Radio. Another thing about the book that I really enjoyed is that the author places a photo from Gabriel's "Polaroid journal" at the beginning of each chapter. These "Polaroids" are actually drawn by the author himself and are quite beautiful.After reading, I found myself chewing over how the various components of the story are intertwined. I enjoyed every moment of reading this novel. However, I'm afraid some might not understand how the book had to end and feel cheated by it. Personally, I can't see how it could have ended otherwise. What a lovely book. I feel like rereading it just to try to tease out all its secrets from the beginning. And, like Joaquin, I'm going to have "Kill the Poor" stuck in my head for a week.Note: While I critique both purchased and free books in the same way, I'm legally obligated to tell you I received this book free through the Amazon Vine program in return for my review. Blah blah blah.

I loved this book kepted ypu wondering what was happening till the end.and the author was great. It was a nice touch by adding the calls to ghost radio threw out the story to break it up. The only part I didnt like or felt that could be better was the ending it wasnt the best and I thought it could have been drawed out a little longer 5hats why it didnt make the 5 star mark but still a good book and definitely worth the read.

Novela de fantasmas, aunque no de mucho terror.Estructurada en capítulos cortos, va alternando varios momentos temporales (que en algunos momentos no sabemos exactamente cuál) de la vida del protagonista, de su amor por la música, de su amistad con Gabriel, de su vida antes y después de un hecho que le marcó,... con capítulos sueltos con transcripciones de llamadas telefónicas de los oyentes al programa radiofónico sobre hechos sobrenaturales que dirige.El resultado es un libro un poco "raruño", en el que no todo queda explicado; pero que sabe mantenerte intrigado hasta la última página.

Oh my god. I don’t even know where to start with this review. I found this book because Pedro Pascal is the audiobook narrator and decided to try it out and it blew my expectations out of the water. I’ll just say that it was the perfect mix of folklore, urban legend, and psychological trip for me. The storytelling from Gout is incredible and the way everything is laid out and slowly revealed through flashbacks was amazing. The play between the classic trope of an unreliable narrator and the new concept (for me at least) of unreliable reality was a genuinely remarkable experience. Also, the characters who are bound to Joaquin and resurface throughout were so well placed. I was genuinely surprised, repeatedly, while still waiting for the other shoe to drop. It was just overall amazing. I got to learn about new concepts and different group’s mythologies in a way that was really enjoyable and left me wanting to know more.I can’t recommend it, and the audiobook version, enough. I don’t often listen to audiobooks, preferring the physical feel of a book, but Pascal’s performance was wonderful. I don’t know if reading it to myself would have given me a different experience but I really enjoyed it.***I need to include an extra recommendation here as well, for a podcast called The Magnus Archives. It’s a horror anthology that is eerily similar to this book’s concept of a radio show where callers give their statements. Some of the elements from this book make me feel as if it could be part of the same expanded universe. In the podcast statements are read as part of an institute that studies the paranormal and an overarching story is slowly revealed in which entities that feed off of human fear play a role. It’s the same vein of eerie and unsettling as the book and if you enjoyed the concepts Gout brought into play you will probably enjoy the podcast as well.

This is a wonderful read for anyone who likes a trippy, edgy, hip story about ghosts. Its not really scary as much as it is exciting, but it is nonetheless still a good book that will keep you entertained no matter how many times you read it. What i think Gout did well in creating the story of Ghost Radio is instead of making it just a book, he knew how animated the book was and made movies and songs about and from the book. After my third time reading the book i went to the website, it really made me want to read the book again. This book practically comes to life on its own, but with the other medians of art, it truly does. I recommend this book to be shocked and excited and if you don't believe me, check out the website.

The audiobook version of this is where it’s at!

I enjoyed this one even more than I expected! It was mind-bending and utterly confusing - but in a really good way. Reality and perception in the book changes so frequently that it can be hard to keep up. It works very well to build suspense! The book read like Dean Koontz to me, and I found myself needing to share all of the mini ghost stories with the people around me.

Ghost Radio is a very impressive debut by Leopold Gout.Not exactly my type of book based on the blurb, but I opened it yesterday at a B&N and it just hooked me so I had to finish it before anything else.Has some similarities with the superb Thirteen by S. Beaumont, though it falls somewhat flat at the end by trying to "explain" things that are best left to the reader's imagination.Still a very compulsive read about Joaquin the host of a night time radio show in which listeners call in with their "ghost" - anything paranormal, NDE and such - experiences - his dead friend Gabriel, live girlfriend/skeptic co-host Alondra and strange sidekick Watt.Somewhere between fantastic literature, genre fantasy and genre horror, Ghost Radio was an unexpected positive surprise for me and I will be keeping an eye on the author's further work

The characters in Ghost Radio are hip - really hip. Joaquin, the main character, grew up in the early 90s punk scene. He meets his best friend over a shared love of the Dead Kennedys. They even start their own band, Los Deathmuertoz. (cool name, huh?) I discovered the Ghost Radio website[..] has all of these cool music and animation features, like playlists and videos. I recommend this book for anyone who likes horror novels and ghost stories, but you should also check out the website first to see if the music and other content jive with your aesthetic.

An unexpectedly captivating and beautiful book. Very imaginative, separated into short story-like chapters that made one stop and think. Not your usual ghost chiller and very much recommended to all my friends.

I'm going to go against the grain here and say that I wish I had read this book in physical form rather than listening to the audiobook. I saw this book discussed on BookTube, at which time the audiobook was specifically recommended because the book is about radio and pieces of radio broadcast are integrated into the text. I loved the audiobook editions of Sadie by Courtney Summers and The Night Swim by Megan Goldin, which incorporate podcast excerpts, so I excitedly picked this up, expecting the same thing, and I must say I was disappointed. Unlike the other audiobooks I referenced, Ghost Radio only has one narrator. Therefore, you never actually get the feeling that you're listening to the radio show because all the guests and hosts have the same voice. There also isn't any music or sound effects aside from one specific loop of music and static that is played at intervals throughout the book. I will say that this book has major Magnus Archives vibes and I'd highly recommend the audiobook to fans of that podcast in particular, but you need to go into it knowing that it has a lower production value than other similar audiobooks and you will not actually feel like you're listening to the titular radio show. It felt a bit like a missed opportunity to me.The plot of the book itself is interesting, but a bit slow. There were times, particularly in the first half of the book, where I wondered if it was actually a horror at all or if it was just a contemporary story about a radio host that liked ghost stories. However, it does pick up and there are some horror/paranormal elements that work their way into the story over time. I will say, though, that these parts of the story felt very strange and dreamlike, and this was actually another reason why this book didn't really work very well for me on audio. The dreamlike quality of these parts of the story made it hard for me to follow in an audio format. This may be reader-dependent, but I have a pretty poor audio comprehension, and I got lost a lot in the more dreamlike parts of the book. I constantly had to stop and "rewind," sometimes multiple times in the same scene, to figure out how things got to where they were, and I believe if I had read the book with my eyes, I would have understood what I was reading on the first go-around and probably would have gotten more out of the story in general. Overall, I liked the book, and would be willing to reading it again in print one day to try to pick up what I missed the first time. Again, I would recommend it to fans of The Magnus Archives and anyone who likes a more slow-paced horror story or weird stories that don't need to 100% make sense at the end.

This was certainly...something. I actually finished it a couple of days ago and wasn't totally sure how I felt about it, but I also haven't been able to stop thinking about it since, so that makes it an easy 4 stars for me. It's creepy and bizarre and a little tough to follow--I ended up really liking the disjointed structure, the shifting perspectives, liberally interspersed by snippets of the radio show and the stories listeners call in to share, but it took a while for me to adjust and I can understand why other reviewers weren't crazy about that. I thought the choppiness really felt consistent with Joaquin's psychological unraveling in a very effective way, though, and several of the listeners' stories creeped me out even more than the main storyline. The characters were all almost exclusively assholes, but there were moments when they showed a profound desire for connection with others that made this feel palatable and purposeful rather than simply irritating, and I found myself really wanting them to succeed. (view spoiler)[And like, a protagonist whose entire story ultimately exists so that he can sacrifice himself to save the woman he loves? Sure, yeah, maybe her life wouldn't have been at risk if it hadn't been for him in the first place, but I don't think I've ever seen a story play out quite like that before, and I haven't been able to get it out of my head. (hide spoiler)] All in all, I really loved the idea that denizens of the spirit world can sort of ride radio waves into the land of the living, and do so to cause problems on purpose; there was a lot going on in this book, but getting to mull it over for a while has been about as enjoyable as reading it in the first place. I think this is one I'm going to end up returning to.