Penguin Random House: PRH Audio to Publish Audiobook Original by Erik Larson, His First Work of Fiction, in September
Penguin Random House Audio has announced that it will publish NO ONE GOES ALONE, an audiobook original—and the first ever work of fiction—from Erik Larson, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Splendid and the Vile and The Devil in the White City. Narrated by Julian Rhind-Tutt and available in time for Halloween (Random House Audio; on sale September 28), this otherworldly tale of intrigue and the impossible marshals Larson’s trademark approach to nonfiction to create something new: a ghost story deeply grounded in history, available exclusively on audio, because, as Larson says, ghost stories are best told aloud.
NO ONE GOES ALONE follows pioneering psychologist William James, a prominent member of the Society for Psychical Research, as he leads a team of researchers to the remote Isle of Dorn in 1905 to investigate the cause of several mysterious disappearances, most notably a family of four who vanished without a trace after a week-long holiday on the island. Was the cause rooted in the physical world . . . or were there forces more paranormal and sinister at work? The idyllic setting belies an undercurrent of danger and treachery, with raging storms and unnerving discoveries adding to a growing sense of menace. As increasingly unexplainable events unfold, the isolated party is unsure whether they can trust their own eyes, their instincts, one another—or even themselves.
Marrying a love of the ghostly tales of Henry James and Shirley Jackson with his passion for history, Larson has delivered a clever and spooky tale that will have listeners captivated till the blood-chilling end.
“I love a good ghost story, and decided while I was on tour for my book Thunderstruck, that I’d write the kind of story I wanted to read—something, moreover, that would incorporate some of the really bizarre, real-life material I’d uncovered in the course of researching the book,” Larson says. “For example, the fact that in Victorian England many of the country’s top physicists and writers were all members of the Society for Psychical Research, which really did have a Committee on Haunted Houses. I also realized the perfect medium for this project was the audiobook, especially an audio original, because I do believe that ghost stories are best told aloud, whether at a campfire, or in front of the fireplace on a ghoulishly windy night. I can’t wait to hear this one myself.”
This production is the latest in Penguin Random House Audio’s growing original publishing program, which includes three audiobooks set in the Star Wars universe (Dooku: Jedi Lost; Doctor Aphra; Tempest Runner), projects with Nick Offerman (All Rise), MeatEater’s Steven Rinella (MeatEater’s Campfire Stories: Close Calls), Tartine Bakery’s Chad Robertson and Jennifer Latham (Getting Started with Sourdough), and more.
“We are thrilled to be publishing this exciting new fiction from Erik Larson,” says Amanda D’Acierno, President & Publisher, Penguin Random House Audio. “Readers of his nonfiction work will recognize the evocative historical detail and irresistible pacing that is Larson’s trademark, but with an eerie new twist that’s a perfect match for the audiobook format.”