The Eight – Katherine Neville Free Audiobook

Written by Katherine Neville
Read by Susan Denaker
Format: MP3
Bitrate: 64 Kbps
Unabridged

The Eight Series, Book 1
Publisher: Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group
Release date: October 23, 2007
Duration: 25:51:10

New York City, 1972–

A dabbler in mathematics and chess, Catherine Velis is also a computer expert for a Big Eight accounting firm. Before heading off to a new assignment in Algeria, Cat has her palm read by a fortune-teller. The woman warns Cat of danger. Then an antiques dealer approaches Cat with a mysterious offer: He has an anonymous client who is trying to collect the pieces of an ancient chess service, purported to be in Algeria. If Cat can bring the pieces back, there will be a generous reward.

The south of France, 1790–Mireille de Rémy and her cousin Valentine are young novices at the fortresslike Montglane Abbey. With France aflame in revolution, the two girls burn to rebel against constricted convent life–and their means of escape is at hand. Buried deep within the abbey are pieces of the Montglane Chess Service, once owned by Charlemagne. Whoever reassembles the pieces can play a game of unlimited power. But to keep the Game a secret from those who would abuse it, the two young women must scatter the pieces throughout the world….

AudioFile
“Characters in settings that are decades apart hunt for rare, hidden chess pieces that once belonged to Charlemagne. Two people–a young French woman in the 1790s and an American computer whiz in the early 1970s–find themselves in desperate chases across several countries for the pieces, which hold an ancient secret. Both evolve into brave, unassuming heroines, but the real star is narrator Susan Denaker. She has so many characters to keep track of–from young and old French women to assorted New Yorkers and Algerian men. She expertly differentiates them with changes in tone.. Denaker’s performance and the story’s twist at the end make it worthwhile. “