The Peculiar
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Narrated by:
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Peter Altschuler
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By:
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Stefan Bachmann
About this listen
Don't get yourself noticed and you won't get yourself hanged.
In the faery slums of Bath, Bartholomew Kettle and his sister Hettie live by these words. Bartholomew and Hettie are changelings - Peculiars - and neither faeries nor humans want anything to do with them.
One day a mysterious lady in a plum-colored dress comes gliding down Old Crow Alley. Bartholomew watches her through his window. Who is she? What does she want? And when Bartholomew witnesses the lady whisking away, in a whirling ring of feathers, the boy who lives across the alley - Bartholomew forgets the rules and gets himself noticed.
First he's noticed by the lady in plum herself, then by something darkly magical and mysterious, by Jack Box and the Raggedy Man, by the powerful Mr. Lickerish...and by Arthur Jelliby, a young man trying to slip through the world unnoticed, too, and who, against all odds, offers Bartholomew friendship and a way to belong.
Part murder mystery, part gothic fantasy, part steampunk adventure, The Peculiar is Stefan Bachmann's riveting, inventive, and unforgettable debut novel.
©2012 Stefan Bachmann (P)2012 HarperCollins PublishersListeners also enjoyed...
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Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes
- By: Jonathan Auxier
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes is the utterly beguiling tale of a ten-year-old blind orphan who has been forced into a life of crime. One fateful afternoon, Peter steals a mysterious box that contains three magical pairs of eyes. When he tries the first pair, he is instantly transported to a hidden island where he is presented with a special quest: to travel beyond the known world and rescue a lost kingdom from its treacherous ruler....
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Enjoyable listen but not for the youngest kids
- By Marie on 12-10-15
By: Jonathan Auxier
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Luck Uglies
- By: Paul Durham
- Narrated by: Avita Jay
- Length: 8 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Luck Uglies was a name whispered around the docks and darkest taverns, places where men played fast and loose with the law…Rye has grown up hearing the legend of the Luck Uglies - notorious deadly outlaws who once stalked the streets. Now they have faded to ghosts and rumours and Rye isn't sure they ever existed. Then on the night of the Black Moon, strange cries are heard from the forest Beyond the Shale, and dark shapes glimpsed in the shadows.
By: Paul Durham
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Curiosity House: The Shrunken Head
- By: Lauren Oliver, H. C. Chester
- Narrated by: Greg Steinbruner
- Length: 7 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Blessed with extraordinary abilities, orphans Philippa, Sam, and Thomas have grown up happily in Dumfrey's Dime Museum of Freaks, Oddities, and Wonders. But when a fourth child, Max, a knife thrower, joins the group, it sets off an unforgettable chain of events.
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Mix the Circus and a Murder Mystery
- By Crystal on 06-23-16
By: Lauren Oliver, and others
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Something Wicked This Way Comes
- By: Ray Bradbury
- Narrated by: Christian Rummel
- Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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A carnival rolls in sometime after the midnight hour on a chill Midwestern October eve, ushering in Halloween a week before its time. A calliope's shrill siren song beckons to all with a seductive promise of dreams and youth regained. In this season of dying, Cooger & Dark's Pandemonium Shadow Show has come to Green Town, Illinois, to destroy every life touched by its strange and sinister mystery.
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It's so creepy
- By Midwestbonsai on 11-14-14
By: Ray Bradbury
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12 Days at Bleakly Manor
- Once Upon a Dickens Christmas, Book 1
- By: Michelle Griep
- Narrated by: Nan McNamara
- Length: 5 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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England, 1851: When Clara Chapman receives an intriguing invitation to spend Christmas at an English manor home, she is hesitant yet feels compelled to attend - for if she remains the duration of the 12 day celebration, she is promised a sum of 1,000 pounds. But is she walking into danger? It appears so, especially when she comes face to face with one of the other guests - her former fiancé, Benjamin Lane.
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Delightful Dickens Mystery!
- By A D on 11-29-18
By: Michelle Griep
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The Jewel
- By: Amy Ewing
- Narrated by: Erin Spencer
- Length: 10 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Violet, born and raised in the Marsh, has been trained as a surrogate for the royalty - because in the Jewel the only thing more important than opulence is offspring. Purchased at the surrogacy auction by the Duchess of the Lake and greeted with a slap to the face, Violet (now known only as #197) quickly learns of the brutal truths that lie beneath the Jewel's glittering facade.
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Left Me Feeling Annoyed
- By Carol Dunn on 11-04-15
By: Amy Ewing
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A Study in Silks
- By: Emma Jane Holloway
- Narrated by: Angele Masters
- Length: 21 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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In a Victorian era ruled by a council of ruthless steam barons, mechanical power is the real monarch and sorcery the demon enemy of the Empire. Nevertheless, the most coveted weapon is magic that can run machines - something Evelina has secretly mastered. But rather than making her fortune, her special talents could mean death or an eternity as a guest of Her Majesty's secret laboratories. What's a polite young lady to do but mind her manners and pray she's never found out?
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Too much of a bad thing
- By Bomberwizz on 11-30-14
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Steampunk! An Anthology of Fantastically Rich and Strange Stories
- By: Kelly Link - editor, Gavin J. Grant - editor
- Narrated by: Sarah Coomes, Nico Evers-Swindell, Shannon McManus, and others
- Length: 12 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Imagine an alternate universe where romance and technology reign. Where tinkerers and dreamers craft and recraft a world of automatons, ornate clockworks, calculating machines, and other marvels that. Where scientists and schoolgirls, fair folk and Romans, intergalactic bandits, and intrepid orphans - decked out in corsets, clockwerk suits, and tall black boots - solve dastardly crimes, escape from monstrous predicaments, consult oracles, and hover over volcanoes in steam-powered airships.
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MMMM, Orca Bacon
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 09-14-13
By: Kelly Link - editor, and others
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Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos
- By: R. L. LaFevers
- Narrated by: Charlotte Parry
- Length: 7 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Theodosia Throckmorton has her hands full at the Museum of Legends and Antiquities in London. Her father may be head curator, but it is Theoand only Theowho is able to see all the black magic and ancient curses that still cling to the artifacts in the museum. Sneaking behind her fathers back, Theo uses old, nearly forgotten Egyptian magic to remove the curses and protect her father and the rest of the museum employees from the ancient, sinister forces that lurk in the museums dark hallways.
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Girls Adventure
- By Grant on 05-03-10
By: R. L. LaFevers
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The Good Thief
- By: Hannah Tinti
- Narrated by: William Dufris
- Length: 10 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Twelve-year-old Ren doesn't know who his parents were. He doesn't know who left him at St. Anthony's orphanage, or how he lost his left hand when still an infant. He is resigned to life without a family to call his own and terrified of the future. But then a young man named Benjamin Nab appears, claiming to be Ren's long-lost brother, and his convincing tale of how Ren lost his hand and his parents is enough to persuade the monks at the orphanage to release the boy. But is Benjamin really who he says he is?
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Close But No Cigar?
- By Andrew Moore on 10-03-09
By: Hannah Tinti
What listeners say about The Peculiar
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Shannon
- 05-30-13
An Unexpected Adventure
What made the experience of listening to The Peculiar the most enjoyable?
I love the narrator for this story and how well he captures the voices of each one and makes them so unique and believable. His tempo as well added the perfect touch of drama where needed. The story alone is fascinating but this narrator nailed the characters and made it sooo much more worth wild.
Who was your favorite character and why?
I love Arthur Jelibee (sorry about the spelling). I get this guy; he doesn't want any trouble for anyone, mostly himself but, he is willing to push past that to do what is right. I love how he does not treat Barthy any differently. I hope for a sequel soon, this story left with a cliff hanger and I need more of these characters.
Have you listened to any of Peter Altschuler’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
I have never listened to this narrator before but I will especially be searching for him in the near future. He is amazing!
Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
I laughed, but no tears. I felt suspense when needed, it kept me on the edge of my seat at times. Absolutely worth diving into and not putting down!
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