The Stone Man - A Science Fiction Thriller, Book 1 cover art

The Stone Man - A Science Fiction Thriller, Book 1

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The Stone Man - A Science Fiction Thriller, Book 1

By: Luke Smitherd
Narrated by: Matt Addis
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About this listen

The #1 Amazon and Audible best seller, shortlisted for Audible UK's Audiobook of the Year Award 2015

Nobody knew where it came from.

Nobody knew why it came.

When an eight-foot-tall man made of stone appears in the middle of a busy city center one July afternoon, two-bit (and antisocial) reporter Andy Pointer assumes it's just a publicity stunt.

Indeed, so does everyone else...until the Stone Man begins to walk, heading silently through the wall of the nearest building, flattening it, and killing several people inside as a result.

As efforts by the local police - and soon the government - to halt the Stone Man's inexorable progress prove futile, only three questions are on the watching world's lips:

Where has it come from, where is it going, and what does it want?

Andy is determined to be the first person to answer those questions; after all, he was there when it arrived. Surely the headaches and visions he's experiencing are proof of a mental connection to the Stone Man. Clearly his dreams of champagne and notoriety are all about to be fulfilled once he uncovers the truth...and the scoop of a lifetime.

In a pursuit that carries him the length of the country and the breadth of the Atlantic, Andy uncovers the jagged pieces of an increasingly terrifying puzzle. As the number of lives lost in the wake of the Stone Man reaches grim figures, the terrible results of Andy's blind determination force him to confront the savagery of human nature.

When irresistible forces aren't met by immovable objects, how far is too far? Andy must discover the answer - and find out who he really is - in the shadow of the Stone Man.

©2012 Luke Smitherd (P)2015 Luke Smitherd
Fantasy Fiction First Contact Post-Apocalyptic Science Fiction Scary

Critic reviews

" The Stone Man is a novel that intrigues, enthralls, horrifies, thrills, and hits the reader with an emotional resonance as only the best stories can." ( Ain't It Cool News)
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An author who's not afraid to label his work as science fiction, which it is but it's so much more. it's a really human piece about how each if us relates to the inevitable, how we face our personal stone man.

Deeply moving and utterly fascinating

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Would you listen to The Stone Man again? Why?

I dont listen to books twice

What other book might you compare The Stone Man to, and why?

classic sci-fi, triffids, death of grass etc....

Have you listened to any of Matt Addis’s other performances? How does this one compare?

Matt is the best narrator I have heard in a long time, when Strauwb spoke , in my memory I hear a woman, when Paul spoke he was a northern male....amazing stuff, I was gripped every day for two weeks in the car

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

why?

Any additional comments?

Brilliant story, excellent discovery of real people in crisis. He does not gloss ove the real humanity of his characters, these people are very real

John Wyndham watch out...

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As my title suggests, this is the heroin of audio books.
The characters are not your usual Hollywood heroes who suddenly find out that they're now capable of saving humanity and do it in an annoying, cheesy American way.
They are normal British individuals and are floored in many ways, however they're believable and I wanted to stay with their plight.
The author managed to walk the tightrope of offering us (the listener/reader) enough answers but allowing us to feel we'd earned the reward of discovering them for ourselves.
I'll definitely check out more of your work, congratulations.
Kudos also to the reader, you're very skilled in the ancient art of story telling.

Impossible to stop listening

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Any additional comments?

LOVED this book so much so I'm leaving my first ever review on Audible - be suitably honoured Luke Smitherd - although maybe not that much because it's short...

Original and gripping and based in the Midlands - a perfect combination! Matt Addis was the perfect narrator for this not quite horror, not quite sci-fi work of fiction (if you're into either of these genres you will like this book). I'll be hunting out more of the author's work very soon.

Oh, and the ending was definitely the right one!

I'm only leaving this review because you begged...

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It was my first time delving into the storytelling mind of Luke Smitherd and I found it a most pleasurable experience.

The story left me debating weather I would face the difficult choices the main characters faced in the same way. Would I be a hero or a coward or would I face the problem kicking and screaming.

I recommend this book and will be listening again.

Captivated

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