Cruel World: A Novel Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

Joe Hart (Author), Fajer Al-Kaisi (Narrator), Audible Studios (Publisher)

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Hidden away from the world by his famous father, Quinn Kelly strives to find meaning in his life while struggling with a deformity that has kept him from leaving the only home he has ever known. On the eve of his departure a sudden and deadly virus sweeps across the nation, killing nearly all it touches. Within days Quinn is left to fend for himself in an empty world.

But there is something still very much alive beyond the walls of his sanctuary, its malicious intent clear all too soon. Joining forces with a young single mother and her blind son, Quinn must cross a dangerous and silent America in the search for refuge and a truth that may shatter his sanity and strip him of the last things he holds dear.

Listening Length

13 hours and 40 minutes
Author

Joe Hart
Narrator

Fajer Al-Kaisi
Audible release date

December 4, 2017
Language

English
Publisher

Audible Studios
ASIN

B077W2XHVJ
Version

Unabridged
Program Type

Audiobook
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Product details

Listening Length	13 hours and 40 minutes
Author	Joe Hart
Narrator	Fajer Al-Kaisi
Whispersync for Voice	Ready
Audible.com Release Date	December 04, 2017
Publisher	Audible Studios
Program Type	Audiobook
Version	Unabridged
Language	English
ASIN	B077W2XHVJ
Best Sellers Rank	#185,128 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals) #2,486 in Post-Apocalyptic Science Fiction (Audible Books & Originals) #10,613 in Post-Apocalyptic Science Fiction (Books) #12,482 in Suspense (Audible Books & Originals)

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5

592 global ratings

5 star		65%
4 star		25%
3 star		6%
2 star		2%
1 star		2%

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Top reviews from the United States

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GaryMichael

COMPASSIONATE TERROR

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 17, 2023

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I guess the reason for a 4 rating is the horror of the world created by Joe Hart, although it is excellently written. The 3 main characters are decent and likable who have survived a pandemic that has quickly killed the.majority of humans. However some who initially survived were transformed.into ghoulish very tall skeletal creatures who pursued and ate the few who survived unaffected by the plague. The 3 main characte r s, who live in Maine, meet and begin a hazardous journey to a rumored centralized government safe haven in Iowa. The journey forces them to develop survival skills none had. The journey and the evolution of these skills is artfully written and believable. The conclusion seems hurried but is satisfactory. Hard to put down.

Helpful

BirdieTracy

The Journey Ahead

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 18, 2022

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As apocalyptic stories go, this one was different. That may sound like a criticism but it isn’t. If you read a fair amount of this genre you find that they fall pretty quickly into categories- viruses, nuclear, global warming, etc.- but this one was a first. A very good first.

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Cheryl Stout

“I’d bet on Armageddon before the government any day.”

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 15, 2016

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I enjoy Joe Hart's style of writing - a lot. I've made some time for myself for a Joe Hart reading marathon and CRUEL WORLD is the first book I'm reading (although it's not the first of his books I've read).

Post-apocalyptic or dystopian or zombie novels are all my favorite reading genres right now and this book is one of the better examples I've read that fits all three.

Quinn Kelly was born with severe facial deformities - a genetic condition called Fibrous Dysplasia. His mother left when he was young and his father is James Kelly, a famous movie actor. They live with staff members on an isolated estate in Maine, which Quinn has NEVER left.

Fast forward a few years and a flu pandemic decimated the world's population. And Quinn finally leaves all he's familiar with, immune to the killer virus.

Hart created quite a scary world within the pages of this story, with totally believable, fleshed-out characters.

I won't go into any more details in this review. Readers should experience the impact of this book on their own.

But I enjoyed it very much and I especially appreciate that it's a standalone novel (I just don't find enough non-series books anymore, at least in my opinion) and author Hart told his full scary tale within the pages of this book. I also liked having an epilogue.

Super characters, imaginative world building and all the loose ends tied up without a cliffhanger. I'm a happy reader.

11 people found this helpful

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sandd

Different and exciting

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 26, 2022

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Started slow to me but that changed. Very different plot. Good writer and this is different from his other books I've read. Thumbs up!

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Jim B.

A great story!!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on June 1, 2022

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Joe Hart has written a story that I loved. This book easily ranks up there with Stephen King's The Stand and Robert McCammon's Swan Song. I was hooked on the story from the very beginning. This book took me so many places, and was breathing so hard from all the excitement.

Helpful

Kindle Customer

Ending

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 26, 2022

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Really good story overall. The ending wasn't quite what I expected. It felt like there was more to the story.

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Kindle Customer

Sorry to see this end!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on June 29, 2022

Verified Purchase

What a great story. Very timely to read now when our own virus is still among us. Absolutely loved the characters and the writing style. Can't wait to read more by Joe Hart.

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One of Hart's Best Stories

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 1, 2020

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CRUEL WORLD by Joe Hart is very original outbreak story. Nothing could prepare me for the mutations. Quinn's facial deformities seem so trivial compared to the transformation of the living infected. While the setup takes up a fourth of the novel, once the action kicks, the various threats Quinn must face are terrifying.

There are so many revelations towards the end of the story, I worried Quinn's journey might require a sequel, but Hart delivers a final destination for young man's trip through hell.

I love the variety of characters throughout the book, particularly the two survivors Quinn travels with. The differences in appearances and personalities provides plenty of thrilling and emotional moments throughout this novel.

I recommend this one to all fiction readers.

3 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Ruju

Flawed but entertaining

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on November 20, 2019

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Different take on the Post Apocalyptic Zombie story, from both the point of view of the main character and the zombies themselves. Hart has been clever to cast the hero as a young man who has been hidden away due to his deformity and has no experience of the outside world. This plays a big part in the story, as do the other leading players who are also well thought out. Although Cruel World has much in common with its peers, basically being a road trip where the characters get into scrapes and get out of them, I really enjoyed Hart's writing style and my interest never waned. There are flaws, particularly Quinn's transformation from reclusive kid to superhero, but this well told tale kept me entertained from start to finish and deserves its high rating.

Miss Missy

Enjoyable post apocalyptic read with a difference!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on April 16, 2015

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I really enjoyed this read about Quinn, a young man who is the son of a famous actor, but who has been in hiding due to his facial deformities. The book starts a little slow as we learn about Quinn's background and his life in the house his father has kept him at, but once the disease starts wiping people out, it picks up pace! There is a love interest - a young woman with a son who is blind - and the relationship that develops between both her and Quinn, and Quinn and her son, is believable and touching. The disease itself is something original - those infected either melt into a puddle of goo, or grow into huge, man eating stilts! Perhaps I did have to suspend my belief a little, but I enjoyed the explanation, which comes later in the book. As with many post apocalyptic books, the main danger the pair had to face came from those who were left behind, but the stilts had their scary moments too! Recommended for all fans of this genre.

2 people found this helpful

Silver Lady

Slow start but keep at it.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on December 13, 2016

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Quinn Kelly has been kept away from the world and home-schooled for 20 years because of the facial deformity he was born with. His father was a film star, very wealthy now and living in a mansion within extensive grounds. Just as Quinn has decided to venture out into the big wide world disaster strikes the world in the form of a strange new virus. People either dissolve or turn into very tall vicious monsters. During his travels through now dangerous country Quinn meets up with a young woman called Alice who has her 7 ,year old blind son with her.

At first I struggled with this book as it seemed so slow. I even checked on star ratings on the reviews, saw they were good and decided to continue. I'm glad I did; the pace picked up, especially towards the end where it was very "Steven King-ish, but I like Steven King..

jacqualine

Brilliant book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on July 7, 2016

Verified Purchase

This is the 3rd book I have read and I have to say what a talented author Joe Hart is, like his imagination and you really get carried away by all the characters he creates and you certainly get pulled from the start to finish.

geoff church

So true

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on September 5, 2017

Verified Purchase

This is a cruel world and Joe Hart has captured humanities capacity for it in a unique way, it sickens and revolts you in equal measure.A tremendous read

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Cruel World: A Novel Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

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