In the boarded up house at the end of Needless Street lives a man named Ted who drinks too much and loses time, a house cat named Olivia who sees it as her job to look after him, and his precocious daughter Lauren who never goes outside – not after what happened last time. Ted’s main hobbies are feeding the myriad songbirds who visit the backyard, and playing all the different games that Lauren makes up. That is, at least, until a murderer arrives on Needless Street, and everything begins to fall apart.
Every time I thought that I had figured out what was happening in this book, another layer was revealed that made me question everything I thought I knew. But it never felt cheap – at each reveal I could look back and see the breadcrumbs and clues that had been left for me, if I could have only figured them out. And each character whose motivations I thought I understood turned out to be deeper and more complex – and more worthy of compassion – than I could have anticipated. The Last House on Needless Street is unsettling, disturbing, and full of empathy. It is a horror story, but it is also a story of survival and perseverance.
When you’re listening to an audiobook the narrator can really make or break the experience for you. If you don’t like their voice, you’ll find it harder to like the characters or get invested in the story. Full credit must therefore be given to the audiobook narrator, Christopher Ragland, who was able to voice all the different characters so skillfully and emotively that you couldn’t help but be deeply invested. Not to mention how thoroughly he was able to change his voice for each character! Hearing him switch between Ted and Olivia was especially stunning, as he effortlessly flipped between a prissy house cat and gruff man in his thirties. I am sure the book is amazing to read as well, but the audiobook narration gave it an incredible extra depth that I cannot praise enough.