The Death Instinct, Jed Rubenfeld
The Death Instinct, Jed Rubenfeld
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The Death Instinct

Author: Jed Rubenfeld

Narrator: Kerry Shale

Unabridged: 14 hr 46 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Penguin Audio

Published: 01/20/2011


Synopsis

A spellbinding literary thriller about terror, war, greed, and the darkest secrets of the human soul, by the author of the million-copy bestseller, The Interpretation of Murder.September 16, 1920. Under a clear blue September sky, a quarter ton of explosives is detonated in a deadly attack on Wall Street. Fear comes to the streets of New York.Witnessing the blast are war veteran Stratham Younger, his friend James Littlemore of the New York Police Department, and beautiful French radiochemist Colette Rousseau. A series of inexplicable attacks on Colette, a secret buried in her past, and a mysterious trail of evidence lead Younger, Littlemore, and Rousseau on a thrilling international and psychological journey – from Paris to Prague, from the Vienna home of Dr Sigmund Freud to the corridors of power in Washington, DC, and ultimately to the hidden depths of our most savage instincts. As the seemingly disjointed pieces of Younger and Littlemore’s investigations come together, the two uncover the shocking truth about the bombing – a truth that threatens to shake their world to its foundations.

About The Author

Currently the Robert R. Slaughter Professor of Law at Yale University, Jed Rubenfeld is one of this country's foremost experts on constitutional law. As a Princeton undergraduate, he wrote his senior thesis on Freud. At the Juilliard School of Drama, he studied Shakespeare. He lives in New Haven, Connecticut, with his wife and two daughters.Kerry Shale has worked at the National Theatre, the Almeida, the Hampstead, the Donmar Warehouse, Riverside Studios, the Gate, and the Royal Court. In Edinburgh, he wrote and performed six solo shows at the Traverse, the Assembly Rooms, and the Pleasance. His work in the West End includes The Normal Heart and Frost/Nixon. 


Reviews

Goodreads review by Marwan on February 06, 2017

Wow, this probably is one of the best historical mysteries I have ever read, it's a shame Rubenfeld has written only two books. I've bought it 2 years ago assuming it might be decent enough to read, and I couldn't have been more wrong. It has surpassed my expectations, the plot, the thrill and twist......more

Goodreads review by switterbug (Betsey) on February 16, 2011

In Jed Rubenfeld's sexy, moody, Hitchcockian-cum-Freudian-cum-Jungian literary novel, The Interpretation of Murder, Dr. Stratham Younger narrates a story within the framework of a fictional journal, focusing on his experiences with Drs. Jung and Freud on their revolutionary visit to the United State......more

Goodreads review by Teresa on July 12, 2012

Complicated story about the bombing of Wall Street in 1920. Half fact half fiction with death and terror the main themes. Definitely written more for male readers with a lead character that will remind you of some guy you dumped for being a manipulative jerk. Don't bother.......more

Goodreads review by Di'ana on April 23, 2018

Tas momentas, kai skubi, lauki pabaigos, atomazgos, nes viskas taip neaišku ir painu, o kai ją pasieki kiek liūdna, jog jau pabaiga, laikas atsisveikinti su veikėjais, jų pasauliu. Fikcija bei realybė - trumpai ir aiškiai apie knygą. 1920m. rugsėjo 16 sprogimas Wall Street'e. Pagrindinis veiksmas, o......more

Goodreads review by Louise on June 18, 2018

The story was quite interesting lots of plot twists but something just didn’t work for me, it was an ok read.......more


Quotes

"A deadly terrorist attack rocks downtown Manhattan in September...1920. Rubenfeld's gripping novel revolves around the real-life Wall Street bombing and will have you enthralled from page 1."
-Entertainment Weekly Must List

""Brilliantly concocted and more than just a little eerie. The fictional and actual events surrounding the 1920 bombing are as relevant today as they were nearly a century ago."
-USA TODAY

"This novel is great ... Jed Rubenfeld's tremendous follow-up to his 2006 novel, The Interpretation of Murder, bustles with kidnapping, knife throwing, gun fighting, poisoning, bank robbery, corruption. The Death Instinct is that rare combo platter: a blast to read - you'll be counting how few pages you have left with dread, and you'll do this before you're halfway done - and hefty enough to stay with you. There's a steady beat of intrigue and confusion and explanations you wouldn't have guessed."
-The New York Times

"Intelligent, absorbing and provocative."
-The Seattle Times

"Rubenfeld's debut, The Interpretation of Murder (2006), proved his skillful use of historical detail to create a compelling tale of psychological suspense. He's only gotten better."
-Library Journal (starred review)

"Jed Rubenfeld delivers a soul-searching narrative with complex and memorable characters. Not only is The Death Instinct a suspenseful story that pulls readers into its political and scientific intrigue, it is also a provocative meditation on the psychological and emotional ripple effects of war and terrorism."
-Matthew Pearl, author of The Dante Club and The Poe Shadow

"In The Death Instinct, Jed Rubenfeld masterfully weaves a sweeping story that moves from New York City to Paris to Vienna and back, illuminating with shocking and harrowing clarity the aftershock effects of the Great War on an entire generation. Anyone with a taste for mystery, political intrigue, and love in desperate circumstances will devour this enthralling novel."
-Katherine Howe, author of The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane

"The Death Instinct is a terrifically smart, tumbling roller coaster of a novel, full of mysterious twists and turns, murders, conspiracies, dreams of revenge, and ultimately a very human redemption. Beginning with one of the great unsolved crimes in American history?the 1920 bombing of Wall Street?author Jed Rubenfeld takes the reader on a fast-forward journey through the politics and police work, science and psychoanalysis of the of the early nineteenth century. The characters are so well realized, the conspiracies so wonderfully twisted, and the rendering of time and place so well done that readers will find the story hard to put down?and harder to forget"
-Deborah Blum, author of The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York

"A well-crafted story, skillfully told, with more twists than a pig's tail, and a lot more entertaining."
-Anne Perry, author of the Thomas Pitt and William Monk novels