• Say Nothing

  • A Novel
  • By: Brad Parks
  • Narrated by: George Newbern
  • Length: 12 hrs and 28 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (718 ratings)

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
Say Nothing  By  cover art

Say Nothing

By: Brad Parks
Narrated by: George Newbern
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $20.25

Buy for $20.25

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

Named a Best Book of 2017 by Library Journal and Kirkus Reviews Winner of the 2018 Library of Virginia People’s Choice Award

Judge Scott Sampson doesn’t brag about having a perfect life, but the evidence is clear: A prestigious job. A loving marriage. A pair of healthy children. Then a phone call begins every parent’s most chilling nightmare. Scott’s six-year-old twins, Sam and Emma, have been taken. The judge must rule exactly as instructed in a drug case he is about to hear. If he refuses, the consequences for the children will be dire.

For Scott and his wife, Alison, the kidnapper’s call is only the beginning of a twisting, gut-churning ordeal of blackmail, deceit, and terror. Through it all, they will stop at nothing to get their children back, no matter the cost to themselves...or to each other.

“Outstanding - starts with a bang and gets tenser and tenser. Say Nothing shows Parks is a quality writer at the top of his form.” (Lee Child)

“Terrific book. Truly terrific. Tension throughout and tears at the end.” (Sue Grafton)

“The work of an author who continues to raise his sights and refine his immense talent.” (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

©2017 Brad Parks (P)2017 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"Narrator George Newbern gives Sampson a conversational yet compelling voice - at times vulnerable, at times furious but consistently determined. The story is fast paced, engaging, and heartbreaking." ( AudioFile)

What listeners say about Say Nothing

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    406
  • 4 Stars
    192
  • 3 Stars
    78
  • 2 Stars
    29
  • 1 Stars
    13
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    426
  • 4 Stars
    144
  • 3 Stars
    57
  • 2 Stars
    11
  • 1 Stars
    7
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    367
  • 4 Stars
    164
  • 3 Stars
    68
  • 2 Stars
    32
  • 1 Stars
    14

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Do not pass go - Start Here!

What made the experience of listening to Say Nothing the most enjoyable?

Having never listened to or read anything by Brad Parks this was a very pleasant surprise!

What did you like best about this story?

The whole thing! This was just a really good story from beginning to end.

Any additional comments?

So Judge Scott Sampson and his wife Allison have a set of boy/girl twins that are 6 years old. They are kidnapped and to them it looks like it must be someone who knows them and their routine. Why don't they call the police or FBI? Scott recalls being told somewhere along the line that agents do not get on trouble if the victim dies, that happens more often than not. An agent's career suffered if the kidnapper got away. Since the Jusge and his wife wanted their kids back alive they chose not to call the authorities.
Scott is then told how to rule on cases if he wants his children returned. He complies all the while suspicious of everyone he comes in contact with. Friends, family, associates and even his own wife. He comes up with plausible scenarios for each who and why and one by one determines why they can't be until the end. WOW, this was some ending! Good bad and heartbreaking.
George Newbern does an excellent job narrating. His narration gives Scott the level headedness that gives this character credibility.
This book is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
I will definitely be checking out Brad Parks other books.
If you found this review helpful please indicate so.
Thank You.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

38 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

OMG! I Did Not Think That I Would Survive This!

This marvelously written story is not for the faint of heart. Some pretty horrific things occur. Without giving too much away I want future readers to know that there is jealousy, lying, kidnapping, child abuse, accusations of marriage infidelities, vultures feasting on human remains, extortion, thefts, misdirected trusts, deceitfulness among spouses, relatives, co-workers and old friends. Under the most extreme crushing circumstances Women are portrayed as strong capable people, even the little girl. Remember that I don't want to give too much away!

It is also a frustrating story about how much parents will do for their children. Frustrating because the parents become amateur detectives. Legitimate trained law enforcement officials have minimal roles until the end. Frustrating because for almost 3 weeks the torturous manipulation went on and a child was missing. Frustrating because of the false starts, twists and turns of storyline. I was so tensed up that I had to go to the pool to work out some frustrations. This story is frightening and sooo good. I recommend it highly.

I love George Newbern's narration. There is an even tone and cadence to his voice. There are no distracting noises such as spit clicks, heavy breathing or shrillness. The slight variations in the male voices is good. This story is told from the point of view of Scott Sampson, who happens to be a federal judge and the father of a set of twins. Through the writing and Mr. Newbern's reading, the listener experiences each emotion of Scott's.

As mentioned earlier, this is an excellent story and one that shouldn't be by-passed.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

34 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Terrific legal thriller!

What a fantastic novel! This one keeps the listener on the edge of his/her seat with suspense, contains mind numbing plot twists,and leaves the listener in tears at the end. I loved it and want to listen to other books by Brad Parks. The publisher's summary sets up the book well without exposing too much of the plot. I also enjoyed the narration.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

17 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Far fetched

I purchased this based upon all of the 5 star reviews but I am learning that I need to be more skeptical of these reviewers. This book was relatively well written with some good character development and interesting insight into the legal world. The rest was so far fetched , predictable and dull.
For a supposedly intelligent judge, Scott Sampson was quite stupid.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

14 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Tragic and unnecessary

If you don’t mind implausible story lines, child torture and people destroyed, you might appreciate the tension and plot twists in this book. I skipped over the second half of the book, so maybe there was redeeming value that I missed. At first I kept thinking the author had a purpose to reveal, but after the child torture I decided it probably wasn’t worth it.

The narrator isn’t a bad narrator, but he might be better at non-fiction. He did well with voices, but the general narration sounded more like a 1950’s broadcaster describing a drop in the stock market than someone talking about gut wrenching events taking place in a family. It is hard to know how much of that was his narration and how much was the written word.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

First audio book that made my eyes wet.

Totally loved this story. I've been a huge fan of the Carter Ross series so I was interested to hear what Brad Parks could do outside of that. He completely out did himself.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Oh My ...

This book was EXCELLENT! Kept me listening when I should have been working!!! Can't express in words how much I enjoyed this book!!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Overall - I enjoyed this book. The end was?

The end was a little hinky. It almost felt rushed. I don’t think it came together as well as I expected - But 90% of this book was pretty well done.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Not much of a story

The plot is underdevelopment and rather boring. Towards the end it was more entertaining but not by much.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Implausible at Best

Even though this book was very engaging and kept me listening, the plot had so many implausible twists and turns in it that I found it to be ludicrous at times. For example (spoiler): a six year old girl is kidnapped, held for 21 days, burned with cigarettes and electric shock, threatened with death, threatened with having her fingers cut off, had her head shaved of hair, had one or more anaphylactic shock episodes; and comes away just a normal six year old? I don't think so. Also, a wife suffering from terminal cancer doesn't tell her husband, shoots it out with the bad guys and dies to save her daughter? Yep, just a normal family.

Too bad about this because the narration was great and the story had terrific potential.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

6 people found this helpful