Backstory Audiobook By Gabriel Bergmoser cover art

Backstory

 Preview

Get 30 days of Standard free

Auto-renews at $8.99/mo after 30-day trial. Cancel anytime
Try for $0.00
More purchase options

Backstory

By: Gabriel Bergmoser
Narrated by: Emma Harvie, Zahra Newman, Ryan Johnson, Zenia Starr, Tom Conroy, Zoe Trilsbach, Michael Caton, Brooke Satchwell, Helen Thomson, Jonathan Jagoe, Uppy Chatterjee
Try for $0.00

$8.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $19.32

Buy for $19.32

Five friends, one university creative writing course, one weekend away to celebrate. Nobody expected it to end in disaster.

Ten years ago, promising young writer Keith Brooks fell to his death during a weekend getaway with his university friends. The official story? A tragic accident. But when disgraced journalist Phoebe Black stumbles upon conflicting accounts from Keith's surviving friends, she uncovers a web of lies that suggests something far more nefarious happened on that fateful night.

As she delves deeper into the past, Phoebe uncovers a group of once-close friends torn apart by jealousy, lies and ambition. With each revelation, the lines between truth and fiction blur, and the consequences of that night reach far beyond Keith's death. Phoebe must confront her own past and the nature of truth itself as she races against time to catch a killer.

Whose version of events is accurate? And how far will these people go to hide their dark secrets?

©2025 Gabriel Bergmoser (P)2025 Audible Australia Pty Ltd Thriller & Suspense Exciting Scary
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_c
Unexpected Twists • Complex Characters • Engaging Plot • Multiple Perspectives • Suspenseful Storytelling • Great Pacing

Highly rated for:

All stars
Most relevant
I listen to so so many audio books and some are just ok and some are good and some I remember because they are so awesome. This is one I’ll actually remember and highly recommend. I don’t know how writers can come up with such a complex story but that’s why they do what they do.

Great story!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I picked this up because it was free and I wanted a nice potboiler mystery to pass a little time. What I did not expect was a Rashomon style meditation on the nature of truth, lies, and just deserts. The mystery is propulsive and intriguing, yes, but the interweaving of conflicted narratives was handled with aplomb. Moreover, the chapters focusing on Troy were unexpectedly touching; a look into the catharsis and paralysis that only chronic failure can bring.

A potboiler with pathos

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This book was absolutely written well. From beginning to end I was hooked and the voice performances brought the story even more to life. I just finished it and I already wish I could go back to read it for the first time!

LOVED LOVED LOVED!!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The story kept me on my toes and had a great build up to the climax

Intriguing

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Twisty turns take us through the story as we re-examine the sequence of events that led to the central tragedy of the book. Versions vary amongst friends about the dynamics within this group of five university students who all aspire to be famous authors. One person's version is different from the others. He includes details highlighting how the group came to be.

The solution lies somewhere in the details about a book the deceased was writing. He claimed it was a fictional account of a group of friends at university. Hmmm, was it really ficti0n or the renaming of the truth? It seems that each person had unpleasantness in their past and if that knowledge became public it could ruin them.

So, then, which of the four killed the writer?

It's a wonderful setup that reminds me of Murder on the Orient Express where everyone has a motive. At first, I had a hard time keeping up with the characters because they are only briefly introduced before becoming part of the storytelling. In time, I sorted out who was who, especially toward the latter part of the book when a journalist is reading each friend's version of events and then interviewing who she could.

There is an interesting side story here woven into the main narrative. It is a story of two journalists, their differing styles and how some writers, even if they are journalists, seem to have a sixth sense about things.

It was a very good book, well-paced and engaging enough to not feel any drag or dull points. It is an especially interesting book for people-watchers and those who love to dive into human behavior and motivation. In a way, the book is a bit of a psychological look at the friends, but without getting bogged down in labels and diagnoses. Types are subtlety taken into consideration, but again from an organic perspective rather than a scientific one.

Definitely recommend this book for all you amateur sleuths out there and those who just love a good story.

Perfect for amateur sleuths and people watchers!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews