thriller – A Podcast Club

Hunted

By corbett on Wednesday, November 25, 2020

Hunted | 👍🏻👍🏽👍🏾👍🏿 Play it safe and don’t listen to this one while driving. The podcast features incredible visual storytelling with exceptional acting and superior sound design (which led some of us to miss our exit on the freeway). Parker Posey’s stubborn drive paired with her delicate southern accent carries you through this tense manhunt. Each of us found ourselves getting lost in a beautifully woven auditory escape: pun intended. The story puts the listener in the detective seat, guessing the convicts’ next move, all while trying to piece together the motives of this motley crew. The group felt the podcast would have benefited from an additional episode to flush out Deputy Marshall Barnes backstory. We found ourselves questioning her motives based on the few breadcrumbs we were given. What’s our final verdict? We recommend this dramatic and captivating listen and are hoping for a season 2! #podcast @endeavoraudio @wolfentertainment @itsparkerposey

About the show | When four convicts escape from a maximum security prison, Deputy Marshal Emily Barnes is called in to pursue the criminals in one of the most treacherous and violent manhunts in United States history. Directed by Shawn Christensen (#BLACKOUTPODCAST) and produced by Jenny Radelet Mast (@Marvel #WolverinePodcast).

✒️Review by: @itsacherrylife @ohcando @pirate_ali_vega 📷Photo by: @itsacherrylife

fiction thriller

Carrier

By corbett on Wednesday, January 29, 2020

👍🏻👍🏽👍🏾👍🏿 QCode has put the rubber to the road and taken sound quality to the next level. The comprehensive sound design made us jump in our car wondering “was that a truck horn or the podcast?” This fictional story follows Raylene as she hauls a mysterious truckload – which had us theorizing in every debrief. We made a lot of creative guesses but none as inventive as the cunning writers. The episodes build to an intense experience that had us on the edge of our seats. Most of the characters were well developed, however we felt the motivation for some of Raylen’s decisions could have been better set-up. The sleuths in the group would have appreciated a few more clues leading up to the ending, but overall this is a very entertaining show and worth a listen. @aqcodemedia @cynthiaerivo #podcast #apodcastclub

About the show | What happens when a truck driver picks up a loaded trailer, but has no idea what’s really inside? Raylene (Cynthia Erivo) journeys down a dark and lonely highway in this original scripted thriller. With immersive audio techniques that create a dimensional listening experience, the audience is strongly advised to use caution, wear headphones if possible, and listen… carefully.

✒️Review by: @pirate_ali_vega 📷Photo by: @odhuie photo and @pirate_ali_vega

fiction thriller

The Walk

By corbett on Wednesday, August 14, 2019

👍🏻👍🏽👍🏾👍🏿 This 31 episode podcast took our group almost 2 months to finish! Despite the length, The Walk kept us on our toes, with each of us keeping up with the listening and debriefing of each episode. From the beginning, all four of us had our thumbs up! The format was new for us, with the story being told as if we (the listener) are the main character “Walker” and an integral part of the story. At first this caused confusion in the group; at some point all four of us went back to relisten to Ep. 1 once we found our rhythm with the unique storytelling. Being a part of the story was captivating! It must have been quite the script writing challenge being that “Walker” never actually speaks, and is only spoken to with all “our” actions being described by the other characters in the story. This entertaining listen really inspired our inner detectives, allowing us to find ways to weave our theories into the listening experience. Perhaps the most intriguing thing to know about The Walk is that it was funded by the UK’s Department of Health as a way to get people outside walking for the duration of each 23 minute episode.
Insta links: #fictionalpodcast

About: The story has been adapted from UK-based Six to Start and author Naomi Alderman’s popular fitness app by the same name. The story begins in Inverness station, Scotland. Through a case of mistaken identity, “Walker” is given a vital package that could save the world. It must be couriered to Edinburgh, but all of the roads are closed to cars and the trains aren’t working due to an explosion. To survive, the listener must walk with other escapees from the city, not knowing if they can trust those around them in a rapidly disintegrating situation.

From:Megaphone (formerly Panoply Media)
Genre: Fiction
Starring: A thriller in which you, the listener, are the hero.

fiction thriller

The Deep Vault

By corbett on Wednesday, July 24, 2019

👍🏻👍🏼👎🏽👎🏾 After much deliberation between the two Sci-Fi fans in this group vs the two non-Sci-Fi fans it was decided that, although the plot was creative, the script lacked imagination. We discussed how repetitive word (and curse word) choice in the script became tiresome and how there were missed opportunities for technical word-play to describe ideas such as the monstrous creatures or the vault itself! Not to mention the incongruous first, second and third act that had us asking “did three different people write this in a game of pass-the-story?”. For these reasons we are split 50-50 in recommending this podcast. The two Sci-Fi fans recommend it for its decent sound design and intriguing mystery. The two non-Sci-Fi fans will point out the huge plot inconsistencies and bad dialogue in the script.
#podcast #thedeepvault #fictionalpodcast

About: Robotic servants, tooth-filled monsters, and terrible computers collide within the claustrophobic, steel-reinforced walls of The Deep Vault, a modern day homage to the golden age of sci-fi radio drama. The Deep Vault is a serialized, seven-episode audio drama set in in the almost-post-apocalyptic United States. The story follows a group of longtime friends as they journey from the uninhabitable surface world into a mysterious underground bunker in search of safety, shelter, and answers to their past.

From:Dead Signals
Genre: Science Fiction
Starring: From the creators of Archive 81

fiction thriller

Sandra

By corbett on Friday, June 14, 2019

👍🏻👍🏼👍🏽👍🏾 This story is a good play on the new trend of smart devices. We liked the idea of integrating humans with A.I. technology. It was an entertaining audio fiction that was well produced. It doesn’t keep you on the edge of your seat, but it was a fun listen for most of us. #podcast #sandrapodcast @gimletmedia

About: A world where artificial intelligence isn’t so artificial. Helen thought her new job would help her forget her dreary hometown, but working behind the curtain on everyone’s favorite A.I. isn’t quite the escape she expected.

From:Gimlet Media
Genre: Science Fiction
Starring: Kristen Wiig, Ethan Hawke & Alia Shawkat (from Arrested Development)

documentary thriller

Atlanta Monster

By corbett on Sunday, June 2, 2019

👎🏻👎🏼👎🏽👎🏾 If you have kids you probably don’t want to listen to a podcast about a serial killer who preys on children. Payne Lindsey’s sporadic storytelling is hard to follow especially in audio format. Ever since Up and Vanished this group has found his true crime investigation unorganized and hard to follow. #podcast #paynelindsey #atlantamonsterpodcast

About: This true crime podcast tells the story of one of the city’s darkest secrets, The Atlanta Child Murders. Nearly 40 years after these horrific crimes, many questions still remain. This podcast aims to find truth and provide closure, reexamining the disappearance and murder of over 25 African American children and young adults.

From:Tenderfoot TV and HowStuffWorks
Genre: True Crime (cold case resurrection)
Starring: Host Payne Lindsey

fiction thriller

Homecoming

By corbett on Friday, May 31, 2019

👍🏻👍🏼👍🏽👍🏾 Amazing listening! This was great for a group listen because it was really fun to speculate what was going to happen next. This fiction podcast sets the bar for what is possible in audio storytelling in the way of production quality, transition creativeness, acting, direction, and story. We also later watched the Netflix show, which was equally unique and fun to discuss. We suggest listening to all the fun behind the scenes. #podcast @gimletmedia #homecomingpodcast

About: Homecoming centers on a caseworker at an experimental facility, her ambitious supervisor, and a soldier eager to rejoin civilian life — presented in an enigmatic collage of telephone calls, therapy sessions, and overheard conversations. The result is an innovative, immersive audio experience — a mystery unfolding across the twelve episodes of Seasons One and Two.

From:Gimlet Media
Genre: Psychological Thriller / Science Fiction
Starring: Catherine Keener, Oscar Isaac, and David Schwimmer