Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Preview

£0.00 for first 30 days

Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

The Son

By: Philipp Meyer
Narrated by: Will Patton, Kate Mulgrew, Scott Shepherd, Clifton Collins Jr.
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £16.99

Buy Now for £16.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Summary

THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
NOW A MAJOR TV SERIES starring Pierce Brosnan and co-written by Philipp Meyer

The critically acclaimed, New York Times-bestselling epic, a saga of land, blood and power, follows the rise of one unforgettable Texas family from the Comanche raids of the 1800s to the oil booms of the 20th century.

Eli McCullough
is just twelve years old when a marauding band of Comanche storm his Texas homestead, brutally murder his mother and sister and take him captive. Despite their torture and cruelty, Eli - against all odds - adapts to life with the Comanche, learning their ways and language, taking on a new name, finding a place as the adopted son of the band's chief and fighting their wars against not only other Indians but white men too, which complicates his sense of loyalty, his promised vengeance and his very understanding of self. But when disease, starvation and westward expansion finally decimate the Comanche, Eli is left alone in a world in which he belongs nowhere, neither white nor Indian, civilized nor fully wild.

Deftly interweaving Eli’s story with those of his son Peter and his great-granddaughter JA, The Son maps the legacy of Eli’s ruthlessness, his drive to power and his lifelong status as an outsider, even as the McCullough family rises to become one of the richest in Texas, a ranching and oil dynasty that is as resilient and dangerous as the land they claim. Yet, like all empires, the McCulloughs must eventually face the consequences of their choices.

Panoramic, deeply evocative and utterly transporting, The Son is a masterpiece American novel - part epic of Texas, part classic coming-of-age story - that combines the narrative prowess of Larry McMurtry with the knife-edge sharpness of Cormac McCarthy.

'Stunning ... a book that for once really does deserve to be called a masterpiece' Kate Atkinson

'Magnificent ... McCarthy's Border Trilogy is a point of reference, as is There Will Be Blood, but it is not fanciful to be reminded of certain passages from Moby-Dick - it's that good'The Times

'Brilliant ... a wonderful novel' Lionel Shriver
©2013 Philipp Meyer (P)2013 Simon & Schuster
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2
activate_samplebutton_t1

Listeners also enjoyed...

Sin Killer cover art
Lonesome Dove cover art
North and South cover art
The Searchers [Dramatized Adaptation] cover art
Little Big Man cover art
Navajo Autumn cover art
Boone's Lick cover art
Moon Palace cover art
Dances with Wolves cover art
The Poisonwood Bible cover art
The Far Journey cover art
That Bright Land cover art
These Is My Words cover art
Citizens Creek cover art
Grizzly Killer: The Making of a Mountain Man cover art
A Lone Star Christmas [Dramatized Adaptation] cover art

What listeners say about The Son

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    186
  • 4 Stars
    85
  • 3 Stars
    35
  • 2 Stars
    5
  • 1 Stars
    2
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    216
  • 4 Stars
    50
  • 3 Stars
    16
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    1
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    171
  • 4 Stars
    75
  • 3 Stars
    29
  • 2 Stars
    6
  • 1 Stars
    3

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
    4 out of 5 stars

Fantastic tough listen

Graphic account following two families in Texas and Mexico over 100 years beginning in the early 1800’s. Beautifully read, vivid and harrowing, nothing permanent. A great story

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

Loved this book

Wonderful stories spanning three generations, Eli, Peter and Jeannie McCullogh. Each beautifully set in its time and place. The reading was superb.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

The pinnacle of storytelling possibly the best book I’ve ever read.

For years I thought Steinbeck the greatest storyteller, but this is certainly equal if not better.
And the readers are all perfect in their parts. Which is so rarely true.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

Epic!!

Very good historic adventure slowly bringing together the story of three generations and all their foibles. A little too self indulgent in places, but great listen!

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

captivating. at times brutal. brillian narration.

the journey of eli is incredible. the detail of his growing up with Indians is fascinating.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

An incredible story

An epic story following three generations of the same family. Brutal in places exploring prejudice and laying it bare. America will never be tamed, it is still at war. This book tells a vivid story and the narrators bring this story to life. Fabulous.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

Taste the frontier

Brilliant narration lets you live the emotions of the characters. Very enjoyable listen start to end.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

Phenomenal

One of the all time great novels. Written and told in a unique and memorable way.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

Masterful

Fabulous, did not in any way detract from the mental pictures formed when reading for the first time. An extraordinary book. Read/hear it.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

5 people found this helpful

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

wonderful!

a wonderful story, with wonderful characters with some of the most magnificent narrators I've heard.
I've just finished it, and I'm already missing them.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful