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    Beautiful Animals: A Novel
    Beautiful Animals: A Novel
    Beautiful Animals: A Novel
    Audiobook7 hours

    Beautiful Animals: A Novel

    Written by Lawrence Osborne

    Narrated by Tim Campbell

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    On a hike during a white-hot summer break on the Greek island of Hydra, Naomi and Samantha make a startling discovery: a man named Faoud, sleeping heavily, exposed to the elements, but still alive. Naomi, the daughter of a wealthy British art collector who has owned a villa in the exclusive hills for decades, convinces Sam, a younger American girl on vacation with her family, to help this stranger. As the two women learn more about the man, a migrant from Syria and a casualty of the crisis raging across the Aegean Sea, their own burgeoning friendship intensifies. But when their seemingly simple plan to help Faoud unravels all must face the horrific consequences they have set in motion.

    In this brilliant psychological study of manipulation and greed, Lawrence Osborne explores the dark heart of friendship, and shows just how often the road to hell is paved with the best of intentions.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHighbridge Company
    Release dateJul 18, 2017
    ISBN9781681687155
    Beautiful Animals: A Novel
    Author

    Lawrence Osborne

    Lawrence Osborne has written for The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, and other publications, and is the author of books including The Naked Tourist. Born in England, he lives in New York.

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    Reviews for Beautiful Animals

    3.5/5

    81 ratings20 reviews

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    • 2/5
      This book is sort of a thriller, but it is so slow moving and lacking in suspense that I wouldn't want to mislead anyone with that description. It might be better to just think of it as a novel about a group of amoral, unlikable characters who do bad things without regret. It took forever for the plot to begin and I carried a paperback around with me for weeks unable to make myself read it. I only managed to finish it by switching to the audiobook and doubling the playback speed. Smug, spoiled and charisma-free Naomi has lost her job as a lawyer in London and has come to spend the summer on the Greek island of Hydra with her father and stepmother. She doesn't like them, but is perfectly willing to use their house and money. She meets Sam, a slightly younger American girl, who is visiting Hydra with her own family. Naomi and Sam encounter Faoud, a refugee who has washed ashore, and help him - mostly due to their own narcissism and boredom. When Naomi comes up with a completely ridiculous plan, Faroud, Sam and Naomi's maid all agree to it and when it predictably goes awry it's amazing how quickly they all take to criminality. This is the second book I've read by this author and I don't mind his languid style, but the plot didn't really grab my attention this time. At least one character in a book needs to have some spark that makes me want to follow them and know their fate (even if I don't like them). I didn't find that here.I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.
    • 4/5
      Parts were slow but the storyline was interesting! I had to find out who dunnit.
    • 5/5
      Meine MeinungW.A.S F.Ü.R E.I.N B.U.C.H!Es ist nicht einfach in Worte zu fassen, denn es ist ein echtes Lesehighlight! Ein Buch, das ich gefressen habe und ich nicht aufhören konnte zu lesen, denn die letzten 200 Seiten habe ich in einem Zug durchgelesen. Die ersten 60 Seiten plätschern ein bisschen dahin und man muss sich an den Schreibstil des Autors gewöhnen. Man lernt Naomi und Sam kennen. Zwei sehr junge Frauen, die ihren Sommer auf der Insel Hydra in Griechenland verbringen. Naomi ist Engländerin und kennt die Insel in- und auswendig, da sie seit ihrer Kindheit die Sommer dort verbringt. Sam ist ein paar Jahre jünger, Amerikanerin und verbringt ihren Sommer mit ihrer Familie auf der Insel. Sie ist noch recht unschuldig und naiv, was das Leben angeht, da ihr privilegiertes und behütetes Leben noch nicht viel von ihr eingefordert hat. Naomi ist anders, auch reich und privilegiert, doch charakterlich ganz anders als Sam. Naomi vermag sich auf ihrem Status nicht so richtig auszuruhen. Sie hat eine gewisse Unruhe, ist fast immer im Konflikt mit ihrem Vater und ihrer Stiefmutter und ist irgendwie immer auf der Suche nach einem Abenteuer oder etwas, das sie reizt und aus ihrem Alltag ausbrechen lässt. Der letzte “Nervenkitzel” führte zur Entlassung aus der Anwaltskanzlei. Als sie mit Sam auf einem Badeausflug den syrischen Flüchtling Faoud entdecken will sie ihm helfen und hat gleich etwas Unmoralisches im Sinn… Naomis Plan scheint absolut ausgeklügelt und doch kommt es anders, als sie, Sam, Faoud und die Hauhälterin Carissa denken und erwarten.Nun, natürlich konnte es nicht gut gehen, aber wie der Autor so nach und nach die Geschichte entwickelt, ließ mich am Ende sprachlos zurück. Er zeigt die Verflechtungen und die Auswirkungen einer Entscheidung, die ausschließlich Naomi selbständig gefällt hatte. Doch diese Entscheidung zieht weite Kreise und beeinträchtigt das Leben vieler Menschen. Insbesondere auch von denen, die passiv daran teilnahmen, wie z.B. Sam. Obwohl sie am wenigsten mit dem Ganzen zu tun hatte, sind die Auswirkungen auf sie, ihre Psyche, ihr Leben am stärksten. Man gerät während des Lesens in den Strudel der Geschnisse und in den Sog der Geschichte. Abgründe tun sich auf, Verschiebungen von Macht werden deutlich, Fluchtwege werden verfolgt, Lügen entstehen und die Verteidigung hängt auf einem seidenen Faden.Lawrenze Osborne hat mit ganz einfachen Mitteln und wenigen Figuren eine Art Thriller geschrieben, den ich gar nicht richtig benennen kann. Ich folgte der Geschichte, fühlte mich getrieben, obwohl sich alles recht gemächlich entwickelte. Ich musste mich einige Male zwingen nicht zur letzten Seite zu springen, um zu sehen, wie das Buch endet. Die Spannung war kaum auszuhalten.FazitDieses Buch tanz aus der Reihe und ist ein reiner (Lese)Genuss! Wer sich traut, über seinen Tellerrand zu schauen, sollte unbedingt dieses Buch lesen. Es ist ein Gegenwartsroman, ein Thriller, eine Art Krimi und eine Charakterstudie in einem. Lawrence Osborne nimmt den*die Leser*in nach Griechenland in die Zeit mit, als Flüchtlinge anfingen die Inseln zu überfluten und schafft es dennoch ein Buch zu schreiben, das nichts mit Politik am Hut hat. Es ist sehr atmosphärisch, schlicht aber auch düster und die Hoffnung während des Lesens überlagert stets das eigentlich offensichtliche Ende. Absolut lesenswert!
    • 3/5
      I have read others books by this author so the slow pacing was not unfamiliar. What was different was the boring story and vanilla characters.If you are looking for a story that moves at a glacial place, and the two lead characters are shallow narcissitic millennials with rich parents, a storyline that was written on a cocktail napkin, and you like reading many of the nonsensical fiction found in the New Yorker magazine- you know, lots of big SAT words to describe what isn’t important or relevant, then this book is for you.
    • 2/5
      I'm quite surprised that a well-known critic would call this a great book. It is not. It is a reasonably good book, but many things hold it back from greatness. If you like an omniscient narrator--this is your book. The author can speak bluntly from the minds of two young women in their early twenties, but at times describes them as if they were 14 year olds. He also reports confidently from the mind of a Syrian refugee, and older English gentleman-bodyguard-PI, and a Greek house-servant whose "master" and "mistress" references sound like they descended from a different century. I picked the book up because I'd recently been on Hydra. I'm so glad I didn't read it before I went. I'm delighted that I didn't meet a single professional or world class hipster/bohemian/jet-setter. The off season in Hydra was wonderfully peaceful, and I only met gracious and dignified and helpful Hydriots. For all his insider knowledge of the more obscure geography of Hydra, and his ability to season the book with Greek words that the average reader will have to look up, somehow I don't think he did justice to the setting--his descriptive powers I think could have been spent on capturing the beauty of Hydra in such a way as to share the experience with his reader and perhaps give them a clue as to why, apart from Leonard Cohen fans, the island is special. His boozy references to the drinking habits of his subjects was worthy of a Hemingway story..
    • 4/5
      I didn't like any of the characters, but the overall theme of the book was thought provoking. Naomi is a young woman of wealth staying on the island of Hydra with her father and stepmother. She meets Samantha, an American girl of more modest means, and they strike up a friendship. One day while roaming the island, they come across an Arab man who has "washed up" from the sea. Naomi thinks it is their moral duty to help this man almost as a balance of their own life of ease.They do take steps to help Faoud, who has escaped from Syria. After finding a place for him to hide out, they make plans for his escape by having him rob Naomi's house. But, something goes terribly wrong and the father and stepmother are killed.The story follows Faoud as he makes his way out of Greece with the passport and credit card of Naomi's father. The girls make a cold hard decision to bury the bodies of the parents. Interesting juxtaposition of supposedly making a moral decision on one issue and then without regard or regret burying the parents. Are they making these moral decisions based only on convenience.
    • 3/5
      Almost put this one down, the pacing is so slow. But I liked the descriptions of the Greek Island where the story takes place. Generally unlikable characters with no moral compass, it's part thriller, part psychological study. Nice writing, but the plot left me cold.
    • 4/5
      Beautiful Animals by Lawrence Osborne is a page-turner about two young women from wealthy families who become friends during a summer on a Greek Island. Through the deaths of the parents of one of the girls at the hands of a man escaping from a Middle East country, we observe the difference between the two girls and their reactions to the odd set of circumstances. One is cool and unemotional and controlling, the other will possibly suffer repercussions from knowing what happened during that summer for the rest of her life.
    • 3/5
      While I enjoyed the travelogue descriptions of Greece, I cannot say I was all that taken by the story. The main character, Naomi, while introspective at times, shows no redeeming qualities. About a third of the way through the book, her rambling conversation with newfound friend Samantha, pretty much sums up who she (Naomi) is: "Frivolity had raised her and made her. All of it was worthless, or nearly worthless. You could not at first believe that your whole upbringing, the way that you lived and thought and felt, was worthless from top to bottom...But suddenly that afternoon she had, and there was no coming back from it..." The character development did not measure up to the descriptions of places. The reader is left hanging at the end of the book, particularly with respect to Carissa, the housekeeper who was a witness to all that happened and Faoud, the Syrian refugee at the center of the story. It's an OK read, but not one that I would highly recommend.
    • 3/5
      Like "Hunters in the Dark" this book is strangely enjoyable. Naomi is reckless and impulsive - as the main character she initiates the action. Samantha is a spoiled American who seems to follow Naomi somewhat blindly. Naomi's bored existence with her father and stepmother is interrupted by the arrival of Faoud who creates the tragedy that changes her life forever. The island of Hydra is a character untoitself as the plot ensnares the characters like its namesake.
    • 3/5
      I enjoyed the beginning of this novel for its realistic meeting between two young women on an island but I expected a much more dramatic circumstance altering their lives then the one that took place. And I feel a little cheated by the lack of backstory to a majority of the characters and how a few characters seemed tossed into the mix but were forgettable and weren't given the chance to really make their way in the novel. At the end of it there was a good read but not something I would be compelled to read twice.
    • 4/5
      "She was the savior and she relished the role. It made her vital in a new way. To save another person: It wasn’t nothing. . . . Such shifts were the substance of one’s moral life -- they made the intolerable tolerable.”I've been a fan of Lawrence Osborne's fiction for a few years now. He's written a fine group of recent novels that are dark and unsettling, thrilling, and emotionally powerful. They all highlight the tensions between East and West; between the powerful and the disenfranchised; between the haves and the have-nots. And they all deal with the lingering legacy of colonialism in our confused global now. BEAUTIFUL ANIMALS draws on all these same themes, and it's a very good book.With wit and deft prose, Osborne highlights the tensions between the locals and the wealthy tourists and villa owners on the Greek island of Hydra. But it's not as simple as that. The jaded Brits mock the Russian and Eastern European nouveau riche. Those who have lived on the island longest frown on the more-recent arrivals. The wealthy have contempt for the locals, and vice-versa. In short, everyone skewers everyone else. There's a boring, boozy, bitchy complacency to the lives of the privileged we meet on Hydra. Until a young migrant from the Middle East washes up on the shores of the island, and everything changes.No one in Osborne's novels is likeable. Hell, they don't even like themselves. These are mostly unpleasant people, doing mostly unpleasant things, and making mostly bad choices. Osborne does a fine job of painting them, even if they don't always fully emerge as genuine characters. Osborne is a master of subtle suspense. Bit by bit, he shows us how calamity unfolds. Nothing that happens is really a surprise, but neither do we ever know exactly where things are headed. He always keeps us slightly off balance and wanting more. While his novels thrill at times, they're not really "thrillers" in a strict sense. There's suspense, yet we're happy to let events unfold at his leisurely pace. There's an elegant restraint to his fiction, but his books also burst with energy. It's a hard act to pull off, but he always seems to get it just right. I've seen many comparisons of his work to Graham Greene, and I think that's right on the mark. Like all his fiction, this is a troubling book. He forces us to take a hard look at some unpleasant realities, and to examine our assumptions. To say I "liked" this book wouldn't be right. But I admire it very much. Strongly recommended.(Thank you to Hogarth for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.)
    • 4/5
      This is a great beach read for the literary suspense reader. I enjoyed it very much; Osborne has a gift for setting and description, and it played like a movie as I read it. In fact I would love to see a film adaptation some day. Another winner from Lawrence Osborne.
    • 3/5
      I did not like the way this book started, and almost gave up after about 100 pages. The descriptions and words the author used were too flowery and inappropriate; it seemed as if he wanted to use unusual words to impress the reader. The story line finally got somewhat interesting when "the incident" happened, and I was able to finish it, raising my opinion from 2 to 3 stars. (This was an early review book and hopefully an editor will correct the numerous grammatical errors).
    • 4/5
      This is a great book for summer reading at the beach as it takes place on the beautiful island of Hydra, Greece in the summertime with the cafes, the beaches, the relaxing that comes with being on the beach in the summer! I found the writing to be 'disjointed' at times. There were sentences which I wasn't sure belonged there and sentences which seemed to just fill the space. There were similes that seemed to just have been written for the sake of writing some similes. Overall, I enjoyed the story.
    • 5/5
      There are two “beautiful animals” in this book. One is Naomi, a young woman who is spoiled and rich and bored. She’s staying on a Greek island with her father and step-mother, neither of whom does she get along with. Sam is a naïve young woman who is vacationing with her parents. The two become friends. When they find a young man named Faoud hiding on the island, they believe him to be an Arab refugee. Naomi wants to help him and Sam is pulled unwillingly into Naomi’s plans. Naomi figures that money is what Faoud needs to make a new life for himself so she comes up with the plan to enable Faoud to rob her parents’ home.I love the writing style of this author. I usually am a fast reader but when I’m reading one of Mr. Osborne’s books, his writing compels me to slow down and read every word. He has a beautiful way with words and pulls me into his stories as if I, too, were vacationing on this Greek Island and knew these people personally. This book is many layered, not only the suspenseful plot but also the dynamics between the characters and their families. This is a morally dark, disturbing tale and one that I became completely engrossed in.Highly recommended.This book was given to me by the publisher in return for an honest review.
    • 5/5
      Excellent Book . Well written and Hitchkokian plot about wealthy families and a migrant from Syria. Osbourne set the plot in a Greek Island among wealthy Westerners who summered on an island named Hydra. The plot involves Naomi, an only child of a wealthy father and a deceased mother and hostile step mother and Naomi's view of migrants, refugees and wealth. Naomi involved Samantha, an American girl, and Carissa, the family maid in an intricate and evil plot involving her father, step mother and Fahoud, the Syrian migrant. The story had surprising twists and was suspense- filled throughout. Extremely well written and highly recommended.
    • 4/5
      Naomi and Samantha, beautiful British and American girls respectfully, become fast friends on the Greek island of Hydra. Naomi is slightly older at 24 and clearly the alpha girl. While walking on the island, they discover a Syrian refugee in hiding. In an effort to help him, they develop a plot to help him by seeking revenge on Naomi's hated family. The plot goes awry and the Syrian is on the run. Naomi and Sam are left to cope psychologically to an unexpected outcome. This thriller is a page turner during the second half after their revenge plot runs amok. The first half is really a lovely tribute to the beauty of Hydra.i visited there 40 years ago. Lawrence Osborne's vivid and lyrical description was a trip back in time for me.
    • 5/5
      Lawrence Osborne is one of today's best writers, he should be much more widely read. I've read every one of his books so far, and this is one of his best. As always, his description of foreign locales is so articulate, in this one you can almost smell the resin in the pine trees on the Greek island. The situation of the two girls and the migrant is realistic, with a bit of a mystery as are all his books.
    • 4/5
      What a journey!! One of the best thrillers I've read in a long time! On the Greek island of Hydra, two young women become friends. The British anti-heroine, the amoral Naomi, leads by the nose her new American friend Samantha, a follower, although sometimes unwilling. The two girls find a young Arab man, Faoud, on the beach, and in cahoots with him and the Greek maid from Naomi's household plot a revenge against Naomi's parents--father and stepmother--whom Naomi hates. Supposedly simple and straightforward with no intention of hurting anyone, the plot goes badly awry. All participants must bear consequences they had never dreamed of.Well written and paced. I couldn't NOT finish the story, but I was a little disappointed at the ending.Highly recommended.