Cover Image: Hearers of the Constant Hum

Hearers of the Constant Hum

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Member Reviews

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher/author for providing me with an ALC in exchange for my honest review.

OMG!!! This book was exactly what I wanted it to be! I loved it. I will make sure to check out other books by this author. When I requested this I was just intrigued by the concept of it and I loved how it turned out. This story had a great plot and if you have read this and enjoyed it, This was so much. It was such a great story. I would say give this one a try. I will continue to follow this author. Way to go to this author for not letting me down.

I highly enjoyed the narrator of the audiobook. Kept me listening.

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Bill Krang, our protagonist, is a captivating mess. He's plagued by the constant hum, a nonsensical insect chant that both drives him mad and fuels his bizarre investigation into the deeper meaning of the chant. As he gains knowledge about his situation and the world at large, his body begins to decay -- to collapse. He lives alone in a dingy apartment filled with cockroaches when he meets Della and her exterminators.

This book is dark and weird, and I enjoyed the particularly unconventional and unsettling atmosphere. My skin crawled with Pauley's description of the cockroaches. As always, Pauley's prose is descriptive and draws the reader into the story. The characters are another highlight of this book. The exterminators are characters from another of Pauley's books, The Brothers Crunk, which I have not read yet. I know what I'll be reading next!

Connor Brannigan is, as always, a fantastic narrator.

I would highly recommend this book to people who like weird and/or bizarre horror fiction. If you are already a fan of Pauley's books, this one won't disappoint.

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This book was not my jam and I can tell you it was a me problem and not a book/author problem. This was my 1st book by William Pauley III but I will certainly give them another read!

#HearersoftheConstantHum
#NetGalley

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So first a shout out to the narrator, who did such a great job creating voices, accents and personalities for this wild cast of characters. The story itself is wild, and it's kind of more horrific because of some of their incompetence. This is a horror story, but it's the mix that makes it interesting: the omnipresent insects, drug dealing, and experiments on people make for a frightening combination.
Thanks to NetGalley for letting me listen to this

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After a while I started to sadly get bored with this little series. I pushed through so I could finish what I was given but I'm just not as invested anymore.

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Another weird and fantastic story by Pauley. In this one, the pedlar of a powerful and popular drug has issues with her supply when her bumbling, hilarious suppliers stumble upon a man who has spent his entire life hearing insects chanting the same unusual poem. This man, Bill Krang undergoes a Kafka-esque transformation after failing to get help from seemingly well-wishing scientists.

The narration of this audiobook is fantastic, really nailing the stupidity and pointless philosophising from the Krunk brothers.

The plot takes us through Bill's life and troubles and weaves in various people trying to take advantage or help him, all of which leads him into the path of the book's other characters.

A wonderful, dark but daft story superbly told.

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"Ashok burn right hand of men. To Neptune, rebirth in blue fire."

With that catchy phrase on constant, repetitive hum from insects his entire life, little Billy Krang grows up strange, isolated, and obsessed with recording the insect chant and somehow sharing it with the rest of the world who can't hear it. He becomes the King of the Insects, living a squalid life amongst thousands of cockroaches in a filthy apartment in a near empty building. Things start to change, however, when Krang encounters Della "Bee," a young, criminally minded entrepreneur who creates an underground suicide drug from the carapaces of dead cockroaches. The Brother Krank are here as well, a pair of philosophic minded brothers who make their living as exterminators of bugs and men. The entire story is extremely bizarre, and in some cases, revolting in the descriptions of the filth. There were several WTF moments for me. My only complaints are that the story seemed to drag on in the middle - I would have preferred a shorter story.

The strange, bizarre plotline was very interesting to me. I also enjoyed the narration of Connor Brannigan, as this is the very first audiobook I have listened to! Kudos to the author!

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4⭐️
This book had a lot of things I thoroughly enjoyed including a weird plot, morally gray characters, and a terrifying disease I would never want. The author did a good job of world building for a standalone book and creating the atmosphere for a decayed world. He hit the nail on the head describing what its like to go outside when you have insecurities that you’re sure other people are judging you for, when really nobody is even looking. There were a few plot points that felt irrelevant and some things that were left unexplained but I still enjoyed the book.
Thank you NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

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Having finally finished the Bedlam Bible, I was excited to move on to Pauley’s other work. “Hearers of The Constant Hum” may not technically be a part of the Bedlam Bible series but there are definitely things you will recognize in this story. The themes of living your life as fully as possible even in a terrible, crumbling world are just as strong in this piece of work. As usual, Connor Brannigan does a phenomenal job at immersing you in this world that is a perfect mix of harsh reality and strange fiction. If you have enjoyed any of Pauley’s previous work, you will not be left disappointed by this one. The ones that get it, get it.

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Another weird one but another compulsive listen.

Well narrated again too.

Many thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for gifting me this arc in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

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* I received the audiobook version of this story via NetGalley *

After finishing the Bedlam Bible series from William Pauley III , I wasn’t exactly sure the best place to start but this is where I ended up choosing.

Connor’s narration was great as always.
I really enjoyed The cover art for this book, it perfectly fits the story.

Like all of the other work I’ve read from Pauley, this book is dark and wild. Insect heavy which doesn’t bother me as much as it might others. I actually thought the drug aspect was pretty interesting and unique.

Guess i would feel disappointed if I didn’t go ”huh?” At least once

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Another horrifying offering from the alter of William Pauley III. Since he was a child Billy Krang has heard messages in places no one else can. Words from insects busily humming a repeating line inside his head, until one day he sees the very same message spray painted on a wall and below is a phone number …

Featuring characters used in other William Pauley III works, The Brothers Crunk - Divey and Reynold make an appearance as bug exterminators as well as protagonist Krang. I enjoyed the twist with the brothers Crunk towards the end and the insight into their characters. This was a wonderfully nightmarish and illusory tale with a little humour and social commentary sprinkled throughout as is typical from this author.

Connor Brannigan has smooth and immersive tones and a wonderful range of character voices, allowing him to express the darkly poetic moods of this book perfectly.

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Hearers of the Constant Hum
by William Pauley III
Narrated by Connor Brannigan, I just love this guys books and it was one of his best so far.....Especially as I binged some of these over the last few days. This is another weirdest book you will ever read and I loved it, especially the cover.......Don't judge the book by its cover.......Well I did with all his books and I didn't know what I was letting myself into lol.
But, I am glad I did. Brilliant!

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As always the narrator has my heart.

This is such a mind bending book. I couldn’t imagine how taxing it would feel to be… gifted? Not sure if it’s a gift really… the constant bug onslaught.
I do think I’m going to at least get the eReader copy to give it my full attention and really dive deeper.
Also huge home alone vibes from the bug van 😂

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This was an interesting premise, reminiscent of Kafka, but in a very new way. I did not love the commentary from the exterminators much of the time. I am very pro trusting your reader to reach conclusions and their running commentary ended up feeling preachy for me. I also wish that the end hadn’t just suddenly wrapped up so quickly. Still a five star for me. Thank you to NetGalley and the author for the complimentary audiobook

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For those who are not into "insects", especially ones who talk in an annoying way, skip this book.

And that's it. The rest is honestly good. Story-wise is very concise, i confess i got lost a little mid-way into the book, but then it turned out good anyway. the ending left me wanting for a bit more, i felt it was a nice ending, but not satisfying.

Narrator choice was fair, the insect part i felt it was a bit overexaggerated but bearable. still, good job.

To me this is still a 4s read, despite what i covered.

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I finished reading this book hours ago and I still don't really know what to say about this book, other than this was another interesting and weird story from William Pauley III. The story has insects talking to people by repeating the same mantra over and over again, a lady creating drugs from cockroaches, and brothers that do some questionable things to pay their bills.

Connor Brannigan narrated this novel and once again brought a wonderful creep factor to the narration.

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This book gave me the appropriate chills I was seeking and really made me think about society and how we treat others, human and animal alike.

Beautifully written and such an original story. I was enthralled with every chapter.

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Im turning into a fan of William Pauley III and Bizarro Fiction. This story is creepy, bizarre, nasty, and wonderful at the same time. What is that chant mean? Bill Krang heard it all his life, coming from insects. Scientist study him to create a world of insect machines using human consciouses so that we can become immortal and the scientist become gods. But Bill is dissolving. Will it be too late to save him. Then we have Delma Comb, a young woman in her 20s creating a drug that kills people who are willing to do so. It is an insane story trying to figure out the meaning of life. Will the conclusion be utter ruin or redemption? Read and find out.

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This novel clearly wasn’t for me. I found there was too much going on with this and it didn’t keep my interest. I pushed through and made it to the end though.

For me, there was too much hoing on and while the two storylines connected at points, they were overwhelming. The stories and characters themselves I found underwhelming. I also did not find this was horror at all. - I will note it may not be a good read if you have a fear of bugs.

The narrator, Connor Brannigan, wasn’t a bad choice, as he did bring life to majority of the characters. The chapters were short and made the novel go quickly.

Special thanks to Netgalley & the author for providing me with a copy of the audiobook.

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