Sugarland

by Tom Fantana

From three-time Emmy-winning legend Tom Fontana, Sugarland is a hypnotic story about obsession, murder, and the serpentine bonds between siblings.

Sometimes the darkest mysteries are homegrown. When Zephyr Nelson returns home to look after her ailing mother, she discovers that her younger brother, Cotter, has become obsessed with a malevolent influencer on a mysterious voice app. Just as a series of puzzling deaths begin plaguing their small town of Sugarland. With the help of her college best friend and occasional lover, Teddy, Zephyr unravels truths about Sugarland that are impossible for her to accept...Forcing her to make an unconscionable choice that will change the lives of her friends and family, forever.

©2023 The Levinson/Fontana Company and Clamor Audio, LLC (P)2025 Audible Originals, LLC.

Genres: Audiobook, Mystery, Fiction, Thriller

Audiobook

First published April 3, 2025

Reviews

[ekrobin · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'd like to start off by saying that the cast did a wonderful job with the narration and owned every line. I feel bad putting it at 1/5 because of their fantastic acting/reading. In reality, it's likely a 1.5/5, but the frustrations I felt with the dialogue/execution of the story did not age well in my mind after setting down the audiobook. Perhaps others may find they liked the narrative, but it was not my cup of tea.

[Perm Clark · Rating 3 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️ This is my personal 5 star rating system because I’m too lazy to write a review for every book.

5 stars -> OMFG. I couldn’t stop listening. I was engaged from beginning to end. The story & narrator was amazing. I 100% recommend this book & author. I was able to clearly follow each and every character.

4 stars -> It was pretty good. I would’ve rated 5 stars, But either the ending was lacking, I struggled to keep up with characters, or the story didn’t keep me fully engaged. The narrator was pretty good as well. I’m on the fence about recommending this book, It could go either way.

3 Stars -> It was boring at times & I missed chunks of the story. I most likely struggled to keep up with character developments. The only way I would recommend this book is if it was part of a series. The narrator was most likely average or just couldn’t fix a mediocre book.

2 Stars -> It was pretty horrible. I used it as background noise because I hadn’t had a chance to search for another book. The book either had a bad narrator, The character development was non existent, or the story was hot garbage. I would not recommend this book.

1 Star -> The absolute only reason I listened to this book was because i had no time to search for another one & I needed background noise. It was 1 step up from listening to the radio. I wouldn’t recommend this book to my worst enemy. Everything about this book was terrible. This is only recommended for people on death row and have absolutely nothing else to read.

[Chrissie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This started well, but ultimately not for me.

[Josh Stalnaker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Audible originals are getting real good lately. This one was great. Absolutely thrilling and suspenseful. In my top 3 from audible originals

[Corrie Thompson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Edgy and abrasive, the confessional of horrors keeps you hooked and the dramatization was great, but the characters feel like they weren’t fleshed out

[⋆°⋆☾⋆°⋆ Adriane ⋆°⋆☾⋆°⋆]

Wtf did I just listen to... 👀👀👀

[Cori · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not my kind of book. I think the writing is great and the audiobook with multliple readers also great. But the story just made me uncomfortable and every time I listened I just...I can't explain the physical reactions I had to it. It put my emotions in utter turmoil and not in a good way? Like in a bade taste kind of way. But I think that's more the subject matter and manipulation aspect than it is the writing because the writing is really well done.

[Rob · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not good. Central character is bi-sexual guy from Manchester England who enjoys his girlfriend but not really his girlfriend? Whose Mom is in the hospital after a heart attack while serving as a hotel prostitute. Whose son (girlfriend's brother) has serious mental health concerns while be influenced by a voice. The Voice who is otherwise known as the all state insurance Mayhem guy. Seriously. I think this narrator is the all state guy. I had to stop after 1 hour. Usually I try to get to the half way point before abandoning. Not this time. DNF. Avoid like the plague. Poor writing. Poor narrating. Unappealing all-around.

[Isy Sullivan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The dialogue falls flat in areas. Although this book had a good story start, it quickly lost its appeal. There were several moments that weren’t necessary, and the ending seemed rather abrupt. Not to mention, this book could’ve been a book just about Zephr and Codder from Zepher’s perspective. I felt no confection to the characters and by the end I just hated Codder. I think 3/5 is a very gracious rating.

[Gnome Patronus · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay, so this book? I honestly almost bailed on it, but the narrators—full cast, absolutely killed it. They were the only thing keeping me from hitting stop and DNFing! You know who the bad guy is from the start, and while it’s not a whodunit, it’s all about the how and if for each crime. The whole time, you’re watching events unfold with a sense of inevitability.

Now, don’t expect it to keep you on the edge of your seat, this isn’t a thriller that’ll grip you tight, but the full cast brings it home in the end.

[Emma Thornhill · Rating 3 out of 5]

I seldom say this, but this book would've benefited from being longer.

Suspend your disbelief about the number of crimes, but you don't need to suspend your disbelief about the nature of them - that part was entirely too real. The reality of internet radicalization and the accuracy, the *charm*, with which it is portrayed here is what made this book so scary.

Also, I'm all for bisexual and poly rep, but it felt weirdly placed in this thriller.

[Andy · Rating 3 out of 5]

That was unusual

[Jessie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I stayed interested which is a big thing for me

[Savage_x_Swenty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not usually a thriller girl... so maybe disregard my review but it was just a 3 for me

[Cass · Rating 2 out of 5]

wtf was this

[Toni · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don’t know what I just listened to. It is a four hour book and I can’t even make it past the first 15 minutes. None of the characters are interesting. None of the characters have any qualities that I’m like oh OK that’s likeable and I’m wondering what the heck? this girl is off at college living it up while her mom is a hotel prostitute? who came up with his drivel.

What’s even more surprising it’s not the book itself, it’s not the narrators (the full cast). It is the summary, it starts, “from three time Emmy winning legend Tom Fontana, Sugarland is a hypnotic story about obsession, murder, and the serpentine bonds between siblings”. I should’ve looked at that and thought this is gonna be absolute rubbish because that is exactly what this book is.

I skipped from chapter 1 to 7.
Here’s the thing, we know exactly who the killer is, why is the sister in college, she is stupid. They’re all so stupid even if you have no direct proof and you have just assumptions at least point the cops in the right direction and you’re telling me she suspects him of forcing people to commit suicide, killing and bombing people and she can’t come up with one little bit of evidence to give the police to further her suspicions? He’s either a criminal mastermind or she’s the stupidest person. Could be both. However, when she says in chapter 7, I feel this is my fault. I let it go on so long and her friends say no it’s not your fault. I said yes it is your fault, and your mom‘s fault and your brother‘s fault.

[Chris Howells · Rating 1 out of 5]

I gave this one star simply to get published. This is truly awful. The narrator is a badly written bisexual whom makes poor jokes about his sexuality, it is patronising, idiotic and very, very badly written. A mortal sin for a writer who has apparently won Emmy's. A female lead who is empowered because she can box and has a viscous right hook, who actually comes across as a moronic oaf that you really do not care about. As for the so called plot, well, good luck trying to make head or tail of it. Cultural appropriation is the central theme, obviously no research has gone into this and dear god you will cringe at the result. Do not waste any of your life on this drivel, life simply is too short.

[casey · Rating 2 out of 5]

started strong!, but entirely disconnected from reality in a way that really breaks into the story but is kinda hard to put a finger on. like, you know how sometimes your younger brother is acting weird, & you’re investigating the situation, and you go to the house where his bully lives, & you ask the bully’s dad if you can speak to his son, & the bully’s dad says, “MY SON…IS DEAD.” and that’s how you find out about a death that’s just occurred in your small town?? because that’s definitely how that would happen??

and lord knows why everyone keeps praising the narrators!! they were hilariously overdramatic. it felt like a literal 1920’s melodrama—a dastardly villain was going to tie a delicate maiden to the train tracks at any moment.

[Kaya Reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm usually the one to be extremely harsh when rating/reviewing a book, but this time, damn...

I dunno, I thought it was a good distraction as I was trying to fall asleep and do chores -- this is not an insult whatsoever; it's how I consume all my audiobooks.

Was it the greatest story ever? No. Did the narration cast do most of the job? Yes, imo.
Overall okay, like many of these free Audible Originals

[Simplymetaramarie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a wild ride of a story. Plenty of action. I enjoyed the main characters. There were multiple voice actors. The ending was abrupt. I felt left wondering why. We know who led Cotter down the path, but not why it began. What happened to the other characters? There is a lot of potential to make this a good story, but it needs more work.

[Snow · Rating 1 out of 5]

Interesting enough, but completely unbelievable. Poorly executed characters, that felt like caricatures, which I absolutely did not care about. A only mildly interesting plot that was completely unbelievable all put together. The ending was not worth the journey, but at least this one was short and like all full-cast audible originals, the production value was top notch.

[Callie Kakascik · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ah, an Audible Original... I've listened to many that I enjoyed, and I was hoping to say the same about this one, but unfortunately, that's not the case.

It's a full-cast narration in duet format, which is the only reason it's getting a two-star. It's all over the place, too many characters, and it just didn't work.


2 stars

[Sara Lauer · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a slog. Determined to complete, thinking it would surely get better and shouldn’t have bothered.
Boring, non believable characters, and no real finish.
The only redeeming factor was the voice actors.

[AttackGirl · Rating 3 out of 5]

While building the base for a shed, tech even in the yard. I became extremely angry when the power beats power battery died. I found myself ripping the house apart.. surely I have 2 other pairs and where are my Beats Pro headphones! Dammit!

I know they are here somewhere…

[Summer Phillips · Rating 1 out of 5]

That was the strangest listen. Having each character have their own voice actor was a nice touch and lessened the need for the “he said, she said.” But other than that, do not recommend the time listening to it.

[Frances Krohn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was really good in the beginning. The characters are great the voice actors are great too. I was disappointed in the unnecessary sex scenes and just for myself, I was a little disappointed in the ending but it was a good book.

[John Geddie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sorta fun with some unique ideas but just full of cliche. Honestly, it feels like a really promising first draft. Plus side: liked the narrator. Minus side: the ending kind of peters out and the narrative conceit of the narrator talking to a therapist doesn’t go anywhere.

[Emily Burns · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this read !

I honestly will enjoy every single audio book with a full cast and music lol I loved it

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75

[Maureen Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

Casting and audio very good. Storyline could have been very good but unnecessary sexual content took away from the story