Most of the books I “read” these days are actually books that I listen to while I’m driving. Listening to audio books provides the added pleasure of experiencing the interpretation of the story by the actor who is narrating and creating unique voices for each character. Perhaps that’s why I enjoy listening to books so much. It is often the actor’s interpretation and the author’s words combined, which create a truly engrossing experience.

And so it was for me with Terry Hayes’ novel “I Am Pilgrim”, Christopher Ragland narrating.

As thrillers go, it was pretty thrilling. At one point I had to turn the sound down so I could barely hear what was happening, which is akin to covering your eyes during the scary parts of a movie and peeking at the action through your fingers.

The novel follows a terrorist and an intelligence officer. Two men on opposite sides of everything. Brilliant men pitted by fate against one another in a race against time. Bioterrorism, brutal murders, astounding details of societies, politics, science, forensics, everything to keep you flipping pages (or hurriedly changing out rented library CD’s while waiting at a stoplight) until the bitter end.

I was impressed by the sheer scope of knowledge and understanding of societies, religions, psychology, and politics that the author used to create this story. Truly impressed. In fact, his grasp of these topics, which spanned time, cultures, and nations, gave me an overall sense of hope–hope that there may actually be remarkably intelligent people in the world–hope that maybe we aren’t driving 100 miles an hour down a one way highway towards inevitable destruction.

The two main characters were simultaneously sympathetic and repulsive. Men who had loved, lost, and killed. Influenced from birth, motivated by what they believed was right, destined for success and for destruction.

The idea that we’re all full of endless potential and epic failure, capable of both great and horrific deeds, flawed in our thinking while at the same time inspired by the highest of powers, was what I got from this book. Not what I was expecting.

Utterly worth the read…or listen, as it were.

-Darci