SPOTLIGHT Audio - THRILLER - WINTER FALLING (Winter, #4) by Alex Callister Narrator Elli Potter

WINTER DAWN
Winter, #4
by Alex Callister
Narrator: Ell Potter
Released: April 7th 2022
Length: 11 hours 34 minutes
Publisher: Audible Originals
Genre: Thriller

For fans of Lee Child, Robert Ludlum and Stieg Larsson, comes the exhilarating fourth instalment of the Winter series, winner of Audible’s Thriller of the Year 2019. 

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster.... 

Firestorm is down - the assassin for hire website that had the world by its throat, gone. Alek Konstantin, king of the underworld, is in hiding. But while the world celebrates, Winter is bracing for what must surely follow. 

All the world’s cut-throats, assassins and thugs are unemployed, roaming the globe without a leader - and nature abhors a vacuum. 

Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken.... 

Something’s not right, and it’s not only that Winter’s body is in pieces. A boy held captive. An attempted assassination. Thirty men gunned down in rural South Wales. What sinister hand is directing these events, and to what end? 

GCHQ is a place of secrets, and they follow Winter everywhere. There is so much she must conceal, and Control is keeping something from her, something vital about her past. 

As she crashes towards the ultimate showdown, Winter faces the hardest decision of her life - and she must ask herself the question - whose side is she really on?

   

Alex is an action movie fan and her books are full of cult references and movie one-liners. Her kick-ass heroine, Winter, was inspired by Bond, Bourne, John Wick, Vin Diesel, Jack Reacher and many others. She has a history degree, a certificate in creative writing and a murderous imagination. She writes when she gets a chance, which is mainly at night between 10pm and 2am at home in London, with her three Bengal tigers. Her debut WINTER DARK was the Audible UK Thriller of the Year and was a finalist at the Audies in 2020.

Website

 

Ell Potter is an actor, writer, and award-winning narrator. While training at LAMDA, she was named Audible’s ‘Breakout Star’ and her debut audiobook was subsequently nominated for an Audie. She has since recorded extensively with numerous publishers, winning multiple AudioFile Earphones Awards in the process. Her narrator credits include Hamnet, the Winter series, Dark, Salt, Clear (BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week), In At The Deep End , and little scratch.

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TOUR Audio - THRILLER - WINTER DAWN (Winter, #3) by Alex Callister Narrator Ell Potter

WINTER DAWN
Winter, #3
by Alex Callister
Narrator: Ell Potter
Released: December 10th 2020
Length: 10 hours 53 minutes
Publisher: Audible Originals
Genre: Thriller

The Book Junkie Reads . . . Review of . . . WINTER DAWN (Winter, #3) . . . Well, hello Winter. It was nice to meet you. This was my first in the series known as Winter. She was a lot. She was action. She was intensity. She was smart. She was cunning. She was an agent. The intrigue she was wrapped in made me want more of her. I would have liked to have meet her from the beginning. I wont say that I missed anything by beginning with book three, but I would say that I wanted to know her before this slam introduction to the chaos of her world. Even with this being the beginning of her career. It was not the beginning of her stories from Alex Callister. The writing was deep, intelligent, strong, luring, and even at times nail biting. 

I would say a warm welcome to Ell Potter. Your voice is new to me and much enjoyed. I feel you pulled the genre off just right. You made me feel the intensity of Winter. I could feel the grit of the various characters. Thank you.

I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Alex Callister. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.

Meet Winter: she’s the audacious, hyper-intelligent GCHQ agent with more notches on her bedpost than James Bond and more hacking cred than Lisbeth Salander. 

Winter Dawn is the third instalment in the Winter series, journeying back to the beginning of her story. This time, she’s grappling with Colosseum: a sinister online phenomenon that has gripped the world. It promises a massive cash prize to the successful hunter of its victims, unleashing an unstoppable tide of violence - and the world’s authorities are powerless to prevent it. 

When a New York senator is targeted, Winter is called in to protect her. But with all the world watching, there’s nowhere to hide. No one has ever survived Colosseum. It’s the winter solstice and as they journey together into the dark heart of the longest night, they soon discover that nothing about Colosseum is what it seems. 

There are rules and there is a purpose, if only they can solve the riddle in time. Colosseum is more than a hunt: it’s a challenge. Targets must face their darkest fear or die at dawn. 

Winter Dawn is the third instalment in the Winter series - the first of which was Audible’s Thriller of the Year in 2019 - and journeys back to the beginning of her story.

   

Alex is an action movie fan and her books are full of cult references and movie one-liners. Her kick-ass heroine, Winter, was inspired by Bond, Bourne, John Wick, Vin Diesel, Jack Reacher and many others. She has a history degree, a certificate in creative writing and a murderous imagination. She writes when she gets a chance, which is mainly at night between 10pm and 2am at home in London, with her three Bengal tigers. Her debut WINTER DARK was the Audible UK Thriller of the Year and was a finalist at the Audies in 2020.

Website

 

Ell Potter is an actor, writer, and award-winning narrator. While training at LAMDA, she was named Audible’s ‘Breakout Star’ and her debut audiobook was subsequently nominated for an Audie. She has since recorded extensively with numerous publishers, winning multiple AudioFile Earphones Awards in the process. Her narrator credits include Hamnet, the Winter series, Dark, Salt, Clear (BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week), In At The Deep End , and little scratch. 

Click here to view the full tour schedule!

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SPOTLIGHT Audio - THRILLER - WINTER RISING (Winter, #2) by Alex Callister Narrator Ell Potter

WINTER RISING 
The Winter Series, #2
by  Alex Callister
Narrator: Ell Potter
Length: 10 hours 33 minutes
Released: October 1st 2019
Publisher: Audible Originals
Genre: Thriller

Winter returns to face the most feared hitman of all time, the Guardsman. 

Winter has put the world of organised crime into crisis by unmasking its boss, Alek Konstantin. Hunted and permanently on the run, he has been caught on camera in Mexico, Virginia and Marseille. Retracing his steps, Winter attempts to uncover his motives and bring the world's most wanted man out of hiding using the tracker he embedded in her wrist. But things aren't quite that simple. After finding Lucy and watching her die a sickening death, Winter's desire to bring down the legendary Guardsman overrides her orders. Knowing Firestorm’s top contract killer is experimenting on victims, she takes a contract out on herself to catch him. 

Once again disguised as her alter ego, Snow White, Winter follows the Guardsman to Moscow expecting to spring the trap. However, things aren't quite what they seem. Who is the Guardsman and why does he know everything about Winter? With the reality of the situation unravelling as the world’s leaders assemble in London, just how much has Winter underestimated her opponent and is the realisation all too late? 

Winter faces her biggest challenge yet in this dark commentary on our surveillance society.

 

 

Alex is an action movie fan and her books are full of cult references and movie one-liners. Her kick-ass heroine, Winter, was inspired by Bond, Bourne, John Wick, Vin Diesel, Jack Reacher and many others. She has a history degree, a certificate in creative writing and a murderous imagination. She writes when she gets a chance, which is mainly at night between 10pm and 2am at home in London, with her three Bengal tigers. Her debut WINTER DARK was the Audible UK Thriller of the Year and was a finalist at the Audies in 2020.

Website

 

Ell Potter is an actor, writer, and award-winning narrator. While training at LAMDA, she was named Audible’s ‘Breakout Star’ and her debut audiobook was subsequently nominated for an Audie. She has since recorded extensively with numerous publishers, winning multiple AudioFile Earphones Awards in the process. Her narrator credits include Hamnet, the Winter series, Dark, Salt, Clear (BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week), In At The Deep End , and little scratch.

Click here to view the full tour schedule!

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Sign up as a tour host here.
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SPOTLIGHT Audio - THRILLER - WINTER DARK (Winter, #1) by Alex Callister Narrator Ell Potter

WINTER DARK 
The Winter Series, #1
by Alex Callister
Narrator: Ell Potter
Length: 11 hours 31 minutes
Released: March 21st 2019
Publisher: Audible Originals
Genre: Thriller

When you buy murder online, who is there to stop you? GCHQ agent Winter has just 14 days to bring down the website of a formidable criminal organisation before a teenager is tortured to death in front of an online audience of millions. Going deep under cover disguised as the paid assassin Snow White, Winter must infiltrate the inner circle of the extraordinarily powerful man at the heart of the dark web. This is a gripping, fast-paced ride through a disturbingly plausible technological future in which Callister’s protagonist must battle to bring down the terrifying crimes tearing through society. 

About Winter 

Master hacker, highly intelligent, combat trained: Winter is a very modern spy. Worlds apart from the straitlaced characters created in the minds of Ian Fleming and John le Carré , Alex Callister's lead protagonist wouldn't dream of playing the part of the impeccable agent. However, despite her intimidating skillset, Winter is delightfully human and often prone to prioritizing her libido over her employer. Undeniably sexy and exceptionally accomplished, Winter is a true 21st-century heroine.

 

 

Alex is an action movie fan and her books are full of cult references and movie one-liners. Her kick-ass heroine, Winter, was inspired by Bond, Bourne, John Wick, Vin Diesel, Jack Reacher and many others. She has a history degree, a certificate in creative writing and a murderous imagination. She writes when she gets a chance, which is mainly at night between 10pm and 2am at home in London, with her three Bengal tigers. Her debut WINTER DARK was the Audible UK Thriller of the Year and was a finalist at the Audies in 2020.

Website

Q&A with Author Alex Callister

• The Winter Series was written specifically for audio, how did that come about?
  • Audible produce their own Audible Original titles and they commissioned the Winter books. They have six months exclusivity when a book first comes out, which means it can’t be reproduced in any other format like print or digital. It is very satisfying as an author to write for audio. A narrator brings the words alive and slows the reader down so even though the subject matter is gripping, the reader can’t speed ahead. Every word matters. The language has to be very precise.
• Do you believe certain types of writing translate better into audiobook format?
  • Definitely. The more lyrical the better. There is a certain poetry to the spoken word. I am very conscious of rhyme and rhythm when I write. I say everything out loud as I go. I sound crazy. Makes working in libraries difficult!
• Where do you write?
  • Everywhere. I carry a notebook around with me and am always noting down scenes when they occur. If I have a fight to write (and there are a lot of fights in the Winter books) I put my earphones in and go for a walk. Music is very inspirational.
• So, what do you listen to if you are writing a fight?
  • At the moment, it is Seven Nation Army. I get obsessed with songs and listen to them fifty times while I write a chapter and then never listen to them again. I like I can’t fall in love without you by Zara Larsson for romance and Bad Things, the soundtrack to True Blood, for sex. Each of the Winter books has a playlist on Spotify of tracks I was listening to at the time.
• There is a lot of sex in the Winter books is that something you deliberately set out to do?
  • Yes. Winter is my version of Bond. I have tried to stay true to the promiscuity of early Bond.
• Are you an audiobook listener? What about the audiobook format appeals to you?
  • Absolutely. Audio is very immersive. I like to listen to the same things over and over. I always have something on if I am driving or cooking etc... My favourites are the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett, read by Nigel Planner and Tony Robinson and Celia Imrie. I practically know them off by heart.
• What are you listening to at the moment?
  • The Raven Boys series by Maggie Stiefvater narrated by Will Patton. I love the way he says ‘Blue’. I was expecting a female narrator when I started so took a bit of time to get used to his voice, but now I think he is perfect.
• How closely did you work with your narrator before and during the recording process? Did you give them any pronunciation tips or special insight into the characters?
  • Very closely. I am really lucky my narrator lets me give her production notes. Because it’s a series, we have been able to plan characters and backstory together. There’s this central character, Simon, that is Aberdonian because Ell really wanted to do an Aberdonian accent. Now he has a whole Aberdeen backstory! Sometimes, I put things into the books as a joke or a challenge for Ell – like an Algerian gangster talking Italian.
• Does she try to change anything?
  • Sometimes. That is the beauty of writing for audio. It is a very collaborative event. If she wants to change something I’m usually fine with it.
• What’s next for you?
  • The fourth instalment in the Winter series, Winter Falling, is out 10 April 2022.

 

Ell Potter is an actor, writer, and award-winning narrator. While training at LAMDA, she was named Audible’s ‘Breakout Star’ and her debut audiobook was subsequently nominated for an Audie. She has since recorded extensively with numerous publishers, winning multiple AudioFile Earphones Awards in the process. Her narrator credits include Hamnet, the Winter series, Dark, Salt, Clear (BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week), In At The Deep End , and little scratch.

Click here to view the full tour schedule!

Plugging you into the audio community since 2016.
Sign up as a tour host here.
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