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Alice Isn't Dead
by
From the New York Times bestselling co-author of It Devours! and Welcome to Night Vale comes a fast-paced thriller about a truck driver searching across America for the wife she had long assumed to be dead.
“This isn’t a story. It’s a road trip."
Keisha Taylor lived a quiet life with her wife, Alice, until the day that Alice disappeared. After months of searching, presu ...more
“This isn’t a story. It’s a road trip."
Keisha Taylor lived a quiet life with her wife, Alice, until the day that Alice disappeared. After months of searching, presu ...more
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Hardcover, 336 pages
Published
October 30th 2018
by Harper Perennial
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Not that long before, on a highway in Georgia, a wife she hadn't seen in over two years had left a billboard with some advice, and now she was going to listen to it. Who was she to fight a war this lopsided? Her wife had perhaps decided to fight it, and her wife had disappeared.
A distraught woman gets a job as a long-distance trucker so she can search for her missing wife. In her travels she stumbles upon a vast . . . um . . . serial murder conspiracy . . . I guess? Much inner contemplation, and ...more
A distraught woman gets a job as a long-distance trucker so she can search for her missing wife. In her travels she stumbles upon a vast . . . um . . . serial murder conspiracy . . . I guess? Much inner contemplation, and ...more

I like this even more than Welcome to Night Vale. There, I said it.

Hand upon hand, she thought, upon leg upon heart upon couch upon a day where we made pizza together. That's love, Alice. That's what it's made of. And so what is this?
Alice isn't Dead. Keisha, her wife, knows this to be true, and so she's set aside her life and embarked on a journey across America to find her and bring her home. But, this being based on a podcast from one of the creators of Welcome to Night Vale, you might have guessed that the course of this particular true love was never going ...more
Alice isn't Dead. Keisha, her wife, knows this to be true, and so she's set aside her life and embarked on a journey across America to find her and bring her home. But, this being based on a podcast from one of the creators of Welcome to Night Vale, you might have guessed that the course of this particular true love was never going ...more

I mean I guess I shouldn't have been surprised when it turned out that Alice wasn't dead.
...more

Alice is dead. Or is she?
From the creator of the wildly popular podcast, Welcome to Night Vale, comes a story about a young woman roaming the highways of America as a truck driver looking for her wife whom she believes to still be alive. Along the way she will encounter deformed. zombie-like men and women, members of a secret government agency and a group of timeless mythical beings.
Like Welcome to Night Vale, Alice Isn’t Dead started as a podcast a few years ago under the banner “Night Vale P ...more
From the creator of the wildly popular podcast, Welcome to Night Vale, comes a story about a young woman roaming the highways of America as a truck driver looking for her wife whom she believes to still be alive. Along the way she will encounter deformed. zombie-like men and women, members of a secret government agency and a group of timeless mythical beings.
Like Welcome to Night Vale, Alice Isn’t Dead started as a podcast a few years ago under the banner “Night Vale P ...more

I cried at the end. It's not even a sad ending, I've just been following the podcast since the very beginning and can't believe the story is over. I loved it. I love it. The podcast. The book. Both absolutely creepy, thrilling, inspiring, and wonderful.
...more

I was going to give this 2 stars because there's some quotes I liked but y'know what, no, I'm giving it one star because I Hate It. The description of this sounds so promising, but please don't be fooled, the plot is ridiculous, vague, and incredibly unsatisfying, and the characters are noticeably one-note. Just.....think of The X-Files, and how it starts off with some strong mysteries but eventually veers off into "we didn't plan this story out that far in advance and the myth-arc is going to c
...more

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.

To tell the truth, I stopped listening to the podcast after about 5 episodes because it was too creepy and I'm scaredy-cat, but for some reason I think the story in a book format would work better for me.
and I just want to read a roadtrip book about Keisha looking for her wife Alice, who hopefully isn't dead. ...more
and I just want to read a roadtrip book about Keisha looking for her wife Alice, who hopefully isn't dead. ...more

This book proclaims from the get go to be not a story, but a road trip. Well, awesome. I love stories and dream of road trips. Bring it, book. And the book did. To be fair, obviously, yes it’s a story, quite a good one at that and yes, as a road trip it’s actually quite nightmarish, certainly not the one you’d want to find yourself on. But what a trip. Alice isn’t dead. She’s been gone for a while, buried even (sans body), but her wife knows otherwise. And sets off driving a truck across the cou
...more

I had been excited to listen to this. I made it through the fourth CD before giving up.
I think I expected something more along the lines of Pines in tension-building and weird happenings. I thought there'd be a touchpoint in the madness to hang onto. However, this was vague, random, herky-jerky, and somewhat silly. It was also boring. I was struggling by the second disc so when Melki confirmed that throwing in the towel was the way to go, I threw hard.
The weirdest part of my reading experience w ...more
I think I expected something more along the lines of Pines in tension-building and weird happenings. I thought there'd be a touchpoint in the madness to hang onto. However, this was vague, random, herky-jerky, and somewhat silly. It was also boring. I was struggling by the second disc so when Melki confirmed that throwing in the towel was the way to go, I threw hard.
The weirdest part of my reading experience w ...more

Alice Isn't Dead is one of my favorite podcasts and while I enjoyed this slightly different take on the story here I definitely prefer the podcast. The sense of unease and dread is not as prevalent here and I really missed that. Plus, Jaskia Nicole performance really makes the tale.
...more

"She couldn’t go home. Because home wasn’t a place. Home was a person. And she hadn’t found that person yet.”
WOW. And I thought I loved Night Vale. Full disclaimer, I only listened to the first season of the Alice Isn’t Dead podcast, so I can’t compare this to the podcast very much.
Holy shiz balls. This book, guys. If you’ve been looking for a queer story where the plot didn’t focus on the characters coming out, or dealing with suicide, or any of the stereotypical crap we have to deal with in re ...more
WOW. And I thought I loved Night Vale. Full disclaimer, I only listened to the first season of the Alice Isn’t Dead podcast, so I can’t compare this to the podcast very much.
Holy shiz balls. This book, guys. If you’ve been looking for a queer story where the plot didn’t focus on the characters coming out, or dealing with suicide, or any of the stereotypical crap we have to deal with in re ...more

I have a hard time with podcasts - WTNV is one of the few I don't zone out on. I need to give Alice Isn't Dead a try because I've found the premise so intriguing from the very beginning. But I'm just not good at visualizing audio. So I was really excited when I found out this book was happening. I wasn't at all disappointed. I've always wondered about all of the creepy things one sees while travelling across the country. This book tells you about those creepy things. It's in the same literary tr
...more

Alice Isn't Dead is a really good novel. It's a really good horror book, a really good sci-fi/fantasy book, and a really good book about humans in general. Just from reading the plot summary, you might think this was a book all about some vast conspiracy involving the U.S. Government and a bunch of weird monsters. You'd be sort of right for thinking that, but it's also about so much more. Underneath all the monsters and supernatural wars is a love story between a woman and her wife. It's a story
...more

Aug 23, 2019
Kara
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
books-i-could-not-put-down,
2019
ok i expected to have a fun romp with some supernatural elements i did NOT expect to fully be cryin about humanity and mortality and justice and love ALSO this pulled me out of a two-month reading slump in the best way Anyway read it

I'm a huge Night Vale fan (podcast and books), so I thought I would like this one more. However, I found the sort of rambling, meandering storytelling that works in Welcome to Night Vale didn't work here. I found myself frustrated with anything not advancing the main plot, and it it took way too long to get answers about anything. When we do get answers, I thought they were pretty spare and unsatisfying. I never quite understood what Thistle actually wanted. The explanation of the Thistle Men an
...more

The podcast felt a lot more leisurely, even rambling. The book was much more to-the-point, cutting most of Keisha’s rambling into the radio and several scenes that weren’t crucial to the plot. I really enjoyed the podcast, and I think a lot of what I liked was Jasika Nicole’s narration. The book was kind of strange to read because I could hear a lot of it in her voice (especially lines that were the same). I don’t think the same creepiness in how the thistle men talk and the weird noises they ma
...more


Keisha Lewis and her wife Alice led ordinary lives amid their quiet love story. The last few years, Alice was often on the road for work but checked in regularly. Then came the day that she didn't return. There was an investigation and searches but it was as if Alice simply vanished.
Keisha doesn't actually believe Alice is dead, though she held a funeral for her wife and grieves her loss. No, Keisha knows Alice is out there on the road because she sees her constantly in the background of new ...more
Keisha doesn't actually believe Alice is dead, though she held a funeral for her wife and grieves her loss. No, Keisha knows Alice is out there on the road because she sees her constantly in the background of new ...more

While I often found myself frustrated with the confusing style of story telling or lack of details in certain parts, I left the book liking it more than I thought I would. Everything in this novel seems delivered in earnest, which was a deviation from the Nightvale novels that Fink co-wrote. The seriousness of it all leant to a tone I wasn't quite prepared for, but found after some time. There are many beautiful passages scattered throughout, but I advise you to have patience with this one.
...more

I'm going to be blunt and say it but I did not enjoy this book in the slightest. When I added this book to my TBR, I was unaware that it was a podcast and once I discovered that it was, it only intrigued me more on how the book would translate with the podcast. I'm not going to lie, I tried getting into the podcast but was unable to because it just felt like a teenager being edgy and making everything deep. With that being said, I still went on to read this book and I still didn't like it as muc
...more

It's been a little while since I listened to the podcast so I cannot really remember how similar it is to what happened here in the audio book. It's billed as an alternate telling of the same plot from the podcast and it definitely hit all the same high notes, but I'm not sure how many of the small details are different. That being said, it might not be a good idea to listen to this immediately after finishing the podcast, but I think it's good if you want to revisit the idea and the characters
...more

Alice Isn't Dead is one of my favorite podcasts. The story is Keisha's search for her wife and her subsequent stumble into a world of creepy zombie men and twisted government agencies is compelling and so well-written. This book is simply the podcast in a different format. I'm reviewing this now, but know that I haven't read the last 25% or so because it was getting into spoiler territory. I will definitely finish reading it as soon as the podcast and book match up.
Update: Finished it. Loved it. ...more
Update: Finished it. Loved it. ...more

I can see how this may be a creepy podcast but didn’t like the book. Would have been a better short story. Super political. Supposed to be some kind of statement about the author’s anxiety in the two protagonists. I don’t think anyone who suffers as they do would be able to accomplish ANY of what they do.

truck driving across the country; back and forth, looking for her supposedly dead wife. rest stops with immaculate bathrooms and vases of flowers. rest stops with filthy bathrooms and people in hoodies appearing and disappearing.
deserts. a clown motel. murders. mystery. support groups. a diner in poughkeepsie.
a missing wife. gas station snacks. anxiety.
omg this book had it all.
i read the welcome to nightvale book and it was eh but this was SO much better.
i really liked how joseph fink descri ...more
deserts. a clown motel. murders. mystery. support groups. a diner in poughkeepsie.
a missing wife. gas station snacks. anxiety.
omg this book had it all.
i read the welcome to nightvale book and it was eh but this was SO much better.
i really liked how joseph fink descri ...more

Ok, so first off I haven’t listened to the podcast yet as of writing this review, so all opinions are based on the book alone. It was interesting, and not what I expected it to be - but then, I wasn’t really expecting it to be expectable, if that makes sense. That being said, it was hard to put a finger on what genre this was supposed to be. Mystery? Dystopian? Horror? It was definitely creepy at first (which I appreciate since it’s not often that a book can put me on edge like that) but it kind
...more

A bit of a disappointment, Alice Isn’t Dead was touted as a reimagining of the spooky, affecting podcast but in its novelization lacked some of the things that made the podcast so gripping and, for the most part, was more of a lackluster distillation of the original rather than adding anything new.
As with the podcast, there are a lot of heady, thought provoking ideas filling up the novel, each intriguing in their use of the horrors of our daily existence in the United States to make the inevita ...more
As with the podcast, there are a lot of heady, thought provoking ideas filling up the novel, each intriguing in their use of the horrors of our daily existence in the United States to make the inevita ...more
topics | posts | views | last activity | |
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Challenge Corner: Alice Isn't Dead by Joseph Fink --> Starting January 10th, 2021 | 10 | 7 | Jan 13, 2021 05:54AM | |
YA Buddy Readers'...: Alice Isn't Dead by Joseph Fink - Staring January 10th 2021 | 1 | 5 | Jan 02, 2021 07:28AM | |
Goodreads Librari...: Please correct page count for Alice Isn't Dead, ISBN13: 9780062844132 | 3 | 20 | Nov 15, 2018 03:50AM | |
Goodreads Librari...: Merge or delete? (NAB issue) | 2 | 34 | Oct 20, 2017 09:06AM | |
Goodreads Librari...: NAB? | 3 | 33 | Sep 08, 2017 07:34PM |
Joseph Fink is the creator of the Welcome to Night Vale and Alice Isn't Dead podcasts, and the author of the New York Times bestselling novels Welcome to Night Vale, It Devours!, and The Faceless Old Woman Who Secretly Lives in Your Home (all written with Jeffrey Cranor) and Alice Isn’t Dead. He is also the author of the children’s novel, The Halloween Moon. He and his wife, Meg Bashwiner have wri
...more
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