The Champions

About This Audiobook

Kara Thomas delivers another twisty YA thriller where the past isn’t just haunting Sunnybrook—it’s actively murdering its residents. When a star quarterback plows his truck into a tree mere days after a chilling warning about ‘the game being rigged,’ three outsiders—hoping to expose the truth behind last year’s cheerleading scandal—find themselves locked in a deadly game of their own. The Champions isn’t just about football; it’s a razor-sharp dissection of toxic legacy, where every character’s past is a loaded weapon. Thomas’ knack for blending small-town nostalgia with unrelenting dread shines here, especially as the body count rises and the town’s ‘perfect’ image starts to crack under pressure. Fans of procedural mysteries with a side of psychological tension will devour this, but be warned: the closer you get to the truth, the more it starts to bleed."

"Brittany Pressley’s narration is the secret weapon here, transforming a story that could’ve been another forgettable YA thriller into something electric. Her ability to shift between brittle sarcasm (courtesy of protagonist Hailey, whose sharp tongue masks deep insecurity) and raw, suffocating panic during the book’s standout scenes—like a car chase through fog-drenched roads or a confrontation in a locker room with a heartbeat you can almost hear through the audio—keeps the tension ratcheted tight. Pressley also nails the ensemble’s dynamics, particularly the eerie contrast between Hailey’s cynical narration and the chilling, almost cult-like tone of the antagonist’s lines. The production leans into the audio’s immersive potential, using silence and sudden sound cues to mimic the paranoia creeping through Sunnybrook. If you’ve ever wanted to feel the weight of a thriller in your bones, this is the audiobook to do it.