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Escape From Jonestown
- Length: 2 hrs and 20 mins
- Categories: Religion & Spirituality, Religious Studies
Publisher's Summary
Please note: This title contains graphic audio which some listeners might find upsetting.
Forty years ago, on Nov. 18, 1978, 914 members of a ‘utopian’ society deep in the Guyana jungle, known as Jonestown, drank a lethal elixir of Flavor-Aid and cyanide. Tim Carter was in the inner circle of its charismatic leader, Jim Jones. He escaped into the jungle. This is his story.
This is an Audible Original Podcast. Free for members. You can download all 6 episodes to your Library now.
Critic Reviews
"A tragic story... drawing on recordings made in the final, chaotic hours." (The Times)
What listeners say about Escape From Jonestown
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Pinark patel
- 08-01-21
Excellent listen, 1st hand experiences
excellent, muat listen, What a experience to listen to, really gripping and shocking at the same time..
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Tathagat Varma
- 26-01-20
Does injustice to such a powerful event...
As most of the other reviewers have written, rather poor production. Except Tim Carter's audio footage that brings authenticity to the production, rest of it is rather average.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Sam Jones
- 15-11-18
Interesting but disjointed and confusing
I’ve listened to several of these audible shows but found this one significantly weaker than others such as West Cork and Making a Massacre.
Whilst undoubtably a tale that should be told, I found the structure very disjointed. Some contributors were introduced in full multiple times, whilst other voices pitched in with no context or background given. I felt as though the show needed a more human guide rather than the almost robot sounding American women. Someone who could pitch in to clear up any confusion in the first hand accounts given and provide a little more shape and arc to the events. What happened was tragic and whilst I was left with a little more understanding about what happened at Jonestown I felt that the show did not do justice to the poor survivors and relatives that told their stories.
65 people found this helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Ross
- 17-12-18
Interesting story, poorly presented
Trying not to be too negative, as these audio shows are a really great addition to Audible. However, this was a really interesting story held back by an unusual narrative structure and poor presentation. It seems in need of a good sharp edit.
So much of the show was taken up by retelling the same information over and over. The narrator repeatedly introduces the same 'expert' with her name, title, where she works and so on, often multiple times in the same episode, which seems wholly unnecessary given the format.
30 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Shane
- 19-12-18
Interesting story, bad story-telling
Tim's story and account of the events at Jonestown are fascinating and certainly make for a good listen. The problem is the way the story is told. Why must the narrator recount the exact same information at the start of each chapter? Especially when each chapter is only roughly 20 minutes long.
11 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- M. E-S
- 30-11-18
Tim Carter's story.
Tim Carter's tale is tragic and moving and worth listening to. He tells it well, and the way he does so feels like it's taken him forty years to find the right words. It's supported by experts in cult psychology and the life of Jim Jones which add context to the events, but ultimately this is a portion of Mr Carter's biography and I'm glad he shared it.
The only real criticism I have is that as an audible production, it didn't need all the intro every episode.
7 people found this helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Tim R
- 04-11-19
Sloppy production with annoying repetition
No complaints about the story. There could have been more detail but since this is a personal account, emotion was more important. The narrator was fine. However, the constant repetition of background information on each person speaking was painful and completely unnecessary. There were only 6 episodes of roughly 20 minutes each. We don't need to be told, again and again, in each episode, who people are and why their story is important. Your listeners are used to entire novels where nothing is repeated. The repetition is either an indication Audible thinks the listener is barely concentrating at all or just pure padding. Either way it's incredibly tedious and frustrating.
4 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Allan MacDonald
- 02-09-19
More padded than a rugby player’s torso
Interesting, harrowing...and padded to high heaven. Would have worked better over 3 episodes. By episode 6 you’ll be able to recite why the professor has both a professional and personal interest in Jonestown.
3 people found this helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Sian
- 03-05-20
Less than the tip of the iceberg
The story of Jonestown and those involved is a fascinating albeit a harrowing one. For a six-episode podcast, I thought they were going to go for a real deep-dive told from the perspective of one of Jim Jones’ trusted members.
I was sorely disappointed to discover that it barely skimmed the surface. I’d even go as far to say that if you don’t know the full story beforehand, you’d be left with huge timeline questions after listening to this series. Between episodes it jumped huge time gaps and left out extremely relevant facts within the episodes themselves.
I think the gentleman’s story who escaped from Jonestown deserved a much better basis of storytelling than the quick summary it essentially received.
If you want a more in-depth audio documentary of Jonestown, I’d strongly suggest the podcast Casefile.
2 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 06-02-19
Annoying repetition
An interesting and terribly tragic story, with good input from concwrned/involved parties.
However, this is an American production, and they have continued the annoying process of giving a resume of the previous chapter, and entire story at the start of every chapter. I sort of get this process for a crime TV show, as people might channel flick and catch an episode mid-way. It doesn't happen in books, and shouldn't happen in audiobooks. It's not like someone is going to download the series and start at episode 4.!? Highly annoying, please treat the narrative as you would a book.
2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- DrIan
- 13-05-20
Heartbreaking
Difficult to listen to at times: both the magnitude and personal nature of the tragedy is heartbreakingly conveyed through the first person narrative. Essential listening, however. An important series, and not to be missed.
1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- thomas stenhouse
- 08-12-19
great lissen
moving and from a view point of the victims. more like this please. 5 star
1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Joeline
- 14-05-19
A detailed and very personal account.
A detailed and very personal account of the tragic Jonestown story. the final chapter can be hard to hear as a parent.
2 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Razz Berry Muffin
- 27-10-19
Pieces missing...
I found this story fascinating but felt the production left me frustrated & wanting to know more & for what happened to be explained more clearly.
It felt a bit rushed or slapdash. It was unsatisfying in terms of explaining the final day & how the mass murder/‘suicide’ really eventuated.
1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Teddy's
- 02-08-19
emotionally driven
I didn't want to stop listening.
the story's and the feeling of
truth, pain and raw emotion
was unbelievable.
this is amazing and I will be listening again and again
1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 04-06-19
heart breaking story
story told with Grace and Reverence but heartbreaking and tears at the very Soul of humanity
1 person found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 15-03-19
Pretty good
It started a bit slow but was really fascinating to hear a first hand account in some depth. The narration reiterating the beginning of every episode as if they were independent was annoying though.
1 person found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 25-12-18
Horrific but fascinating
Despite being a bit repetitive if you're listening to it back-to-back, this is a fascinating and tragic story from one of the survivors.
1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 24-03-21
wow
I am truly sorry for all the lives lost. an having to go over it again. truly a sad story
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Ricardo
- 03-03-21
Interesting but flawed production
The story, narration and research area great - but the use of some terrible 'royalty-free' sounding rock music is terribly out of place. Very jarring in-between otherwise pretty chilling story and interviews, frankly really dumb sounding music - once you notice, it'll annoy you.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 26-02-21
A Must Listen
Eye-opening recordings/ interviews, excellent narration, well woven historical context throughout. A must listen for all.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 10-01-21
gripping
so sad. well done audible series.
I'm appreciative for Tim's honesty and recounting. thank you