Audio Books and Stories by Zachary Bartels

Taking Audio Books to the Next Level! Cinematic music and effects propel the listener into the thick of the action.

Playing Saint Audio Book Cover

Playing Saint: A Novel
8 hours, 56 minutes
 

Yesterday, Parker Saint’s oly concern was his swiftly rising star power. Today, he’s just trying to stay alive.

Parker Saint is living the dream. A cushy job at a thriving megachurch has him on the verge of becoming a bestselling author and broadcast celebrity—until life takes an abrupt turn that lands him on the wrong side of the law. To avoid a public scandal, he agrees to consult with the police on a series of brutal murders linked by strange religious symbols scrawled on each victim.
 
Parker tries to play the expert, but he is clearly in over his head. Drawn ever deeper into a web of intrigue involving a demanding detective, a trio of secretive Vatican operatives, and a centuries-old conspiracy to conceal a mysterious relic, he realizes for the first time that the battle between good and evil is all too real—and that the killer is coming back . . . this time for him.
 

“A thought-provoking exploration into the power of faith and the reality of evil. Filled with memorable characters and tight writing, Playing Saint is an impressive debut from an author to watch.”
Steven James, bestselling author of Placebo and The Queen
 

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Playing Saint All Souls' Day Audiobook Cover

Playing Saint: All Souls’ Day
9 hours, 54 minutes
 

On All Souls’s Day, the faithful remember the dead. This year there will be plenty of dead to remember.

It’s been a year since pastor Parker Saint found himself in the middle of an ancient conspiracy involving demon possession, ritual killings, holy relics, and Vatican operatives, and things are just starting to get back to normal. Well, as normal as they can be now that he’s married to Detective Corinne Kirkpatrick.
 
Corinne is having trouble adjusting to life as a pastor’s wife. And while she’d love to retreat to the familiarity of her precinct, she’s beginning to feel out of place there too—surrounded by younger, unfamiliar faces and increasingly feeling like a relic herself.
 
When a new series of grisly murders rocks the quiet city of Grand Rapids, everyone is on edge, and no one more so than Parker—from the very first crime scene, the killer seems to be drawing attention to him. Soon he and Corinne are thrown into a deadly game with a timer that is swiftly running out. As the stress takes its toll on their fledgling marriage, they’ll have to lean on God and each other—and even those Vatican operatives—in order to stop the killer before it’s too late.
 
Includes bonus short story, “Crying He Makes: A Tale of the Jesuits Militant”

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Slide show of promotional images for the Playing Saint books

Playing Saint BUNDLE
20+ hours!


The complete adventures of Parker Saint and the Jesuits Militant as of now, with more to come!

Get more bang (and by that I mean Vatican agents shooting at bad guys) for your buck with the bundle! Includes Playing Saint, Playing Saint: All Souls’ Day, “Crying He Makes: A Tale of the Jesuits Militant,” and “Behind You: A Playing Saint Story,” a new origin short story about Father Michael.
 
In addition, everyone who buys the PLAYING SAINT BUNDLE will get 50% off the audiobook of the forthcoming Jesuits Militant standalone novel.
 
Follow the exploits of our favorite gun-toting priests, chip-shouldered detective, and corny preacher as they face off against the powers of darkness, with the odds stacked against them.
 

“Bartels holds readers’ interest in this intrigue-filled thriller . . . Saint's character is particularly well developed as he changes from a self-absorbed TV personality into a true man of faith. This book will be enjoyed by those who love a mystery combined with supernatural elements.”

LIBRARY JOURNAL

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The Last Con Audiobook Cover

The Last Con: A Novel
10 hours, 35 minutes

Rule #1: Don't Grift the Illuminati.
Fletcher Doyle Is about to Break Rule #1.

Former con man Fletcher Doyle is finally home after six years in the pen. He’s working a menial job, regaining his bearings in the world, and trying to revive his relationships with his wife and twelve-year-old daughter. No easy feat.
 
But when Fletcher and his family go on a mission trip to Detroit—in the company of the condescending church leader who also happens to be his landlord—Fletcher finds his old life waiting for him. Within hours of arriving in the city, he’s been blackmailed into doing a job for a mysterious criminal who calls himself The Alchemist.
 
A series of relics hidden by the Knights of Malta, as ancient as they are priceless, are in the sights of The Alchemist. What he needs is a gifted grifter with a background in ecclesiastical history . . . what he needs is Fletcher Doyle.
 
Between hiding his reawakened criminal life from his wife and trying to hide her from their relentless landlord, Fletcher is ready to give up. But when his family is drawn into the dangerous world he can’t shake, Fletcher is forced to rely on his years in the game to save the only people who mean more to him than the biggest con in history.
 
Includes bonus short story, “Playing Saint Nick: A Christmas Grift”

“Bartels interweaves the story of an ex-grifter trying to go straight with the historic tale of a man and a group seeking ultimate power. I was quickly drawn in and kept turning pages.”
RICHARD L. MABRY, bestselling author of
Critical Decision and Code Blue
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Clinch: A Novel Audiobook Cover

Clinch: A Novel
9 hours, 53 minutes

Superheroes aren’t real.
But before the summer ends, Trent’s going to wish they were.

For Trenton Marsh, life is getting complicated. Ever since his police chief dad went back to school, the two of them rarely see each other. And while Trent has managed to somehow catch the interest of Zoe, the intriguing new girl in town, he is quickly realizing just how out of his league she really is. Meanwhile, the formerly harmless quirks of his best friend, Judith, are becoming cause for concern as she becomes ever more determined to transform herself into a real-life superhero.
 
Just when Trenton starts getting Judith back on the road to sanity, a string of bizarre break-ins disrupts the quiet town of Clinch Rock. Nothing is missing, but it’s clear that someone is looking for something of immense value. And when Trent discovers a secret room and a dusty journal in the basement of his house—which once belonged to a 19th century lumber baron—he finds himself inadvertently feeding Judith’s new obsession with solving crimes and dispensing justice.
 
But it soon becomes frighteningly clear that a shadowy group will stop at nothing to get their hands on the lumber baron’s substantial riches, propelling Trent and Judith into a frantic race against time and ruthless treasure hunters to solve a century-old mystery before it’s too late.
 
Note: This audiobook was first serialized on “Clinch: A Podcast of Fiction and Not-Fiction.” These files contain just the book content, with all ads, intro/outro, and the “not-fiction” segments removed.
 
Includes bonus short story, “Go Green”

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Behind You Cover Image

Behind You: A Playing Saint Story
1 hour, 36 minutes

Sometimes What You Think You’re Done with . . . Isn’t Done with You.

Mariam is a devout young Arab girl, living in 19th Century Egypt. Michael is a 21st-century teenager with a penchant for brawling, floating through life between a tony boarding school and a posh neighborhood across the river from the Motor City.

Both will be charged to leave their pasts behind and follow God’s call.

Human traffickers, forced marriages, and ruthless killers will try to hold them back. But once you’ve given everything up, you’ve got nothing left to lose.

Spanning centuries, continents, and the darkest places in the human soul, this story ties together multiple threads of the Saintiverse and will inspire you to keep your eyes on the prize—and never look back.

Note: “Behind You” is included in both the PLAYING SAINT BUNDLE and the BIG BUNDLE. It can also be purchased as a standalone, for those who have read the Playing Saint books.

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Go Green Cover Image

Go Green
1 hour, 25 minutes

A Game-Day College Visit . . . Or a Game of Life and Death?

Aubri (with an i) is less than thrilled that she’s stuck babysitting these high school visitors while her sorority sisters enjoy the non-stop party that is Game Day. What’s worse, while one of the two girls might be real Phi-Delt material, the other is a social misfit who clearly sees herself as above all of this, cramping their style at every turn.
 
When a daring armored car heist in the middle of campus turns deadly, the three girls are the only witnesses. As the killers stalk them through the throngs of fans, Aubri begins to see that this misfit might just be her only chance of making it out alive.

 
Note: A simple reading of this companion story to Clinch: A Novel (with pretty rough audio quality) appeared on the Clinch Podcast in 2019. This version is newly recorded, mixed, and produced with cinematic music and sound effects.

 
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Slideshow of all book covers

The BIG BUNDLE
50+ Hours

For the voracious consumer of Christian fiction and supernatural suspense--get all four novels and lots of extras!
Forget the half-measures and get go all-in. The Big Bundle contains:
 
  • Playing Saint: A Novel
  •  
  • The Last Con: A Novel
  •  
  • Playing Saint | All Souls’ Day
  •  
  • Clinch: A Novel
  •  
  • Short Story, “Crying He Makes: A Tale of the Jesuits Militant”
  •  
  • Short Story, “Playing Saint Nick: A Christmas Grift”
  •  
  • Short Story, “Behind You: A Playing Saint Story”
  •  
  • Short Story, “Go Green”
  •  
  • Live reading of Satirical Novel, re:raptured, with co-author Ted Kluck
  •  
  • 50% off the audiobook of the forthcoming Jesuits Militant standalone novel.


 
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