Audiobook Review: The Vile Thing We Created by Robert P. Ottone
The Vile Thing We Created
Author: Robert P. Ottone
Narrators:
Patrick Donohue
Alicia Love
Published: April 18, 2023
Audiobook: 10 hours 13 minutes
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Listened To: September 21-24, 2025
Jessica’s Rating: 4 stars
Book Description:
Lola and Ian had what they thought was the perfect relationship. Vacations. Fine dining. A healthy sex life. But when their childless lifestyle begins impacting their social lives, they decide to take the natural next step.
But what happens when that next step cracks the perfect foundation Lola and Ian have built? What happens when that next step is anything but natural?
Robert P. Ottone’s The Vile Thing We Created is a terrifying vision of parenthood in the tradition of Ira Levin and Thomas Tryon.
Jessica’s Review:
I have only ever seen the movie Rosemary’s Baby, but The Vile Thing We Created has some similarities to it. We have a bi-racial couple, Ian and Lola Sumner. This couple is not likable and very selfish. They have what they feel is a dream life: He is a teacher and she bakes from home. They have a lot of sex (which is detailed throughout the book), Lola smokes pot, and they feel they just have ‘The Life’. But then the couple start being excluded from events in their friend group: A belief that this is because they have no children and all of their friends do. So, Lola and Ian decide to just have a baby: A decision that they later regret.
There is a supernatural element in the novel, and it picks up the further you get in the story. It starts with Ian’s mother giving the couple baby gifts with a seven-point star on it. They are led to believe that it means “good luck”. Ian also grew up around that symbol.
We see Lola go through a very traumatic birth and then an array of emotions which includes not feeling love for her newborn. Her lack of feelings is not what she expected. We see a case of extreme postpartum depression.
The novel picks up at around 60% where the baby named Jonesy is now talking and he becomes quite the character. Patrick Donohue did a great job with his portrayal of Jonesy! In his narration. Jonesy is a unique child starting with his appearance: He has one blue eye and one brown eye.
The supernatural element picks up in this last 60%. Both narrators did a good job with their narrations. Yes, this is a horror novel, but more psychological horror than terror. This is a good novel to pick up and read in October! And lesson learned: If you don’t feel that need to have a child, then don’t cave to societal pressure and ‘just have one’: You never know what you just may give birth to!
Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK