Best Kirby Heyborne Audiobooks

The best audiobooks narrated by Kirby Heyborne — 14 titles spanning Thriller, Romance, Literature & Fiction, Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Historical Fiction, Horror, averaging 3.91 ABR stars.

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Kirby Heyborne has quietly built one of the more versatile resumes in genre audiobooks, moving between thriller, horror, sci-fi, and fantasy without ever sounding like he's straining to fit. His voice sits in a clean, approachable mid-range — not the thundering baritone of a prestige narrator, but precisely controlled and expressive in a way that serves ensemble casts well. That makes him a natural fit for anthology work like Carniepunk and 21st Century Dead, where keeping a dozen contributors' stories tonally distinct matters more than showboating. His long association with Orson Scott Card — spanning the Tales of Alvin Maker series and The Last Shadow — shows his range on the quieter, more interior end of sci-fi. He's not a narrator people typically seek out by name, but listeners who find him through Gone Girl or a Card adaptation tend to stick around.

Where to Start with Kirby Heyborne

  1. 1
    Gone Girl cover

    Gone Girl

    by Gillian Flynn

    Narrated by Julia Whelan, Kirby Heyborne

    4.53 ABR Score (3.5M ratings)
    ★ 4.15 Goodreads (3.5M) ★ 4.36 Audible (59.9K)
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    Nick and Amy's toxic marriage unravels through alternating perspectives, with Julia Whelan and Kirby Heyborne capturing each spouse's manipulation perfectly.

  2. 2
    The Neighbor cover

    The Neighbor

    Detective D.D. Warren • Book 3

    by Lisa Gardner

    Narrated by Emily Janice Card, Kirby Heyborne, Kirsten Potter

    4.37 ABR Score (57.9K ratings)
    ★ 4.09 Goodreads (52.7K) ★ 4.47 Audible (5.3K)
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    When a young mother vanishes from suburban Boston with only her four-year-old as witness, Detective D.D. Warren uncovers secrets that will make you question everything about perfect families.

  3. 3
    Losing Hope cover

    Losing Hope

    Hopeless • Book 2

    by Colleen Hoover

    Narrated by Kirby Heyborne

    4.28 ABR Score (278.8K ratings)
    ★ 4.09 Goodreads (275.9K) ★ 4.53 Audible (2.9K)
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    Kirby Heyborne brings raw vulnerability to Holder's POV, making this companion novel hit harder than the original for fans who thought they knew the whole story.

  4. 4
    The Other Side cover

    The Other Side

    by Kim Holden

    Narrated by Michael Crouch, Natasha Soudek, Bahni Turpin, Kirby Heyborne, Adenrele Ojo, Graydon Long, Erin Spencer, Vikas Adam, Kim Holden

    4.12 ABR Score (4.1K ratings)
    ★ 4.38 Goodreads (4.0K) ★ 4.79 Audible (96)
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    A cast of nine narrators brings genuine depth to Toby's fragmented world, each voice anchoring a different layer of his reality until the full picture hits you like a gut punch.

  5. 5
    The Earth Dwellers cover

    The Earth Dwellers

    The Dwellers • Book 4

    by David Estes

    Narrated by Julia Whelan, Khristine Hvam, MacLeod Andrews, Will Damron, Kirby Heyborne, Kate Rudd

    4.07 ABR Score (1.4K ratings)
    ★ 4.32 Goodreads (1.3K) ★ 4.69 Audible (154)
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    Characters from both The Dwellers and Country sagas unite as President Lecter threatens total destruction in this crossover climax. Six narrators including Julia Whelan and MacLeod Andrews handle the massive ensemble cast.

  6. 6
    Pathfinder cover

    Pathfinder

    Pathfinder • Book 1

    by Orson Scott Card

    Narrated by Stefan Rudnicki, Kirby Heyborne, Don Leslie, Kristoffer Tabori, Scott Brick

    4.03 ABR Score (30.9K ratings)
    ★ 4.01 Goodreads (25.1K) ★ 4.32 Audible (5.7K)
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    Rigg discovers he can see the paths people have walked through time—and potentially change history itself. The full-cast production featuring Stefan Rudnicki and others adds layers to Card's intricate time-manipulation plot.

  7. 7
    Cloud Atlas cover

    Cloud Atlas

    by David Mitchell

    Narrated by Scott Brick, Cassandra Campbell, Kim Mai Guest, Kirby Heyborne, John Lee, Richard Matthews, David Mitchell, Gabrielle Zevin

    4.01 ABR Score (276.8K ratings)
    ★ 4.01 Goodreads (269.8K) ★ 4.11 Audible (7.1K)
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    Seven narrators make this nested-worlds epic feel like a conversation across centuries, each voice perfectly matched to its era and character. It's the rare audiobook where the medium doesn't just serve the story—it becomes essential to how you experience it.

  8. 8
    West cover

    West

    East • Book 2

    by Edith Pattou

    Narrated by Renée Raudman, Kirby Heyborne, Taylor Meskimen, Robertson Dean, Kimberly Farr, Tonya Cornelisse

    3.93 ABR Score (3.1K ratings)
    ★ 3.86 Goodreads (3.0K) ★ 4.66 Audible (108)
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    Rose's happily-ever-after crumbles when her bear-prince husband disappears in a shipwreck, sending her on another magical quest. The six-narrator cast creates an immersive fairy tale atmosphere for this East sequel.

  9. 9
    Master Alvin cover

    Master Alvin

    Tales of Alvin Maker • Book 7

    by Orson Scott Card

    Narrated by Gabrielle de Cuir, Kirby Heyborne, Mirron Willis, Nan McNamara, Scott Brick, Stefan Rudnicki

    3.69 ABR Score (89 ratings)
    ★ 3.92 Goodreads (89)
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    The final volume of Orson Scott Card's beloved series gets a full-cast treatment, though specific plot details remain under wraps.

  10. 10
    The Book of Swords cover

    The Book of Swords

    Sir Hereward and Mister Fitz #7 - A Long, Cold Trail

    by Gardner Dozois, K.J. Parker, Robin Hobb, Ken Liu, Matthew Hughes, Kate Elliott, Walter Jon Williams, Daniel Abraham, C.J. Cherryh, Garth Nix, Ellen Kushner, Scott Lynch, Rich Larson, Elizabeth Bear, Lavie Tidhar, Cecelia Holland, George R.R. Martin

    Narrated by John Lee, Katharine Lee McEwan, Kim Mai Guest, Elliot Hill, Richard Brewer, Nicholas Guy Smith, Kirby Heyborne, Julia Whelan, Mark Deakins, Steve West, Ralph Lister

    3.65 ABR Score (2.6K ratings)
    ★ 3.67 Goodreads (2.2K) ★ 4.16 Audible (419)
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    Seventeen fantasy masters including George R.R. Martin and Robin Hobb contribute sword-and-sorcery tales inspired by classic heroes like Conan. The ensemble of narrators including John Lee and Julia Whelan matches the anthology's varied storytelling styles.

  11. 11
    Lincoln In The Bardo cover

    Lincoln In The Bardo

    by George Saunders

    Narrated by George Saunders, Nick Offerman, David Sedaris, Carrie Brownstein, Don Cheadle, Lena Dunham, Bill Hader, Kirby Heyborne, Keegan-Michael Key, Julianne Moore, Megan Mullally, Susan Sarandon, Ben Stiller, Various

    3.65 ABR Score (190.3K ratings)
    ★ 3.75 Goodreads (179.7K) ★ 3.97 Audible (10.6K)
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    Nick Offerman, David Sedaris, and a star-studded cast voice the dead trapped in a Washington cemetery while Lincoln grieves his son Willie during the Civil War.

  12. 12
    Carniepunk cover

    Carniepunk

    Hell on Earth #4.7

    by Rachel Caine, Rob Thurman, Delilah S. Dawson, Kevin Hearne, Mark Henry, Jaye Wells, Allison Pang, Hillary Jacques, Jennifer Estep, Kelly Meding, Nicole Peeler, Jackie Kessler, Kelly Gay, Seanan McGuire

    Narrated by Candace Thaxton, Kirby Heyborne

    3.55 ABR Score (3.4K ratings)
    ★ 3.64 Goodreads (3.2K) ★ 3.91 Audible (267)
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    Traveling carnivals hide supernatural secrets in this urban fantasy anthology from Rachel Caine, Jennifer Estep, and Kevin Hearne. Candace Thaxton and Kirby Heyborne capture each author's distinct voice perfectly.

  13. 13
    21st Century Dead cover

    21st Century Dead

    Dead of Night #1.1 Jack and Jill

    by Christopher Golden, John M. McIlveen, Rio Youers

    Narrated by Scott Brick, Cassandra Campbell, Bernadette Dunne, Richard Powers, Kirby Heyborne, Malcolm Hillgartner, Chris Patton, John Pruden, Renée Raudman, Stefan Rudnicki

    3.49 ABR Score (897 ratings)
    ★ 3.45 Goodreads (790) ★ 3.75 Audible (107)
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    This zombie anthology spans from Robopocalypse tie-ins to unpublished Stephen King, with ten different narrators handling each story's unique voice and terror.

  14. 14
    This Girl cover

    This Girl

    Slammed • Book 3

    by Colleen Hoover

    Narrated by Kirby Heyborne

    3.42 ABR Score (185.9K ratings)
    ★ 3.69 Goodreads (184.4K) ★ 3.81 Audible (1.5K)
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    Heyborne brings Layken and Will's story full circle with a male perspective that reframes everything you thought you knew about the first two books.

How We Rank Audiobooks

Rankings are driven by listener ratings and review counts from Audible and Goodreads. Books with high ratings across a large number of listeners rank higher — a 4.5 with 50,000 ratings says more than a 4.8 with 200.

Unlike most book lists, we weight audiobook-specific factors: narrator performance, production quality, and how well a story translates to audio. A great book with a poor narration isn't a great audiobook.

We don't accept paid placements or prioritize new releases. These rankings reflect what listeners actually enjoy, not what's being promoted.

Rankings update periodically as new ratings come in and new titles are added to the collection.

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