York audiobook company Behear have teamed up with a multi-million bestselling author to bring his book to life.
JD Kirk, author of the well-known crime thriller DCI Logan series of books, is working with the independent York business to produce a dramatised audiobook of his book ‘A Litter of Bones’ – the first book in a series of 20.
Behear was first established in 2021 by Colin Sinclair. Colin, an author and thespian himself, was inspired to create Behear after his daughter Amy, was in a car accident in 2016, leaving her with only 18% of her eye-sight, and registering her legally blind. Amy, a keen reader, took to audiobooks to fill her time, however she found a single voice reading a whole book to be unexciting.
That’s where the idea for Behear came in. The company specialise in ‘dramatised audiobooks’, which feature a different actor portraying each character, soundscapes, sound effects and more to create a fully immersive experience – “like Netflix without the pictures.”
Since its creation, Behear have had many successes, such as a nomination at the Audio Production Awards in 2023, nominated in the YorkMix Choice Awards, a weekly radio drama on YorkMix Radio, and a variety of commissions from authors. This collaboration with JD Kirk is the latest in that string of success.
“Working alongside JD Kirk and creating ‘A Litter Of Bones’ is a dream come true for Behear,” Colin said. “This is our most exciting project to date.
“We are so happy that JD Kirk chose us to produce his book, and we can’t wait to get started.”
‘A Litter Of Bones’, first published in 2019, is the debut crime thriller novel of JD Kirk – a pen name of former children’s author and screenwriter, Barry Hutchison.
Once the project is complete, the book will be available to listen to on the Behear app.
Find out more about Behear at their website.