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    The Keeper: A Life of Saving Goals and Achieving Them
    The Keeper: A Life of Saving Goals and Achieving Them
    The Keeper: A Life of Saving Goals and Achieving Them
    Audiobook8 hours

    The Keeper: A Life of Saving Goals and Achieving Them

    Written by Tim Howard and Ali Benjamin

    Narrated by JD Jackson

    3.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    In this inspiring, down-to-earth memoir the revered goalkeeper and American icon  idolized by millions worldwide for his dependability, daring, and humility recounts his rise to stardom at the 2014 World Cup, the psychological and professional challenges he has faced, and the enduring faith that has sustained him.

    In The Keeper, the man who electrified the world with his amazing performance in Brazil does something he would never do on a soccer field: he drops his guard. As fiercely protective about his privacy as he is guarding the goal on the field, Howard opens up for the first time about how a hyperactive kid from New Jersey with Tourette’s syndrome defied the odds to become one of the world’s premier goalkeepers.

    The Keeper recalls his childhood, being raised by a single mother who instilled in him a love of sports and a devout Christian faith that helped him cope when he was diagnosed with Tourette’s in the fifth grade. He looks back over his fifteen-year professional career—from becoming the youngest player to win MLS Goalkeeper of the Year to his storied move to the English Premier League with Manchester United and his current team, Liverpool’s Everton, to becoming an overnight star after his record-making performance with the United States Men’s National Team. He also talks about the things closest to his heart—the importance of family and the Christian beliefs that guide him.

    Told in his thoughtful and articulate voice, The Keeper is an illuminating look at a remarkable man who is an inspirational role model for all of us.

    The Keeper is illustrated with two 8-page color photo inserts.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateDec 9, 2014
    ISBN9780062392237
    Author

    Tim Howard

    Tim Howard is the goalkeeper for Everton in the English Premier League and the U.S. men's national team. He previously played for the MetroStars in Major League Soccer and for the storied Manchester United. In July 2014, he broke the record for most saves (fifteen) in a World Cup game. He also works as a soccer broadcaster on NBC's weekly coverage of the EPL.

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    Reviews for The Keeper

    3.5/5

    35 ratings16 reviews

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    • 4/5
      'I'll start, and you finish', the woman said. 'Once upon a time there was a little girl and she was very unlucky She was born in a haunted place where nothing ever died.'Susan Marley is crazy. Betrayed by her family and friends, she stopped speaking when she was a teenager and wanders mute through the streets of Bedford, Maine. And everyone in town dreams about her, although they don't talk about that, and try not to think about it either. But although Susan is the townspeople's scapegoat, things were badly wrong in Bedford long before she was born. What I really liked abut this book is the way the author casually introduces the horrific and macabre. You are reading along and all of a sudden you read something like "Just then, the closet door opened and a monster stepped out of it." that you hardly notice at first until you are brought up short and have to go back and re-read it. I found it a very effective technique, as it mirrored the way the townspeople skated over the strange things that happened in their town. Later in the book, when the dead stalk the town menacing those townsfolk who didn't sense them coming and flee town, the horror becomes more overt, and that fits too.
    • 2/5
      Not what I expected...guess I'm just not into this genre.
    • 4/5
      Most of the reviews and comments on THE KEEPER make a point about mentioning it as Langan's debut novel. Now that I've done so too, let us ignore that because this is a great novel, period.Susan Marley roams the streets of Bedford, Maine, looking for something or simply trying to connect. Considering that she doesn't speak, is considered the town slut and is ignored by her own mother, that desire for a connection is understood. When she dies one night though, horrible things start happening to the residents in town. The dead rise up and buried secrets come up to reality. While supernatural elements are very much part of the story, they aren't quite as in your face as I expected. The book focuses more on the story and the characters, both of which are very rich and enjoyable. Unfortunately though, I didn't quite get pulled into the characters' lives. They were real and easy to picture but they just weren't quite fascinating to care that much about. Not something to avoid the book over but something to be aware of. Focus on enjoying the multiple plot threads that are nicely weaved together. Those make the novel worthwhile.
    • 4/5
      Very spooky
    • 2/5
      Ugh...two sisters...one is the town "weirdo" and tramp, the other is the good girl, but no one wants to deal with her anyway. A large cast of characters that don't really have too much to do with each. The whole book was very scattered and hard to read. I am not sure if the town was haunted because of the evil mill or if the girl was schizophrenic after being raped by her father...I don't know...just too scattered and too confusing. Plus, it took way too long for anything to even happen...I would skip it.
    • 3/5
      This was a good old fashioned creepy story that I really enjoyed. The charactor descriptions gave the story a little meat as the plot itself was rather weak and thin. All in all I think this was a good light read if you like a bit of scary and creepy.
    • 3/5
      Oppressive story of a declining town with hidden secrets and a crazy young woman who takes those secrets into a dark place within her. This story was unrelentingly bleak and had no humor or hope to counterbalance the horror. I thought the writing was good, but the story itself didn't leave me rooting for anyone to make it through the crisis in the town. All the characters were so flawed that you kind of hoped that town would be wiped off the map.
    • 4/5
      I had heard good things about Sarah Langan, so I was glad to finally read her novel. Overall, I found out it to be pretty creepy with some good horror elements. It's definitely worth checking out. The writing was high quality and story was well plotted. I found it a little hard to get behind some of the characters and the ending of the novel was a bit depressing. All in all, a good read. Give it a try.Carl Alves - author of Two For Eternity
    • 4/5
      Bedford was a cursed, doomed and dying town. William Prentice leached the land of its resources and exploited the greed of its citizens for his paper mill. After his death, the town realizes only too late of the dark deeds he's done, but that the sulfur from the paper mill has poisoned everything around it. Before the dark times come, some families leave, others stay. Whether the latter made their choice consciously or against their will is up for speculation. Years later, Susan Marley is born. She at first is like any other child, pretty and nice, but slowly becomes more and more receptive to the darkness of the town's past. It quickly manifests itself to her, then consumes and possesses her. Terrible things then happen to her which only feeds the darkness even more, until she is beyond saving. As the life of the town begins to run out, it is up to her sister, Elizabeth, to unbury the past, recover her own repressed memories, and do what she can to save those who are still alive. The Keeper has more of the Silent Hill elements to it then its sequel, with plenty of gruesome details and an emotional intensity that is also very sad. I liked the characterization of Susan Marley. She is both a pitiable, but a truly evil and vengeful character that you should not cheer for. Other characters are not as strong and brave as the reader is expecting them to be, but then again not all humans are. It's very conflicting for the reader, as there is no "hero" in this story. Some may feel that the story is incomplete as they have no one to "root for" but then again, not every story has to have a happy ending.
    • 5/5
      Now before I bought this book - I did my research and I heard a lot of great things about Ms. Langan's books! So I - the lover of all horror - decided to give it a go. So here is my review:We meet poor Liz who is just trying to get by in life - but of course, with the entire town looking down on her because of her sister, Susan. She always knew that Susan was different, perhaps she was an alien. But Liz tries to make the best of it, with her future looking bright with her new boyfriend, Bobby. As the story progresses, the plot unfolds of the terror that everyone in Bedford knows is coming. Do they admit that they see Susan in their dreams or that they can hear voices? Of course not. Then they would be just as crazy as Susan was. But they all know that something is going to happen, but they don't know when. In Bedford, the rains come and it rains, rains, rains. But there is something different about this rain. It pretty much floods the valley and then by the end it is too late. Those who were lucky enough to get out did - and the others ... well, let's just say they should have tried harder. Sarah Langan's writing is pretty close to Stephen King and Bentley Little - who give you the heebie jeebies when you read the stories. Her characters are strong and flawed, which I liked. I felt really sorry for Liz as the tale spread. I could see all of the death and smell the rank air. Wonderful descriptions of the buildings, people and landscape! I can't wait to read her next novel - The Missing. If you love true horror - then I suggest not taking my word for it - go out and buy it and read it!! This book has it all from voices to ghosts to large insects! This one is definately a keeper (no pun intended).
    • 2/5
      I'm really wondering what this was all about. The storyline was pretty boring, weird things were happening without reason (giant spider ... really) and I couldn't make heads or tails about anything. Than came the "explaining part" which wasn't any better and didn't help explaining much... I wouldn't recommanded it.
    • 4/5
      I've always been a fan of small-town apocalypse novels (think Stephen King's "Needful Things" or "Storm of the Century," Phil Rickman's "Crybbe," or Bentley Little's "The Store"). If you are too, you can add another one to your list. "The Keeper" is a real page turner, and Langan has the most crucial quality of a good true horror writer--she never looks away. There's nothing subtle here except perhaps the psychology of the characters. Don't get me wrong. I love a good creeping atmospheric ghost story or a clever, sophisticated mystery, but if you're going to write horror, you can't cheat. Horror should be horrifying, and "The Keeper" is. That's not to say the book is anywhere near perfect. When things really start rolling, Langan loses it a little--as if she can't really keep up with her own pace. Her desperate attempts to explain what's happening when everything is happening at once slow down what would be a breakneck pace if she could follow it herself. But keep in mind, this is a debut novel. The tough stuff, Langan has down pat. She's already better at characterization and psychology than Dean Koontz will ever be; her style and poetry leave Bentley Little in the dust; and she's braver and more disturbing than Peter Straub. If she can get control of her pacing and learn a few things about literary depth, she could be a Stephen King in the making. Definitely one to watch.
    • 4/5
      Bedford's always been one of those towns that people struggle to get out of, but never quite do. It is a town haunted. Haunted by its past, in the form of a paper mill that has leached toxic elements into the surrounding town, haunted by its present in the person of Susan, the strange woman that wanders the streets. The one that people cross the street to get away from, even her own mother. But once the mill (full of barrels of sulfuric acid, no less) closes, and the yearly rains begin, the town seems even more haunted, more full of death, and much of it seems centered around Susan's sister Liz.Good and pretty creepy, especially when the whole town starts dreaming about Susan.
    • 1/5
      VERY depressing! I could easily have been hooked by the tale of a disconnected and disowned young woman wandering her hometown and appearing in people's dreams, but the more I read, the less I understood, the more depressed I felt and come the end I was just glad it was all over. I don't understand how the mill in the town, the owner from generations before and the main characters from the Marley family connect. I don't understand Susan's grievance with either the townsfolk, or in fact her sister who she loved and protected in life. Actually I just don't understand. Not a clue what was going on at the end, none of it made sense, so not only unsatisfying, but left me feeling like an outsider with absolutely no empathy for the characters, so come the end, I really didn't care what happened to them.
    • 4/5
      I came across a recommendation for The Keeper here on LibraryThing in one of the groups. It sounded interesting, so I picked it up. The first few chapters were slow going, and I almost put it down. Boy, am I glad I didn't. Things pick up and get pretty creepy about 1/3 of the way through and keep going until literally the last sentence. The Keeper is the story of the death of a town. Not just any town, but an old factory town with a history of abuse and downright evil. And the end isn't easy, by any stretch. The story centers around an inverse sin-eater theme, where the evil that is done in the town builds and builds until it can't be contained anymore. Once it's out, it's not going back into the bottle.The book suffers from a few first-time author flaws. The writing is a bit uneven, and the characters take a bit to get going. The plot needs juicing in a couple of spots. But in general, I recommend it as worth the time spent.
    • 2/5
      The Keeper is horror in the vein of Straub, where a community succumbs to a threat from a malevolent entity. The supernatural is well hidden, hinted at more that directly portrayed in an effort to maintain some suspense. Although the approach is fresh, the lack of any likeable characters creates a lacklustre story. There is a score of characters and only the two central protagonists offer any positive attributes, however with so many characters the key players receive little time, except to propel the story. The Keeper is short enough to be a simple time-killer but it's lack of emotional hold means you'll have soon forgotten it.