Ethan Hawke Marks Gritty Return to Crime Drama in Exclusive Clip for Audible Original 'FISHPRIEST'

Audible has no doubt dominated the podcast market in recent years, and its latest offering following a team-up with independent podcast company Treefort Media is one that listeners will find most engaging. First premiering at SXSW this past March, the new original scripted audio series FISHPRIEST starring the voice of Ethan Hawke is set to release on Thursday, May 19 exclusively on the audiobook platform and PopCulture.com has your exclusive first listen of the gritty podcast series!

Written by Mike Batistick and a throwback to the Orson Welles era, FISHPRIEST tells the story of the bounty hunter and former undercover cop, Tommy "Fishpriest" Barth during the early '90s in the Bronx. Submerged in a time when cocaine is king and the cops are dirty, the disgraced cop gets his last chance to make things right when a crime syndicate he previously busted finally returns to power. With an objective to get them out once and for all, his entire life hangs in the balance, but will he succeed?

Recorded over a couple of days while shooting his Disney+ series Moon Knight in Budapest, Hawke has been one of the busiest actors in recent years thanks to his eclectic choice of roles in both mainstream and independent cinema. Likening the series to a Richard Price crime-fiction novel, FISHPRIEST is brimming with blood, drugs, violence and murder in this cinematically written and performed eight-episode series featuring wall-to-wall design with nuanced performances at a fever-pitch.

While at SXSW in March, Hawke revealed how the Audible Original was a "great piece of crime drama" that really drew him in thanks to the streaming service elevating the experience for listeners and creators amid a seasoned catalog of stories. "There is new terrain to be mined there, and it's simultaneously a throwback. I remember being a kid, and you'd see some Orson Welles, and they'd be making the sound of rain or the sound of a cop car coming by, and I was like, 'Yeah, that's such a cool art form,'" he said, adding how radio plays had the power to let you imagine outside a film.

"It allows your imagination in a way you can do it better than they would film," he continued. "You can film it in your own brain and see how you want to see it. I just wanted to experiment with doing that and so this piece of writing and of itself, it's a great piece of crime drama."

Fishpriest premieres Thursday, May 19, exclusively on Audible. For more on all your favorite Audible Originals, like FISHPRIEST and Ethan Hawke, keep it locked to PopCulture.com for the latest in all things entertainment news, streaming, and more.