New audiobook recasts Hamlet as a thriller

The hero of a new audiobook is introduced as he lies in bed, trying to sleep on a frigid day in 1601.

He's the heir to the Danish throne, a tall handsome man of 27 with" a pale, finely chiseled face" and" mournful eyes that were the pale gray-blue of the sea in autumn".

"To hell with the throne," the young man says, pulling the sheets over his head when a court jester comes to awaken him. "I want to sleep. Forever."