Is the soul real and what happens to it after we perish? Is the end of the world near at hand and does the year 2012 have any real significance? These are the two main questions that the author, Whitley Strieber, tries to answer, combine, and twist into an audio book called 2012: The War for Souls.

I wish I could say that this audio book stirred my imagination immensely, but it did no such thing. At it’s best, this audio book was fun, but more often than not, it seemed more like an attempt at preaching, with religious connotations spread throughout the novel.

Narration

I had three major complaints with this audio book - and the first (to me the most important) was the narration. Simply stated, they picked the wrong narrator for this novel - Joe Barrett. Although he seems to be an accomplished narrator, and his voice does have the quality needed for that type of work, it was just wrong for this particular story. He had a “happy-go-lucky” voice that would seem more appropriate for a children’s book, or some other story with a lighter tone, rather than 2012. If you would like a good example, make it to the first 20 minutes (when the action starts). Although the scene was shocking, with people dying, his voice just made me want to think: “oh, isn’t that nice and lovely”.

Oh, and one more thing, if you can’t dramatize a character (such as a child), then you should probably skip trying it entirely. Giving kids weird nasally, “cartoonish” voices just didn’t seem right.

Now, other than that, I think he did fairly well.

Characters

Whitley Strieber did a good job with Martin and Wiley. Although Wiley, being from one world, was supposed to be tougher and feistier than Martin (according to the author) I didn’t quite see it that way. The only thing that set the two apart in terms of their demeanor was the dialogue (Wiley being the wittier of the two).

Sampson, on the other hand, was the one gripe I had about his character development. It’s not as much of a gripe as it is just annoying. Strieber went a little over-the-top with Sampson’s behavior. He was just a little too rash, crude, mean (and a few other things) to be taken seriously. Especially when in the presence of the President of the United States.

Other Notes

Aside from the issue I had about the narrator, there were two other points that detracted from the story. One was the incessant flashing back and forth between realities. It was just a bit too much, such that it took a bit of effort to keep track of where I was and what was going on.

And finally, the last gripe I had was with the plot itself. Whitley Strieber, in my opinion, did a great job up until midway (roughly). The story fit together fine, and I was able to suspend my disbelief for a while. And then it just all went to hell, and quickly. It was almost as if the author started rushing/forcing the story at that point, and things got to be a bit too comically weird. Soul-occupied cars, simple vacuum tubes to store souls, you name it. I won’t go into the ending, as I’ll leave that up to you to decide.

This was the first time I’ve read (or listened to) a work by this author. It may not be the last, because it seems like I’m not the only one with my thumbs-down opinion on this particular audio book. According to others, this one was a definite sub-par for his talent.

Have you listened to 2012: The War for Souls by Whitley Strieber? If so, feel free to drop us a line and let us know what you thought about the audio book. We’d love to hear from you!