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!

What do you suppose would happen if we were ever contacted by an intelligence greater than ours? Would you run in fright? Or would you find a way to fight? Spin, by Robert Charles Wilson, is a wonderful novel  backed by scientific speculation, and full of end-of-the-world fanaticism.

The “end of the world” begins when a young Tyler Dupree, along with his friends, Jason and Diane, witness an incredible sight: the stars in the heavens simply disappear one night. With that, all three embark on a journey that’ll span across millions of years, and two different worlds - meeting strange characters in the process, and stretching their sanity to the limit.

This isn’t an invasion story, it’s an adventure that’ll take you through one turn after another, leaving you amazed and shaking your head page after page.

Narration

Scott Brick, a successful narrator for many audio books, was chosen to narrate Spin, in which he did a fantastic job. His trained and classy voice added another couple of notches to the quality of this audio book.

Characters

Robert Charles Wilson has a knack for developing characters with truly rich 3-D personalities, including Tyler Dupree, Jason  Lawson, Diane Lawson, and E.D. Lawson. Instead of describing each character and their psychological makeup (a novice‘s mistake), Robert Charles Wilson grows each character, and displays their unique personalities to readers through actions and dialogue in the book, rather than by simply “telling” us.

Also, as I‘ve stated in the past, any novel that can make the reader emotional is one of many signs that you‘ve found a good read. In particular, it was frustrating to listen to how naïve Diane was throughout the novel, and was even worse to how she treated Tyler. I couldn’t help but be reminded of the equally annoying relationship between Forrest Gump and Jenny…

Other Notes

Aside from the wonderful Sci-Fi  that Spin provides us, it also goes into another hot topic: religion, apocalypticism, and the effects it has on those too willing to believe without questioning. The doomsday cult depicted in this book is an eerie reminder to how naïve people can be, and how faith (taken in the wrong context) can be an extremely dangerous thing to practitioners and those around them.

Interested in listening to the story too? You can download Robert Charles Wilson’s Spin audio book for free, by signing up with Audible today. Please feel free to drop us a comment and let us know what you thought of the story.

Hardships, friendship, regret, and redemption - This is the focus of the fantastic audio book, The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini.

The story begins in the 70’s, with a boy named Amir, and his most loyal friend, Hassan. Amir, vying for his father’s attention and approval, struggles constantly to come to grips with his apparent inability to do so. Hassan, a servant of the family, is always there to serve and protect Amir from Afghanistan’s unruly neighborhood kids. Together, they formed a bond that was as tight as the bond of brothers.

Amir, his courage and integrity tested over and over, finally broke that bond with Hassan, in an afternoon of horror, betrayal, and weakness. With that fateful afternoon, the two drifted apart. Life moved on for both kids, until years later, Amir was called upon to redeem himself with one final request - one that would change his life forever, and to find within himself, a small measure of peace.

Narration

Written and narrated by the author, Khaled Hosseini, The Kite Runner audio book was fairly simple in it’s delivery. It’s one of a few audio books that I’ve listened to where not much effort was given to distinguishing the characters. However, this doesn’t detract from the audio book. Instead, Khaled Hosseini did a wonderful job in describing characters, and their subtle nuances within the novel, that it wasn’t terribly hard to imagine exactly what he wanted us to imagine.

Characters

When a book can stir up deep emotions, you know you’ve found a good one. The deepest emotion I felt (within the first quarter of The Kite Runner) was anger, embarrassment, and unfortunately, some hatred. This was all aimed towards the little boy, Amir, and his regrettable acts, particularly when Hassan was the one in trouble, and Amir did nothing to help. I’m sure his portrayal, in this manner, was the author’s intention, and he did a fantastic job in that sense.

Amir’s father, Baba, was a character that was developed well, and I could relate to Amir’s struggles with him. I felt saddened near the end of the story, with his passing. The other characters: Hassan, Rahim Khan, and Sohrab were also developed well, with Hassan being the better of the bunch.

Other Notes

There was a movie, starring Kevin Costner, and Robert Duvall, called Open Range. Have you seen it? It’s good, but that’s beside the point. There was one quote in that movie that’s stuck with me since I’ve watched it: “…there’s things that gnaw at a man worse than dying.”

If I could pick a quote that best described this audio book, it would be that one. A story of cowardice, life-long regret, and redemption.

Interested in listening to the story too? You can download The Kite Runner audio for free, by signing up with Audible today. Please feel free to drop us a comment and let us know what you thought of the story.

“I can do this” is Edgar Freemantle’s mantra - one that he often repeats to himself in order to overcome many of the tribulations that Stephen King presents throughout the novel, Duma Key. And believe me, there were many.

The story begins with Freemantle’s arduous, and painful ordeal in recovery, after being nearly crushed to death by a construction crane. The fateful event leaves Edgar without an arm (at least initially…), a terrible limp, rage, and unfortunately, the loss of his marriage - just to name a few.

Close to suicide, his therapist suggests a change of scenery and to pickup a hobby, as a “hedge against the night”. Little did Edgar know that his particular “hedge”, on Duma Key, would lead to something so much more than simple recovery - it would lead inevitably to death.

Narration

What makes this Stephen King audio book a good listen? Well, for one, John Slattery is the narrator. This would mark the first time I’ve listened to his narration, and was impressed. He’s no Frank Muller, but he did get the job done. His ability to differentiate the characters, particularly between Edgar Freemantle and Jerome Wireman, made it engrossing.

Characters

King took his time in slowly developing the main characters of this novel, giving them a richer personality. This is more than true for Wireman, whom I think Stephen King (and a certain Peter Straub) had practice, with the earlier character of Henry Leyden - from Black House. The two characters, Jerome and Henry seem awfully alike.

Other Notes

The length of the audio book is 21 hours. If you’re a die-hard Stephen King fan, you likely wish that some books would never end. It gives you ample time to immerse yourself into his world(s). This is likely why I fell in love with the Dark Tower series, and am not too fond of his short stories.

Oh, and don’t be concerned when the paranormal doesn’t happen right away. Duma Key is one of those novels that builds the suspense, and presents more, and more, to the reader as time goes on.

Overall, Stephen King’s Duma Key audio book was enjoyable, and gave me my usual King fix. If you’re interested, you can download Duma Key here.

Have you already listened to it? Feel free to drop us a comment to let us know what you thought of it.

***some spoilers ahead***

In all honesty, this is the first time I’ve ever read/listened to a book with the theme that the author (Ted Dekker) presented to us in Black, and it’s a very interesting one to say the least.

The book’s protagonist, Thomas Hunter, lived a life of action - one which almost killed him at the beginning of the story. After being knocked unconcious, Thomas finds himself in the “other world” with no recollection of what happened. Then begins an interesting story full of larger-than-life bats, along with a community of seemingly naive people. If there ever was a reference to good and evil, or a reference to the Eden days, then this would be it.

The book’s theme revolves around some pretty important plot points:

1) Thomas lives in two seperate worlds (the earth as we know it), and another one that is yet to be defined. It may be earth, on a different dimensional level. He is unable to move between these worlds without first falling asleep (or being knocked unconcious).

2) Earth is in serious peril from a vicious biological agent called the “Raison Strain”

3) It is up to Thomas to save earth from biological disaster, and to save the other planet from evil.

Like many of Ted Dekker’s novels, this series (from what I’ve read so far), hinges a lot on religion as well. As you read/listen along, you’ll notice a lot of similarities between this story and the Bible (although not too obvious at times). I, being a religious person myself, found it an intriguing book, and can’t wait to move on to the third in the series - I’m already listening to the second - Red - as I write this.

For those of you who have a hard time following plots, or don’t have the kind of time to devote intensely to this book, then this may be one you may want to pass on. Why? Because there are so many things happening at any given time, that it’s easy to miss something important. The jumping back and forth between worlds is enough to keep you on the tips of your toes.

Overall, however, Ted Dekker’s Black has surprised me, like his other books have. The narrator did a fantastic job of reading Dekker’s work, and made it that much more enjoyable. I highly recommend adding this author to your collection of audio books, if you get the opportunity to do so.

What about you? Have you had the opportunity to listen to any of Ted Dekker’s books, particularly Black, Red, or White? If so, send us an email, or leave a comment on our blog about what you thought. We’d love to hear from you!

What can I say? I can’t really compare Hannibal Rising to any of the other audio books that Thomas Harris has released, as I haven’t listened to any of the others. Having said that, I still found this audio book rather enjoyable! It took a little bit of time to get into it, but as each chapter rolled on, the brilliance of the author, and the incredible charismatic nature of Hannibal Lecter shone through.

I have heard it said before that many, many people grew attached to Hannibal through the movies (i.e., Silence of The Lambs). The simplest explanation is because Hannibal isn’t your ordinary, gruesome serial killer. And I can list a few reasons why:

1) He’s extremely charismatic
2) He’s super intelligent, and thinks all of his “moves” through to perfection
3) He has high expectations of himself, and follows every rule he sets. This is evident in the way he treats those that he befriends (such as Lady Murasaki), and those that he despises, such as the main antagonists of the story (the Nazi thugs).
4) His emotions are complicated - and his love for his little sister is what makes me feel this, and makes him real.
5) And the winner for me, is his iron courage. He shows no fear in the entire story, and is calm throughout most of what he does. Some may say this is just a byproduct of his insanity, I say it’s just part of his character trait. It’s what makes Hannibal, Hannibal.

Although Hannibal is the reason this story was great to me, there were a couple of things I didn’t particularly care for. For one, Thomas Harris (the author) was the narrator of the story. Although he did a good job, his “almost” monotone, or calm depiction of the characters annoyed me a bit. What do I mean? The climaxes, and the normal story line all had the same tone - there was a lack of excitement in his reading. For instance, backstory, and the antagonists’ action scenes all had the same level of intensity. I think he would’ve done a better job had he instilled a little more intensity in a few parts of the story.

Also, I don’t think Thomas Harris wrote enough information, or detail in regards to Misha’s story (Hannibal’s sister - and ultimately, what sets Hannibal off). A lof of it was from Hannibal’s perspective, and was brief. I didn’t really feel much emotion for her story, even though it was still a horrible thing to experience. Had he put more into her story, I think we might’ve felt even stronger for Hannibal and his plight.

Aside from that, it was a wonderful audio book to listen to, and I’m glad I downloaded it - I had almost passed on this selection.

Now the big question is: will the movie be any good? Hannibal Rising, the movie, is expected to be released February 9th. Unfortunately, my experience with movies that are based on books hasn’t really been positive. It’s a hard thing to do - mimic the exceptional quality of a book for the big screen. The good news is that I’m a big horror movie fan, and I expect to watch it soon after it is released in theaters. Afterwards, I will of course write a post regarding it, if you’re interested.

Have you listened to this audio book yet (if not, you can download Hannibal Rising here)? Do you have any opinions on the Hannibal Lecter character, or the story itself? If so, we’d love to hear from you! Simply comment on this post, or send an email to admin [at] audiobookgeek.com.

Come back soon, as I’m planning on reviewing another audio book soon!

Also, don’t forget - if you sign up with Audible.com today, you will get three free audio book downloads of choice! There’s no risk involved, so why not sign up today?

Well folks, Stephen King has done it again (although I was a bit worried for the first half that he might’ve missed this time).

Lisey’s Story (unabridged) was a great listen, and was made even more so by the professional voice of actress Mare Winningham. The story really took off at about the halfway point, which I have to say I almost gave up before then (gasp). It’s rare that I drop a Stephen King book, but this one was close. The first half was, simply put, boring - as it was really used for Lisey’s backstory and introduction.

But, once that was through, whew! Here’s what I liked about it, and disliked about it:

Pros:

1) Super theme. It kept me hanging until the very last moment. This is in true Stephen King fashion, of course.
2) Characters were well developed. I especially loved Scooter (the young Scott), as well as his Father. Lisey, the main character, was pretty well put together. I was a bit put off by the age range of the older characters (Lisey was in her 50’s in this book). It just seemed a bit off. You would expect this kind of energy and excitement (within the plot) to be associated with a younger crowd - if that makes any sense.

Cons:

1) Too many flashbacks/backstory. One of the gripes other listeners had was the fact that Stephen King kept jumping back and forth too many times at the beginning of the story. This is true. It was a bit hard to keep up with what was present and past for the first half. Afterwards, it started straightening out, and became easier to follow.

2) A couple of the characters seemed a little displaced from the story. That is to say, one or two didn’t really seem to have a place in the story (should’ve been left out), as I don’t think they forwarded the story much. Lisey’s sister (the self-mutilator) was somewhat of an example.

Other than that - excellent!

Yeah, so it’s a short review. Although Stephen King isn’t the world’s best literary artist, he does have an incredible talent for story telling. Lisey’s Story wasn’t much different from his others, and was definitely worth the time and money to listen to. And like i’ve said over and over in the past - the narrative voice (Mare Winningham) makes all the difference in the world, between a poor audio book, and a great one! Trust me, you’ll fall right into step with her reading.

So, have you listened to it yet? Or are you planning to soon? If so, how about dropping us a line (via email or comment) about what you think. We’d love to hear your thoughts and opinions on this story as well.

Until next time!

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For those of you that enjoy Dean Koontz and his audio books, and enjoyed the first two Odd Thomas audio book series, then you’re likely to enjoy his latest installment of the Odd Thomas series: Brother Odd.

This book, up to this point (which is right about half way now), seems to be better than the first two audio books so far.

Oddie’s little adventure is one of the most unique ways an author has ever written. The combination of absolute humor, detective work, and a bit of sci-fi and horror, really makes this story a mind blower.

If you haven’t started it yet, or aren’t planning to, then change your mind! Hurry and download it today, so that you enjoy the same experiences that I’m enjoying now.

Click here to read more about Brother Odd at AudioBookGeek.com,

Or go directly to Audible.com for purchase/download information.