***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!

Just a quick update here - all of our products within the AudioBookGeek database have been updated, meaning only the latest and greatest audio books are here for you to peruse.

Make sure to take some time and browse through our various categories, and see if you can find that next great listen!

This is a bit of a late post, because I’m just about finished with this audio book. However, I felt I needed to post something as it’s been a few days since the last one.

There have been a lot of authors I have read and listened to in my past 30 years, but I’m quickly finding Ted Dekker to be one of my favorites. He writes his stories with a subtle religious twist (which I always enjoy), and never fails to make me think. Ted Dekker’s Black is no exception.

Black is a very interesting fantasy/fiction/suspense novel that encomopasses two different worlds. If you’re not quick to keep up, you’ll miss a lot of fun listening, and important plot points.
BUT, I won’t spoil it for you now, as I’m not completely finished with the story. Check back within a few days for the complete review of this story!

Have you already listened to this story? If so, leave us a comment and let us know what you thought of this story, or the author. If you have a full review you’d like to submit, simply send it to admin [at] audiobookgeek.com, and we may post it on the blog for others to read!

Check back soon!

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?

All products within AudioBookGeek.com have been updated for this week. Browse around and make sure to find the next great audio book to listen to!

Now that those other audio books are out of the way, I’ve been waiting impatiently to listen to Hannibal Rising by Thomas Harris. This is actually the first book by this author I’ve read (or listened to in this case) - the movies were great, and so I’d like to listen to this one prior to watching the movie, which comes out in February.

I started listening on my iPod about a couple of hours ago, and had to stop roughly 30 minutes into it. Just needed a good mental break.

For this particular audio book, the author has decided to be the narrator as well. It’s not an uncommon practice (Stephen King has done it a time or two), but in the case of Hannibal Rising, there’s a distinctive lack of training for this type of audio reading.

Not trying to insult Mr. Harris, but with the number of characters all introduced within the first 30 minutes of the audio book, I could only understand who was talking a small percentage of the time. Why? He failed to switch voices (although not necessary in some cases). In other words, I’m listening to a southern man (at least by his accent) trying to portray characters in World War II Germany. Every character in those 30 minutes (including back stories) all sounded alike, and therfore were hard for me to distinguish.

Is it a flaw? Of course not. It may simply be the way Mr. Harris wishes to narrate. Unfortunately, unless there’s another way to distinguish between characters, I can tell it’s going to be a bumpy ride.

I’ll stick with it to the end though, simply because I have faith in the story - and know that it’ll turn out to be a great one.

I will post a review of the audio book as soon as I’m finished. In the meantime, you can follow along with your own copy. If you have any reviews or opinions regarding this book, feel free to leave a comment.

Alright folks, I’ve finished Thr3e (the unabridged audio book download) by Ted Dekker, and I have to admit - it turned out to be an incredible story!

This is one of those rare books where you will never figure out the ending until it slaps you in the face, but in this case, it hit me like a ton of bricks. Big kudos to the author on this one, as it was very unexpected.

For those of you not following my recent posts, there are a few pros and cons to this audio book. To begin with, and I can’t quite pinpoint why, but the first 20 to 30 minutes of the audio book was awfully hard to get into. I think it was a mixture of the slow start (like most books) and the voice actor’s uncommon voice and audio quality. I cursed myself for thinking I picked out another poor audio book, and almost quit early. But since I bought it, I forced myself to the end - and it was well worth the first few minutes of annoyances.

After that, the narrator warmed up nicely, and from that point on, the rest of the story was a pleasure to listen to.

As for the story, it’s a slight variation of stories in the past (which all are of course), but Ted Dekker does a great job in making this one suspensful and full of thought-provoking issues (mainly the battle between Good and Evil within each of us).

The characters were very well thought out (they had to be - wink, wink - you’ll understand later).

There was one issue with the story that really annoyed the hell out of me though, and that was the lack of punishment one of the characters deserved in the end. In my perfect little story-book world, the lady (I think you’ll understand later as well - dont’ want to spoil it for you) should be tormented nicely, at least in my opinion. I just don’t have the sympathy that the characters did in the book.

If you haven’t downloaded Thr3e (the unabridged audio book version), then I recommend that you do. It’s well worth the time and money in my opinion.

If you have any strong feelings (good or evil) about this audio book, feel free to drop us a line, or comment through our blog. We’d love to hear what you have to say!

Just a quick update to this post. 

I have to admit, I’m a bit surprised at the quick turnaround of this audio book. The voice actor grated on my nerves for the first 30 minutes or so, but either I got used to him, or he improved up to this point. The best part is the story line. It’s progressed very nicely so far, and has me wanting to listen to the rest of it now.

I imagine I’ll be done with the novel by mid next week, and will be happy to throw a review up for the rest of you. Have you read it, or listened to it yet? If so, how about dropping us a line or comment and letting us know what you thought of it.

If you haven’t done so, you should download your copy of this audio book, if you feel like keeping up with me. Get more information here.

For those Hannibal Lecter fans out there, the “prequel” to the entire Hannibal story is expected to hit theaters the first week of February.

I for one have enjoyed the previous movies made (maybe with the slight exception of the Red Dragon), and can’t wait to see what this one is going to be like - the previews were great.

Before I do though, I’m planning on listening to the audio book, of course titled Hannibal Rising prior to watching it. It’ll make the movie more enjoyable with the extra background info you’ll get from the audio book.

If you’re interested, click here to read more about the Hannibal Rising downloadable audio book.

Well, I have to see what the fuss is about in regards to Thr3e (unabridged audio book) by Ted Dekker. It’s getting some good ratings here and there, so as always, I’m curious to see how good it is.

I will go ahead and say this right now: I’ve listened to the first 20 minutes or so, and I’m not overly thrilled at the moment. Why? Whoever the narrator is, and whoever is responsible for the audio quality didn’t really do their jobs properly. I almost feel as if I’m listening to a scratchy Garrison Keiler (from A Prarie Home Companion). If you know who he is, he’s got a “nice”, jovial-sounding voice - kind of a bad match when you’re reading a horror/suspense/mystery type of book. Just imagine Mr. Rogers reading the Exorcist…

But enough of that. I’m judging the quality of this audio book based solely on this issue. I’ll throw a review up as soon as I’m finished. Hopefully it’ll be a good one.

By the way, if you’re not an audio book junky yet (like myself), then why not give it a try? Sign up with Audible.com today, and receive three free downloadable audio books (of your choice) at no cost or risk.