Audible Book Review: Invasion: Alien Invasion, Book 1, by Sean Platt and Johnny B. Truant

Although the title indicates this is sci fi it is really post-apocalyptic with a twist of anticipating first alien contact.

Invasion: Alien Invasion, Book 1
By: Sean Platt, Johnny B. Truant
Narrated by: Ray Porter

Series: Alien Invasion (Platt/Truant), Book 1
Length: 8 hrs and 10 mins
Release date: 07-21-15
Publisher: Podium Audio
Genre: First Contact, Post-Apocalyptic, Sci Fi
My Rating: 3.75 of 5.0 Overall; Story 3.75; Narration 4.25.

Publisher's Summary
They are coming. The countdown has begun.
First visible only as blips on a telescope image, the discovery of objects approaching from Jupiter's orbit immediately sets humanity on edge. NASA doesn't even bother to deny the alien ships' existence. The popular Astral space app (broadcasting from the far side of the moon and accessible by anyone with Internet) has already shown the populace what is coming. So the news has turned from evasion to triage, urging calm and offering the few facts they have:
The objects are enormous, perfectly round spheres numbering in the dozens, maybe hundreds. They are on an approach vector for Earth. And they will arrive in six days.
©2015 Sean Platt, Johnny B. Truant (P)2015 Podium Publishing

Review:
Meyer Dempsy is a high energy, successful film producer. He controls those around him by his sheer presence. He has participated in meditation and training with a shaman which he obsesses over, while being unable to get his current and former wives to take it seriously. Fortunately for Meyer and his family, which includes his teenaged son and daughter, he has acted on visions of future danger and secured a protected bunker home for everyone in his personal circle, which includes not only his current wife, Piper, but his ex-wife, a popular star, Heather.

Although the government and NASA stayed quiet, a popular space app has revealed that a multitude of unexplained ships are approaching from outer space. Society begins to panic when they are told the ships will arrive in six days.

Meyer gathers Piper and his children, Trevor and Lila, along with Lila’s boyfriend, Raj, and heads out of New York trying to get to his bunker in Vail. He has told Heather to meet them there. Of course, they will all face dangers on the way as others are leaving cities to seek more sheltered areas. And will they be protected if they can get to Vail?

This story warns of the invasion but has little to do with the sci fi invasion aspect. Instead the author focuses on the family journey across country and develops the six primary characters – almost too much. There is a strange twist near the end which of course leaves open the next book to wonder what happens to the family.

I liked the premise but there is quite a bit I don’t like. I am not in favor of marital infidelity, and it is really unpleasant when the ex-wife is a (not totally secret) lover. I liked the danger and logical way that Meyer deals with problems, but he is such a controlling person that he borders on abusive – at least emotionally if not out right verbally. The female characters are portrayed with less than strong features. They appear as weak, whiny, and unable-to-follow-directions, ditzy women.

This introduction was free on Audible Plus. I am not rushing out to buy the series. There are more positive reviews, so check around and decide for yourself if you want to try this.

Audio Notes: Ray Porter is a very good narrator. He delivers distinct voices and emotion that fits the story. I am glad that I had the audio version.

Source: 3/22/21 'Sci Fi' title from Audible Plus. This qualifies for 2022Audiobook and 2022Alphabet goals.

Audible Book Review: Yesterday's Gone:Season 1- Episode 1 by Sean Platt and David Wright

This is interesting but do note the warning especially regarding language.
FREE Yesterday's Gone: Season 1 - Episode 1
Written by: Sean Platt, David Wright
Narrated by: Ray Chase, R. C. Bray, Brian Holsopple, Chris Patton, Maxwell Glick, Tamara Marston

Length: 2 hrs and 55 mins
Series: Yesterday's Gone, Book 1
Original Audiobook
Release Date:04-15-14
Publisher: Podium Publishing
Genre: Sci Fi, Horror
My Rating: 3.75 of 5.0

Publisher's Summary
Start the First Season of the Groundbreaking Post-Apocalyptic Serial! Yesterday's Gone: Season One: Episode 1.
WARNING: This is a post-apocalyptic horror audiobook where bad people do evil things, and as such, this series features disturbing scenes and foul language. While it is all within the context of the story, some listeners may find this content offensive.
Can humanity survive what it never saw coming?
On October 15 at 2:15 a.m. Earth vanished. A scattered few woke alone in a world with no rules, other than survival at any cost.
A journalist wanders the wretched reality of an empty New York, searching for his wife and son. A serial killer must hunt in a land where prey is now an endangered species. A mother shields her young daughter from danger through every terror-filled breath.
A bullied teen is thrilled to find the world gone missing, until the knock on his door. A fugitive survives a fiery plane crash. Will he be redeemed, or return to the killing he's best at? An eight-year-old boy sets out on a journey to find his missing family, only to find something that will change him forever. These survivors aren't truly alone...
Someone or something is watching them. And waiting...
Strangers unite. Sides are chosen. Can humanity survive what it never saw coming?
©2011 Sean Platt, David Wright (P)2014 Podium Publishing

Review:
I failed to heed the warning and the language is explicitly rough making this less pleasant for me than it might have been otherwise.

The story follows six or so characters who wake up to discover their family, friends, neighbors and strangers in the surrounding areas gone. There are no traces and no explanations. The chapters bounce between the characters which makes it a little hard to follow. There is a journalist in the city who seeks his wife and son; an awkward teenager at home is sort of glad to be alone; a young boy follows rainbows looking for his parents; and a sociopath is glad when he finds other survivors to kill. There is also a mother trying to protect her daughter and a fugitive who views his plane crash as a means to a second chance.

There is something strange about the cats and dogs that have survived and most of the survivors sense they are not alone. This episode ends with a horrific discovery but it does not reveal the cause of the disappearances.

I found some of the characters interesting and their stories were engaging with a sense of fear and some of horror. This might be well suited to those who like horror mystery and don’t mind horrendous foul language. I don't think I'll be pulling up other episodes right away.

Audio Notes: I enjoyed the narration from all of the readers. I really didn’t focus on the narrators so it seemed natural and unobtrusive to the story. This is a story I would like better in audio mode than reading.

I downloaded this as a free Audible library.