Life in Amber

By: Scott Colbert

Narrated by: Jake Daley

Length: 8 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's summary

Evan Dufort is miserable and unhappy with life. He misses his recently deceased cat, has few friends, and is plagued with illnesses. When he wins the lottery, he decides to take his best friend Kaden on an adventure. Unfortunately, everyone they seem to come in contact with dies.

Are his winnings cursed, or is there something darker at work? What do the dreams of amber coffins and crucified children mean? For these unlikely friends, the answers are going to take them on a trip that will test not only their bond, but their sanity.

©2018 Scott Colbert (P)2020 Scott Colbert

Scott Colbert Does It Again!

This was Scott's second novel, but the third one I read. Well, "listened too", and the whole time I kept thinking, "What is up with this guy's imagination"? Full disclosure: Scott is my podcasting co-host, but I pride myself in being objective, and he knows that I will always be honest with my feedback. I can't honestly say though, that I thoroughly enjoyed "Life in Amber". I don't like to give away important plot points, so all I will really say about the story is that Evan is a relatively non-descript guy, going about his ordinary life, when a huge lottery win changes everything. He sets off on a journey filled with vivid dreamscapes (for lack of a better word) and fascinating interactions with the people he encounters. The descriptions of these dreamscapes is where Scott's imagination really kicks in. There were times where I thought, "What the....f***?"

As with all of Scott's books, the characterizations are excellent. I was able to get a full picture of Evan, and all the other major and minor characters in the story. Knowing Scott for several years now, it became very apparent that this is a deeply personal work, and I can't help but wonder if he wrote it as some sort of catharsis.

Anyway, if you're looking for an offbeat type of story with interesting characters and scenarios, then you owe it to yourself to listen to this book. If I had to offer any criticism, it goes mostly to the narrator/reader. Don't get me wrong, it was not a "bad" job by any means, but it was more "average" than Scott's other audio books. Other than that, Scott does have a penchant for drawing out some of the erotic scenes a little too long for my taste, but that is a very minor criticism and it didn't turn me off from the story at all.

Again, if you're looking for something different, you should definitely check out "Life in Amber"!

Maybe just me

This was an okay book. I probably would have enjoyed it much more, though, if I had read it instead of listened on audio-book. The narrator was a bit monotone. (remember this is my opinion which may vary) and there were a few times when the narrator repeated a sentence or two right after each other, almost like a glitch.. Like it would say "When the narrator..... When the narrator repeated". I would have given it 4 stars if not for this.

Touching story

This is a really nice story that makes you think about life. Great narration as well.

It’s very interesting story

Went to friends on two different continents have the same dream that is just the beginning of the weird that’s going to happen to them. Evan is a sickly 50-year-old man who worked at a convenient store when the lottery got to be big numbers and he dreamed of a lottery number he played in one. His best friend Kayde a 26-year-old man who lived in the UK, His dad and his brother who he wasn’t close with were the only ones who wanted to share his winnings with. After helping his dad out him and Kate set off on a once in a lifetime adventure The only problem is everyone they meet along the way winds up dead. Is this morning a blessing or a curse? This book was so interesting I love the plot I only wish the narrator was a bit more animated as he sounded as if he was bored reading the book. He has a nice voice, I just wish he would add inflection to his sentences maybe. I almost stopped and went and read the Kindle version but my motto is you can get used to anything and I did. I highly recommend this book maybe you’ll like the narrator. I didn’t see anyone else complain about him just me so I guess I’m alone opinion either way the book is worth getting through it it is so good Ian in the world with so many stories are predictable and same old, same old this is a rare gem with a great plot in an end you won’t see coming. It is so so good!

Kept wishing it was better edited

I was drawn to this book by the sample prologue on Audible. It set the stage for something unusual, and piqued my curiosity right away. Once I got into the book, I was wishing it was more tightly edited. There is SO much superfluous detail that it becomes tedious at points.

The writing is interesting, and I was driven to listen to find out what is going on, and where it's going. In other words, a page turner. That being said, some of the dreams/nightmares are overly detailed with focus on overflowing toilets and rotting detritus from corpses. Some of them seemed disconnected from the story, and I kept wondering just why all that detail was presented.

There is resolution at the end, though some odd and unbelievable events and relationships get you to that point, and again, some tighter editing would probably have made for a better listen.

The story, about self-worth, guilt and redemption has some social relevance but I found the ending a bit disjointed from the rest of the story.

Narration was good.

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.