12.21

A Novel

By: Dustin Thomason

Narrated by: Fred Sanders, Noel Rodriguez, Dustin Thomason

Length: 10 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

From the co-author of the two-million copy mega-best seller The Rule of Four, comes a riveting thriller with a brilliant premise based on the 2012 apocalypse phenomenon - perfect for readers of Steve Berry, Preston and Child, and Dan Brown.

For decades, December 21, 2012, has been a touchstone for doomsayers worldwide. It is the date, they claim, when the ancient Maya calendar predicts the world will end.

In Los Angeles, two weeks before, all is calm. Dr. Gabriel Stanton takes his usual morning bike ride, drops off the dog with his ex-wife, and heads to the lab where he studies incurable prion diseases for the CDC. His first phone call is from a hospital resident who has an urgent case she thinks he needs to see. Meanwhile, Chel Manu, a Guatemalan American researcher at the Getty Museum, is interrupted by a desperate, unwelcome visitor from the black market antiquities trade who thrusts a duffel bag into her hands.

By the end of the day, Stanton, the foremost expert on some of the rarest infections in the world, is grappling with a patient whose every symptom confounds and terrifies him. And Chel, the brightest young star in the field of Maya studies, has possession of an illegal artifact that has miraculously survived the centuries intact: a priceless codex from a lost city of her ancestors. This extraordinary record, written in secret by a royal scribe, seems to hold the answer to her life's work and to one of history's great riddles: why the Maya kingdoms vanished overnight. Suddenly it seems that our own civilization might suffer this same fate.

With only days remaining until December 21, 2012, Stanton and Chel must join forces before time runs out.

©2012 Dustin Thomason (P)2012 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"Thomason displays an impressive depth of knowledge of both science and the ancient Mayan way of life. Along the way, he skillfully ramps up the action, one notch at a time. A winning book." ( Kirkus Reviews)

"The most exciting novel of its kind since the days of Michael Crichton, 12.21 takes us from the frontiers of modern neuroscience to the riddles of ancient Maya texts, with nothing less than the future of our civilization at stake." (Vince Flynn)

Disappointing

What disappointed you about 12.21?

The storyline was promising, but jumped around too much. More details were needed, the characters seemed flat.

Would you ever listen to anything by Dustin Thomason again?

No.

What does the narrators bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The narrator was able to change voices to delineate the different characters.

All over the place

What disappointed you about 12.21?

Too many characters I couldn't keep track of them. The story is very weak.

What could Dustin Thomason have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Reduce the number of characters and make them more human. Nobody can survive on a few hours of sleep for weeks.

What didn’t you like about the narrators’s performance?

Narration was okay, but inflection and tone were lacking.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Disappointed that I could not get invested in the main characters. Who cares about the backstory and ancient history of Guatamala/Maya if it doesn't relate to the current situation.

Any additional comments?

I only got less than halfway through the book before I abandoned it. It just wasn't interesting.