Half Past Midnight

By: Jeff Brackett

Narrated by: Corey M. Snow

Length: 9 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

The Doomsday Clock gauges the threat of nuclear war. Currently, the clock is set at six minutes before midnight. What happens after the hands reach midnight? Survivalist Leeland Dawcett finds out when he and his family are plunged into the nightmare of their country returned to a third-world state. No phones. No computers. No television. At first, Leeland thinks basic survival is the answer. Until he crosses the path of the wrong guy…Someone who wants to do more than just survive…

©2011 Jeff Brackett (P)2014 Jeff Brackett

Yawn.

This book had all of the elements of a good yarn. An “end of the world as we know it” nuclear war, good guys, bad guys and the struggle to survive the horror. It should have been a good listening experience but somehow fell through badly enough that I had to struggle to finish the book.

Perhaps I have read too many of this kind of book and have become jaded, but I just never really cared about the characters or what happened to them. In addition the story line was fairly predictable with the main bad guy showing up early in the story and the reader knowing, without any doubt, that he was going to be trouble for the main characters in the end. I never got the feeling that the main character was real, that his family was real or that any of the situations were real. When thinking about “end of the world” novels I usually end up comparing them to wonderful books like Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle’s Lucifer’s Hammer and William Forstchen’s One Second After and, for me, this book just did not measure up.

The narration was mostly flat but not terrible, but Mr Snow did not have a great story to work with. All in all, a disappointment for me.

Enjoyable Post-Apocalyptic Read

What made the experience of listening to Half Past Midnight the most enjoyable?

I'm not a big fan of the post-apocalyptic genre, but I enjoyed this one because it focused on a family and communities efforts to rebuild, not a bunch of survivors running around trying to take eveyrthing they could. I certainly enjoyed the fact that decisions made had consequences and that the characters for the most part were real people with foibles and flaws as well as redeeming qualities.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I actually enjoyed the character of Megan the best. She matured in the book and for me her reaction to the actions of the main villain seems to be the closest to what I think someone in her situation would do.

What about Corey M. Snow’s performance did you like?

Corey has a natural voice for audiobooks and he did a good job voicing Leeland and helping the reader see what was going on in the world around him.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

If I could have I would have broken this book down into about 2 sittings. The first half of the book before the main villain shows up and then the rest of the book.

Any additional comments?

I enjoyed the book, but I felt that the main character Leeland was a bit too much of a superhero. He didn't have the powers but he always had the right answer to the problem and he could do almost anything. Luckily the surrounding cast was a bit more realistic.

I found Corey to be a very good reader, but I'm not sure his voice was perfect for this book. His voice is almost too soothing to read a post-apocalypic thriller and it didn't convey the urgency it could have in some situations.

I think using Nostradamus's quotes at the beginning of the chapter was a neat idea in concept, but in reality for me it took me out of the moment.

Other than some smaller things I did enjoy the book and I will certainly read more by Mr. Brackett and I would not hesitate to listen to more books read by Mr. Snow.

A couple flaws in the story but still fine

An action filled adventure. I disagreed with some of the choices Leland made. However, the author needed these to make his story more exciting.

Really liked this adventure

My only criticism—It amazes me that such a good author doesn’t know the grammatical difference between ‘further’ and ‘farther’. He uses ‘further’ in every instance of distance, as though it was ‘more fur’ instead of ‘more far’.

Writer needs to learn more about the subject

What disappointed you about Half Past Midnight?

The story is meant for those who know little about guns, nuclear weapons, and basic survival. Sadly as a veteran and medic who has guns and NBC training it was too much to overlook. Great ideas but poor delivery.

What do you think your next listen will be?

No idea.

How could the performance have been better?

Better research before writing it.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

The story was well thought out.

Save your Credit

It took a while to finish this book. I found myself opting for BBC Global News podcasts over this. From the lack of character development to the completely predictable plot, there was nothing that compelled me to want to finish this book. I bought it based upon the strength of its reviews, but I can't imagine what those people were thinking or what they are used to reading.

Save your credit.

Torturous

So boring. The story could have been told in a couple of hours. The narrator's French was an abomination. Waste of time.

bad

bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad don't waste your money on this book

I could not finish this book

Any additional comments?

I really enjoy the genre, but could not finish this book. It's a poor attempt at every level. I tried to get through it, thinking it would be a waste of money to leave it unfinished. But decided finishing it would be a greater waste of time. I'd really like to get my money back for this one.

just not very good

a preparer man with no firearms, but plenty of karate and a karate daughter. plus a british villian. did i mention throwing knives? i like the idea of this genre/story but its just lame story telling