Impact

By: Douglas Preston

Narrated by: Scott Sowers

Length: 11 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's summary

In Douglas Preston's Impact, Wyman Ford is tapped for a secret expedition to Cambodia... to locate the source of strangely beautiful gemstones that do not appear to be of this world.

A brilliant meteor lights up the Maine coast... and two young women borrow a boat and set out for a distant island to find the impact crater.

A scientist at the National Propulsion Facility discovers an inexplicable source of gamma rays in the outer Solar System. He is found decapitated, the data missing.

High resolution NASA images reveal an unnatural feature hidden in the depths of a crater on Mars... and it appears to have been activated.

Sixty hours and counting.

©2009 Splendide Mendax, Inc. (P)2009 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

“Scott Sowers's fully voiced reading is perfect...Sowers's accomplished, finely tuned pacing will keep listeners hooked. Great family listening for a long journey.” —SoundCommentary.com

“Be warned, once you start listening to this you'll will not want to switch it off... Definitely recommended!” —SFCrowsnest.com

“I highly recommended Impact on all levels. It is one of the best books I have ‘read' in a long time.” —SF Revu

I can't recommend it.

Listened to the whole thing, parts were entertaining and intense, but disgustingly violent in some sections, and ... the characters were more caricatures then anything in some/most places. I got to the end and it was a lot of drama for not much payoff.

Just say No

The first 1/3 is the worst kind of popular fiction, vulgar language and sexual references. The rest is the most improbable, ridiculous plot imaginable. The characters run away from a murder scene in a taxi, and the killer tracks them, but no-one else notices. They break about 5000 laws and no-one in authority seems to care. I could go on, but just be advised not to waste your time...

Corny

I like Preston, and expected a better book. I didn't like the lame premise, disjointed story and shallow characters. Narration was fine though.

Enjoyable light read

It was an light entertaining read.

not for me

I have enjoyed a number of his books but this had too much vulgarity and crude language for me to enjoy. I stopped listening after an hour or two.

Entertaining - Far Fetched

The Galaxy, a boat - several boats sinking, Preston takes too much literary license in this one. It was entertaining but not compelling.

Terrible

Terribly written and terribly read. This is the first book I purchased that I COULDN'T finish. Aweful plot line with unnecessary foul language and teenage girls that don't exsist in any civilization anywhere. Simply stupid.

Boy, I'm too old for sci-fi

The promos and reviews made it sound good, but this book is a drag. If you know anything about science,it won't help you. This guy rewrites the rules. And, drum roll, our hero pilots a small boat through a nor-eastah. Guess what happens next.

***Explicit Language Warning***

I am a huge fan of Douglas Preston's work. If you like his unique mix of Fiction and Philosophy, you will love this Novel.

Unfortunately, in a marked deviation from previous work, the use of foul language, especially the "F" word, is pervasive from almost every character.

I was quite disappointed and will not be recommending this book as I have so widely in the past. Sorry Mr. Preston, but I think you are a better writer than this.

Not good

I've really enjoyed many of Douglas Preston's works but I have to say that this one left me wanting. The character development is poor and frankly the story line is weak to the point of being laughable and it gets progressively worse at the book progresses. As other reviwers mentioned it seems as if the author tried to wrap-up the story quickly without a clear idea as to how to finish it.