The Mote in Andrea's Eye

By: David Niall Wilson

Narrated by: Karyn O'Bryant

Length: 9 hrs and 15 mins

Publisher's summary

A young girl, Andrea Jamieson, loses her father, who is trying to rescue a neighbor during a hurricane. She grows up to become a hurricane ''hunter'' and, through her own efforts and those of her husband and colleagues, accidentally creates the largest hurricane in history. Then it disappears in the Devil's Triangle. So does her husband, flying over the storm to drop Silver Iodide crystals into the eye.

Then, 30 years later, the storm - and the plane - are back. Andrea has a new weapon, a series of pumps, that might stop or divert the storm, but there's little time, and all she really wants to do is track that plane that's been gone so long - and reunite with her long-lost husband.

©2009 David N. Wilson (P)2012 David N. Wilson

Critic reviews

"Tugging heartstrings with the expertise of a master puppeteer, Wilson, a former naval technician, adds plenty of authentic touches but never overwhelms the reader with details. The clean prose, romance and fantasy elements, heart-pounding scenes of man against nature, and topical currency (thankfully not overplayed) will appeal to a wide variety of readers." ( Publishers Weekly)

An excellent book!

I just finished this audiobook and I am still a bit wide-eyed. I really enjoyed it, and the last half was like a roller coaster ride, it just kept building tension until the last few minutes. This author knows how to keep my attention, that's for certain! I thought the premise of this story was very interesting – fighting hurricanes juxtaposed with the Bermuda Triangle – but the novel was even better than I had hoped. The first half, with explanations of how hurricanes can be fought, had just enough technical information to keep us science geeks happy but not drowning in the details. Although I did keep wondering what the results of an Environmental Impact Statement on the methods would be these days, it didn't detract from the story at all. For the big storms, people just want to save lives and will do almost anything to accomplish that goal. The second half of the book, once a giant storm had appeared as if by magic (see previous Bermuda Triange reference) really pulled me along. I usually listen to books during meals, and I found myself sitting and listening with a fork hanging in the air. And lunches took a bit longer than usual. The descriptions in this book are quite vivid, and kept me visualizing the scenes and almost feeling that I was right there with the characters. I had to listen to the last two hours without stopping, because I couldn't wait to find out whether Mother Nature or Man won the battle … I thought the narrator was excellent for this reading. I don't think I've listened to her before, but I certainly would again. I suspect her voice and delivery style were part of what drew me along so well thru the narrative – she blended into the story so well that I didn't once consider what I liked or disliked about her reading until the book was done. I can't even now comment on what I liked, except to say that her tone of voice and pacing was very comfortable to my ear. But she let the story flow thru her exceptionally well, in my opinion. So, an excellent narration of an absorbing story, and I will definitely be reading more by this author.

An excellent book

What did you love best about The Mote in Andrea's Eye?

The Mote in Andrea's Eye is a captivating adventure that pulls you in and holds your attention

What did you like best about this story?

A great suspense with just a bit of paranormal thrown in. Definitely kept me hooked from start to finish

Which scene was your favorite?

When Phil came back 30 years later

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

Yes very much so

Any additional comments?

I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.

Loved it

A great suspense with just a bit of paranormal thrown in. Definitely kept me hooked from start to finish. Very intriguing story. I got sucked in and drown along with the characters and there attempt to fight hurricanes. The author gave just enough details about the science behind what they were doing that it kept me interested without slowing down the story.

The narrator gave a good performance and I quite enjoyed listening to her. Although she's not the best at male voices. Still did great though.

This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review.

A good adventure story

I wasn't sure about The Mote in Andrea's Eye when I started the book, but I plowed through until it became a adventure. The second half of the book went very quickly with great descriptions that made me feel as if I were there. The narrator did a really good job keeping up with the suspense in the story and kept it flowing.
I was given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest an unbiased review.

Captivating adventure

The Mote in Andrea's Eye is a captivating adventure that pulls you in and holds your attention.
Starting out as a young girl Andrea witnesses the fierceness of a hurricane and the death of her father. Making it her life's ambition to understand the actions of hurricanes, Andrea lives and breathes working to find a way to subdue them. Falling in love with pilot Phil Wicks, together they fight hurricanes.
Phil and several other pilots fly out to meet the storm on a mission to drop silver iodide to divert the storm, but instead Phil and the storm disappeared.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would not hesitate to recommend it to a friend.
“This audiobook was given by Crossroad Press at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review via Audiobook Boom.”

The is a storm a blowing

When Andrea was young her family with through a big hurricane. As her father was saving the neighbor from the rising flood waters the storm raged. After Andrea lost her father to a hurricane she vowed to find a way to stop them from taking anyone else's life. She went to school and studied hard, she became one of the leading groups pursuing hurricane control. She was passionate about her job, she also took the time to listen to everyone who had an idea on things to do to slow hurricanes down. While fighting a small storm in Bermuda in the 1960's her husband who was her favorite pilot was lost in the storm to never be found. That was until 30 years later when a devastating category 5 hurricane popped up out of the blue.

A stormy proposition

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

No, unless they were really into obtuse hurricane stories. This is book is at the same time interesting, and a mess. I wouldn't put my friends through this.

Would you recommend The Mote in Andrea's Eye to your friends? Why or why not?

As above.

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

Yes, although they narrator did not manage to voice men very well, particularly in the latter chapters. I do understand that cross gender emulation is not easy, and she did try, but was inconsistent and , for whatever reason, got off track at the end.

Did The Mote in Andrea's Eye inspire you to do anything?

Not really. I have visited the areas covered in the book however, so it did bring back memories of some of those trips.

Any additional comments?

Where to start?
Positive:
interesting proposition, clearly with some detailed research and a topic that is not always covered.
Negative:
so many loose, or even totally not discussed ends, that it felt incomplete or a mash up of a number of story ideas just randomly thrown together.
Oh, we can lose the black coffee references.
I would want some better research done into actual offshore towing as well, which clearly was not done here.

I was provided this book by the author on Audioblast in exchange for this independent review. Clearly they are getting it. I would say worth the credit IF you are interested in hurricanes.

Not bad.

Not bad at all. This book was furnished at no charge in exchange for my unbiased review.

Detailed!

When Andrea is young, she and her parents are caught in a hurricane, while they barely survive it, it's when her dad tries to rescue her neighbour in the aftermath, that she loses him. From that moment on, she was fixated with the idea of trying to stop a hurricane! Years later, while researching a promising way to stop the hurricane, her husband and his men, unintentionally create the largest hurricane in history, but while most of her colleagues return safely, the hurricane, along with Andreas husband, disappear in the "Devils Triangle". Heartbroken, Andrea keeps trying to find a way to stop the hurricanes from hitting land, or at least, slow them down! 30 years pass and Andrea is getting data that seems to confirm that a massive hurricane is forming exactly where the last one was! Everything points to it being the exact same as the one years earlier, one that will devastate the country. Along with a weird transmission from the hurricane, she believes this is the one that vanished 30 years ago, the one that vanished her husband too!!

At first I expected this to be like the movie "Twister" but with hurricanes, since the blurb said, Hurricane Hunter! But it's not! This is more a detailed look at hurricanes and Andreas life trying to change them so other people never have to lose a loved one! While not being very fast paced, I still enjoyed this. Even with it being Fiction, it was still fascinating following Andrea and her team and learning all about hurricanes.

Andrea was a worthy heroine, she was focused, smart and not afraid to take the necessary risks to try to save people. Her husband, Phil was also an awesome character, though we didn't see much of him! Both were well written, though not as developed as I would of liked.

In all this was a good read. It wasn't very fast paced but still enjoyable. It made me realise how lucky I am to live in Ireland since we don't have extreme weather like that. Hurricanes are deadly!!! If you like an adventurous detailed tale of hurricanes, then this is for you :)

Karyn O'Bryant did a good job narrating this. She was clear and concise and read the story well, though her male voices weren't the best! She needed to lower her tone a little more.

*I received a copy of this for review. This in no way affected my thoughts.*

Interesting & Suspenseful

Would you listen to The Mote in Andrea's Eye again? Why?

I will listen to it the Mote in Andrea's Eye again simply because I enjoyed the story.

Which scene was your favorite?

I did not have any one scene that was my favorite. Overall, I found this to be a great book. The author provides enough detail and scientific background on hurricanes but no so much as to boe the listener. Just enough to peak your interest and maintain it. Also, I found the book to be very suspenseful and I was engaged and intrigued throughout.

Karyn O'Bryant, did a great job on this book, however, her male voices could be a bit better. I wasn't quite convinced that the character was male at times throughout the story, but overall she did a great job narrating.

Any additional comments?

This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of AudiobookBoom dot com