Lost Everything

By: Brian Francis Slattery

Narrated by: Michael Prichard

Length: 7 hrs and 54 mins

Publisher's summary

From the author of the critically acclaimed literary SF novels Spaceman Blues and Liberation comes an incandescent and thrilling post-apocalyptic tale in the vein of 1984 or The Road.

In the not-distant-enough future, a man takes a boat trip up the Susquehanna River with his most trusted friend, intent on reuniting with his son. But the man is pursued by an army, and his own harrowing past; and the familiar American landscape has been savaged by war and climate change until it is nearly unrecognizable.

Lost Everything is a stunning novel about family and faith, what we are afraid may come to be, and how to wring hope from hopelessness.

©2012 Brian Francis Slattery (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

2013 Philip K. Dick Award

Great book disguised by imperfect narrator

I found this book tricky to listen to. I sense a great story and profundity, told through well-written English. However, the narrator speaks as though it was a 1940's newsreel, and the characterisations are poor. Seems a shame.

I think I might read the hardcopy version, as I sense, especially towards the end, that I was missing something extraordinary.

Whew!

That was depressing! I'm not the least bit sorry that I listened to it, but it was just darned depressing. It's a good story with a good narrator. Not as violent as some tales in this particular genre can get, but it's also a lot more real. No aliens, no zombies, no monsters or pandemic...just us. Which may be what makes it so depressing. It's not an impossible scenario, by any means. But give it a listen and decide for yourself.

Pseudo-post-apocalyptic story

Brain Francis Slattery's Lost Everything is nearly a post-apocalyptic tale. Environmental collapse has led to civil war within the US, specifically the mid-Atlantic region. The main character is a man who along with his wife have been working with the 'rebels.' She is fighting directly on the front lines, while he has been scouting and reconnoitering along with a reverend. He's left their son with his sister and most of the story is his journey to recover the boy while soldiers are on his tail. There are numerous flashbacks to his and other characters earlier life and how they came to be in their current situations.

Slattery rendition is overly depressing with most people going through the motions while recognizing that life will never go back to what it was, and the future holds little for them. Think of The Road as a village.

The narration is good with reasonable character distinction. Pacing is smooth.

Disturbing

I am torn to even describe the book. Is it a melodrama? Maybe written in a 19th century poem describing a 21 century apocalyptic or it is a stoner on a bad trip predicting the future. Michael did narrate the story in a 1940s style reminding me of the older books written during the golden age of pulp fiction. Great job

A post apocalyptic hidden gem

This is a real hidden gem. I highly recommend for fans of The Road by Cormac McCarthy and Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler, the book has plenty of the violence but not the same edge that I find myself loving in McCarthys work.
If you love Post apocalyptic books and banjos, you'll find yourself not wanting to stop the audible.

Don't waste your money!

I will usually always struggle through a book I spent money on. This one is terminal, the narration is poor, at best, the story is very hard to get into, impossible to stay with. I would not recommend.

Lost everything

Want to be super depressed? this is the book for you! I for the life of me do not understand why anyone would enjoy this book!