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Triggers  By  cover art

Triggers

By: Robert J. Sawyer
Narrated by: Jeff Woodman
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Publisher's summary

On the eve of a secret military operation, an assassin's bullet strikes President Seth Jerrison. He is rushed to the hospital, where surgeons struggle to save his life. At the same hospital, researcher Dr. Ranjip Singh is experimenting with a device that can erase traumatic memories.

Then a terrorist bomb detonates. In the operating room, the president suffers cardiac arrest. He has a near-death experience - but the memories that flash through Jerrison's mind are not his memories.

It quickly becomes clear that the electromagnetic pulse generated by the bomb amplified and scrambled Dr. Singh's equipment, allowing a random group of people to access one another's minds.

And now one of those people has access to the president's memories - including classified information regarding the upcoming military mission, which, if revealed, could cost countless lives. But the task of determining who has switched memories with whom is a daunting one - particularly when some of the people involved have reason to lie....

BONUS AUDIO: Includes an exclusive introduction by author Robert J. Sawyer.

©2012 Robert J. Sawyer (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

What listeners say about Triggers

Average customer ratings
Overall
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    129
  • 4 Stars
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  • 4 Stars
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  • 3 Stars
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  • 2 Stars
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

wow

it may be made into a movie because it would be amazing. Fast moving good characters really enjoyable

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

You can’t have the MacGuffin resolve the issue SPOILERS

So, the book was pretty good, until the end - and that’s when it stank up the joint.

The conceit here is, “What would happen if people knew the memories of individual other people?” And the author has a black box that gets this to happen to a group of people - including the President.

Interesting stuff, and the author explores the intricacies very well.

This is akin to what happens at the beginning of The Martian. The wind/dust storm that arises is impossible. Couldn’t cause the problems/destruction that it causes. But it gets us to the central question of that book, “What would happen if an astronaut were stranded on Mars?” All the science after that initial storm is correct. You can ignore/forgive the set up because the outcome more than makes up for it.

Here, the reason for the cause of the connections isn’t the important thing . . . until it is again. And you can’t use a MacGuffin twice. You can’t not explain something, and then have that something solve every problem in the book, and while we’re at it, how about the world, too.

That’s just weak writing. That’s poor plot structure.

And that’s a $#!tty book.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

What an imagination!

I normally love Sawyer’s books; they always rate 5 / 5 for me. I’m always captivated by his imagination and the stories have me enthralled every time.

This one however, although just as intriguing plot-wise, didn’t feel like the page turner it promised to be and therefore I would rate it 4.5 / 5

Still, high praise - I can’t wait for more!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

very entertaining

Veri imaginative plot A different angle. most enjoyable even if a little difficult to imagine. i will be looking forward to other works by this authof

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Middle was good: start and finish were not.

What was most disappointing about Robert J. Sawyer’s story?

I really felt that the story's start was very jumbled. Maybe that was the point, maybe it wasn't. But anyone who listens to the end will probably feel as I did: it was rushed, rushed, rushed. I could almost see in my head a pushy publisher telling the author to finish it or to finish it in 20 pages that should have taken more than 100. Spoiler Alert: to go from only the initial people, to anyone they touched, to 'coming with the sun' in only a few pages just felt rushed.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Not his best stuff by far.

I've read virtually everything Robert Sawyer has ever written. They usually range from excellent (Counting God) to pretty damned good (Hominid series). This is just average by normal standards. By Robert J Sawyer standard, I think it's below average. The narration is very good, the story is moderately interesting, and deals with mostly memory. Some aspects of the story are cool, but just not enough to carry the whole thing.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

I didn't finish it...I didn't want to

Because the storyline is too far-fetched to be a reality, I found the characters accepted what was happening way, way too fast. It became predictable way too early, and I would never finish this book because too many characters came into play and I knew I would never be able to like any of them. Maybe if character development was given more of a priority then the "why" i would feel inclined to press on..but it was too shallow for my liking. Pass

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Lovely story but the ending

Would you listen to Triggers again? Why?

No, its a once in a life time

What other book might you compare Triggers to and why?

I do not know books to compare this one to

Have you listened to any of Jeff Woodman’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I liked the book but I did not like the ending

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

And he can write Action...and it's still Sci-Fi

Kudos to Robert Sawyer for challenging himself to write an action novel. Yep, it's in the style of the classic spy thriller with the Sawyer development of character and plot.

I had two things that upset my listening.

1. He never answers how so many terrorist attacks occurred (which is essential to the pre-story).
2. I love Sawyer but I'm beginning to not like the overall chirpy endings. What I mean is that all his novels seem to end with humanity uniting in someway, becoming hive minds or flinging into the future. While it makes for a great story, it's not in my opinion very sci-fi. This ending felt a bit rushed, as though it all had to be figured out under a deadline.

I do give it high marks because it's a good story with interesting science behind it.

Good narrator, developed characters and voices. There's a lot of talking in their heads and the reader played that well.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Great idea, constantly changing action

Excellent piece of really well-thought out fiction! The only thing I personally have had gripes with was the ending, but I guess this is just not the kind of ending I would prefer in any story.

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