If Not for the Dawn

By: Dane St. John

Narrated by: David DeBoy

Eight people are on a perilous collision course in a world that never sleeps. Their individual journeys are the culmination of a leading neurosurgeon’s herculean efforts - 10 years before - to save his dying wife’s life. His research results in a chance discovery that will later completely alter society when AltaMira Pharmaceuticals releases Vigorex, the most explosive drug in a century, one that manipulates nucleotides in the human mind in a way that allows people to sleep and experience R.E.M. while they're awake.

As the story unfolds, a colorful cast of characters begin to take the drug, which if not taken properly will have hazardous consequences. But each of these people has undergone a deeply traumatic episode in their formative years, which will affect them in differing ways; murder, arson, kidnapping, vigilantism, among other crimes, will characterize their nightly personalities and send them crashing into one another.

©2012 Dane St. John (P)2013 Cherry Hill Publishing

Critic reviews

"It takes the skillful work of a brilliant new author to sustain the suspense of a truly engaging narrative. You will find in these pages a staggeringly sober, meticulously researched and captivating chronicle of a gritty underworld reality. Following the lineage of influential narco-thrillers (e.g. A Scanner Darkly, Strange Days, and Limitless), St. John creates an architectural masterpiece in the convincing construction of a comprehensively systematic landscape of socio-psychological drama, the harsh reality of which is so recognizably human that it speaks authentically to the most deeply-rooted shadows and fears of our inner selves. While his prose is infused with rich language, imagery and metaphors - a true poetic testament to great literature - the incessant unfolding of the almost obsessively scripted suspense drives the reader onward into an entirely consuming cinematic journey. This is contemporary storytelling at its finest." (Lisa Marie Quillinan)

Wow, there was a lot going on!

I had mixed emotions about this one. There was just so much going on. For an audiobook it almost seemed like there were too many characters to keep up with. In a paperback it would have been easier to keep up with them all, however, the characters really didn't have any depth and layers so other than keeping them straight it wouldn't have made too much of a difference. I had no emotional attachment to any of the characters and truly believed I didn't really care what happened to any of them. I believed that until the end when I realized YOU DON'T FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENED TO THE ALL THE CHARACTERS!!! The concept was really well thought out and very interesting and had there been one main character I think it would have come out a lot better. It is apparent what the author was trying to do and the idea was great but I just couldn't get that into it. I think others could though. It wasn't a bad book, it was well written, the topic was interesting, it just simply had too much going on.

Dont be fooled by reviews

I was told 2 things by the reviews on multiple sites

1. intriguing plot
2. engaging characters

it was neither.



i would buy it as its a fun interesting listen to help pass the time, but please don't hold high expectations as I did based on the reviews.

Interesting

Really interesting premise, and enough action to pull through to the end. But ultimately the characters and the contrived way their stories intersected to prove a point failed to impress me.

Interesting, but a little slow.

Any additional comments?

This book was a little slow, especially when the author likes to give every single characters back story, even if they are not really vital to the story. But it was still rather interesting. Especially the dialogue at the very end. As crazy as this sounds, that one chapter was thought provoking enough for the entire book.

Slow...Slow...ROCKET!

For the amount of lead up to the climax, everything wrapped up VERY quickly and VERY dramatically...The very end left a little to be desired, but overall worth the read...cool premise.