Zero Stars, Do Not Recommend

De: MJ Wassmer

Narrado por: Stephen R. Thorne

VACATION CHECKLIST

• Pack swim trunks.
• Apply sunscreen.
• Survive the apocalypse?

Professional underachiever Dan Foster is finally taking a vacation. Sure, his life has been average at best, and yeah, he’s never quite lived up to his potential. But after a few Miller Lites in paradise with his girlfriend, Mara, things are starting to look up.

Then the sun explodes.

With the island resort suddenly plunged into darkness (he really should’ve sprung for the travel insurance), Dan’s holiday goes from bad to worse when elite guests stage a coup and commandeer supplies. As temperatures drop and class tensions rise, revolution begins to brew on the island, and Dan accidentally becomes a beacon of hope for the surviving vacationers. But when one six-person plane is discovered that could get them back to the mainland, Dan realizes he has a choice to make.

Does he escape the island with Mara? Or does he stay and fight to become the most unlikely hero of the end of the world?

“The end of the world has never been so fun! Explosively funny and terrifyingly plausible in its depiction of the apocalypse, this cinematic debut had me LOLing, cringing, and cheering throughout. I absolutely blazed through this earth-shattering action romp.”—Josh Winning, author of The Shadow Glass

©2024 MJ Wassmer (P)2024 Recorded Books

Mixed reviews

I disliked it so much early on that I almost sent it back. All awful people, ugh. It was not funny, just a few chuckles here and there, shouldn’t be listed as a comedy. It was inconsistent, good and bad story, characters, writing. But it kept rolling, got better as the characters became less pathetic. Story turned out interesting in the 2nd half. Violence was unnecessary, would have been better without the extremes.

Hilarious straight out of the gate

I tried this book on a whim and I am SO GLAD I did. it was laff-out-loud funny, and while I occasionally shouted at the characters, I thoroughly enjoyed their exploits.
Read with stellar finesse by Stephen R. Thorne-- I will be looking for his other work.
Scientifically implausible, sociologically imaginable. A romp and a thrill.

Uneven

l found the story to be a rather strange mix of dark humor and horror mixed with violence. The humor throughout failed to hit the right notes and often fell flat for me. Narrator was fine throughout.

Couldn’t stop listening to it!

Great story! Amazing narrator! It may be my favorite book that I have listened to this year!!! 10/10

Fantastic Narration with a disappointing story

The preview hooked me just to make me mad by completely ignoring the intriguing cosmic mystery that was presented in the first paragraph. The main character is intended to be the reluctant hero but really just ends up being whiny, lazy, and unlikeable. The writing was good and the narration was fantastic. Instead of the unique quirky Science fiction premise that is presented it spends 90% of the book as an Orwellian slog. The narrator does everything he can to save the failed comedy that would just be depressing without him. There may be an audience out there for this but it wasn't me. Don't be fooled by the preview. The title is meant to be ironic but is too close to the truth

Original idea. Kept me guessing

The performance and the story were by exceptional. The story was original, refreshing, funny and shocking. 5 stars, Do recommend

It was fine

It was interesting. It was worth finishing, but was not completely earth shattering. Joke intended. A story about human nature.

The narrator was perfect

If the world ended when you were on vacation, you’d probably feel a lot lot Dan Foster, like you had so much more to do!
The internal monologue and absolute chaos that happens when people try to take control of a bad situation was delivered in such an engaging way I didn’t want to stop listening. The narration was perfect. The story was shocking but entertaining. Totally recommend the book, just not the vacation destination.

Great story! Narration was AMAZING!

I loved MJ Wassmer’s story-telling. Wonderful combination of comedy/drama/science fiction… I laughed out loud so much, and was so intrigued by the storyline. Such clever writing!

Perfect summer read

This book is exactly what I look for in a summer read. It’s dark, weird, chaotic, and full of biting social satire—with just enough of a happyish ending to keep you from spiraling. There were moments I had to physically put the book down because of the sheer anxiety it induced… but honestly, that’s half the fun, right?

M.J. Wassmer nails the mix of absurd apocalypse and emotional depth, and I’m still thinking about certain scenes days later. Highly recommend!