Agents of Dreamland

Tinfoil Dossier, Book 1

By: Caitlin R. Kiernan

Narrated by: Danny Campbell, Chelsea Stephens

Length: 2 hrs and 39 mins

Publisher's summary

A government special agent known only as the Signalman gets off a train on a stunningly hot morning in Winslow, Arizona. Later that day he meets a woman in a diner to exchange information about an event that happened a week earlier for which neither has an explanation but which haunts the Signalman.

In a ranch house near the shore of the Salton Sea, a cult leader gathers up the weak and susceptible - the Children of the Next Level - and offers them something to believe in and a chance for transcendence. The future is coming, and they will help to usher it in.

A day after the events at the ranch house, which disturbed the Signalman so deeply that he and his government sought out help from "other" sources, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory abruptly loses contact with NASA's interplanetary probe New Horizons. Something out beyond the orbit of Pluto has made contact.

And a woman floating outside of time looks to the future and the past for answers to what can save humanity.

©2017 Caitlín R. Kiernan (P)2020 Tantor

I Really Enjoyed It

This was a good quick listen, and I think worth the credit I spent on it.

A First Act Passed Off As A Whole Novel

The narration is well done and I appreciate the authors style. The plot gets good about an hour and a half in, and I was eager to see where it would go. It's too bad that the story just....ends. It feels like someone took the first act of a three act play and decided that the second and third weren't necessary. The end result is unfulfilling and I wonder if this is the authors attempt at getting a multi-book deal without actually bothering to write multiple books worth of content. All in all, I recommend finding a different audiobook to pass your time

Pass on this

This story is told mainly from two points of view: a cult member with substance use issues and a neuro-fungal infection; and a clandestine government agent so grizzled and cliché that you can smell the alcohol and loneliness through the narration. This book is essential two hours and change of the former's ramblings and the latter's lamentations, with a couple Lovecraftian staples name dropped for flavor. There are no real stakes, and what could have been a decent build up of suspense is ultimately let down by an unsatisfying conclusion.

If you want quality fiction in the Lovecraftian genre, I would suggest "14" and "The Fold", both by Peter Clines.

it just ends

I didn't notice the length of the book when I purchased it. While waiting for the story to take shape, the credits started to roll. I honestly don't know what the point of this book was and I'm very disappointed.

Well written - too brief

In an odd review: this story is a lot of fun, but feels like it's only the first 3rd or half of a full book. Still worth it!

Weak

The male narrator was absolutely miscast, and I think it may have been to the detriment of the book. Highly disappointing.

Stellar

My only complaint is it’s too short! I wanted more but what a story! Must listen!