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Wayward Son  By  cover art

Wayward Son

By: Joseph Hansen
Narrated by: Kevin Pierce
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Publisher's summary

His perfect life in its late autumn years, Bob Johnson is offered the chance of using a prototype technology to traverse gateways into alternate realities. A chance to change the course of history and possibly the nature of certain people. Bob seizes the opportunity to rescue his soul and get revenge on those who are trying ruin everything he cherishes. His reality will never be the same again.

©2017 Joseph Hansen (P)2017 Joseph Hansen

What listeners say about Wayward Son

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

No expectations

I went to this with no expectations. I didn't garner much from the story description, so it was fresh ears. I fumbled along the way a bit confused about what was going on. But I stayed with the story and it unfolded like a flower. I found this story to be quite intriguing and well worth the 8 hour listen. Definitely unusual but in a most enjoying and satisfying way. Would have liked to explore the technology more but I guess that leaves the door open for more to come...at least I hope so!

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4 people found this helpful

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

Messy but entertaining to be sure

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The concept is awkward, but the performance is excellent ( as usual for the sardonic Kevin P.) I would clarify what/where the listener is expected to go, concept wise.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

Frankly, overall it is interesting, if only for the somewhat abstract nature of the story. The least was the usual proselytizing, which seems to be a theme in books read by Mr.Pierce.

What about Kevin Pierce’s performance did you like?

Consistency and attitude, which KP has in abundance.

Did Wayward Son inspire you to do anything?

It is actually thought provoking in no small way, so thinking about my destiny comes to mind.

Any additional comments?

On balance, this is a fascinating offering. I did obtain my copy from Kevin Pierce ( ?! ) in exchange for this independent review, but notwithstanding that I would likely have spent a credit on it. Not brilliant, but worthy of a listen.

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2 people found this helpful

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

Bob

Bob is one of the mist riveting characters protrayed in any book I have read. Kevin is the perfect voice for Bob. the voice brings the character to life. l

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2 people found this helpful

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

Thank you, Mr. Hansen

This beautiful tale is for anyone who loves science fiction, but deeply needs to hear, in these times...what we could become. 99 percent of books these days are full of the horrors humanity inflict. Not just the obvious big atrocities, but deep, unjustifiable narcissism. We have the ability to overcome right NOW, we just need more stories like this.

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2 people found this helpful

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

A bit too moralizing for me

Bob is in the last years of his life. He is offered to work on a secret project that involves traveling to alternate realities, not for him but for criminals, with the intention of changing their perception of life and maybe make new people from them.

I found this idea very interesting. Getting a couple of thugs to travel to other realities, becoming someone else and affront different difficulties. But it was something that somehow did not completely work for me. The stories were interesting enough but they felt like a compendium of short stories, where there was a clear lack of depth in the characters.

There is more focus on one of the thugs, the one which gets to evolve due to this experiment. We hear less from the other one, which remains the same and appears as pure evil, with no depth whatsoever.

Something that disappoint me a bit was the fact that the book kept me expecting something more almost until the end. At some point Bob seems to be receiving messages from aliens, and I expected that part to develop in a different and more interesting way.

I think what I did not like from this book is that it seems just an attempt to proselytize. I guess Hansen wanted to show the difference in nature and nurture, but the result came just too moralizing for me and with little else.

Kevin Pierce’s narration was great, as usual, giving an extra depth to Bob’s personality, and setting the right atmosphere for the story. The audio production was spotless.

I enjoyed the book, but I felt something missing to make it great. It showed a mere experiment in which not everyone would agree about the outcome. I am also a bit tired of reading books where Muslims are the bad guys.

I received a copy of this book in audio format from the narrator in exchange for an honest review.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

This book was enjoyable and refreshing

when I first started listening I thought I was in for another right wing muslum bash. Turns out I was wrong, very wrong. With a creative use or portal fantasy and time travel sci-fi we get to follow a really cool redemption story. I highly recomend for strong writing and great narration.

I was given a free copy in exchange for an honest review via audiobookboom dot com.

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1 person found this helpful

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

If you like sci-fi, listen to this book.

Very entertaining book, but I thought it got too philosophical for my taste. I would still recommend this book to sci-fi lovers. Vey unique and interesting concepts and points of veiw going on. Overall it's a good listen, I just couldn't put it up there with the best books I've read, so it gets 4 stars instead of 5.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Very good book!!!

I really wasn't expecting this book to go the way it did, and it started out with me thinking, "Not again." But quickly it spiraled off in a completely different direction and I spent the rest of the book enthralled. I REALLY enjoyed the part of the book that imagined what life was like for Neanderthals. The idea of mind migration was executed pretty well. There really wasn't much talk of the mechanics, but the book worked without it.

This book touches on a lot of areas of social concern as of late. Corporate greed, terrorism and it's impacts, futuristic science, parallel universes, etc. It is all woven together very well.

I would have liked to heard more about the extent to which terrorism/ISIS had created the world they were in. I was a little confused as to the extent of the damage and if these punks were just one offs, or if this was an epidemic.

I didn't like the religion that was referenced in this book, but I guess that's really unavoidable. Not a knock, just not my cup of tea.

Once again, Kevin Pierce did a wonderful job with this book. His accents are decent, but that drawl is still there. Very endearing!

I was given a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
  • TU
  • 08-16-17

Thought provoking, parallel worlds story

I was given this free review copy audio book at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Kevin Pierce is great, as always. This was definitely a complex story, so I had to pay attention to the details, or I got lost. This is in large part to the concept of the story, a quantum leap style premise, except in parallel worlds instead of time travel. The author heavily focuses on the concept of nature versus nurture when it comes to evil and redemption. It was a little unfocused at times, but I thought it was thought provoking and interesting. Well worth a listen, in my opinion.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Unique and Engaging Story!

This was something that was a little out of my comfort zone as an audio book listener. But as a huge Keving Pierce fan I took a chance and was glad I did. The story is complex and you need to pay attention to the details or you will be lost quickly. Basically this a story of redemption. One mans need to try and help two other misguided youths through the use of special technology that lets them live the lives of others and try to change thems and their world view and redeem themselves for the horrid acts they have commited. I really was drawn into the story. I highly recommend it.

The narration of Kevin Pierce was amazing as always and this time was the selling point for me for the story, I was on the fence about it but decided I would listen to it if he was the narrator. And I was so glad I did make that decision.

This review copy audiobook was provided by the author/narrator/publisher free of charge via Audiobook Boom for a unbiased review.

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