Midnight Son

By: James Dommek Jr., Josephine Holtzman, Isaac Kestenbaum

Narrated by: James Dommek Jr.

James Dommek, Jr., an Alaska Native writer and musician, sheds new light on a real-life mystery that pits Native American folklore against the US justice system. In the vast Alaskan Arctic, legend has it there once lived a mythic tribe—Iñukuns—that only existed in rumors and whispers. This changed forever when an actor-turned-fugitive, Teddy Kyle Smith, had an encounter that brought Iñukuns from myth to reality. Smith was an aspiring actor with a promising career until it all came quickly crashing down with a gunshot, a manhunt, bloodshed, and other frightful events.

The story of Smith’s tragic downfall has long haunted James Dommek, Jr., the great-grandson of the last of the Iñupiaq story-tellers. Midnight Son is his journey in discovering who Teddy Kyle Smith was, what he did, and what he really saw. Along the way, listeners will experience the soul of the real Alaska as narrator Dommek, Jr. brings this multilayered and sprawling tale to life.

Please Note: Midnight Son contains adult language and violent themes. Discretion is advised.

©2019 Audible Originals, LLC (P)2019 Audible Originals, LLC.

Started off interesting...

The beginning had me hooked. Then then the story went down hill as did the writing. Just felt like the author was grasping for material IE he'd run out. I hoped there would be more exploration into the myth. A decent podcast.

Solid narration by Dommek.

No direction

I enjoyed learning about the history, and the legends. But I felt like it didn’t have any real direction. It started out about the native people, and then focused on the guy for a while, then went back to being about the tales. So, I didn’t feel like it was wrapped up well. But the book was still interesting. Wouldn’t have paid for it.

A must listen!

Excellent performance and a fascinating story! I was fully engaged the whole time and just could not press pause! Usually I do something else while listening to an audio book, but this time I found myself SO many times just sitting or standing still completely hypnotized. I thoroughly enjoyed this book!

Great story

Well told story, that kept me enthralled throughout. James Dommeck Jr definitely inherited the gene for storytelling.

overhyped with mythology

the basic story of Teddy is interesting, and the factual storytelling is good. The narration and recordings pleasing. But the incorporation of mythology into the story, as if it's believable, is a huge spoiler. I don't even get the point of the Inupik angle, but it's so seriously incorporated it's tiring.