Critical Dawn

The Critical Series, Book 1

By: Darren Wearmouth, Colin F. Barnes

Narrated by: Luke Daniels

Length: 10 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's summary

Some mysteries should stay buried. A centuries-old plan unfolds.

Archaeologists Pippa Quinn and Charlie Jackson find advanced technology in undisturbed 16th-century graves. A portent, the discovery precedes thousands of giant sinkholes opening up across the globe as extreme weather threatens the population. Charlie suspects the two are related.

Pippa, Charlie, and the rest of humanity will have to fight for survival, sacrificing the life they've known to protect Earth from an ancient and previously dormant enemy. Even that might not be enough, as this new enemy exacts a plan that will change the course of humankind forever.

Critical Dawn is an apocalyptic ride to the very edge of human existence. Factions will battle for control of the Earth - if they can avoid the threat of extinction.

©2014 Darren Wearmouth, Colin F. Barnes (P)2015 Podium Publishing

Younger adult sci-if.

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The book starts out very well. The middle and end are rough. I like books with some struggles. I do not like it when everything conveniently falls into place. More descriptions would be nice as well.

Which character – as performed by Luke Daniels – was your favorite?

Denver. He is very upbeat, despite how he was raised.

Did Critical Dawn inspire you to do anything?

No. I do not think I will pursue the series.

Any additional comments?

I think the series has/had great potential. I just think it is geared more towards a younger audience. It is an easy listen and not too many dynamic characters, that you can't keep track of them.

Waiting for book 2!

5 star story, innovative and moves fast. Luke Daniels was awesome as usual. Where is # 2? Can not wait!

What a great take on...

What a great new take on an age old mystery! This was a completely entertaining read, and the narrative was top notch. I'll be looking for the sequel!

Maybe

Maybe book 2 will be better. Having the first part end so abruptly lest me wondering what happened. Answered in a way but much later. Maybe character development will be better, too.

Language challenged

Very interested premise. Had me hooked.... but it turns out Wearmouth is another one of those writers who thinks *everybody* f-bombs multiple times in *every* conversation (once you get a couple chapters in).
No, that's not realism. That's stupidism. Nobody I know talks like that. You can blame that on "well, you hang out with unusual people," but in the last half a dozen jobs nobody I worked with even talked like that. It wasn't considered professional or well mannered.
Realism might be a character or two who does that. It might even mean all the characters do occasionally under extreme stress. But everybody all the time?
In fairness to Wearmouth, this book happens to be about the fifth in a row that tortured me with sort of thing all the way through. I've had enough. Gettin' my effing credit back.

All over the place

This started off so well but devolved into cheesy horror war sci-fi. The author likes to head hop between characters and it got very distracting as you head hop not only between characters but through time. I felt cheated after the great first few chapters when the author takes us quickly into the post invasion era. Seeing the beginning of the invasion would certainly have been exciting. As it was this novel devolved into a bad war novel . No fun.

Description and story don't match

Would you try another book from Darren Wearmouth and Colin F. Barnes and/or Luke Daniels?

No

What could Darren Wearmouth and Colin F. Barnes have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Made the mystery last for somewhat more than the first hour of the book.

What does Luke Daniels bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Don't know

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Disappointment.

Any additional comments?

The description of the books makes it sounds about an important archaeological discovery and the resultant solving of an ancient mystery or uncovery of an ancient secret. Instead, the story is about an alien invasion and all the mystery is lost after about 1 hr into the listening. I stopped listening when I realised the book is really going to be about the fight between humanity (of which there are a few free survivors and a few brainwashed slaves to the aliens left) and the aliens. A story can't get more boring than when most of the book is about a war. I suppose there may be some twists later in the book, but I can't be bothered waiting for it when I feel cheated about the whole premise of the book. I'm returning it right now.

kinda boring

the narrator did an excellent job. but the story couldn't hold my interest. I won't be continuing the series.

Excellent start for an interesting series.

Any additional comments?

After a confusing start (intentionally so) the book settles into a fun pseudo-invasion story. There are a ton of alien invasion stories out there, but Wearmouth and Barnes put their own spin on it. I'll definitely be continuing on with the series.

Once again an excellent narration job by Luke Daniels.

Thrilling adventure, but not gorey! Great combo

Wonderful trip thru time and "space". The cast fully complemented each other. some of the voices were hard to tell apart. listed to the book 2 times to be comfortable I got it all. Now, I'm off to volume 2....

Brilliant! Well written with cool characters!

What made the experience of listening to Critical Dawn the most enjoyable?

The story is brilliant! Really good pace throughout the book and a very good narrator. I love the main characters. The good and the bad. The sinister main collaborator was interesting. This is a must have audiobook!

What was one of the most memorable moments of Critical Dawn?

On one hand I love how short the setup for the story is. We jump into the characters almost instantly. But I also loved the ending as well. It's a really good book!

Which character – as performed by Luke Daniels – was your favourite?

It has to be Charlie Jackson, although his lad is a very close second.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

I can't answer that without plot spoilers. The ending is good is all I will say.

Any additional comments?

This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of AudiobookBoom dot com.

Entertaining, just

Story is quite shallow/simple at times. One of the main ideas in the book is just wrong/not possible and beyond fantastical in my opinion.
Also evil "Russians" and heroic "Mericans"... Seriously?
Unnecessary swearing.
Preview of the next book was disappointing.