Federal Underground

Penn Mitchell's Ancient Alien Saga, Book 1

By: Jeff Bennington

Narrated by: Andrew Tell

Penn Mitchell vanishes from the NYU campus and shows up three months later on his mother's doorstep with a book screaming to get out of his head. When the FBI discovers the novel discloses top-secret information, they bring Penn in for questioning.

The interrogation goes sideways and Penn escapes into a subterranean world he thought was a figment of his imagination, a world where the US government is hiding, and at war with, an ancient race that has existed since the dawn of time.

©2016 Jeff Bennington (P)2018 Jeff Bennington

Mixed views.

I really liked the narrator, I thougth he did a good job of voicing the many characters and I would listen ot his other works.

As for the book, I have mixed views on it. First there is profanity and violence but no sexual content (except for a rape scene which happens behind closed doors).
The plot I actually liked even though, I found certain things hard to believe like the writer and that alot happens in 24 hours. I would have expected more time to have passed.
The other thing I found with this story is that it is long. I thought there are quite a few places that could have been cut. I found that it slowed the book down and I have to admit that I switched off a few times.

Would I recommend it? Yes, overall I liked it and I thought the story had something that had me gripped to the book. It does end on a sort of a cliff hanger and I do want to find out what happens next.

X-Files on Steroids

Where does Federal Underground rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

It is better then average but it is a bit confusing at times to follow the various twists to a complicated plot.

What other book might you compare Federal Underground to and why?

Mix the X-Files with all the Gov conspiracy theories throw in some aliens and run it through
a blender for a few minutes and you have your story.

Have you listened to any of Andrew Tell’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No.... but it is a good performance.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

The Feds are in bed with aliens.

Any additional comments?

This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.

Great beginning to a different kind of story

The premise of this book caught my attention and after starting it, was afraid it was going to lose me. There was a lot of setting up of characters, settings, and concepts that I was finding confusing, then all of a sudden, it all seemed to click and I was on the roller coaster ride for the remainder of the book.

This is a different kind of story not really found in other books. At it's core is a science fiction thriller I suppose, but there are other things in there as well. I tend to get in a rut with certain types of stories and this was a very refreshing change.

I was a bit disappointed in that once I was hooked and didn't want to put the book down, it ended as a clear setup for a series of books. While I guess this is good in that I do see a rich story universe being setup in this book, I do wish that books were setup to be self contained more (and if they happen to spawn a sequel so be it) instead of being such a clear setup for a series.

This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.

A wonderfully imaginative and poignant story!

This book is incredibly interesting with a very unique story telling point of view.
The story unfolds in what feels like parts but starts to come together and make more and more sense the longer you are into the book. I love the intricacies of telling multiple points of view and timelines which weaves together seamlessly.
The characters have such organic development with some slow crawling and sudden leaps and jumps.

I think that those of a nature to believe in Urban Legends and Conspiracy theories will get a real kick out of this book and those that enjoy an adventure thriller will certainly enjoy the book.

The narration is very good offering unique characters and conveying emotion and tone throughout the performance.

In summation this is a book worthy of savouring and enjoying. I am still not sure that I got all of the clues along the way but a second reading will help confirm or deny that one for me.

A complex but good sci fi book

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

This was an exciting and fast paced sci fi story. The story has some twists to it, and was a bit complex, but ultimately pulls itself together and was quite good. I liked the narration, too. All in all, it was a good book that I would recommend.