Backtracker

By: Jason Koenig

Narrated by: Daniel Dorse

Length: 23 hrs and 11 mins

Publisher's summary

Meet the ultimate serial killer.

Miraclemaker comes and goes like a ghost in the night, taking lives by the score as if he were Death himself. The streets run red with the blood of his victims. Only one man knows he exists, one man who loses everyone he ever cared about, one by one, to the hands of the killer. This man, Dave Heinrich, sets out on a desperate hunt to stop the Miraclemaker at any cost. But does Dave stand a chance against a murderer who just might have a connection to terrifyingly dark and powerful supernatural forces? A murderer whose deepest secret could rock Dave's world to its very foundations?

Bodies pile up... time runs out... and the mystery of the Backtracker is about to unleash the ultimate evil and bring about a blood-drenched hell on Earth.

©2012 Robert T. Jeschonek (P)2012 Robert T. Jeschonek

What an experience!

Wow. This book. What an experience. It's a long one with a long journey. But it kept me enthralled the whole time. This author really gives detail to where the reader feels like they are physically in the story itself. This story had me guessing left and right. Who was the killer? Who was the victim? What was really going on? This is a murder rampage mystery unlike any other. And when I say it's an experience, I mean it. I didn't mind that it was long. I felt like that helped me as the reader really feel every word. And that ending! I didn't see that coming. I love a book that keeps me guessing. And it's open for me. I would like to know more. To see how the future spans out for these characters. I am not giving details on purpose. Each moment of this book is a surprise and I am not going to spoil any of it. This narrator had the perfect voice for the feel of this novel. Overall it's a great thriller that will throw you on a wild ride to figure out what's real and what's something else entirely.

very poorly edited!!!

who ever edited this audiobook did a terrible job. They left in all of the mistakes and there are several instances in this audio book where several lines of the pages were reread over and over again until the reader got it correct. Also you can hear things such as the narrator clicking his pen stumbling over words import early piece together editing in general. the story was okay however the author was very redundant explaining several sentences over and over and over again when me as the listener got the point the very first time it's like an unabridged unabridged version of a book Terrible don't buy

3.5 STARS-A well told Mystery / Thriller

I burn through books like crazy. So when I got the oportunity for a free book for an honest review, I scanned some books and decided on selecting this one.

This book is listed as horror, was released a good 12 years ago, is 23 hours long. I was shocked that somehow I missed it and am glad I finally found it.

The story is an interesting premise. Im not going to summarize it and possibly spoil it. The publishers summary is good enough, even if it feels more hollow than the story actually is. Its an intricate mystery as the title of this review states. I didnt really think it was a horror book but more in line with a Jack Daniels novel (with out the humor and a whole lot more detail). I enjoyed it quite a bit and was guessing what was really happening till the end.

The narrator took some getting used to, but i warmed up to him quickly. Unlike some other reviewers I had no problem hearing him. Then again Im listenening to the book on an S22 Ultra and the reviews stating they couldnt hear the narrator were 8 to 10 years ago. Now maybe they (producers) remixed the audio or maybe the technology leap drastically improved the listening experience, but the narrators voice was clean and clear for me. Its just a kind of voice I havent heard on an audiobook before. After an hour I was good to go.

Now with the bad: The book is too long. This book is probably in the top 5 longest Ive listened to. I could feel it at points and I can point out exactly WHY it made me remove a star and a half. Its the internal monolog, it goes on and on sometimes and has the tendency to repeat itself frequently, especially toward the last 3rd of the book. I mean its done really well. It probably mimics how a persons' mind spins on a problem or spins in panic perfectly. I listen to audiobooks so that my own mind doesnt spin like that, so listening to someone elses for such an extended period had me zoning in and out at points. This got really repetitve in the last 3rd of the book. Up until then I had planned on giving the book 4 stars. Honestly I probably couldnt have read this book, but being an audiobook i was still able to consume it in 3 days.

In summary, this is a great story with a great narrator. The author has skills. I believe if the story was run through an editor to knock it down to 19 or 20 hours and was relabeled back to the proper category it would easily be a 4.5 / 5 star experience. As it stands I give it 3.5 stars.

Decent Read, Terrible Narration.

The book is pretty good. It's kept me on board for the whole book. The problem is the narration. The narrator whispers the entire book. Its maddening. I will avoid that narrator from here on out no matter how much i may want to read the book.

Good Story!!! But.........

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

The story is very good, but getting over the narrator....the voice drove me crazy!!! Clear your throat and speak up!

Would you be willing to try another one of Daniel Dorse’s performances?

Absolutely Not!! This guy basically whispered in this rough harsh whisperish voice like he needs to clear his throat voice. The story line is the only thing that kept me listening. I will not be getting another book that he is the narrator on.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

If someone like Scott Brick, Joe Montenga was reading this book.

Can't hear the reader

What disappointed you about Backtracker?

I had everything turned up as loud as it would go including the pre-amp software on my device and the independent amp on my expensive headphones and still couldn't hear the reader well enough to follow the story.

Would you ever listen to anything by Jason Koenig again?

Probably. I didn't really get to listen to this book. So this is nothing on Mr.Koenig.

How could the performance have been better?

I didn't care for the reader's style, but that wasn't the issue. The issue was with the terrible job the Sound Engineer did. The reader is soft spoken and all the other reviewers seem to want to hold that against him, but lots of actors and actresses are soft spoken and you can still hear them on TV and in movies. It's the job of the Sound Engineer to make sure you can still hear them even if they are quiet and on this project the Sound Engineer simply dropped the ball.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Backtracker?

Couldn't hear any scenes.

Any additional comments?

No idea if this is a good book or not. If you're interested in finding out, buy the physical or Kindle version.