New Year Island

By: Paul Draker

Narrated by: Teri Schnaubelt

Length: 23 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

The stakes are high...Ten strangers, recruited by an edgy new reality show and marooned on an abandoned island overrun by wildlife. One dies in a horrible accident. Nine realize they are all past survivors, alive only because they've beaten incredible odds once before. One by one, their hidden secrets are revealed. Eight discover they are trapped. Caught in a game so deadly that the most terrifying experiences of their lives were only its qualifying round, they must now face the greatest danger on the island... each other. And one of them is not who he or she claims. Seven fight to escape. Six try to solve the mystery of who lured them there and why. Five... Four... Will anyone survive New Year Island?

©2013, 2014 Paul Draker (P)2014 Paul Draker

Good scary story---way too long

Different terror, mystery story. I liked how we were gradually introduced to the players in the story, and the novel island location. I had difficulty keeping the players and their personalities straight, because there were quite a few of them. It was scary tale, filled with gore and pure terror. My main turn-off was the cursing. It might have been appropriate to the story, but jarring and off-putting to me. I liked it.

Good listen.

Interesting story. Pulled me in and kept me guessing. Really fast paced for such a long read.

Exciting!!!

The narrator is really good and the story is exciting. Lots of twists and turns. Fun atmosphere and good characters

Confusing

Hard to follow all the twists and turns in this book...storyline is clever but too unbelievable to feel like it was really enjoyable

Just okay . . .

What did you like best about New Year Island? What did you like least?

The story was very drawn out and not plausible in so many areas, for so many reasons. I was excited at the story line -- thinking it would be like hunger games -- but was disappointed. I hung in there and finished it and questioned myself for doing so. Sorry I just didn't like it.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

1) Shorten it, 2) make the characters more dynamic, 3) plot needs some tailoring -- too many unbelievable scenarios.

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

No, but may check them out.

Could you see New Year Island being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

Oh no.

dollar store Freddy Kruger at the end

It could have been a good book, but too long, and the last few chapters turned into a creepy horror ending that did not fit with the theme of the first two thirds of the book. I will not give this author another chance.

On and On

New Year Island is a who-dunnit mystery in the vein of Ten Little Indians with the setting being a remote tiny island inhabited by giant elephant seals and surrounded by great white sharks. The characters are dropped off on the island under the pretense they are participants in a new reality show in the vein of Survivor with a multi-million dollar payoff for the winner.

The first section of the book deals with the characters’ back stories. It was a bit confusing to me because I didn’t know that. The book just seemed to be bouncing all over the place. Once on the island it was easier to follow but it still took me a while to identify the characters.

The premise was good and the author had a few interesting twists but the length….I stuck with it because I wanted to know who did it, but this story did not need to be this long. So many of hours of repetitive petty bickering. Good narration. It would have been a 4.5 listen for me except for the bloated middle.

Entertaining but quite lengthy

Plenty of plot twists to keep you guessing. I gave the performance four stars, could've been three, only because the female reader had to voice multiple characters.... and a female voice doing a male character kind of throws it off of a bit, for me.

Absolutely captivating

Well written great plot great characters great storyline with more than a few surprises a wonderful read. I would highly recommend it to anyone who loves a good story.

not very fulfulling

Would you try another book from Paul Draker and/or Teri Schnaubelt?

the performance was wonderful, but the storyline was somewhat confusing. It skipped around alot . At the end of the book I felt dissappointment that after 23 hours, it was just a letdown. I expected more from this book.

What could Paul Draker have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

I am not sure

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

nothing, the performance was excellant.

Could you see New Year Island being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

no, I cannot