Ghosts of Eden

By: Keith Deininger

Narrated by: Talmadge Ragan

Length: 6 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's summary

A neglected and abused little girl... A hopeless drug addict... Horrifying visions of bizarre beings that may or may not be human... A haunted desert refuge that could hold the key to everything...and all of it tied together by a mysterious jar that contains the secrets of good and evil, reality and nightmares, creation and death...and everything in between....

Following a family tragedy, Kayla, a 12-year-old orphan, and Garty, a college dropout and junkie, are sent to spend the summer with an enigmatic uncle neither of them have ever known, at his palatial desert home in Los Alamos, New Mexico, the birthplace of the atomic bomb. While Garty struggles to come to grips with his reckless past and Kayla attempts to discover her place in the world, their uncle Xander reveals the true purpose for them being there. Soon dark secrets will be revealed. They will be shown things that will change their perceptions of the physical universe, because nothing is as it seems, and no one is safe from the terrifying secrets awaiting them. When the strange jar is opened, otherworldly horrors slip forth with ambitions of dominance, oppression, and terror. Eden will be reborn.

©2014 Keith Deininger (P)2017 David N. Wilson

Enjoyable Paranormal Thriller

I consume a whole ton of this kind of content and 'Ghosts of Eden' had a fairly unique take on the genre, which is always a pleasant and wonderful surprise. I would characterize this tale as more of the paranormal variety, than of the thriller variety but the genres are close enough I guess!

Narration by Talmadge Ragan was spot on, giving one of the two protagonists, young orphaned Kayla, a courageous tone despite the tragedies and confusion she faces. Deininger weaves a tale about mysterious happenings, chance meetings, fate and learning who to trust and who is lying to you. This story wasn't my favorite ever, but it held my attention throughout. I would recommend this one to any friends who enjoy a paranormal mystery/thriller!

I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.

Took a turn...

Enjoyable in so many ways.
The voice of the MC was wonderfully depicted by our narrator, giving this young woman a brave and strong voice. You could hear the strength in her vulnerable telling of the tale.
And who doesn't like a mystery jar? Huh? Seriously, I watch those mystery box videos on YouTube. Don't Judge me.
Anyway, this was different. And heaven knows we need that in books these days.
I was given a copy of this audio book in exchange for an honest review.

A solid, if miscategorized, paranormal thriller

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

I thought this was a pretty entertaining book. It was dark and interesting. I thought the narration was good. My attention was kept throughout the 6 hours of the book. I thought it was a solid paranormal thriller. I think it should be categorized in the paranormal genre, though, not mysteries and thrillers. That's just my opinion, though, so take that with a grain of salt.

Decent enough

Where do I begin with this? Well, first of all, the obligatory…this audiobook has been provided for me by the publisher gratis and my review (obviously, blatantly so) is in no way affected by this largess. Now then to book…what a strange one. Seriously strange, like a fairy tale got high on quantum physics. Unfamiliar with the author prior to this, I had no idea what to expect. It sounded interesting enough and was free and I needed some noise to walk to and this did in fact succeed in making outside slightly more tolerable, in fact one time even warranted a walk that wouldn’t have otherwise occurred. Because it is, in fact, intriguing, this story, the very strangeness of it makes it compelling in a way. It’s certainly original and has some interesting ideas and intersects magic and science in a very appealing (to me, at least) way. The writing is pretty good, some nice genuine interactions. However, as an audio book it leaves a lot to be desired. In all fairness I usually download audiobooks from the library and those tend to be from major publishers with presumably larger budgets. This one was from Crossroad Press and…not great. Decent enough, but that’s about it. The sound faded in and out weirdly, Chapter 12 skipped all around until it straightened itself out and the narration was pretty underwhelming. The latter might be partially due to my weirdly sexist ears that prefer male audiobook readers. Either way, I kind of wish I had actually read this one instead of listened to it, which is unusual. Normally it’s the case of an average to above average story being elevated by the delivery, here it’s the opposite. But it was free and quick enough and did entertain, so there it is.

It Would Probably Work Better as a Book

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

I was intrigued by this book, but it fell a little short of what I was expecting. Part of the problem was the quality of the recording that kept fading in and out. I thought that the problem was with my device, but after listening to other audiobooks, I realized that the recording was at fault. It is also a very hard book to follow as an audio recording because of the complexity of the plot and the different characters' background stories that precede the actual plot. I'm guessing that if I had read the book, I would have been able to enjoy it much better as I would have had less visual distractions. I've actually listened to the entire book twice just to make sure that my initial impression was the correct one. The second time around it made more sense, maybe because at that point I was already somewhat familiar with the plot and it was easier to follow. I would recommend the printed version of the book for the paranormal enthusiasts as the writing was pleasant.

Other Worlds

I was confused a bit in couple of parts and had to relisten. I really loved the characters of Kayla and Garty who traveled thru different worlds. Hated the part where the cat was killed. This is the 1st I’ve listened to by author but would be willing to listen to him again. There was brief part where narration seemed to skip then repeat. I believe this book to be more sci-fi/fantasy than suspense. I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review. I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review. Thank you.