Glimpse

A Novel

By: Jonathan Maberry

Narrated by: Emma Galvin

Length: 13 hrs and 8 mins

Publisher's summary

Best-selling author Jonathan Maberry's Glimpse is a chilling audiobook thriller that explores what happens when reality and nightmares converge, and how far one will go to protect the innocent when their own brain is a threat.

Rain Thomas is a mess. Seven years an addict and three difficult years clean. Racked by guilt for the baby she gave up for adoption when she was 16. Still grieving for the boy’s father who died in Iraq. Alone, discarded by her family, with only the damaged members of her narcotics anonymous meetings as friends. Them, and the voices in her head. One morning, on the way to a much-needed job interview, she borrows reading glasses to review her resume. There is a small crack in one lens and through that damaged slice of glass she sees a young boy go running down the aisle of the subway train. Is he screaming with laughter or just screaming? When she tries to find the boy, he’s gone and no one has seen him.

The day spins out of control. Rain loses whole chunks of time. The voices she hears are telling her horrible things. And Doctor Nine, a spectral boogey man conjured in drug induced hallucinogens is now hunting her in the real world. Doctor Nine is also chasing that boy. A boy who looks so much like Rain’s dead boyfriend. Unsure whether she is insane or if the world itself is broken, Rain begins a mother’s quest for her lost child through a world where reality and nightmare are in a head-on collision. How far will one person go to save someone they love?

©2018 Jonathan Maberry (P)2018 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

"A waking dream, at once powerful and subtly sinister." (Clive Barker, New York Times best-selling author)

"Maberry consistently delivery delightful dread, and GLIMPSE is his scariest yet." (Number-one New York Times best-selling author Scott Sigler)

"Jonathan Maberry is always my go-to author for awesome!" (Number-one New York Times best-selling author Sherrilyn Kenyon)

READ THIS REVIEW if you have any doubts

First and foremost, if you are a Mayberry fan you must suspend all previous books from your mind. I’m not saying to dismiss them nor am I saying this isn’t as good as those, simply that this is a different subset of the horror/sci-fi/zombie-vampire genre. Secondly, brace yourselves, Porter is NOT the narrator. Yes, I too was disappointed however being as the main character is a woman (and we must admit, despite how great a narrator Ray Porter, all of his female voices sound the same...harsh, clipped, and dare I say slightly Hispanic/Latino... I hear my family’s accent often), and last but not least do not expect the breakneck speed of non-stop action that we have come to expect from his books.
So with that out of the way let me explain why there is such a wide gap in the other reviews. One complaint is about the narrator, I believe she “could” become a great narrator but right now her affectation was such that although it set the mood for the book, and particularly the main character, because it never varied I’m not sure she was being a narrative genius, I think she just has a depressing monotone voice. But if you move past that and power through something wonderful occurs, you become enveloped in a tale that is both realistic and fantastical at the same time.
People complained about the pace and length of the book however the strangeness of the tale begins immediately and like horror stories of the past, the length and pace serves to pull you deeper and deeper into the world the author created. Being fully immersed, the author then pushes you along a creepy and ever twisted plot that hits a crescendo of hysterical energy and then slams you into the resolution which leaves you (at least it did for me) satisfied.
The book is definitely worth the credit and the struggle (of getting used to her voice). Remember, Audible is pretty awesome in that if you truly are unsatisfied they will refund your $ or credit, i just don’t think that will be the case.
Side Note: did you notice I didn’t tell you what the book was about in any way, except the main character is female, she’s going through some stuff, things get crazy, and it’s not all “reality based”, the reason is because the ‘details’ already describe the premise of the book. A review is to explore ones ‘view’ of the writing and with an audible book, the experience of listening to it as a whole. I hope I was able to translate my feelings Imo written words well enough to help you make the right choice (buy the book) lol. Oh and no, I do not know the author nor do I make a cent from your purchases or my reviews. 😉

Maberry proves he is still the best

Let me start by saying I usually love Jonathan Maberry, or to be more exact, I loved him before all the Zombie books. All the Joe Ledger books were good, but the Zombie crap got old fast for me. I craved the writing he did when he wrote Ghost Road Blues and the Pine Deep Trilogy. Now there were some awesome ghost stories!But he moved from the lovely, spooky world of Pine Deep and went Zombie. I got through half of the series and gave up. I missed the "scariest town in America."
Actually, I missed the imagination that created Pine Deep.
So when "Glimpse was announced, I hesitated to pre-order it and actually considered not buying it at all.But I read the blurbs and it sounded promising so I plunked down my money and gave Mr. Maberry another try. Boy am I glad I did!
Glimpse is everything you could want in a thriller. A leading character that I fell in love with, cracks and all. I want more Rain Thomas, she is one kick-ass chick! Dr. Nine;Jesus what a scary dude!He is the boogie man, a demon, death and maybe the devil, all rolled into one and he scared the crap out of me. I think I met him in a nightmare or two over the years.
There were times I laughed out loud, not unusual for a Jonathan Maberry book, as long as your sense of humor is slightly twisted like mine is.
The heart of this book was about how far someone will go for someone they love, even when they've given them and that love up. But it's so much more than that. It's the tale of the thin line between worlds, the fleeting but vital aspect of time and how easy it is to lose seconds without knowing it until there are no more seconds left. It's a tale of forgiveness, giving it to others and allowing it for yourself.
Maberry makes you wonder if the monsters of our nightmares are actually in our sleep or walking beside us when we are awake. I wish I could give this book 100 stars! I was on the edge of my seat through all of it, and hated to have to pause to do real life stuff. Rain was out there, and she was alone with the boogie man right behind her! I was supposed to sleep knowing that???
Highly, highly recommended!

Meh......

I love Maberry's Joe Ledger series but I wasn't fond of this book. It was a struggle to finish but I'm happy I did as the last hour was the best.The book was too long and all over the place.

While I enjoyed the main character, Rain, my favorite character was Monk and his story. Maybe a novel centering around him would make a better story.

Got me right in the feels

I wasn't sure about this one. The synopsis didn't seem that intriguing, but I've enjoyed the Joe Ledger series by Maberry and wanted to explore some of his other work. Turned out the story was intriguing, very much so! I don't know if it's because I'm a new father, but I felt a deep connection with Rain Thomas' sadness about her son. I'm sure my kid was wondering why he'd get so many more hugs after daddy listened to his book.

Good

I had a hard time in the beginning following the narrator. However about mid way through she hit her stride. the book was good not my favorite by Mayberry. I want more Joe ledger!

awesome!

Loved it! slow start, a little difficult to follow, but once it got rolling I was swept away! Different than Maberry's other books, but just as intriguing and spell binding!

loved it!

couldn't wait to have to hit the road for work so i could find out what happened next!!

narrator fail

Mayberry warrants better narration. Monotonous voice inflection was too irritating to listen to. Aborted mission a quarter of the way through. Poor production failed to catch obvious issues...sentances broken at the wrong place for narrator to take ill timed breaths...no attention to where emphasis needed to be. If you are looking to be read to this is fine, if you are looking to be entertained get the hard copy.

way too long and mumbo-jumbo

The last hour of this book was fantastic and wonderful. It was everything you want a book to be. You can appreciate the weirdness that got you there and the love and magic and redemption from there on out.

But the other 12 hours? Sighing and rolling my eyes and questioning my decision to not return the book unfinished. If I had, those many hours would have been totally wasted.

This is supposed to be scary, but it wasn't. It was supposed to be mystical and spiritual, but it was juvenile. It drags on too long through drug addiction, teen pregnancy, giving up a baby for adoption, disappointed parents who disown you, and the loss of a teen love-of-your-life. I get that that was much of the point, but still. As the mother of 5 adopted children, I felt disavowed, demeaned, and berated. I did not appreciate the concept of that teen's child being given to monsters. It works out in the end, but it lost my sympathy vote along the way.

The narration was great for a few hours and then her uplifted sentence endings, wrong emphases, and broken phases became annoying.

The ending really does redeem the whole 13 hours, but this could have been 4 hours and much more pleasant. If you are a fan of this author, you might love this, but this was my first of his, and probably my last.

Please, if you found this review thought-provoking, even if you disagree, please click yes!

what a ride.

I finished this book in 2 days and was never bored. I love his work and should not have been as surprised as I was with the depth of emotion the author is able to elicit. This is a strong one.