Gone

Gone Series, Book 1

By: Michael Grant

Narrated by: Kyle McCarley

Length: 17 hrs and 15 mins

Publisher's Summary

In the blink of an eye, everyone disappears. Gone. Except for the young. There are teens, but not one single adult. Just as suddenly, there are no phones, no Internet, no television. No way to get help. And no way to figure out what's happened. Hunger threatens. Bullies rule. A sinister creature lurks. Animals are mutating. And the teens themselves are changing, developing new talents - unimaginable, dangerous, deadly powers - that grow stronger by the day. It's a terrifying new world. Sides are being chosen, a fight is shaping up. Townies against rich kids. Bullies against the weak. Powerful against powerless. And time is running out: on your birthday, you disappear just like everyone else.

Michael Grant's Gone has been praised for its compelling storytelling, multidimensional characters, and multiple points of view.

©2008 Michael Grant (P)2016 Tantor

Critic Reviews

"[ Gone] will leave readers dazed, disturbed, and utterly breathless." ( Booklist)

Narrator is actually GREAT, but does have a downside

I’ve already read the Gone series, and I’m willing to pay for them over again as audiobooks. Obviously I really like and recommend them, so I’ll just talk about the narrator. The other reviews criticizing him aren’t necessarily wrong, but DAMN did they miss something great about him too.

I’ve listened to a lot of audiobooks with a lot of narrators and out of all of them, this guy absolutely TAKES THE CAKE for actual ACTING. For some narrators/books it almost seems like the narrator just sat down and did each chapter in a single take. For example, when there’s description AFTER spoken dialogue for how it was spoken, but the narrator didn’t speak the dialogue as it was described.

This narrator kills it on that front. Every line has emotion, delivered just the way it should be, he has every scene perfect in his mind and delivers every line of dialogue as it should be delivered. Even his prose has emotion (when it should). On top of that, if a character is described to laugh, or sob, he includes the laugh or sob in his narration. Even voice breaks/falters are perfect. He is really freaking good at VOICE ACTING. I never realized how big of a difference this made until I listened to him for a few hours.


I will agree that the way he says “said” is annoying. To fix this, listen on 1.25x or 1.5x speed. I hate listening to other audiobooks on faster than normal speed, but this audiobook sounds normal on 1.5x for me (sometimes a bit too fast during loud/yelling dialogue). The increased speed makes his “said” less grating, and you do eventually get used to it.

Just stick with him until the climactic moments, because that’s when his pure voice acting skill really starts to shine.

I wish I had other reviews before starting

The narrator was terrible, but only because of the forceful way he would say " Sam SAID" or whichever character he was referring to. It was extremely annoying and distracting! But still enjoyed the book.

Please rerelease this book w new narration

Any additional comments?

Everytime the narrator said the word, "said" I cringed. It took away from the story which in of itself is great. Terrible narration.

The book was amazing!10/10! But the audio was not

Would you consider the audio edition of Gone to be better than the print version?

No, in the end reading the actual book would have been the better option! If the narrator did not sound automated then maybe!

Who was your favorite character and why?

Sam, duh!

What three words best describe Kyle McCarley’s performance?

The audio was ok. The narrator was not at all superb! The way he said "Sam said" or "Astrid said" make me feel like I was listening to an automated voice message! When listening to audiobooks, I'd like to feel more immersed in the story! But his way of reading was machine like!

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Yes of course! The battle of thanksgiving was so live like I felt as though I was there!!!!

Any additional comments?

Amazing book! Micheal Grant outdid himself in this series! Can't wait to read book two!

It's finally out :Omega saaaaid

Is there anything you would change about this book?
Kyle McCarley

What other book might you compare Gone to and why?
Hunger games. Its a dark world that focuses around children have to deal with a post apocalyptic society. It seems like
it would be YA trash, But it treats every situation with the seriousness and respect is deserves. Did i mention it's pretty dark?

What didn’t you like about Kyle McCarley’s performance?
He sounds like he lost a bet and is forced to read the whole series. He gives characters (who are like 14-15 years old) the voice of a chain smoker, and every time he otters the phrase :He said/she said, he reminds me of the 1 teacher off of southpark that says "Ummkaaay?" after every sentence.

Was Gone worth the listening time?
despite Kyle McCarley’s performance, yes

Any additional comments?
there are actually a version of these books I have herd read by a woman who is not a professional and is monotone for days....I kinda preferred her version

Desperately Needs a Better Reader or Director

As other reviewers have mentioned, you start to cringe every time the narrator tells you "Sam SAAAAID" or "Ingrid SAAAAID." It sounded like he was actively irritated at having to read at all.

The decision to have the narrator use distinct, different voices for each character was a mistake as well since it made the book feel choppy and poorly recorded as if it was being recorded on an old tape deck the kept getting paused and restarted.

The story itself is fascinating, children who are barely old enough to be trusted in the kitchen alone are left to survive on their own, though I would prefer to think more kids would step up to help corral and care for the little ones. It is a great start to a great series and I recommend you read it on your own, but run like heck from the audiobook!

Good story. HORRIBLE performance.

This is a good, if immature, story. But the narration is UNBEARABLE! Everytime Mr. McCarley said; "Said". I cringed.

Narrator too absolute on when character "said"

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

7 Read series but was hoping for better narrator because the story is so good.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Gone?

mindset of children

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Kyle McCarley?

Therese Plummer

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

FAYZ

Any additional comments?

No

generally a great book

in general the book was amazing. However the narrator or voice reading the book Accent on said drove me insane.

Amazing book

the way the narrator says 'said' is a bit weird and distracting from the story