Infected, The Shiners

By: Tara Ellis

Narrated by: Tara Ellis

Length: 5 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's summary

An alien plague. A sixteen-year-old girl. A fight to save the world.

When a rare meteor shower unleashes a mind-altering infection, the people Alex loves begin to change. They’re smarter, faster, emotionless, and they have a plan. One that doesn’t include her.

Guided by cryptic clues left behind by her deceased father, Alex follows a trail of increasingly shocking discoveries. Earth’s history isn’t what she learned in school, and a new hive mind threatens to rewrite the future.

Alex is a fighter, but pursued by both friends and an unknown enemy, it will take everything she has to fulfill her destiny. Desperate to save her little brother, she flees to the mountains surrounding her home, where the only chance for humanity has lain hidden for thousands of years.

WINNER, Reader's Favorite Book Awards, 2015, Honorable Mention, YA scifi FINALIST, Young Adult Finalist in the IAN Book Awards, 2015

Infected, The Shiners is book one in the Forgotten Origins Trilogy (Formerly titled Bloodline)

©2013-2014 Tara Ellis (P)2014 Tara Ellis

Beautifully narrated!

I loved this book. The characters were likable and the plot was very creative. Im happy that a friend referred me to this writer. I'll definitely be listening to her other works.

Fast paced action

Fast paced overall book about Alex dealing with a plague that ends up effecting many people that she cares for. Now it is up to her, her dad’s clues, and a friend to hopefully find the cure before those infected decide to do awful things to those that weren’t affected. Will she get the cure? Will it actually save everyone? Thought it was great the author actually narrated her own book she did a great job.

Good story.

Now for the obligatory: "I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review."

A Historical Mythological Spin

Infected is written in first person, present tense and unfortunately falls into the abyss of bombarding listeners/readers with mundane details of every single movement, thought, and anticipation. It created a tedious storytelling line, dragging in places and allowing me to lose interest or my place.
It’s littered with a plethora of sentences beginning with adjectives, adverbs, dangling participles, and prepositional phrases. With the voice inflections and tones, it was perhaps more evident to a listener than a reader.
The simplicity of the compound sentences seemed like it was written for younger readers (like the Samantha Wolf series) instead of the genre for teens; the two halves felt clunky and very unrelated.
I did like Alex and her little brother. Her new friend/love interest was a nice addition, with his vast knowledge and hypotheses as they worked towards a resolution. I’m pleased this book was subtle and sweet with the romantic development and did not insinuate a love triangle. That being said, it still felt the friendship was quick and not fulfilling.
The storyline itself, was unique and was the underlying reason I completed this book and feel somewhat inclined to finish the trilogy.
I was devastated to not like this story as much as I had anticipated. I’ve enjoyed several of Ms Ellis’ others works and had expected this book to be equivalent with its writing, characters, and plot. I was anxious to score this book just as highly!

Although a trilogy, this book had a nice resolution and did not leave the readers on a high precipice. It provided closure for most but still leaves the quest to be completed.
In conclusion, I feel I’m at a crossroad. I can neither recommend nor discourage anyone from picking up this book (thus the middle of the road 3 stars), but I’m also unsure which audience would thoroughly enjoy or destroy it in a review.

Enter a Future of mystery and suspense.

A well crafted story with good Narration by the Author is an entertaining read for people of all ages.

The story contains all the elements of a good story.

If you enjoy Science Fiction mixed with interesting characters and suspense you will enjoy this Audio performance.


This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.

A mix of Indian Jones and Tomb Raider.

I received this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was very good. I was surprised how good this book would be. This book opens with Alex, her mom, Baxter, her dog, and her brother, Jacob, and the rest of their town going to see a meteor shower. After the meteor shower that is when it goes left; but in a good way.

If you have ever seen Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Tomb Raider, and Indiana Jones then you know what I am talking about. This gave me all those vibes without all of the hysterics and all of the sex.

Alex is a 16 year old just trying to hang out with friends and play soccer. She is not Lara Croft nor is she Indiana Jones. With her new BBF, Chris, and Baxter she is tasked to save the world.

There are a lot of twist and turns and a lot of WTF moments. I am super glad that I finally listened to this story. There is just something about Alex and her situation that wanted me to see her do great. She was not a dumb main character and I am glad for that.

Even though this book is technically YA it does not read like that. Someone can be 13 reading this book and have just as much enjoyment as someone who is 80 reading this book. There are very few authors that are able to write a book that can transcends the age barrier.

I cannot wait to see what happens in the next story since this is a trilogy. I want to know if the townsfolk know what they have done to their community members. From what little that I can gather it seems as though they kept their memories so they should have some idea that they were being controlled.

Tara Ellis not only does a great job writing this story but she does a great job also narrating her own work.

decent twist on other myths.

I got a copy of this for free in audiobook form in exchange for an honest review.

It was an interesting new take on some existing myths and ideals.
Had some odd and corny moments but held my interest through the whole book.
I did like it and the narrating was good.
I'm curious to see where the story goes from here.
I DID like that the book ended with some closure on some things. I was worried that it would leave me hanging and it didn't.

YA SciFi

I was hooked from the beginning. The author had me intrigued and I wanted to see where she was going to take us. It is not a bad book and other young adults might like it. It is suitable for all since there is no profanity or sexual content and some mild violence.
I thought the author who narrated the book was not that bad, I only wish that she would put more emotion when she is voicing the characters. I want to feel when they are angry, upset, happy without being told. But other then this she voiced the characters out quite well.
I would recommend it to those who love SciFi, YA and Dystopia.

Intriguing story line and easy to listen to

Would you listen to Bloodline again? Why?

Yes, the story draws you in. It's fun to listen to mysteries again to see the story unfold knowing what the end will be. Also, Tara's voice is very easy to understand and listen to. I've listened to many audio books, and there are times when the tone of the voice is too low, or inflections are in strange places that I believe distract from the telling of the story. Tara is every bit as good as some of the paid actors who narrate for audio.

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

I think it is interesting hearing the author read their own stories (as long as they are talented enough to do so:)), because you experience the characters exactly how they had envisioned them. They created them, and now they are able to bring them even more to life.

Any additional comments?

My husband stayed up late and finished this book in 2 nights! He never does that. He was completely drawn in to the exciting plot. We are looking forward to listening to more from Tara Ellis.

Awesome Teen Sci-fi Novel! Good suspense!

Infected, The Shiners
By: Tara Ellis
Narrated by: Tara Ellis
Series: Forgotten Origins Trilogy, Book 1
This is an audible book I requested and the review is voluntary.
I loved this teen book although I am far from being a teen. Great clean sci-fi with plenty of mystery, adventure, suspense, and action. A meteor storm brings more than thrills for the crowd, people start changing...
One of the people changing is Alex's mom. Alex's dad is dead but left her a note to open after the meteor storm. It will shock and change everything she knew. With the help of her friend, they must save the world. Great fun!
The narrator is the writer and she is excellent! Wonderful job!