Island Adventures

Disconnecting in the Caribbean and South Pacific

By: Jeff Rasley

Narrated by: Scott Zdanis

Length: 2 hrs and 25 mins

Publisher's summary

The true stories in this audiobook are about temporarily disconnecting from the ordinary life of a big-city lawyer to experience exotic islands, strange creatures, and different cultures. One tale is about an eye-to-eye encounter with a mother humpback whale and her calf in the isles of Tonga. It left the author shaking as if an electric current was pulsing through his body. Another is a gripping account of a too-close-for-comfort experience with a sperm whale that left the author with wet shorts.

After a harrowing search to find them, leaders of the outlaws of Kalalau share with the author why their commitment to living by the aloha spirit requires the rejection of materialistic society, technology, and the law. In another chapter, the author explains why the citizens of the tiny nation of Palau hold the title of the most litigious people in the world. Palauans have filed more lawsuits than there are people in Palau.

The audiobook begins with the tragic tale of Hurricane Mitch chasing down the sailing ship Fantome to kill all hands aboard. It ends with the author relating his own mystical experience when lost and alone at sea in a kayak at night and reflecting on whether salvation was or was not by the grace of God.

The stories are not so much a travelogue as a vicarious island-hopping adventure and spiritual journey. Listening to this little audiobook is intended to take the listener out of the busyness of daily life for awhile. It might also inspire a more adventurous and more consciously spiritual approach to life.

©2018 Jeff Rasley (P)2018 Jeff Rasley

Decent Amalgamation of Short Stories

This was a group of short autobiographical stories by the author about his adventures at various tropical locations around the world. I found the stories to be interesting and several provided a decent background of the area he was visiting. Mostly, they are the adventures that many of us wish we were having. My only complaint was that the entire book was only a few hours long. It was enjoyable but would have been better if the stories had a little more meat to them.

The narrator of the book was quite good as well. I'd definitely recommend for all of the prospective adventurers out there.

I requested and received a free copy of this audiobook from the author, publisher, or narrator in exchange for an unbiased review. I was NOT required to write a positive review and this reflects my honest opinion of the work.

Perfect Timing, Loved it!

OMG this was so much needed, loved listening to it! I work in the legal field and am frequently very busy and utterly overwhelmed, and literally on a daily basis dream of just saying goodbye to it all, running away to an island, and throwing my cell phone and laptop into the ocean.

This is a entertaining collection of shorts by the author, telling of his travels to all sort of remote and fantastic places.
They're a lot of fun and I enjoyed listening, and for just a little bit, drifted away and found myself on the beach of a tropical island with a nice giant margarita!

Very nicely done, enjoyed both writing and narration :)

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
Please take a moment to click the "YES" ("Helpful") button below if you found this review helpful :) Thank you!

A Nice Group of Short Stories Based on Island Life

Island Adventures was a nice, adventurous group of short stories with island and sea themes which I thoroughly enjoyed and found very relaxing. There was one story about Sturgis that was different. My favorite story was about the whales. I thought it was great that he went in the water with his snorkel and swam with them. That was neat. There were some religious references in this travelogue. I didn't mind this as it was light. It was more on the spiritual side.

This was an overall interesting and attention holding listen by Jeff Rasley. I liked it.

I enjoyed Scott Zdanis' narration. He was easy to understand and had a nice tone that was easy on the ears.

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

Not as Relaxing, Reflecting, or Adventurous as Advertised

I was really interested in listening to this island hopping book. It promised to include adventures with the culture and self reflecting. Anyone who enjoys nature will often boast it helps to clear ones head. Perceiving this as bite sized escapes, I started the audio.
Several times.
I really didn’t like the narrator too much. He kind of read it too fast; I expected a slower, more calm tone. Did he think this was an action thriller?
The writing wasn’t very polished. For the chapter about Palau, “Palau” was used in like every other sentence. Like seriously? We know we’re here for the whole chapter! Ditto about the “Outlaws”. It sounded like it was every sentence if not twice in the same sentence. As much as I wanted to hear about them, by the 50th “outlaw” (when I finally started counting it) , I was less than halfway through and had to skip to the next chapter. Which was about an “ep-ee-logue” about the Outlaws. So skip again.

This could really be a very good book with an editor. The sentences were choppy and written without flair. I don’t feel like I travelled anywhere, learned much, or was able to escape. And I tried.
So
Many
Times.

Perhaps reading the book could be better.

This is my voluntary review of an audiobook received for free.