Mind Dimensions, Books 0, 1, & 2

By: Dima Zales

Narrated by: Roberto Scarlato, Laura Jennings

Length: 15 hrs and 49 mins

Publisher's summary

The first three books in the Mind Dimensions series from a New York Times and USA Today best-selling author.

The Thought Readers (Mind Dimensions, Book 1) Darren's had it easy his whole life. Finishing Harvard at 18 and landing a lucrative job on Wall Street at 21 - all things are possible when you can cheat by stepping outside of time. Thanks to his ability, he's a know-it-all, but what he doesn't know is how he's able to do what he does. That's until he meets Mira and discovers her dangerous, hidden world.

The Time Stopper (Mind Dimensions prequel) Mira can stop time, but she can't change anything. After her parents are murdered, she'll do anything to get revenge - even take on the Russian mob.

The Thought Pushers (Mind Dimensions, Book 2) Darren's life turned upside down when he met Mira. Now, as he races to uncover his own identity, he confronts new enemies - and realizes his unique powers might extend further than he ever imagined....

©2015 Dima Zales (P)2016 Dima Zales

Good read

I rather enjoyed this looking forward to reading the other books in the seris. I recommend this.

good story. Ok writing. terrible performance.

The story was different enough to be entertaining and keep me listening. Not the best writing in the world, but far from the worst. Kept repeating descriptions of "the quiet". Also, could have done more showing, less telling.

The performance was pretty bad. The speaker reads in short, five to ten-word bursts. It's like listening to someone sing The Twelve Days Of Christmas while they're having an asthma attack. He did do different voices for different characters, which is to his credit. But the delivery made it hard to listen to. If the story hadn't been so interesting, I certainly wouldn't have made it through the first book.

Great Story

Great story and narration but narrator needed to give Darrins internal dialogue more energy. More-life!

Loved the story - not so much the narration

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Overall yes. The story was really, really good. I'm glad I purchased it, I just don't think I could stand to listen to it again.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

The way he talked was just so frikkin' irritating - spewing out a few words, stopping, a few more words. I just wanted him to get on with it for God's sake.

Any additional comments?

I really hate to rag on the narrator as I know it's not something I could do very well, but by the end of the 3rd book I was really, really ready for it to end. I loved the story, I loved the characters, I loved the action and everything else. The mind dimension in general to me is fascinating. But when it's all delivered in 6 or 7 word bursts its just a bit much.

Could have skipped 0, & 1

I thought the creativity in this book was terrific, Darren, the main character learns about himself and will continue to learn more about his powers throughout the series.

I was torn by the creativity of the writing, the slow start up to the story (wishing I had started on book 2) and Mr. Roberto Scarlato's reading. His voice just didn't grab me as someone like Darren's character. He definitely put empathy into telling the story but for me lacked the passion, the "pow" impact, when listening to a struggle or scene with an explosion, or gun shots. I never felt the terror or concern in his tone.

Awesome book. Can't wait to continue the saga.

These books are for a more mature audience. Just to warn you. I still highly recommend it.

Definitely in my top 5

Phenomenal books. The characters are well conceived and likable. My only problem is they are way too short! I still love them though. The short story in the middle was a little painful to listen to. The woman's voice didn't fit at all.

great book!

The reader needs more inflection in his voice more. but great story other than that one thing. Definitely worth the read!

You will believe the unbelievable with this amaxibg sci fi story

I have finished listening to the audiobook of the Mind Dimensions books 0, 1 & 2 written by Dima Zales and narrated by Roberto Scarlato and Laura Jennings. This audio book is made up of the first three books in the Time Dimensions series. The Thought Readers (#) The Time Stopper (#0.5) and The Thought Pushers (#2)

The Thought Readers (#1) & The Thought Pushers (#2) are told from Darren's pov, he learns that he has the ability to freeze time, he calls this 'the quiet ' while everyone around him is frozen Darren is unaffected so he is able to wonder about until he decides to slip back into his frozen self. He meets Mira and her brother Eugene and together they help Darren to learn about who is really is while on a mission of revenge. As Darren discovers what he really is who can be trust? Who is trying to kill him? Is there a connection between the deaths of Darren parents and Mira/Eugene's?

The Time Stopper (#0.5) is a short story told in Mira's pov, it gives the reader more insightful look at Mira, a Russian girl and her brother Eugene who both move to New York after the death of their parents. You start to understand her more and by the end of the story I wanted to read another book told in her pov.

All the characters are so well developed that you feel an instant connection to them, you see them grow as the story moves on which makes them relatable. I especially love the close brother and sister relationship of Eugene and Mira. I love their bond and how they are protective of each other since their parents death.

I was transported into a sci fi world that I could fully escape to, allowing me to leave all my day to day stresses and worries behind me. This is one thing that is hard for me to do, so for me to forget the world and emerse myself fully into a book and forget everything is an achievement. Mr Zales carried me into a story that was full of suspense, intrigue, drama action with an amazingly original storyline that is so detailed and descriptive that its easy to visualize what is happening without the reader becoming lost or confused. As the story progressed it became more in depth and intense with a mountain of twists and turns along the way.Even though its a sci fi, it doesn't seem far fetched or unrealistic, it seems like people with these abilities could really exist in our world in our time. This is down to the clever writing of the author. I love books that will make me believe in the unbelievable and this is one of them.At times it had me wishing I could slip into ' the quiet' even if it was just to finish the series or to win money in Vegas.

Now I will speak about the narration. Laura Jennings only narrated The Time Stoppers, even though it's a short book I would love to hear her narrate more from Mira's pov she brought Mira to life. Roberto Scarlato does an amazing job with creating a extra depth and dimension to this audio book. He brings the characters to life. His different character accents/voices were so good that I honestly thought that there was another narrator at one point I even had to stop the book and check the credits and out loud said 'wow!' when I realized it was only Mr Scarlato doing the voices. He had me pacing the floor with his narration when things got really intense and the climax near the end of the book 2 had me gasping at loud '''nnnoooo that can't happen!' But then minutes later it was followed by a 'phew! Thank God for that!'

I can't recommend this series highly enough. It's fast becoming one of my favourite sci fi series ever and I'm so excited to be starting book 3, The Enlightened now.

Good Enough but Listen to the Sample

If you are going to Audible this series, definitely start with this one (you get 3 things for one credit).
This review will cover the entire series (including 3 & 4 where are separate audible books).

Firstly, for some, the narration by Roberto Scarlato might really ruin the series. This is not the worst narration I have encountered, it is clear and understandable without distortions, but it is pretty bad. Mostly monotone and pedantic with pauses that became almost humorous when the narrator turns the page. Things like "The food was the best.......in the city". This might happen to any narrator and the audio editor might not catch it, but this happens MANY times. Listen to the audio sample before you buy. Amazingly the narration by Laura Jennings was even worst.

I have done Audible (and BOT) for decades and I have learned to deal with almost any narration that is clear enough to understand, but this narration was a bit of a challenge.

The prose are not great and there are more cliches than I like, but the concept and characters where just interesting enough to keep me engaged through the series. The books mostly make sense but a few times the characters do crazy things to setup a few story elements.

The world is interesting and dealt with by the characters in a matter-of-fact way that makes the fantasy/SciFi aspects enjoyable. Although I did finish 0-4 and mildly enjoyed them, I could not wholeheartedly recommend the series.

This first volume 0-2 was the best, as the slow reveal of how the powers work was the best part of the series. The next two books take things to another level (literally) which did not add much for me and seemed somewhat contrived and ad hoc. I am not sure I would read another volume if it appeared.