Utopia

By: Lincoln Child

Narrated by: Scott Brick

Length: 18 hrs

Publisher's summary

Fasten your seat belts - the white-knuckle thrills at Utopia, the world’s most fantastic theme park, escalate to nightmare proportions in this intricately imagined techno-thriller by New York Times best-selling author Lincoln Child.

Rising out of the stony canyons of Nevada, Utopia is a world on the cutting edge of technology. A theme park attracting 65,000 visitors each day, its dazzling array of robots and futuristic holograms make it a worldwide sensation. But ominous mishaps are beginning to disrupt the once flawless technology. A friendly robot goes haywire, causing panic, and a popular roller coaster malfunctions, nearly killing a teenage rider. Dr. Andrew Warne, the brilliant computer engineer who designed much of the park’s robotics, is summoned from the East Coast to get things back on track.

On the day Warne arrives, however, Utopia is caught in the grip of something far more sinister. A group of ruthless criminals has infiltrated the park’s computerized infrastructure, giving them complete access to all of Utopia’s attractions and systems. Their communication begins with a simple and dire warning: If their demands are met, none of the 65,000 people in the park that day will ever know they were there; if not, chaos will descend, and every man, woman, and child will become a target.

As one of the brains behind Utopia, Warne finds himself thrust into a role he never imagined - trying to save the lives of thousands of innocent people. And as the minutes tick away, Warne’s struggle to outsmart his opponents grows ever more urgent, for his only daughter is among the unsuspecting crowds in the park.

Lincoln Child evokes the technological wonders of Utopia with such skill and precision it is hard to believe the park exists only in the chapters of this extraordinary book. Like Jurassic Park, Utopia sweeps listeners into a make-believe world of riveting suspense, technology, and adventure.

Utopia - where technology dazzles - and then turns deadly!

©2002 Lincoln Child (P)2002 Books on Tape, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Child proves he is capable of fireworks (literally) at the rousing conclusion." (Publishers Weekly)
"The blend of technological jargon and suspense results in a real thrill-a-minute read." (Booklist)

Suspenseful

The story engages the reader from the first chapter to the end. Well narrated as well.

True Lincoln child

Loved it held my interest from. Beginning to end. Scott brick always does any book justice.

Frightening!

What did you like best about this story?

This story was deliciously frightening. Accidents at amusement parks, places usually filled with laughter and joy, are terrifying. We have such blind faith every ride is safe.

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

Scott Brick is my favorite narrator. I seek out audio books narrated by him. His voice is compelling, never flat or monotonous. Tone, timber and accents stay consistent throughout all the stories he narrates.

Critical Acclaimer

For a sneak-peek at modern technology, combined with Terrorism, and how dreadful it can be for an innocent amusement park, Lincoln Child has scored another Rollercoaster Hit.

The story doesn't fit any specific genre of story telling, other than mystery thriller, but there are enough twist and turns throughout the story to keep the reader (listener) waiting for the bottom to fall out from under the ride.

I rated it a 3 only becasue I think Child and Preston (Douglas) are much better when writing together and those tales are 4+++.

Make sure you have time to listen to the story before you start, you won't want to stop once it begins.

Very exciting explozive no punches withheld.

Merciless villains abound in this thriller period regular people caught up in the Dangerous Game

Utopia

Lincoln Child is an amazing writer. I read all his books. I like his other books also with Agent Pendergast.

Will make you forget you are driving

I am not a huge fan of thrillers, but decided this one had enough technology added in to keep me interested, and I am glad I got it. Great commute listening! I found myself constantly engaged, so much so that I had to be careful I wasn't just poking along on the highway. Some parts are a bit over-drawn out, and I had the bad egg figured out right from the start, but the descriptions of the park, wow...would love to go to an amusement park like that, without John Doe. The readers is fantastic. He does accents well and even does the female characters justice. First male reader I've heard who does do a consistently good job with female characters. Sometimes he forgets the accents while reading, but not enough to distract from the overall quality.

Fantastic!

I've been listening to audiobooks for years and there is no better narrator than Scott Brick. His character's voices are clearly distinguishable from one another, he never mispronounces words, he always get's the inflections right and uses the correct emphasis on the words. In addition to flawless narration, it seems he's very particular about the quality of the book he chooses to narrate, like a superstar actor who has his pick of roles. This book is no exception. It is well written and exciting. It's a great listen!

It never goes off the tracks!

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

Top 20, easily. Grabbed me ( although I have to admit that I am a fan of Scott Brick and Lincoln Child, so I am somewhat of a captive audience.)

The story is both plausible at it's core, and unfolds with reason. Scott does a superb job of bringing it to life.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Utopia?

Descriptions of the inner workings of the amusements are detailed enough without being trite. Enjoyed that aspect. Like getting a behind the scenes tour of Universal Studios etc.

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

Characters evolved realistically and were consistent.

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

The revelations about the high class englishman.

Any additional comments?

This is a true thriller, with enoght twists, turns and character moments to keep any fan of the genre connected. I recommend it.

Very Well Done

The author went to a lot of trouble to make this thriller as belivable as possible. The technical facts are, for the most part, correct. The characters behave as real people forced into these terrible events would behave. The story is very exciting and the bad guys are very bad indeed. In my opinion this is a much better book than any of those written by Dan Brown.