Not So Gone

By: Charles Levin

Narrated by: Daniel Greenberg

Length: 10 hrs and 35 mins

Publisher's Summary

Not So Gone, a new fast-paced thriller from the best-selling author of Not So Dead....

In Not So Gone, Sam Sunborn is forced to come back from the dead to save his son and protect his country from a sadistic terrorist. Can the genius scientist, Frank Einstein, free Sam from the Cloud and bring him back so he can return to his wife Monica in the physical world? 

With the help of Albert Einstein's descendant and Homeland Security agents, Michelle Hadar, and Rich Little, Sam goes head-to-head against a driven psychopath, known only as The Cub, in a race against time. They must save Sam's son and thwart the Cub's diabolical plan or risk endangering millions of innocent lives. Can Sam and his rag-tag team use wit and will alone to prevent a worldwide catastrophe? 

Not So Gone is the second stand-alone book in the Sam Sunborn series of cutting-edge techno-thrillers. If you like heart-pounding action, mind-bending inventions, and terrifying villains, then you'll love Charles Levin's gripping saga.

©2019 Charles Levin (P)2019 Charles Levin

Had me hooked

Not So Gone is the second book in the Sam Sunborn series which pairs a mystery with technology and science fiction. Since I had not read Not So Dead, and with the sci-fi component, I was not sure I would like the story about someone leaving the physical world and living in the digital world of the cloud. But the fast-paced story filled with complex characters and twists and turns had me hooked. The narrator, Daniel Greenberg, brought the characters to life. Even if sci-fi is not your genre, give this story a chance. I think you will be pleasantly surprised

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Fast Paced Techno!

Not So Gone is a gripping techno thriller that deals with artificial intelligence, virtual reality, terrorism, and threats to millions of people. Charles Levin did a great job in plotting this book, developing the characters, and having a realistic threat, plus vivid imagery. Without giving away spoilers, he was ingenious with his target, as it impacts millions. I really enjoyed this book and thought that Daniel Greenberg performed the story perfectly. He gave the various characters distinguishable voices, and added the right emotions. Parts of the story were unbelievable, while other aspects were terrifying. I requested this review copy audiobook and have voluntarily written this review. I will definitely listen to more books by this author and narrator in the future. This book is a standalone listen, yet has references to the book Not So Dead by Charles Levin. I loved the ending of this book too!

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

I haven't listened to the first book but

I didn't heard or listened or red the first book but I have to say the story was very solid and maybe I don't know what happened before but I did enjoy this book as is it was very very interesting and very well written the whole concept of it was very good and I enjoyed it very much

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

This was different

Very interesting concept to this story. I haven't read/listened to the previous book, which actually might be a good idea since the reader would get some information that could explain the underlining plot line.

The book starts out with two men who end up being virtual entities, basically floating around in cyberspace. One of the men seems perfectly happy to be there, content with his lot in life, and the other wants to be flesh and blood again. Seems he was killed in the first book (sorry for the spoilers). He copes by Skyping with his wife and son ala Max Headroom style technology, so is somewhat able to live life. It is while he is watching his son at a sports game that things go wrong.

What I find really interesting in this plot idea is elapsed time. I had a dream the other night which seemed to last a lot longer than the time period in which I was asleep, and it got me to thinking about whether or not someone could figure out how much time passes in the dream time - the actual time lapse in the dream. Then of course, it got me thinking about the time lapse if someone was only alive in cyberspace. How do Frank and Sam adjust to that timelessness?

A terrorist called the Leopard was killed by Sam and now his brother, nicknamed 'the Cub', is following in his brother's footsteps and out for revenge. He kidnaps Sam's son in order to stop Sam from interfering in his plans for world domination.

Frantic, Sam and his fellow cyber mate decide to try the reversal of the operation that saved their 'lives' in the first place and put their conscience into cyberspace originally. They travel to Mexico and transfer Sam's conscience into a man in an insane asylum. Once Sam is back to being human again, they all return home and Sam sets about trying to help find his son.

There's quite a variety of characters in the book, most seem to have been from the first book as well. There are FBI agents who are helping track down Evan (the son), as well as trying to a) find The Cub, and b) stop the Cub in whatever it is he is trying to do. Then there are the Cub's minions, those he uses to try and stay out of sight himself.

This is quite a different plot, with a definite twist to it, which I found quite intriguing.

Threats on Two Fronts Test Our Hero

Not So Gone is the sequel to the first San Sunborn novel Not So Dead. Many of the main characters return for more adventure. After the first terrorist was dispatched, his brother survives to again challenge the US. This book is much more fast paced and there are many twists and turns and I had a harder time following along. Sam's family is out in jeopardy and he has to come up with a novel way to help save his family and stop the terrorists. So much was added this time it was difficult for me to keep track of all the players. Besides the novel twist that I won't spoil, there wasn't as much computer tech as there was last time. What there was had moral and ethical challenges which were explored a bit. Daniel Greenburg returned to narrate this book as well and he did another fine job on this Whispersync version.

Keeps you guessing until the end

My review is of the audio version of the book. I received a ARC copy to review. What follows is an honest review.

30 Seconds Into the Future

Not So Gone picks up where Not So Dead left off. It is a few month later that the first story. You do not need to have read the first one as you are quickly brought up to speed with the important details of the first book. What follows could be spoilers for the first book so if you have not read it you should most likely stop this review now.

As I said it is few months later, and Frank Einstien and Sam Sunborn are living out their lives in the digital cloud. The rest of the team are doing their jobs, and living their lives. The Cub, the brother of the first book's villain, is trying to pick up where he left off with a multi-phase attack of destroying the food supply of the world. To keep Sam and Frank from interfering he kidnaps Sam's son. Mom is freaking out and Sam is left powerless, or is he.

Meanwhile Rich Little, head of Homeland Security, and assistant Michelle, have figured out there is another problem happening, the one that Sam has been taken out of.

Very good story. Mr. Levin has put some turns and twist in the story that I did not see coming. Just when you think things will be OK, the rug gets pulled out from under you.

While the first story sort of set up for a second story, this one clearly does.

Young children should not read, too much violence. Pre-teens and teens, parents might want to read first. If you love a good suspense story, this is one you will enjoy.

Moral Dilemmas

NOT SO GONE is the second standalone book in the Sam Sunborn series of cutting-edge techno-thrillers. If you like heart-pounding action, mind-bending inventions, and terrifying evil villains, then you'll love this book.

It's an incredible story which is every bit as gripping and exciting as its predecessor, Not So Dead. If you are starting with this book you don't need to worry it's written in such a way that you can still take this exciting rollercoaster ride but, personally, I recommend reading or listening to them in order to fully enjoy this incredible tale.

In this sequel, Sam Sunborn has to rescue Evan his 11-year-old son from the clutches of The Cub, an insanely demonic sadistic terrorist whose main aim in life is to avenge the death of his brother La Salam aka The Leopard whose own plan was thwarted by Frank, Sam and the team in Not So Gone resulting in the deaths of La Salam and the supposed death of The Cub himself. A task which is even more complicated than it sounds because technically Sam is dead, well his body is dead, but his mind, his intelligence, his very essence is alive and well, living and working still in the Cloud alongside Frank Enstine our resident genius.

The Cub wants to cause the deaths of millions he also wants to cause as much panic and disruption to the United States, as possible but it won't be contained to the United States this plan will have global consequences and will if it works, make all previous terror attacks on the United States look minor. His plot is even more twisted and imaginative than The Leopards. So how will Sam, Frank, and Homeland Security agents, Michelle Hadar and Rich Little and the rest of the team, stop him?

Firstly Sam needs a body to enable his re-emergence from his virtual state, that's assuming that our resident genius Frank can think of a way to get Sam's very essence/memories and intelligence into one, but whose body? Both Frank and Sam have high moral standards and neither of them is willing to cause the virtual death of a person so they can implant Sam, they are faced with a true moral dilemma! Our genius hero Frank Einstein decides to put Sam into the body of an inmate from the Guadalajara Asylum for the Criminally Insane, a man who effectively has no real life to live. What happens next and how things go for Sam and the rest of our unlikely heroes is a gripping exhilarating rollercoaster which I for one could not stop listening to.

The narration of this book by the very talented Daniel Greenberg is excellent and, for me at least, added a whole new level of enjoyment. Daniel also narrated Not So Dead so was already familiar with all the characters.

I was given a copy of this audiobook as a gift and am voluntarily writing my review.

Truly enjoyable

This is obviously not the first book in the series, and although I could follow perfectly the plot and storyline, I'm pretty sure I'd have enjoyed it a lot more if I had read the first one.

Nevertheless, the story is great, and I really liked the ethical issues that are brought by this new... technology? I'm not really sure it's technology what we are talking here. It's something so new and different that it's hard to categorize.

The characters, particularly the secondary ones, those that found themselves in something bigger and a lot more radical than what they thought at the beginning, are very well presented and it's easy to see how they ended there. And, surprisingly, I found myself sympathizing a lot with Juan :D

This is a well-written techno-thriller that will appeal to any reader of the genre.

Daniel Greenberg 's narration is truly great, a big range of different voices, all of them easy to individualize, and all of them nice to the ear. Which is not an easy feat with so many characters. Kudos to you, Mr Greenberg!

Non stop action

Sam Sanborn is living in a cloud, not the white puffy kind but a virtual kind. When a terrorist kidnaps his son, he has his friends upload his virtual self into a borrowed body. Talk about multiple personalities. He teams up with others to stop this terrorist who is always one step ahead of them. This is one rollercoaster of a story never knowing what will happen. It will definitely keep your attention. I received a complimentary audio and this review is voluntary.

Not So Gone

I’m impressed! A fast paced thriller with lots of action. There is some violence but it was a necessary part of the storyline. I could definitely see the technology described as something that could easily come into play in the future.

Daniel Greenberg’s narration was spot on! The perfect voice for this story.

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