Obsolescence

Camden Investigations, Book 3

By: Gary Starta

Narrated by: Stacey Holzer

Length: 12 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

Humankind has always thirsted for godhood. Some say we once had it and lost it. Now a twisted quest involving transgenic and transhuman experiments is taking people from their homes. One girl sees what others can’t, and it will be up to paranormal investigators Iris and DJ Camden to once again stop a global threat.

But this time the enemy may be closer than they think, and if the game plan has changed, how will the team be able to stop what they really can’t see? As a high-tech game of smoke and mirrors begins to fool the population, Iris and DJ Camden must prove aliens are not behind the abductions, while another faction promises to do anything and everything to ascend to godhood.

A teen girl may be the answer to stopping the threat, and before the investigation is through, Iris will risk all to keep humans "human". But how far will it take her? And what will the paranormal investigator learn ultimately about her "human" existence?

©2014, 2020 Gary Starta (P)2020 Gary Starta

Terrible narration

I’m sadly reporting this book as DNF at 25%. Not because the story was bad, it was interesting and I think I would have enjoyed it but the narration was one of the worst I’ve listened to. There are frequent traffic noises in the narration, and at some points, the cars are louder than Holzer’s voice. I’m surprised it passed ACX standards. It was also very bad read, with multiple pauses in the middle of sentences and very little character differentiation. I wasn’t able to force myself to finish the audiobook.

This is the third book in the series, and even though I was told it could be read as a standalone, I felt somehow lost regarding the complex story of the main characters. Reading the previous books is, therefore, recommended.

I might try this again in print or Kindle version, but beginning with the first book in the series.

I have to say that I find the cover sexist and tacky. I understand that the main public for this book could be young male readers, but many women also like science-fiction.

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

bad narrating

I couldn't finish this book. The storyline was good but the narration was horrible. It sounded like cold read by a high school student. The sound quality was also poor. Sometimes you can hear chairs squeaking in the background. There was lots of feedback also. Sometimes the narrator would read the line dry and then when it says "the character said with a chuckle" is when the narrator actually started chuckling LOL. This narrating felt worse than a safety video from the 80s LOL. I've heard better history reports in junior high school. My apologies to the narrator if the narrator is reading this but you really need to do some more practicing and do a dry run of what you're reading before you record it. At one point at the end of chapter 8 you actually hear her say chapter 9 in a weird funny goofy voice. then she says chapter 9 in a regular voice. I encourage anybody to look for that because it's kind of funny but ridiculous at the same time. I believe this series could have been very good however the choice of narrators for all three books was not good. Whoever hired these narrators did this author a great disservice.

I'm sorry I wasted time and money struggling through the first two books just to be unable to struggle through the third. I might go back and finish at a later date. I really do think the story itself is pretty good.

If the narrators read my reviews, I apologize for being harsh. I would advise you to polish up your acting skills. To the narrator of this book, READ BEFORE RECORDING, at least once. You stumbled over 50% of the sentences and mispronounced many words. Was this just a one time quick cash gig? It sure seemed like it. cheers

Great Story

This is a very well written story by an obviously experienced author. Unfortunately the narrator isn't quite so experienced. I can only describe her attempt at narration as bad.