Stealing Freedom

By: M.L.S. Weech

Narrated by: Lisa Negron, J.M. Needham

Length: 2 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

Ardelia Sabine is about to attempt the most legendary heist in the solar system. The anti-communication laws that have been ruthlessly enforced for the last five years have gone too far, and the collar around her daughter's neck, which shocks anyone if they try to speak, must come off.

The one time monitor of law enforcement has now assembled the greatest collection of thieves, con men, and hit men in history. Together, she and her husband, once the greatest hacker on the planet, must take on a job that will surely get at least one of them killed.

Survival is not the objective. The goal is to shut down the servers that operate the entire system. Can they get into one of the most guarded areas on the planet? Can they steal back their right to speak from the government that silenced it?

©2019 M.L.S. Weech (P)2019 M.L.S. Weech

Disturbing

This story is soooo plausible given our current reality. A true dystopian tale for our times. It explores - lightly - the extremes of censorship and expression.

At the same time, it’s an action-packed cheer-for-the-robbers kind of adventure. Much of the world is essentially the same as ours (which adds to the plausibility). The cops are hot on the trail of our heroes... and yet nothing is quite as it first appears (just like a good heist movie!)

Enjoyed this story. The length and narration both suited it very well.

I received this audiobook for free in exchange for a fair review.

Freedom of speech

For a short story, this tale sure packs a punch. Such an intriguing concept... it’s against the law to communicate. The unauthorized use of words is punishable by pain (shock collars) or if blatant enough, death. A small group of individuals plan to take back their freedoms, or die trying.

This was my first exposure to M.L.S. Weech’s writing. I really enjoyed it. I’m looking forward to seeing what else is available.

For such a short story, a dual narration seemed a little much. However, both Lisa Negron and J.M. Needham both did a nice job.

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

4/5 for narrators ability, 3/5 for having two

This is the first book I have read/listened to by this author.
It is a very poignant, original book. It was written before 2020, but resonates now due to recent government and law enforcement actions. The book constantly reminded me of the recent excessive military responses to peaceful protesting and false, inconsistent and contradictory narratives provided to the public from governmental bodies.——-
In this story, everyone over the age of seven must wear a collar that would punish people for speaking or publicly displaying emotions (hugging, smiling, negative facial expressions). Drones and cameras monitor everyone every moment of their day to ensure no one rests longer than allowed, spends more than allotted time in the bathroom, etc.. Everything was regulated. It was possible to purchase words, a cost that was prohibitive to most people to the point our main character purchased six words to say to her daughter and that is the first she had spoken to her in two years. Knowing this was no way for people to live and believing they had the ability to do something about it, the main character and a few other people attempt to shut down the servers that operate the collars. They do it at extreme risk to their lives. ——-

Their plan reminded me of the movies Ocean Eleven and Now You See Me.
I really liked the ending part with the main monitor and his final moments. ——-

This is the first book I have listened to by these narrators ( Lisa Negron, J.M. Needham ). They both do well narrating. She narrates the parts that have Laurie and Laurie’s conversations (even if it is with a male) and he narrates the parts from the perspectives of the male characters when they are not having a conversation but just re-counting their thoughts or actions. Since no one can speak, the narrative often switches perspectives many times within the same chapter. This meant the narrator switched many times throughout the chapter.——-
Lisa did a fine job giving voice to both male and female characters and had very nice pacing and cadence. I think it was quite unnecessary to have a second narrator. I found it uncomfortable for the first half of the book until I got a little more used to it. The only reason it was not fully disruptive, was both narrators were good at what they were doing. I would listen to another book narrated by J.M. as well. ——-

There are no explicit sex scenes, excessive violence, or swearing. ——-

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and voluntarily left this unbiased review.
Please feel free to comment on whether you found my review helpful.

The Worth of Words

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

This book contained such an original concept about censorship and, quite literally, the worth of words. Not so much character-driven, but heavily plot-driven with tension and action packed for such a quick listen. Really cool idea; can't wait to see what else the author comes up with.

Narration was okay, didn't add to or detract from the story

A probable disturbing look into the future

A nice shot story with a possible future where they can take away our words, and a small group of people who will put there life's at risk to change it! only real complaint about the book is I wish it was longer and build the world a little more.

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

I absolutely loved this sci-fi

I thought the premise of this future was fantastic. A great heist style story against an oppressive regime.
Thinking of the current culture to extrapolate to this end was an awesome commentary. I'm looking forward to more from this author!

I received a free copy of this audiobook in exchange for an unbiased review.

Good

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

This book represents everything we as a people value. When that freedom is taken from us what else it left to do. Do we stay in submission and obey or do we find a way to stand for what’s right. Many times we misunderstand what people are saying. If we try to understand and keep open minds many problems can be solved without violence.
I did enjoy this book and how much it reminded me that freedom isn’t free. I’m grateful for those that risks theirs lives everyday so I can have the life I want.

Great short story

This was a great story. I could see this being made in to a movie or maybe an episode of black mirror or something like that. I liked how everyone thinks they are smarter than everyone else but still one outwitted them all. Very interesting concept and it definitely held my attention the entire time I was listening to it!
Lisa & J.M. did an excellent job with narration.
I will be looking for more by this author and this narrator.
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review

Screen Play?! Fun Short Dystopian Sci-fi Thriller

This short (2hr 18min) audiobook would make an awesome movie and it is already the perfect length. I don't want to give anything away so this will be really short. This is a dystopian society that due to war caused by people's unwillingness to speak kindly and get along, the government forced a law that all citizens had to wear a shock collar to prevent all verbal communication and censorship of anyone who dares speak against the leaders or their society. The nature of this society is both so uncomfortable and extreme that you quickly find yourself cheering the rebellion. If you're looking for a quick dystopian thriller then look no further. The narrator does a great job was fun to listen to.

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

Very good story but the 2 narrators was a mistake

I received a free review copy of this audio book, at my request, and am voluntarily leaving this unbiased review.

In the distant future a strict government has decided no one is to communicate, unauthorized. Words can be purchased, but even then they have to be certain words, and severe penalties for misusing words are levied. No hand gestures, no facial expressions, no written word, nothing.

It's an interesting premise, if a little far fetched. As long as you don't dig too far into the actual ability of humans to NOT communicate, then the idea stands on its own.

So this is a short book, less than 3 hours. Which limits world building and character development. The plot is a group of people are trying to take down the system, and the people are basically just names. Other than the main character, the main antagonist, and the main characters husband, little is known about the other characters. A few sentences of back story is thrown in, towards the end, but overall, just names on the page.

For a novel, that would be a huge problem. For a story of this length, it's fine. It would have been nicer to have a bit more character in the secondary characters, but it wasn't so absent as to be distracting.

Ultimately, we pick up the story, near the climax. This feels almost like a section of a book was plucked out and had the corners rounded off to make sense on its own. The story that is presented and the characters are such that they could have been a full novel, if it had been elaborated on.

The biggest downfall of the story is the narration. Lisa Negeron and J. M. Needham did a fine job on their own. Each had a decent range of voices and did male and female voices well. And I have no complaints about either. However, the story was narrated separately, in sections. Sections of the plot that were driven by the protagonist, were narrated by Lisa. Sections that were driven by the antagonist were narrated by J
M. So this means most characters have 2 completely different voices. So as most of the secondary characters are sparingly developed AND have 2 different voices, it does make for some confusion.

The book would have been better served by a single narrator, or one narrator doing the "good guy" voices and one doing the "Bad guy" voices.

All in all, it was a fun story with a plot that was interesting, if little far fetched. The characters were flat, but the story was too short for that to be an issue. The voice narration was very good, but the 2 narrators doing the same characters voices was a distraction that the story didn't need.

Definitely worth a listen.