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The Distance  By  cover art

The Distance

By: Jeremy Robinson,Hilaree Robinson
Narrated by: Jeffrey Kafer,Heather Costa
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Publisher's summary

Their journey begins....

The human race has turned to dust. August Morrison faces it after rising from the depths of a dark matter research facility in Arizona. His co-workers. His daughter. All of them: dust. Friends and colleagues around the world don’t answer their phones. The city of Phoenix burns. He is alone. As a world without mankind starts to crumble, August fights not just for survival, but for his very sanity.

On the other side of the country, Poe McDowell watches her parents crumble into dust just moments after being shoved inside a coffin-like device that spares her from the same fate. She emerges to find not just her mother and father, but also her neighbors - her entire town’s human population - reduced to grit. Unlike August, she’s not entirely alone, but the life growing in her belly isn’t much company.

Then, hope. A drunken and desperate August broadcasts over the ham radio network and connects with his fellow survivor, Poe, alone and pregnant in a snow blanketed New Hampshire. Determined to reach her, August sets out on a cross-country trek. But the world is not as empty as it seems. Lights in the sky reveal that they are not alone. The human race’s demise was not natural - and the architects are searching for survivors.

...at the end.

Jeremy Robinson, whose stories have been compared to Michael Crichton, James Rollins, and Stephen King, is the international best-selling master of stories featuring mind-bending imagination, terrifying monsters and high-octane action. With The Distance, he is joined by his wife, Hilaree Robinson, whose passionate writing and characters make this novel a truly unique and exciting experience that will leave readers both enthralled and moved.

©2016 Jeremy Robinson (P)2018 Jeremy Robinson

What listeners say about The Distance

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Run run away

I like the author - truly. The Others is a treat of a story to enjoy. Listen to that.

This story, however, was like a nest of mosquitoes in my brain. The problem is the characters, and since this is a character-driven story, that is indeed a big problem.

Most stories show a progression for their character. Accomplishing a goal, or mission - overcoming some obstacle, learning new skills - you get the idea. These characters? No. The greater irritation that drove me to abandon this story all together, was the female lead and her soul crushing repetition of "My baby, my baby!" Over and over ad nausea. Every nuance of any conversation, idea, or experience had to be examined, torn apart, then run up against her swelling belly. Ya, you're pregnant. Move on! 2nd on the irritation list was both characters complete idiocy. I know they were supposed to represent more of the everyday person, but with the stupid mistakes, horrible assumptions, and damage they inflicted on themselves, there is no way in hell either one would last more than 2 days.

Yes, I see others have given this high marks, but The Stupid these characters represent is just too strong to ignore.

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67 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Story has too many silly parts

I think this story could have been great. The performance is OK. The woman character is super naive and an annoying wus. As an example, She faces another person with flecks of red and wet looking red all over their clothes. She asks "have you been painting?" This is days after everyone has died. Another example, she kills a dog that's viciously trying to kill her. Afterwards she feels extreme guilt and wonders what someone else would think of her for doing it. Cars everywhere with gas in them, but a man thinks its better to ride a bike across the entire country. Whatever...I didn't like it.

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38 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

He's done it again!

Jeremy Robinson along with his wife Hilaree have created a book that I know will stay with me for years. It's one of those rare books that I know I will listen to over and over - picking up the foreshadowing I only briefly glimpsed. I've read or listened to many post-apocalyptic books but this one now ranks in my top three. The characters are so well defined and their emotions and reactions are all so real. I will miss them.

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20 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

An Odd Apocalypse

The Distance is a pretty interesting and unique tale of an alien "invasion", for want of a better term. Quite unlike and idea in that genre I've read or seen or heard before. The story was well contained, a "one and done", with all questions answered, and a satisfying story arc. As a reader, I was wondering what was going on, as were the characters, and as the story progressed you are able to get a better idea and make some guesses yourself, and in this case I was overall correct, but was a bit more complicated than I was thinking.

I'm a big fan of Jeremy Robinson's books, and of Jeffrey Kafer's narration, and have purchased many audiobooks featuring either of these. Hillaree Robinson and Heather Costa I'm not as familiar with however. I was pretty pleased to receive a free review copy of this new novel, both to hear two known artists I'm a fan of, as well as trying out two more.

The style of the novel as well as the dual narrators assisted the story very well, and unlike a lot of novels where the book is continually flipping from one main character to another, it was pretty easy to follow - assisted even further with the dual narrators. Even with a single narrator I don't think I'd have had any issues following the story.

A solid enjoyable read.

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17 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Amazing Story and Characters

I've never read anything else from this author, so I wasn't expecting anything going into it. I've read a lot of books in the same genre, but this one leaves them all behind.
First off the Narators are perfect. At first I thought Jeff Kafer was a little too "rough" sounding for the character he was portraying, but after a few chapters you really get a feel for it and as the character develops, he fits perfectly. Heather was just perfect (I can't think of any better way to put it). One of my biggest pet peeves is when there are two narators and they do each others character voices completely different from each other, but these two do it flawlessly. The book is great, but these two make it 100% better.

Now to the story. At the beginning I was thinking it was going to be just another apocalypse story with two dimensional characters with a cheesy love story tossed in. I was so happy to be wrong. The story is fun, tense, scary, and entertaining throughout. The characters are likable and believable. The whole story just works so well. The ending wraps the whole thing up perfectly without leaving you wanting.

I recieved this book for free in exchange for a fair review.

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15 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

out of 90 books, this is my first review

I NEVER review books. From the first line I was hooked. Heather Costa is a female James Earl Jones! I could listen to her read anything. The story is incredible and I don't think I've read or heard one like this ever. I couldn't stop listening...on the way to the gym at 5 a.m., in the shower, in the pool, you name it. Fantastic! Don't miss this one.

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10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Decent story

The gestalt of the story was a little stale but the motive of the aliens was unique and new. The performance was a major distraction. The female voice was like listening to nails on the chalkboard. The pitch and tone reminded me of the chipmunks. The male voice was slightly monotoned with a consistent decrement in inflection....kinda annoying..

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Cross Country Alien Invasion

It seems to me it took awhile to figure out what exactly was going on. I kept listening and about 1/3 of the way in it started coming together. The characters are interesting, perhaps too interesting as the detail was part of the confusion. The aliens are also confusing, are they good or bad? They take a little while to show up, and even then they're actions and motivations develop slowly but are revealed at the end.
The books is written in two primary voices, mail and female and the two narrators Jeffrey Kafer and Heather Costa are effective in making this work.
Overall an interesting take on an apocalypse instead of the usual zombies and nuclear fallout.
I was given this free audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

The male narration.

It felt awkward, I'm just not sure. I really struggled to get into it as a result.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
  • KD
  • 09-07-18

Super well written story

Was quite surprised with this book. I thought the premise and foundation of the book to be incredibly interesting.

When I got it the conclusion I felt things were not answered as well.

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4 people found this helpful