The Grinding

By: Matt Dinniman

Narrated by: Chris Sorensen

Length: 8 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's summary

Six months ago, the world watched in horror as we lost an American city.

The Grinder. That's what the survivors of Tucson called the monster. Just one touch, and they became a part of it. It used their bodies as limbs and as weapons. In just a matter of hours, it became huge, a towering monstrosity made entirely out of tens of thousands of people and animals.

This isn't behind-the-scenes bullshit from the point of view of the military. This isn't yet another conspiracy theory about what really happened to Air Force One that night, or about the decision to nuke Tucson.

This is a rare, eyewitness account from someone who was there, in the midst of the destruction. But most importantly, this is the terrifying truth.

©2013 Matt Dinniman (P)2014 Matt Dinniman

Just read it.

What's the worst that could happen? It's just words in a story, right?

That being said: I loved it.

Give it a chance!

Good horror book with a narrator that really does fit the main character but be warned, it is jarring to go from a fully voice acted Dungeon Crawler Carl book to this.

If you just finished a soundbooth theater audiobook, wait a day or two before starting this one. You’ll enjoy the story more.

Overall Enoyable Listen

Would you listen to The Grinding again? Why?

No, but I very rarely repeat books, so that doesn't say much

What other book might you compare The Grinding to and why?

It's definitely strongly sci-fi, a little graphic and it has some supernatural elements, with a (slightly unbelievable, but nevertheless fun) twist. So I would compare this story to Chuck Palahniuck, or Richard Matheson stories, but aimed at a younger, less sophisticated audience than Matheson.

Have you listened to any of Chris Sorensen’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have never listened to this narrator before. I found that his characters' voices were very slightly different from his own. So slight that, were the book to have more dialogue and less written explanations of who was talking, I may have had trouble following. That being said, I don't believe I had trouble discerning them on too many occasions.

Any additional comments?

Overall enjoyable, not too heavy or much thought required. Good for a beach listen, or for a young (fifteen and up) audience.

Great story, awful narration.

I get it. we can't all be Jeff Hays.
But this is a gripping, suspenseful, horror novel. You can't read it like a dry lecturer teaching about the history of drywall. No emotion, no voices, stoned monotone.

It says a lot about the quality of the writing that I finished this book, and only because I know how good Matt Dinniman's other novels are.

action packed, fast moving adventure

The Grinding by Matt Dinniman is action packed, fast moving adventure that screams sci-fi and aliens. However, that would be a false assumption. Dinniman sets the story up for the reader to reach that conclusion early on so that when one reaches the truth behind The Grinder, one cannot help but sit there gape-mouthed and stunned. I was truly not expecting this huge, really huge twist!

The main characters are Adam, Niff and The Grinder. This is not a tale about the military although they do play a small role. This is a tale about Adam and his relationship with his wife Niff and his blossoming relationship with The Grinder. It is a first-hand accounting of the experiences of one man against The Grinder. Dinniman does an excellent job of keeping the information flowing but keeping the stunning revelation for the right moment. Personally, I’m not so sure I would take on such a huge monster to save my spouse … Adam’s undying love and dedication to his wife is amazing. His struggles and growth builds a strong connection to the reader. I was really hoping he would make it and rescue his wife and the world. Little did I know the role he would ultimately play.

Dinniman provides rich descriptions of The Grinder and the havoc it wreaks. My favorite characters, however, were short lived twins (conjoined twins with one body and two heads). Adam’s journey to rescue his wife introduces the reader to several unique and interesting side characters that impact the growth of Adam from nerd to hero.

There are some creepy elements – hearing the walking dead inform Adam repeatedly that “Niff was waiting for him” was somewhat unsettling. Interesting takes on issues that face society and humankind … a definite Must Read!!!!

Chris Sorenson, narrator, did a very nice job. I did find that Adam was a whiny guy – but that stands to reason as he was the stereo-typical 96 pound weakling facing off against a goliath. Sorenson did an excellent job projecting the stunned feeling of Adam and others as they came into contact with The Grinder.

There were no issues with the production, it was solid.

Audiobook provided for review by the author.

Please find this complete review and many others at my review blog

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fine sorry, bad narrator

The story is fine, it's not great but good. The narrator was pretty rough though.

Pretty good book, if you like it horrible

The book is pretty good, with characters and pacing of the plot. Don't know why it's not more popular. It is horrible though.

grinding with a Twist?

I couldn't wait for the end and then when I got to the end I want to go back to the beginning and re-read.

Real

This is a real thing that happened. I read it in a book so it must be true. Pretty messed up yo.

Refreshing! This is a new story! Nothing rehashed.

There was a very meaty back story and the characters where realistic.it had me from the first sentence!