The Savants

By: Patrick Kendrick

Narrated by: Scott Ellis

Length: 7 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's summary

Dr. Stephen Pevnick is a world renowned behavioral scientist as well as an advisor to the president of the United States. He has gathered the world's most prodigious savants - people with astonishing intellectual abilities - to his research center in Maine. His intent is to conduct an unprecedented experiment, to have the savants work on a common project together; a major challenge because the savants, while gifted, do not possess the social skills that might enable them to work as an effective team.

But, soon after they gather, a catastrophic event occurs that threatens to destroy the Eastern Seaboard. The world's best scientists are helpless to stop it as panic grips the country, and a sinister conspiracy emerges with the potential to eradicate the free world. Can this group, plagued by their own insecurities and doubts, come together and use their incredible skills to save the world, or will the dark forces that set this disaster in motion prevail?

©2015 Patrick Kendrick (P)2016 Patrick Kendrick

Loved it! Worth a credit.

What did you love best about The Savants?

the character development was the best part. How each of the characters had their own special story, talents, and challenges.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Savants?

when a character that had been written off as "brain dead" found a way to communicate to his father and the other savants.

Which scene was your favorite?

When all the Savants came together to solve the common problem.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I did have an extreme reaction but I think it has caused me to be more aware of those with special challenges.

Any additional comments?

The narrator "Scott Ellis" did a remarkable job changing from character to character. He was very consistent with accents and personalities. I will seek out other books he has narrated.

I was given this book free from Audiobook Boom in exchange for an honest review,

very interesting concept

a true hail Mary for savants.. saving the world is a hard task in itself much less for the unlikely group of savants.. against all odds they will prevail..

I received a free copy of this book and voluntarily decided to review."

Brilliant Sci Fi Political thriller!

I was sceptical to start this as many Sci Fi novels have been disappointing as of late... however, the author did an incredible job of character and story line development. I felt as if I was in the story and couldn't stop listening.

The narrator was also great, he really brought the characters to life... The editing and performance were flawless. It's a very fun listen and I'd definitely recommend it!

*This book was gifted to me by the narrator , author, and/or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of AudiobookBoom.

Wonderful disaster thriller

This book was a treat. Awesome disaster thriller book. Really enjoyed the story and the characters, the savants were awesome. Lots of drama with a good bit of political drama. Which was unexpected. Seems like it was pretty well researched. No clue if the science is accurate but it seemed to make sense. As always I really hate it when religion is brought up but it wasn't to much so I wasn't bothered to much.

The narrator did a really good job. Great performance.

This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review.

Savants

Any additional comments?

It took me a couple of chapters to really get interested the story. It just didn’t pull me in at first. Once it did though I listened to it in one sitting. It is actually a very entertaining, engaging and interesting story. Great characters coupled with an intriguing plotline equals a really darn good book. Definitely worth your time.

Political intrigue coupled with an impending intentional man made disaster. A great balance of suspense, humor and action.

The story is constantly moving forward. No middle of the book filler/lull.

Sound effects took me by surprise by just added to experience of the book.

The Savants stole the book. Love the way the way they were portrayed. Loved the insight into how each came to their gifts. Everyone has something to contribute. Even if it is not done in the "normal" expected way. Thinking outside the box is how problems are solved.

There is always someone who wants to be top dog and doesn’t care what they have to do or who they have to hurt to get there.

Scott Ellis did a good job with the narration. Pleasant voice. Really good character voices. Clearly spoken with great delivery. He was able to bring the characters to life, especially the Savants. All around a very enjoyable listen.

This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review.

The Savants

This was a good book.It was full of science and action.The fate of the world is left to a group of unconventional scientific types referred to as 'The Savants'.They're artistic,developementally disabled, etc.They are also young.Scott Ellis was a fine narrator.I wish I would have known going in that this was a Christian YA series.It is always a let down to me when that happens to a series I might read otherwise.I was provided this book free by the author,narrator or publisher.

Engaging

"The Savants" (2015) by Patrick Kendrick is an engaging YA novel about a small group of twentysomethings with unique abilities brought together as a academic exercise but see their mission shift: They must help the president of the United States save the country from a potentially catastrophic event. I enjoyed the book but found scenes in which the perspective did not stay with one character to be annoying. Also, overuse of similes caused me to roll my eyes halfway through. Still, the story moves along at a brisk pace. Recommended. Book provided free for an honest review.

"Coincidences are mathematically provable"

Any additional comments?

This was a thoroughly enjoyable book, a feel good thriller. The main protagonists, in particular the savants themselves, were well rounded and believable although bizarre. The writing was good, the conversations fun and the narration excellent. Scott Ellis read the main text clearly, with just the right touch of emotional input and gave each character a distinctive voice when speaking. My only dislike was a rather intrusive battleground sound track behind the reading of the penultimate chapter. There were sound effects at the start of the story, too, and whilst this enhanced the beginning of the book and served to slightly separate it from the later action which is set some 50 years after these initial events, that at the end seemed only intrusive and added nothing.
The story is exciting - how to stop an enormous tidal wave from overwhelming the U.S.A. after a long abandoned atomic bomb is detonated under the ocean causing the opening of a rift on the sea bed. And there is a further threat against the President, himself. With possibly millions of lives at stake, the small group of disfunctional but genius young people, the savants, set to work to find a solution in unconventional ways.
The Savants is also a fascinating look at ideas and possibilities as well as reaching the obvious, but often overlooked, realisation: you can't always tell a book by it's cover.
My thanks to the rights holder of The Savants for the complimentary review copy which I received via Audiobook Boom.Thoughtful, fun, interesting, well written and narrated, this book is a great listen

An interesting solution to a "vanilla" problem

What did you love best about The Savants?

Easily the most interesting aspect of the book is the cast of characters. Each one has strengths, weaknesses, and for lack of a better, (non plot-spoiling) term traits that play off of each other and make the whole team better. Here is a group of people that cannot function fully in a normal sense, but together they are great.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

I loved the way the characters found a solution to the main plot point. My issue was the plot itself; it could have been a bit more original and exciting. All of the development and detail that went into the characters makes the plot pale a bit in comparison.

Which scene was your favorite?

The description of the reactor meltdown in Japan was vivid and well-written.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

It was not, though it could have been. It is easily approachable and a good length for an all-day listen.

Any additional comments?

This book was provided to me free of charge in exchange for an honest, unbiased review via Audiobook Boom.

Savants, suspense, tsunamis, and submarines

The Savants is a suspenseful disaster thriller that will be enjoyed by all members of the family. Patrick Kendrick manages to create a unique modern day thriller having a solid balance of action, suspense, and humor along with enough twists to keep one engaged from start to finish. Scott Ellis does an exceptional job of bringing the audiobook format to life. His narration enhances the already good story to make it a great story when listened too. When I finished with the book, it felt like I had just experienced a modern motion picture event. If you like fast-paced, action-packed, thrillers, I would recommend this book.

I was hooked on the story at the opening chapter by the events occurring which laid the foundation for the remainder of the book. The author did a solid job of bringing the many characters to life, none of them seemed flat. I enjoyed how the author told the various character backstories over various chapters and did not attempt to cover this all at the beginning of the book. The story was told while also properly educating and addressing the issues faced by those with disabilities; namely savants. The author was able to show that every savant had their strengths while also having to overcome many weaknesses. Often these two impacted one another. I did not feel that the author’s use of savants was simply for plot development, but more to bring attention to this people group often ignored by society.

Not only was this story action packed, but it included a fair amount of humor that was not overly used nor was it humor one often finds in other young adult books. It is more situational humor than just silly humor. The story also includes aspects of a political thriller involving intrigue and rogue military action. Think aspects of panic, revolution, and backstabbing that one would expect to occur when the nation is faced with a terrible disaster event. Events quick degrade into a political power-grab.

I felt the author did his research on many of the subjects covered in the book and was able to integrate this knowledge in to the story without being overly technical or complex. The descriptions of the news reporters and press releases were realistic to anyone who has watched these on live TV. The various military machines, weapons, and scientific details were believable, although some of them seemed to be a bit more futuristic than I would assume exist today. If one can simply suspend belief in a few areas, the book is quite enjoyable.

I would like to give the author kudos for writing a book that contains no vulgar language or explicit sexual content. Often such are added to young adult books more for their shock value but this story did not require any because it was so well written and presented. With that said, one of the savants does have an issue similar to tourette syndrome and struggles with using curse words. However, the author describes this disorder and states that the character is struggling to correct this social issue by replacing vulgar words with other words such as “cuss”. So there are a few times in the book where the character will say, “cuss cuss I want cuss to cuss…”, but such is done to inform people on these disorders without having to put vulgar words in the book itself.

What would I change? The story was very focused on the East Coast of America and the tragedy that takes place would have caused an event impacting all countries with shores in the region such as North America and Europe, etc. A wave often does not travel in a single direction, but usually spreads out like ripples when a rock is thrown into a pond. I would have liked to have had some cut scenes that focused on how other countries were dealing with the impending threat. It just seemed very focused on a rather small portion of the world. The second thing would be that the ending seemed rushed for all the book’s setup. The resolution just seemed hurried, however the author did do a decent job of cleaning up all the loose ends. I was just hoping to have more resolution regarding the characters as I came to enjoy their work and wanted more on how or what they did afterwards. Maybe the author is leaving an opening for a future second book, and if so, I would be one to read that one also.

Scott Ellis appears to be a newcomer to audiobook narration role with a total of five books posted on Audible, but his presentation of this book was professionally done and his voice is one I grew to like as it was clear, crisp and fluid in execution. Not only was he able to read the book with passion and good character inflection, the book also included some additional audio effects bringing it to life all the more. It was like taking a 2D movie and making it a 3D movie. The additional audio effects were subtle and in no way take away from the story itself.

A few areas I would have like to have seen improvement around the book’s narration were mostly personal preferences. The recording at the beginning seemed to have a slight echo or reverb, however this was rectified as the book progressed. Mr. Ellis fluently distinguished the many different characters in the book, but I did not prefer the voice of the general. Scott included different character accents and was able to maintain these throughout the book.

It is clear the narrator had a good understanding of the book he was reading and was passionate about the story. He did not simply read the book, instead he was able to bring the book to life. I look forward to more work done by this team in the future.

Disclaimer: This audiobook was provided to the reviewer by the author, narrator, or publisher free of charge in exchange for posting a non-bias review.