The Snow

Whiteout, Book 1

By: Flint Maxwell

Narrated by: Matt Godfrey

Length: 4 hrs and 13 mins

Publisher's summary

This is how the world ends: with a single snowflake.  

After a tragic accident at work, all Grady Miller wanted was an escape. He finds it months later with two of his closest friends. Together, the three of them travel south to Prism Lake for the upcoming holiday, where they plan on spending the sunny weekend drinking, grilling, and relaxing.  

But when a series of monstrous blizzards cover the Eastern United States in feet of snow, knocking out communications and making the roads impossible to drive on, they realize their weekend of fun could turn into a lifetime of survival.  

Because there's something out there besides the cold....

Something sinister....

©2020 Flint Maxwell (P)2020 Tantor

I tried.

This really seems like it was written by a High School or College student. I couldn't get beyond the introductions. If you want to read something predictable, written in a very clumsy first person. Go for it. We get it, you like Stephen King.

There's something in the snow...

This book is excellent, exactly what I always look for but very hard to find - creepy and down right scary at times.

It starts off a little slow introducing the characters, but I'm really glad the author did this because we become fond of the guys in the story and more than that it puts you in a nice happy place, just before everything goes to hell.

This book is not predictable in the slightest. We have all sorts of horror elements coming together in a single situation. It was a delightful read and one I'll listen to again and again.

The narrator was also a perfect choice. Perfect delivery.

GREAT story! apocalypse, wraiths, blizzards oh my

I was pleasantly surprised. So much so that I stopped half way through to see if there was a part 2. I finished BOTH in 2 days. I'm eagerly awaiting part 3 and will look for other books by the author. Three late twenties friends go to their childhood vacation cabin for the fourth of July. They meet a nice neighboring family & celebrate with great drinks & smores. At 2am, Grady, our protagonist is awoken by his two friends telling him it is snowing. In Ohio in July. He finally gets out of bed and it's true. I won't give anything away but there's no explanation to why it's snowing, all electricity is cut off, "something" comes out at night and the sun rarely makes an appearance. Shadows lurk in the dark calling to our cast. They appear as their fears or regrets. On top of that people become "possessed" & turn into rage filled lunatics if touched by the "shadows" that Grady calls "wraiths" Food is running out, no cars can drive in the 3' of snow and the sun isn't out longer than 30 mins at a time making scavenging near impossible! Use a credit. you won't regret it if you like horror/post apocalyptic fiction with a touch of monsters!!!

Short But Sweet!

I took a chance on this book because I was looking for a new monster book. I read the description and was intrigued so I popped down to the reviews and I was getting a lot of mixed reactions. Let me just say, don't be dissuaded by the negative reviews. What follows are my thoughts on the book as a whole.

I read a lot of longer books so the length of this one had me concerned that it would either leave a lot out or do too much build up for little payoff. I'm happy to report that neither of those are the case. The length is very appropriate for the pacing and Flint Maxwell did an excellent job with the pacing.

The first section of the book gives you time to learn about the three main characters and does a great job of expressing to you that even though they are grown men, they still retain some of the immaturity found in youths. It is there to act as a means to show you the bonds between the characters and give some slight comedic relief once things start to go down him for them. The time they spend with the other characters at first seems like filler but you come to realize its more time to bond with these characters and its written in such a way that you feel like these are actual conversations that could happen versus reading a script.

The book also maintains a sense of mystery as, once things unfold, there is no explanation of what or why this is happening. Only that it is and that there is only one thing that matters. Survival. Strange creatures in the relentless snow, unending night, and people going mad. And with heat now just as important and food and water, it adds an extra layer of complexity to this game of survival. A single trip outside could be your last.

As to the ending of they book, yes, it does end in a cliff hanger that hints at the big event in the next book. But that was intentionally the point. Its not a cliff hanger like "Oh no, something bad is happening and we must escape," its a cliff hanger where the survivors formulate a plan for when circumstances prevent their current situation from no longer being viable. There is no 'BIG TWIST," that you are left with. Honestly, even calling it a cliff hanger is a bit of an overstatement. It is more like the first leg of the journey has come to a close and they must get ready for the inevitable next leg of their journey. And yes, the ending is, in fact, helping set up the second book as I'm sure the second book with set up the third and so on. So bear that in mind.

Another thing I want to touch on is that it is written in the first person. The story is told by Grady as if you are being told of past events. Therefore, there is plenty of foreshadowing and lots of "little did we know." If they first person perspective turns you off to a book, this might be a struggle for you. To myself, it reads like I'm reading a journal of a survivor long since passed.

The narrator, Matt Godfrey, did an excellent job and his voice worked very well with this title. He even did a great job of portraying the characters as they are freezing. Making you feel like its real dialogue. His pitch and tone throughout the entire book makes the whole thing a lot more believable. A fantastic performance.

And so it is with all that said that I graded this book as I did. Is it going to be renowned as a masterpiece or go into a Hall of Fame? Not likely. But if you like monsters, unexplainable circumstance, and a good survivalist experience, I would strongly recommend spending the credit on this.

Struggled to finish

Reminded me of Birdbox on Netflix. The writing was juvenile. I got so bored that I decided to try the speed feature on Audible that will adjust how fast the narrator reads. I set it from 1.00x to 2.00x and that actually made it a lot more entertaining to listen to, but be that as it may, I cannot recommend this book to anyone. It's been done before. Yawn. If you're looking for something scary look elsewhere.

Terrible ending.

WTF happened? It Kept me on the edge of my seat for vague nowhere ending.

The Pace of this book is tiring

Barely made it through the first hour, geez. I thought this was going to a good quick listen by it only being 4hours long, but damn, the pace.

I tried.

Not a great ending

This book should have a better ending - needed something more to complete the story disappointing

Great Apocalyptic Story with a Touch of Creepiness

Really enjoyed this book. Flint Maxwell gives his readers enough background story on the characters to get to know them but doesn't dwell on it for so long that you get bored. He jumps into the meat of the story quickly and that gets you hooked. The characters are rich as are their interactions and dialogue. The scenery descriptions are done very well. I feel like I've been to Prism Lake and that I woke up to snow in July.
Matt Godfrey does a fantastic job narrating the book, giving not just voice to all the characters but bringing them to life so you feel as if you're listening to someone retell something they actually experienced. He uses his voice as a tool to set each scene and add fullness to the story and its people.
Already pre-ordered the Kindle and Audible versions of the second book in the series. Truly enjoyable.

Poor ending

I thought it was a good enough plot, although a little predictable. Narrator was fantastic. I don’t know what that other review I read was talking about when they said all the characters sounded the same?! Stone’s character nearly sounded like a different narrator all together. The narration is really the best part of the whole thing. The ending was pretty disappointing and the story pretty much just drops off with zero resolve.

Really enjoyed this🤗narration brilliant too👏🏽

Enjoyed this story, Matt Godfrey’s narration was BRILLIANT! I imagined every scene of the cabin’s and snow🤗 would definitely recommend 💯👏🏽 i have purchased the 2nd book also, so im off to continue the story 🤗💃🏻Thank you Flint Maxwell for a BRILLIANT story🤗 but pleaseee make them longer🙏🏽😁 Thank you Matt Godfrey for your OUTSTANDING narration! You helped transport me to every scene and had me imagining each character😊👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽 Thank you audible for another BRILLIANT book!💯💯💯👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽♥️xxx

start of something big

enough to wet your appetite.
well written and descriptive at times.
Will keep an eye on any sales in this series.

Enjoyed this!

Enjoyed this one! Kept me listening to the whole thing, will be checking out the next one right now. :)

Among the worst books I’ve ever read

Author has no idea what he writes about, neither has any grasp on physics ,climate science or human behaviour. Waste of time.

Good Start

This is the start of a good story and just enough to get me to buy the second book.

Great Concept...felt cheated at the end...

This work could have been fab...if there’s a sequel then great!
However if there isn’t a sequel...bummer...
It ended too abruptly without the benefit of any explanation...

Narrator did a fine job...

First book in series - interesting

Short book but have enjoyed it and look forward to starting next ones in series narrated well, story works your imagination well lots yet to discover by listening to first book so follow on books I’m intrigued to listen too aswell

13:41

13:41. How long I lasted before I couldn't take it anymore. Story dragging and narrator unengaging.