Walking Through Quicksand

By: J. L. Hoyt

Narrated by: Bob Dunsworth

What goes on inside our own minds will often be our undoing....

He had not always been such a lost cause. Not long before life was consumed by the poisonous chemicals that pumped through an addict's body, he was an active participant in what was considered society; with a beautiful wife, a home, a decent career. To an outside observer, life seemed perfect. But this story isn't a happily-ever-after fairy tale. It's the darkest parts of life, an internal battle of demons and, maybe, redemption.

©2016 J.L. Hoyt (P)2017 J.L. Hoyt

Good Book/Slow Narration

This was a decent story made a little tough to get through by the narration and the often repetitive overly flowery text. For example: "Social digitization" instead of social media. Instead of saying "I nodded", he says something like "I brought my chin to my chest and moved it slowly upwards". It almost felt like the thesaurus option in Word was used constantly. Perhaps this is just not my preferred writing style, but it was exhausting at times.

The narrator was painfully slow paced. I had to up the speed of playback to 1.25x and even then it was often too slow but at least this improved his tone. I almost couldn't listen to the entire book because of the narration. I am also left wondering if it was the narration that made the text a little tough to get through at times.

That said, if these things can be overlooked or overcome, I would recommend this book. Underneath is a story that's definitely worth a listen and I'm happy I didn't give up on it near the start.


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

I Watched from the Other Side of the Street

This first-person account of unglamorous addiction had great potential. With a title like Walking on Quicksand, you expect darkness or bleakness, and Hoyt delivered. You get the definite almost un-washable feel of his plight, defiance, and self-loathing.

It a good story, poorly told and so there inlays the loss potential. The method of delivery left me watching everything unfold from the other side of the street. Throughout the entire tale, I remained an outsider looking in, which I suppose is indeed the experience of a drug addict but it took away from the reading/listening experience.

The first person perspective is told with third person style where the protagonist is aware of what others are thinking, often with the surety of a mind reader or some all-knowing god-like entity. Rather than the protagonist blasting his audience with his unilateral take on things and expecting unquestionable acceptance, more time could have been invested in dialogue (versus extended stretches of monolog). The protagonist could have drawn us closer to his experience, and consequently, made it easier to not only relate to him but to better empathize with and actually LIKE him.

The introduction of the female love interest was done with a bit of mystery: This sparked my interest. I found myself perking up and listening more attentively to better understand her role. In quick disappointment, her part fell flat under the weight of the narrative style. The narrative moves forward and her immeasurable potential to give the tale texture remains sadly unrealized. As with the rest of the telling, the protagonist keeps his reader/listener at bay with too much "telling" and not enough "showing," lethal side effects of bringing us into his head and keeping us hostage to his analysis of self and of others. Thesis effect was repeated with his wife and pusher. The danger of leaning so heavily (almost exclusively) on this extended stretches of monolog and bubbles of thoughts is flatness, and for me, the undesirable sense of being led. Less of this could have resulted in more realized potential, e.g. stronger character development, deeper dives into backstories, more crisscrossed layers of character interaction, etc.

The narrator’s female voice could use more practice, and there were some mispronounced words, but overall he did a fine job. I listened comfortably and enjoyably at 1.5x speed.

The author gifted this book in exchange for a review.

Meh

To slow for my tastes. I did like it but it's probably not one I'd read again.

The narrator was enjoyable.

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

Good Read

Any additional comments?

Walking Through Quicksand by J.L. Hoyt was a pretty good quick read. This book shows that many times it is what goes on inside ourselves is usually our undoing. The book follows a man who once had everything until he let addiction take over.

Not fazed. Sorry to say it bored me

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

No idea.

If you’ve listened to books by J. L. Hoyt before, how does this one compare?

This was my first J. L. Hoyt book

Any additional comments?

Very glad to not have paid for this book.