Yesterday's Gone: Season One

By: Sean Platt, David Wright

Narrated by: Chris Patton, Brian Holsopple, Ray Chase, Maxwell Glick, Tamara Marston, R.C. Bray

Length: 15 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's Summary

Start the first season of the groundbreaking postapocalyptic serial: Yesterday's Gone: Season One (episodes 1-6).

WARNING: This is a postapocalyptic horror audiobook where bad people do evil things, and as such, this series features disturbing scenes and foul language. While it is all within the context of the story, some listeners may find this content offensive.

Can humanity survive what it never saw coming? On October 15 at 2:15 a.m. Earth vanished. A scattered few woke alone in a world with no rules, other than survival at any cost. A journalist wanders the wretched reality of an empty New York, searching for his wife and son. A serial killer must hunt in a land where prey is now an endangered species. A mother shields her young daughter from danger through every terror-filled breath.

A bullied teen is thrilled to find the world gone missing, until the knock on his door. A fugitive survives a fiery plane crash. Will he be redeemed, or return to the killing he's best at? An eight-year-old boy sets out on a journey to find his missing family, only to find something that will change him forever. These survivors aren't truly alone.... Someone or something is watching them. And waiting...

Strangers unite. Sides are chosen. Can humanity survive what it never saw coming?

©2013 Sean Platt, David Wright (P)2013 Podium Publishing

Holy crap, wow.

Where does Yesterday's Gone: Season One rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This is the first FICTION audio book I've ever listened to. Before I picked this up, I was skeptical about whether or not I'd be able to get into a fiction audio book while working, but grabbed it on a whim and was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to stay engaged with this story while simultaneously swearing at photoshop for six to twelve hour stretches.

What other book might you compare Yesterday's Gone: Season One to and why?

As far as format goes, it's a lot like the A Song of Ice and Fire series in that it switches points of view a lot, and most of the narrators are either unreliable or ignorant, which isn't a bad thing and lends a lot to the atmosphere--I don't want every little detail about the big scaries up front, and this format was fantastic for keeping the mystery going. As far as actual content, I'd compare it to some of Steven King's older stuff? I'm not really sure, because I haven't read King since the 90s, maybe early 2ks and my memory of anything I was reading or enjoying at that time is shoddy at best, making me an unreliable reviewer, haha.

Which scene was your favorite?

Do I seriously have to choose? I think some of the most satisfying parts of the book were when various groups started to meet up and merge. The first part introduced all of these characters and made me like (or even more thrillingly HATE them), and while that was great, when the different threads of story start to come together it hits all the right buttons on my 'things a book needs for me to enjoy the christ out of it' panel.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Misery porn at its finest!

Any additional comments?

I finished this book and went looking for the next part, only to find that it does not yet exist in audio format. I draw comics for a living and need background noise with no visuals to distract me, and this book was perfect. I MUST have the next part, gentlemen. MUST. HAVE. IT.

Idk how it got such rave reviews!? horrible!!

Either I missed something BIG or the reviews on this book are BOGUS!!

"Lying gives me ouchies on the inside." WHAT?!? My 4yr old hasn't spoken like that (if ever) in at least a year. the carrot dangle to keep u guessing is drug on & on & on.

Was very confusing on why some ppl were is this survival group & others woke alone. Are all the cities the survivors are in devastated or intact? why would anyone drink black vomit smelling crap in a bucket even if u are mr. reckless.

I'm mad at myself for wasting my time on such junk! I really wish there were more accurate & reliable reviewers on the web. not just someone willing to pop 5 stars up for a buck or a freebie.

Anyone have any GOOD books to recommend?

A long, long, downhill slide

To be fair - I'm writing this review after having listened for 28 hours...so just three hours shy of finishing Season 2. Season One wasn't bad. You aren't given much to go on from beginning to end -- you hop from character to character at random, and there isn't any attempt by the authors to offer you explanations for anything that happens. That's fine, and I'm not saying that readers/listeners need to be spoon-fed some great underlying meaning, so long as the story is engaging and the characters are good. Well...thats where Yesterday's Gone goes wrong, in my opinion.

Like I said - Season One wasn't bad - but it's an investment of almost 16 hours, and you're left with so little to hold on to by the end that you might feel the need to see if Season Two makes things any better. It doesn't. Not only that, but each episode erodes any likability or relate-ability that the characters had in the first season. After the first few episodes of the second season I began to feel like the authors were deliberately trying to come up with the grossest, most repulsive scenes they could think of, just for the heck of it. I held on to the hope of "maybe it gets better from here" hour after hour. But nope. I still have three hours to go in Season Two and I'm stopping right here. Its just not worth my time.

Take this review with a grain of salt - of course. I enjoyed The Passage series...found The Breakers entertaining...was fine with After it Happened and The Grey. I'm the first to admit that I love pulp sci-fi, and it doesn't have to be Asimov to be worth your time and credits. I'm open to hearing that the story gets much better in Season Three (there are five billion seasons, by the way) but in my experience of the series, I can't recommend it to anyone.

WOW...do not miss this start to an AMAZING series!

If you could sum up Yesterday's Gone: Season One in three words, what would they be?

GIVE ME MORE!

Who was your favorite character and why?

I can't place a favorite character whatsoever, the ensemble cast of narrators brought EACH characters perspectives to life so amazingly. Usually multiple narrators/full-cast audiobooks are very hit or miss, but they def outdid themselves with the talent in this group! BRAVO!

What does the narrators bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I ONLY really listen to audiobooks, very rarely do I read e-books. The experience of a great narrator/reader totally makes a great book EVEN better. This audiobook further emphasized that point home for me!

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Although the book and series is very graphic in nature, and not for everyone, the language and graphic nature itself isn't USED for shock value like many other books & tv-shows these days. Those parts actually drew me into the story even further, adding an extra level of believeability...

Any additional comments?

I was so excited to find out Season ONE of this series was coming on audiobook, as I had heard & read so many great reviews at Amazon and from friends about this series. Being an audiobook fan, I finally can experience this great story. Platt & Wright are one hell of a writing team, and this Kindle "serial" series proves just that.

My biggest hope is they continue to release the other seasons in audiobook VERY SOON (currently up-to season FOUR now)...so Podium Publishing take note! There is a BIG group of audiobook fans like myself that often miss out on great books like this just from being overlooked by publishers! Please don't make that mistake :)

BOTTOM LINE: If you love tv-shows like Lost or Walking Dead, books like Stephen King's "The Stand", or simply a damn good entertaining story you cannot get enough of....then check out this audiobook! The talent found in this ensemble narration team alone is worth the credit!

Blown away!

If you could sum up Yesterday's Gone: Season One in three words, what would they be?

Wow. Just Wow.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Yesterday's Gone: Season One?

The entire book is memorable.

What does the narrators bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The voices, the power behind the words, the expression. I listened to a free sample of this book and was hooked.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Why was I left behind?

Any additional comments?

I am looking forward to more. Lots more. This type of book normally isn't my genre, but it reached out and dragged me in involuntarily as if I were one of those left behind. I had no choice except to buy the season, I wouldn't rest until I continued listening.

Couldn't finish....

Not sure why this series has so many great reviews? I lasted 1.5hrs and couldn't make myself listen anymore. Completely disjointed, immature writing. And the different readers just made it worse. Luca??? Goodness his character was unbelievably annoying. What a bummer, I was looking forward to another great post apocalyptic series.

Fragmented, too many poorly developed charactrers

I bought this based on the majority of the reviews and because I like some of the narrators. Bad decision on my part. In my opinion, there are way too many poorly developed characters forcing a fragmented story line. A few ill-conceived parts made the story really wonky and hard to follow. Not an enjoyable experience. The high rating for this book is baffling.

Top notch post apoc with engaging characters

I'm a huge fan of post-apocalyptic fiction, but am so often disappointed with survival scenarios that involve characters I could care less about. I love that Platt and Wright cast a wide net of characters that are so engaging, with killer cliffhangers to the end of their chapters, that you go ravenous to read (or in my case listen) to as many chapters as you can. The audiobook is the way to go. Every narrator is top notch. Make this part of your commute and you'll wish you had to drive across the country to get there. I'm dying trying to wait for books three and beyond to make it to audiobook. I switched over to the Breakers series for now so I can engulf these in quick succession.

Great narration, Crappy plot.

starts out great with interesting cast of narrators. Ultimately the plot is a teeming pile of you know what. it reads/sounds like a poorly thought out c-rated tv series.

This is not well written

Is there anything you would change about this book?

I would change 1 of the narrators and I would ask that the same story be written by a more mature person.

What was most disappointing about Sean Platt and David Wright ’s story?

It felt like I was reading a story written by teenagers, there were multiple instances where I felt that the person writing the story hadn't had the experiences they were writing about, and I'm clearly not talking about the whole zombie thing, I mean things like smoking marijuana or even simply understanding how certain people might feel in certain situations. There's one narrator that does the voice of a child, and you would think he'd never spoken to a kid before, way too naive and ridiculously innocent, the way he narrates is obnoxious and it's unfortunately a major role, If not for the language and subject matter it could easily have been written for teens. Actually, I've read books written for teens that were written so much better.

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

I don't think so.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Depends on who produces and directs it.

Any additional comments?

I wouldn't suggest this book to anyone with a decent amount of common sense or maturity.

Good stuff!

If you could sum up Yesterday's Gone: Season One in three words, what would they be?

Really rather riveting

What was one of the most memorable moments of Yesterday's Gone: Season One?

Most of Boricio's storyline

Have you listened to any of the narrators’s other performances? How does this one compare?

No but I thought the use of different narrators for the different POVs was a great touch. Great Boricio casting! Very Morgan Freemanesque

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Brent Foster, the post Times Square scene. Heart wrenching.

Any additional comments?

This made for compelling listening, even if the pace slowed somewhat during the middle. The beginning felt a little overwhelming as all the characters and story arcs were being introduced, and I couldn't help feeling a little frustrated waiting to find out what happens next for certain characters, but knowing what kind of writing this was (I found this after hearing "Write, Publish, Repeat") I stuck with all the characters and eventually it all falls nicely into place.

Disappointed

It's gonna be short and to the point.
R.C Bray is as always fantastic. If he'd been able to narrate the whole lot himself it would only get low marks for a so-so storyline.
The lady and the guy who voice Mary and Charlie are both pretty good too.
But my God,Edward.I was actually kinda enjoying Edwards voice til it revealed he was only 40. I'd just assumed he was 65ish. But that was nothing compared to 'Jade and Ken' they were as laughable as they were painful to hear.
Narration aside,the actual content was pretty meh for me. The author clearly has no kids or spends very little time with kids. Luca is 8??? He is written as a 4 year old. My 9 year old son would beg me to keep him in if Luca was our neighbour. I don't know of any 8 year olds with a few years of schooling under them who would be so utterly infantile as Luca is written.
So it's fair to say I had more than a few gripes with this collection and I'm gutted I wasted a credit on it. If it wasn't for R.C Bray I would simply give it 1 star and leave no review.
Be warned,this is more of a teen terror read than a proper adult apocalypse.

A great serial just got better

Where does Yesterday's Gone: Season One rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This has to rank in the top 10 without a doubt, the multi casting is great & Boricio is just how I imagined him.

What other book might you compare Yesterday's Gone: Season One to, and why?

As post apocalyptic books go this is one of the best I have read and I hope seasons 2 to 4 follow soon

Which scene did you most enjoy?

All the Boricio scenes are great, the portrayal is perfect although the most enjoyable scene has to be the ending

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

A fair amount of humour in a very bleak storyline (supplied mainly by Boricio & Charlie)

Any additional comments?

If you haven't read the ebook of Yesterday's Gone you should get this audio as I read the first series two years ago and I found listening to it was like a whole new experience

Interesting and engaging

I enjoyed this. Telling the story from serveral perspectives keeps it fresh and interesting and the narration is done very well.
The story is interesting and engaging, there are quite a few layers to the mystery and I'm certainly interested to see what happens. It is not overally complicated though and I found it easy enough to follow whilst commuting.

The only thing I would say is that if you don't like swearing , this is not for you. One of the characters uses a lot of colourful language and imagery. Don't say you weren't warned !

Riveting

Would you consider the audio edition of Yesterday's Gone: Season One to be better than the print version?

I haven't yet read the print version, but might have to grab a copy now. I want my husband to read this wonderful story.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Yesterday's Gone: Season One?

I was hooked from the first moment when Brent picked up Stanley Train. The ending left me shocked and needing to read more, my jaw literally hit the floor. I don't want to say too much about the excellent middle bits because of Spoilers.

What about the narrators’s performance did you like?

Each of the narrators was perfect for the character they were reading. I particularly loved Luca and Borricio.

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

If I had a long journey then this would be great. I did have to walk slowly as I went about my daily business so I could find out what happened next. It could be distracting to have to rewind when talking with real people.

Any additional comments?

Wonderful book, and luckily for me I finished it on the day season 2 came out. :)

Yesterday's gone

If you could sum up Yesterday's Gone: Season One in three words, what would they be?

intriguing, exciting, cheesy.

What did you like best about this story?

The concept. I'm a big fan of survival and si-fi titles and this was almost a combination of both.

Which scene did you most enjoy?

Black island.......

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

yesterday's gone, the nightmares aren't.

Any additional comments?

Apart from some really cheesy lines from some cheesy characters this book really sucked me in and left me wanting more. I'll be listening to season two.

Yesterday's Gone

Weird, scary and interesting. I really want to find out what's going on. Guess I'll just have to read the rest. Did I mention, it's quite scary?? I really shouldn't have been listening to it in the dark!

Farfetched nonsense but enjoyable

What did you like most about Yesterday's Gone: Season One?

The twists and turns in the story, the authors wanted to achieve cliffhangers with each season this they did.

Would you be willing to try another book from Sean Platt and David Wright ? Why or why not?

Yeah would take a look if the story appealed,will be getting season 2 of this if/when available

What about the narrators’s performance did you like?

All the narrators did a decent job special kudos to whoever voiced Boricio

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Nah it takes a really good book to do that :D. This was decent listen where you don't have to think too much just sit, listen and enjoy

Any additional comments?

A decent listen,it has me curious as to what happens next, so more then happy to continue onto the next season. Besides that ending....they can't leave it like that! I need to know what happens.

Interesting....up until Callie's first chapter.

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

Not having a p.o.c character sexually assaulted by a middle aged white man.

Has Yesterday's Gone: Season One put you off other books in this genre?

Nope.

Have you listened to any of the narrators’s other performances? How does this one compare?

All of the narrators do stellar work. The plot is the problem.

You didn’t love this book--but did it have any redeeming qualities?

Good narration.

Utter garbage

I've never heard writing this bad before. The characters are one dimensional, the dialogue is hilariously awful, and the plot is just facile. Every few minutes it will deliver a cringe-inducing line so trite you want to believe it's satire. Yesterday's Gone feels like it was written by a couple of basement-dwelling teenage boys who've never read a work of fiction. Avoid!