Why I Chose this Book

One Monday morning while at work, I realized that I left my iPod at home. I knew it was going to be a long day. I remembered though that I had a podcast app on my phone, Podcast Addict. I searched through some of the podcast stations and saw Podiobooks. The day before, I looked for some story form podcasts on my iPod. I guess I was still craving for the same audio experience this day. Podiobooks has audiobooks, but as podcasts, which also means they’re free! The first title listed was 12.21.12. I said I’d give it a try. This was only a temporary fix until the next day when I secured “my precious.” By the end of the week, I had finished the entire book.

12.21.12

12.21.12 is a speculative fiction end of the world novel. It reminded me of Dan Brown’s Inferno. In fact, it even referenced Dan Brown’s The DaVinci Code, so it’s probably likely that the book does take some inspiration from Dan Brown’s works. Sheppard Smith is a renowned Ancient Egyptian historian and researcher. One day after a devastating tragedy, he receives a phone call about a discovery that would change everything known about Egypt and the early American civilizations.

The story links ancient history, mythology, and the date once interpreted to predict the end of the world by ancient Mayan civilizations, 12.21.12. Admittedly, early on, the story took a turn that I was not expecting. I decided to buy into it, though, and the journey was pleasant enough. The author’s use of adjectives and adverbs were refreshing for me. Mysteries are abundant in the book which adds some enjoyment to it, but they also lack something. I wasn’t invested in the mysteries much, so I didn’t receive much pleasure when they were revealed. Similarly, with the characters, they were fine enough, but I didn’t really care about them that much. Overall, the story was still an enjoyable listen and it had some interesting concepts, but when I finished it, I wasn’t yearning for more.

Narration

The production was one of the best things about this book. This was one of the best audiobook experiences I’ve had thus far. The book was read by the author herself, Killian McRae. The author read the different characters with their own personalities and accents when called for. Her narration was imbued with intonations, pacing and pauses that gave an enriched sense of the dialogue. In addition, some audio effects were used to give the listener a better feel for what was happening in the scenes. If someone was interested in reading or digesting this book, I would recommend giving this audio version a chance.