Deadly Apparition

By: G. Ernest Smith

Narrated by: Jack Nolan

A modern nuclear submarine crew meets the 16th-century Spanish Armada in this alternate reality thriller.

Commander Donald Castillo is the commander of the Virginia-class fast attack nuclear submarine, Kansas. It is the latest and best that the US Navy has to offer. He is asked to test a new ground-breaking countermeasure that will revolutionize naval warfare. Its code name is Apparition.

He will be working with a civilian test team headed by Dr. Susan Lambert. This is game-changing technology born of the Hadron Collider, and the Navy brass are hungry for it. But something goes wrong during testing, and the Kansas and her crew disappear off the western coast of Scotland. The American and British navies perform an exhaustive search, but find no trace of Kansas.

©2014 Greg Smith (P)2015 Greg Smith

Lousy Production, Good Book

The entire narration sounds like as if the engineers were using 2 tin cans on a string! The chapters were separated by annoying cheesy pseudo sonar sounds. Character development doesn't say a lot about the USN's screening program for commanding officers of their nuclear submarines since the fast attack skippers go on to command the boomers!

Castillo should have been on humanitarian shore duty, I've seen both officers and enlisted assigned for less. Having said that, the suspension of belief was still a tad rough ride. The plot just zips along, mostly due to Castillo's gullibility and downright simplicity. Castillo is simply too flawed. The author still manages to overcome his weak protagonist with a decent plot and good action.

Bad Narration? Or bad setup?

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

Any additional comments?

They story was ok. The narration was terrible. To my ear it sounded like the narrator was in a shower stall with a really poor microphone. NOW, was it the narrator at fault or the company he was reading for or both. I just don't know but the outcome was pretty poor. The story was ok which is why I put up with the narrator. I suggest you listen to the free sample prior to buying this book.

Modern technology meets ancient history

This book is along the same lines as the Taylor Anderson's "Destroyermen" series. After I started on that series I have been looking all over to find a similar story, and finally I came across this one. The idea of a modern navy ship or submarine going back in time and battling the strongest the previous period has to offer is great. This author even does a great job also showing the weakness of the modern weapons.

I know one of the fastest ways to get an "unhelpful review" is to disparage the narrator of a book. That being said THE NARRATOR DID A GOOD JOB. Yes, he stuttered over a few words and had to repeat himself, but I LIKED HIM so don't hate me 😇. It wasn't his fault it sounded like the story was being read in the bathroom (this is actually pretty funny because when I listened to it in the bathroom it sounded normal).

I'm so glad audible had their spring sale so I could buy this book since my principles won't let me use credits on less than 10 hour books.

Good story, not so good performance

What did you like best about Deadly Apparition? What did you like least?

I always enjoy alternate history or alternate timeline books. The story was fast paced, fun, and filled with characters that were easy to empathize with. The only thing I didn't like about this book was the reading performance. The narrator was fine, but the audio quality made it sound like he was reading inside a tin can or something. It didn't have a fresh clean sound that I am used too in most other books. It wasn't so bad I couldn't enjoy the story, but it was noticeable the entire time. I think they should try to remaster the recording or something and clean it up a little.

Good one time listen

Reasonable story idea. I'm not giving away much to say time travel is involved.

Not something I'd listen to again.

Very Entertaining though Juvenile Read

Would you listen to Deadly Apparition again? Why?

I was tempted to give the book a 5 star rating because it is entertaining. But, a lot of the plot is just so juvenile (unrealistic), that I just couldn't see it. The main character (Castillo), is a bit of an anti-hero who's poor decisions generally ends up with his people getting killed. Also, old Star-Trek episodes often come to mind through-out the book. The narrator doesn't seem that experienced, but his performance doesn't detract that much. Finally, one can't miss the irony of them setting out for Pitcairn Island (Mutiny of the Bounty), because of all of Castillo's bad decisions.

Science Faction

This is a GREAT read. Yes the story is essentially about a nuclear submarine, but the story is about a trip into the past, with a modern naval vessel. It supports the idea that old records of heroic battles were somewhat or to a great deal exaggerated. Even if the records were read aboard a very new Navy submarine. I was surprised about the creative processing as the story entered into the "old" time frame. You should enjoy reading this story.

Horrible Narration

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Not at all. The story was silly as all get out. The 5 star reviews confuse me.

Would you recommend Deadly Apparition to your friends? Why or why not?

Absolutely not.

How could the performance have been better?

Find another voice actor and never, ever, let this one read audiobooks again.

Did Deadly Apparition inspire you to do anything?

Not at all

Any additional comments?

The story is spastic, and jumps all over the place.