Oasis

By: Brian Hodge

Narrated by: Paul Heitsch

A golden time - that's what Chris Anderson, his brother Aaron, and their friends expected of that final summer. Freedom, and lazy, pleasure-filled days before the responsibilities of college and career. An idyll in their newfound private place on the shores of three small lakes.

But Tri-Lakes is no oasis. A millennium ago it became the focal point of a powerfully malevolent force, and the remnants of an ancient Viking bloodfeud.

Hatred is its source.

Blood gives it power.

And only sacrifice can banish it.

©1988 Brian Hodge (P)2012 David N. Wilson

Wow-Not what I expectex

Where does Oasis rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Almost everything. There were a few times I really wanted to change a character decision for then. A lot of this book is focused on the summer before freshman college and has a lot of the all American teenager in it. (Male lead characters, but as a female, the shorty also speaks to me.) The supernatural is a big part of it, but it is much more than just a ghost story.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Oasis?

The last chapter with Aaron, where he and Will d

Which scene was your favorite?

I liked the realism of the family Thanksgiving gathering. It wasn't hallmark, it was real life.

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

Yes, if I had found the time.

Any additional comments?

I didn't know what to expect when I purchased this book. I like to read all kinds of genres however and so took the chance. I certainly don't regret it. Highly recommend.

Twilight of the Gods

Brian Hodge's Oasis is the story of an ancient blood feud between Viking chiefs, one who worships the old gods, and the other who has been converted to Christianity. But that's far in the background, for 3/4 of the book we are treated to an idyllic story of teens coming of age in the Midwest, yearning to discover their adulthoods. This first part of the book reminded me of Summer of Night or Stand By Me, a heartfelt tale of true friendship and bonding in late adolescence. I enjoyed the characters, who were vivid and distinct. Paul Heitsch's narration provides distinction between the characters so that I was never confused about who was speaking. The narration is musical and coherent, which allowed me to see the story played out in my mind's eye, this the experience I want from an audiobook.

What could have been a potboiler, contemporary fantasy, turned out to pack an emotional punch I was not expecting. So the book stayed with me long after the last chapter ended. This is not Raiders of the Lost Runestone. It displays a keen literary talent, though the story drags somewhat in the middle of the book, when only a few flourishes of the evil awaiting the heroes are shown. It doesn't build like a horror/thriller, but the ending is spectacularly fiery. I recommend this book highly.

The title seems odd and doesn't compliment the contents of the story.

Unusual Subject

This book is probably classified as young adult but I found it to be very good adult reading. Most of it is written in the first person of the main character, Chris Anderson, who is a college freshman with the usual array of friends but the story is not about the usual college experience. The author paints a picture you can see as the plot unfolds and the narrator brings out the feelings of the characters. Suspenseful at times with a surprise ending that could be no other way.

Wonderful!!

FIRST OF ALL, I ABSOLUTELY LOVED THE STORY AND THE PERFORMANCE FROM THE NARRATOR PAUL HEITSCH!

Summertime, it's a time for lazy, pleasure filled days. A Golden time, that's what Chris Anderson, brother Aaron, and their friends expected that final summer. Freedom and lazy days before the responsibilities of college and career. An idyll in their new found place on the shores of three small lakes. But TriLakes is no Oasis. A millennium ago it became the focal point of a powerfully malevolent force, and the remnants of an ancient Viking bloodfeud.
HATRED IS IT'S SOURCE.
BLOOD GIVES IT POWER.
AND ONLY SACRIFICE CAN BANISH IT.
B.H

This story feels like it's in the 70's with the description of the cars and such. They do what most young men do in that time. They enjoy riding around, hanging out together, and girls, yes, they like to drink and party. That summer doesn't end up as it should and it's not as everything should be. This story is absolutely wonderful and even better to listen to because I've actually read the story before listening to it. I recommend the audio, there's no comparison because the audio is hands down the better choice.

Paul Heitsch did an excellent job and he pulled me in right from the start. I loved how he changed his voices to young men and I was able to understand each one that was speaking. With one of the characters, Paul created this laugh that was great to hear as he laughed and made noises that he thought this young man would. I can see this character laughing that way myself. He did a wonderful job with every character. The girls voices were just as great, no flaws at all. They sounded just like females. I don't think people give narrators credit for what they do. I however do my very best to give credit to them especially when they deserve it. Paul Heitsch is definitely worth the credit and he deserves to be noticed for his work. I know it's hard especially for men to do a female character, and making each females voice different is much harder. But Paul does an outstanding job with that and he doesn't seem to have any trouble at all. He did an incredible job distinguishing each and every character. I really do find Paul Heitsch to be extremely talented and I think I can say I'm qualified enough to say that. I have listened to well over three thousand audio books since 2012. I have over three thousand audio books in my library. They all are 8hrs or longer except for about 20 audios. Some narrators I take notice to because they grab my attention and when that happens I don't have any trouble recommending them to an author. I'll actually reach out and email the author and give them a list of narrators to be looking for if they are getting auditions for one of their audio books. I will be recommending Paul Heitsch to authors that I know. I can only hope that he'll happen to be looking and audition for the role. I often get to listen to the auditions and if I were to hear him and I felt he fit the role of the characters I'd say yes Paul's the best choice. If I listened to him but felt like something was missing I'd have the author ask him to change some things and listen to it again. But, not all great narrators are meant for the job. I think it really depends on the genre of the book. Okay, I've gotten of course and I'm sorry for that. Paul was perfect for this story and I really think that he might be one of the few that can narrate anything he tries. There's some that can and I believe Paul is the type of narrator that can perform anything he tries. I've listened to three audio's that he's narrated and I don't have one bad thing to write about his performance. I might not have liked one of the stories but that doesn't have anything to do with him and his talents. I look forward to listening to more work by him.

So all in all, I found it a very enjoyable audio book to listen to. The story was well written. Author Brian Hodge used a vivid imagination when creating this story.The story was written almost like a true story because so many parts felt real until you start getting into the supernatural things. The young men drinking, the girls, hanging out, and even the families could all be real. I listened to the story and as I often do when listening to a good audio, I was swept away and envisioning the story. It's like I see it as it plays out. I was engrossed in the story and this was the first story I've read/listened to by Author Brian Hodge. I will be looking for more of his work but hopefully he has more on Audible because I love being able to listen to an audio book as I do other things. I was glued to the story from start to finish. I highly recommend this audio book. I'm sure if you've read it before then you need to go back and listen to the audio because I guarantee you'll be swept away as I was.

Voice annoying.

Narrator annoyed me, very nasal.
Story was pretty good , dark but not too horrifying. I would read another by this author.