Surviving the Theseus

By: Randy Dean Noble

Narrated by: Michelle Marie

Regina, trained to find the dregs of humanity, trained to kill, is forced into vacation because her peers are getting murdered.

At first, the massive cruise vessel she chooses as her resort destination seems...tolerable, and then, in the span of a few hours, everyone disappears, thousands of passengers vanish.

As Regina explores the ship, not only does she discover pile after pile of clothing and no bodies, she finds a fear not felt for years. Although she cannot know for certain something is there, an ominous orange light appearing out of nowhere leaves little doubt some unseen thing hunts her. And all that is just the beginning.

It is a time of restricted space travel so enforced that almost nobody can veer off course, but nobody knows why. They're about to find out.

Get ready for a sci-fi/horror/thriller roller-coaster ride.

Author's note: This novel contains strong language, violence, and a sexually described event. If this novel were a movie, it would be rated R.

©2010, 2015 Randy Dean Noble (P)2021 Randy Dean Noble

3.5* - good characters in this story

As other reviewers mentioned, the first part of the story is definitely more slow-paced but then the action starts to pick up. One of the things I liked most about this story was that the author gave us some insights into the backgrounds and thoughts of the secondary characters. I wouldn't say that I agreed with some of the heroine's decisions, I could certainly understand how her early life shaped her into the person that she was during the story. I think there were two main reasons why I didn't give a higher rating for this story, and these would be entirely subjective on my part. First, I'm not sure about the timing and circumstances when we finally learned about the aliens. It took a long time before we finally learned about the aliens and their purpose - I think I would have liked less of the room-by-room, corridor-by-corridor description and maybe more plot/action surrounding the reveal. It was like, steady, steady, steady, a little more action and tension, then a little more, and then an avalanche of reveal, and the cutaway to the end. I think I would have liked to have savoured the reveal a little more, I guess, to absorb it better.
Second, the ending of the book seemed to veer into another story entirely (with full-on plot action/tension that was unrelated to the alien menace that consumed nearly all of the main story). It was like the ending of the main story should have been the the opening scene of the sequel - it seemed out of place at the ending of the main story. In other words, it seemed to me that there were two separate stories happening with our heroine in the book. The places where the two stories merged was at the beginning (giving us the circumstances for her being on the ship in the first place), and her violent encounters on the ship with the henchmen. To me, the alien story was the predominant one by far. But at the very end of the story, suddenly the other story thread came back to life in a big way, and then the book ended. I don't know, to me it just seemed like the flow/balance/pacing suddenly went out of whack at the end. I'm not a fan of cliffhangers, but maybe a more subtle cliffhanger would have fit better, with the full-on violent scene at the very end to be placed at the beginning of the sequel. Anyway, the heroine and secondary characters are interesting, as is the potential for a sequel. I'd be curious to see how she eventually (in a sequel) deals with the threat from the secondary plot line in this book. There's also the hint that romance might be in store for the heroine, and I like that kind of tension, too.

The narration was good. I think my personal preference is for more resonant narration voices, but this narrator did a good job with dialogue as well as exposition.

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

not all what it seems

I received a free code for this story.
fast pace story, lots happening, and i really enjoyed the ending, not what i expected at all. Recommend this story.

Baskerville Book Reviews

This is one of those books that drops you into the middle of a world and just expects you to hit the ground running. It primarily delivers backstory through exposition, but it left me feeling lost regardless. I find it difficult to concentrate on a story when it feels like it begins in the middle of a book.

While I wouldn’t say the writing was bad in any sense, I just couldn’t get into it. The narrator was alright but didn’t stand out much either. The majority of the time I was listening, I was just waiting for anything interesting to happen.

If you really enjoy SciFi stories, maybe this will be for you. I’m going to give it my middle rating because it wasn’t bad, but it just wasn’t for me.

NOTE: This copy was provided to me free of charge as a digital review copy. The opinions stated in this review are mine and mine alone, I was not paid or requested to give this book a certain rating, suggestion, or approval.

"Some people just deserved to die."

A first novel by this authkr, Randy Noble has given us fast lzced, science fiction, horror thriller which is quite mesmerizingly exciting. A small elite team of pilots is sent to find out why a cruise ship with some 10,000 people aboard had gone silent. One of the holiday makers on the missing Pyramid One wakes with the feeling that something is wrong, and she should know: Regina is a loner, one of the mostly despised SOADs (Search Out And Destroy) willing to kill without compunction those she felt did not deserve to live. And something was very wrong. The ship seemed deserted, only heaps of clothing on the floors, no people other than a couple Regina encounters in her need to hide. When the SPARS team are i d's they join forces to discover what has happened an how they are going to survive. Written in shkrt, snappy chapters, the charactefs, and the tension, is built from the beginning. These are people for the reader to care about. And narrator, Michelle Marie, enhances the structured with her excellent reading. Clear, well paced and with good modulation, her character voicing s are also differentiated and appropriate. A fine performance.

I am grateful to the rights holder of Surviving the Theseus for freely gifting me with a complimentary copy via Audiobook Boom at my request. Thank you so much. I thoroughly enjoyed the unusual and action packed sfory and immediately looked for a sequel. The book certainly makes this a future possibility but, as yet, to my knowledge, none has been written. Come on, Mr.Noble, more of Regina, p!ease.
A definite recommendation for all S.F.fans as well as readers who enjoy a good, atmospheric tbriller.

Interesting

Fast paced and action packed.

Michelle Marie does an excellent performance.

I received a free copy of this audible and I'm happy to leave my honest review.

A Space Thriller

Regina is a mercenary-for-hire type person but she’s on vacation, well, sorta. Taking a cruise aboard a huge spaceship itself should be exciting with a soothing and relaxing destination, however, things are never what they seem. Instead, Regina finds herself aboard a ship with only a few folks and piles and piles of clothing. People are disappearing at an alarming rate and an orange ball of light is hunting her. What she finds on board is literally out of this world!

The beginning of this book has a somewhat slow start that leaves one a little confused but clears up a little way into the book. When it clears up, it becomes a fast-paced book that keeps the action going. The author, Randy Noble, has a writing style that is relaxed and draws you in. Noble has a good handle on what makes a character likable and what doesn’t. Further, he provides descriptions that are rich and vivid.

The narrator, Michelle Marie, did a good job of narration. She spoke clearly and smoothly, providing the listener with the appropriate voice intonations for the action going on. Poised and calming, she gave a solid performance.

This is a good science-fiction thriller. The only downside of this book is that the ending is rather abrupt and unexpected.

There were no issues with the quality or production of this audiobook, it was clear and well produced.

Disclaimer: This Audiobook was provided free of charge by the author, narrator, and/or publisher in exchange for a non-bias, honest review.

Just Imagine!

Imagine waking up in the morning and everyone is missing, just piles of clothes everywhere. Now imagine this happens while you are on vacation… that is what Regina wakes up to find while on a “forced” vacation aboard a luxury space cruise ship. Regina is not just anyone, she is a trained Search Out and Destroy Officer (SOAD) for the government and whatever happened to the other passengers on this ship is not just another mission for Regina, it soon becomes a fight for her very survival against an invisible enemy. The narration provided by Michelle Marie is spot-on. Hopefully this is the first book in a new series. I received this audiobook from the author at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Sometimes you need a Vacation from your Vacation

There has to be a sequel. Where is the sequel? Dang, it.

Ever notice how some vacations never turn out the way you expected? Looking back you call them adventures, and that is what happens here. Regina a SOAD Officer wakes to find an empty resort ship and the adventure begins. Mystery piles on Mystery, weaving a complex and wonderful plotline, that is engrossing and intriguing at the same time. Where have all the people gone, why are clothes littering the ship, what is the orange light that keeps showing up, first on the holodeck and then elsewhere. Well to find out you are going to have to sit back and read or listen to this book. You won't be sorry and it will likely become a favorite of yours rapidly.

I had this as an Audible ARC, and while I am not a SciFi aficionado, I was truly delighted with this story and the narrator. She did a wonderful job of differentiating the various voices and putting action and sound effects where they were warranted.

Narrator didn't do it justice

I enjoyed this! I'm a little surprised because while the premise sounded great, I struggled with the narrator. Unfortunately, this one wasn't best suited for the story and her voice was almost robotic at times. It was also sometimes difficult to distinguish between characters; however, the author's clear depiction of each character helped in that situation. Once I was able to get past the distraction of the narrator, I was intrigued by the story, especially the female lead. This was good, and I'd be interested in the next book, especially with a different narrator.