Title: Dead Lines
Author: Greg Bear
Publisher: BBC Audio Books America
Narrator: Jason Culp
Duration: 9 hours, 34 minutes
Copyright: 2004
Genres: science fiction, paranormal, suspense
Filed in: Audiobook reviews
Review copy provided by Kearney Public Library.
THE GIST: Two years ago, one of Peter Russel’s twin girls was the victim of a brutal murder. Since then, his life has been a wreck. A brief bout with alcoholism ended his marriage and effectively ruined his career as a low-budget film director. The only thing keeping Peter afloat these days is running errands for his extremely wealthy friend, Joseph.
While visiting Joseph one day, Peter meets David Weinstein, a representative of a new telecommunications company called Trans. David is trying to get Joseph to invest in their upstart company, and offers Peter ten Trans phones (they're not cell phones!) to give to his friends for a free promotional period.
Upon visiting Trans headquarters, an abandoned prison on the California coast, Peter learns that the Trans phones operate by tapping into channels of communication previously unused. No one really understands the nature of these channels, but they provide crystal clear connections anywhere in the world.
That’s when Peter starts seeing things, ghostly images and strange visions of things lying just beneath the surface of reality. Peter gradually realizes that these visions appear to anyone who possesses a Trans phone, and when his murdered daughter begins to appear to him, he begins to understand what is happening.
It will take every ounce of strength in Peter’s reserves to carry him through the next few days as he struggles to understand what his daughter’s ghost is trying to tell him, and the treachery and betrayal of a close friend. And then he must visit Trans headquarters again in an attempt to shut down the transponder, which is located in what used to be the prison’s gas chamber.
MY THOUGHTS: I love a good ghost story, and it took one of my favorite science fiction authors, Greg Bear, to deliver. “Dead Lines” has some really creepy scenes, including the scene where Peter finally realizes he is seeing his murdered daughter. At first he mistakes her for the still-living twin. Also, the audio book has a nice twist at the end, which I always enjoy.
NARRATOR: Jason Culp does an adequate job with “Dead Lines.” His voices are not so great, but he does manage to sound like a human being and not a computer like some audio book narrators I’ve heard.
FINAL WORD: “Dead Lines” is a good tale of the supernatural, not my favorite Greg Bear audio book, but still good. A nice mix of science fiction and ghost story. If Stephen King was bent on providing scientific explanations for the supernatural phenomena in his books, I think it would turn out something like this.
CHECK OUT THESE OTHER AUDIOBOOK REVIEWS:
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A Stir of Echoes by Richard Matheson (Audiobook Review)
Summer of Night by Dan simmons (Audiobook Review)
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This audiobook review is based on the unabridged audiobook.
Audiobook review by Steven Brandt
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Wow, this sounds a little like White Noise.
ReplyDeleteI was going to say, I thought Bear was a Sci-fi writer, but I guess we can all cross genre's and dip into the supernatural pool when we want.
I'm not a sci-fi fan but this book sounds interesting enough to want to read.
Great review!
I tried to read a Bear novel, some years ago, and lost interest. Never finished it. I'll pass, Steven.
ReplyDelete;)
Bear can get a bit technical sometimes. Not as bad as Jules Verne, but still technical.
ReplyDelete