Gone

Gone Series, Book 1

By: Michael Grant

Narrated by: Kyle McCarley

Length: 17 hrs and 15 mins

Publisher's summary

In the blink of an eye, everyone disappears. Gone. Except for the young. There are teens, but not one single adult. Just as suddenly, there are no phones, no Internet, no television. No way to get help. And no way to figure out what's happened. Hunger threatens. Bullies rule. A sinister creature lurks. Animals are mutating. And the teens themselves are changing, developing new talents - unimaginable, dangerous, deadly powers - that grow stronger by the day. It's a terrifying new world. Sides are being chosen, a fight is shaping up. Townies against rich kids. Bullies against the weak. Powerful against powerless. And time is running out: on your birthday, you disappear just like everyone else.

Michael Grant's Gone has been praised for its compelling storytelling, multidimensional characters, and multiple points of view.

©2008 Michael Grant (P)2016 Tantor

Critic reviews

"[ Gone] will leave readers dazed, disturbed, and utterly breathless." ( Booklist)

Narrator is actually GREAT, but does have a downside

I’ve already read the Gone series, and I’m willing to pay for them over again as audiobooks. Obviously I really like and recommend them, so I’ll just talk about the narrator. The other reviews criticizing him aren’t necessarily wrong, but DAMN did they miss something great about him too.

I’ve listened to a lot of audiobooks with a lot of narrators and out of all of them, this guy absolutely TAKES THE CAKE for actual ACTING. For some narrators/books it almost seems like the narrator just sat down and did each chapter in a single take. For example, when there’s description AFTER spoken dialogue for how it was spoken, but the narrator didn’t speak the dialogue as it was described.

This narrator kills it on that front. Every line has emotion, delivered just the way it should be, he has every scene perfect in his mind and delivers every line of dialogue as it should be delivered. Even his prose has emotion (when it should). On top of that, if a character is described to laugh, or sob, he includes the laugh or sob in his narration. Even voice breaks/falters are perfect. He is really freaking good at VOICE ACTING. I never realized how big of a difference this made until I listened to him for a few hours.


I will agree that the way he says “said” is annoying. To fix this, listen on 1.25x or 1.5x speed. I hate listening to other audiobooks on faster than normal speed, but this audiobook sounds normal on 1.5x for me (sometimes a bit too fast during loud/yelling dialogue). The increased speed makes his “said” less grating, and you do eventually get used to it.

Just stick with him until the climactic moments, because that’s when his pure voice acting skill really starts to shine.

CHILDHOOD FAVORITE

This was my favorite book when I was in high school. I’m so glad I was able to find it on here. This story is amazing. I am just waiting for someone to make a tv show. Maybe the CW channel lol.

Terrible Narrator

I don’t think I can read the rest if I have to listen to this guy talk anymore. When I first started listening, I thought it was some sort of joke, now after finishing the 2nd book I just can’t do it again. Why on Earth would Audible allow this book to be narrated like this? Book after book after book, don’t they read the reviews? Super disappointing and not great for Michael Grant losing a bunch of readers because of it.

interesting but slow

I picked this up because it's narrated by the guy who reads Supwr Powereds, but this book lacks the balance of action/other things that Super Powereds has.

Narrator too absolute on when character "said"

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

7 Read series but was hoping for better narrator because the story is so good.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Gone?

mindset of children

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Kyle McCarley?

Therese Plummer

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

FAYZ

Any additional comments?

No

Intresting YA Story with Rough Narration

Any additional comments?

Under the Dome meets X-Men in this entertaining YA novel, it's just a shame about the narration. I am echoing many other reviewers in saying the awful narration renders this book (and the rest of the series) close to un-finishable. It is so over-preformed it is cringe-worthy. As I really enjoyed the story I powered through and finished it, but let's just say I will be reading physical copies of the rest of the series.

awesome

i loved it. I can't wait to start the next book. At first I thought this book may not be for me, but midway through, I was hooked. recommend for sure.

Great story!

The story was so good that I listened to it at home, which isn't common for me. I usually only listen in the car. I kept wanting to know what the countdown was, and didn't figure it out until the middle of the book. My only criticism is the narrator. The narration is so bad that I almost stopped listening to it. I cringed whenever he said "SAM SAID" or "ASTRID SAID". Also, when it would move from one scene to another, I would be lost, because the narrator lacks the ability to transition from one thing to the next clearly. I would think that we were still on one part of the story, when it would actually had move on to the next. I'd have to rewind and make sure that I didn't miss something. And his Hispanic accent is painful to listen to. I almost gave this 3 stars for the narration alone, but the story was so good, I decided to give it 4. It brings up things that I wouldn't have thought of in a world without adults. I'm looking forward to the rest of the series!

A Suspenseful Action Filled Thriller

When I first heard of the Gone Series from my older sister, I was 13 and had only just gotten into reading.

At that time, all I’d read was Harry Potter and The Lightening Thief and while yes, those are great stories, they don’t hold even a flicker of a candle to this series or even, this book.

From the very first paragraph, you’re thrown into this crazy, mysterious new world, filled to the brim with drama, romance, humans and monsters alike. No one is safe and even when the characters think they’re safe, it’s shown very quickly that they’re not and they will never be safe.

Happiness and Sadness are intertwined with Greed, Rage, Nativity and Revenge and all are put together into one story that leaves the reader needing more after every single page, leaves the need to know what happens as the utmost priority.

Bo other story has gotten me to feel the way I do when I read this book because despite everything, despite the drama, the romance, the suspense and the action, the driving force of this story isn’t that monsters exist and are hurting humans.

No, it’s that the humans themselves are monsters and humans will do anything to get what they want and what they want isn’t always good.

And sometimes, the evil humans, the ones who are just monsters in disguise, are stronger than the good guys.

Read This Book

The Gone Series is an exciting story from the first book all the way through the series. I could not stop listening to this book. Kyle McCarley narration is how I found this series and I am glad to say I did. Michael Grant wrote a very interesting story. While the premise is copy from other ideas I have read, heard, and seen. They way the story unfolds is very enjoyable. World building for the story is very well written.