The Grey Matter

By: Billie Sue Mosiman

Narrated by: Joe Hempel

Length: 6 hrs and 35 mins

Publisher's summary

The mountains of DeKalb County, Alabama, were majestic, tranquil, inspiring, and isolated. Just the type of place a man like John Grey would choose to call home. A land where he was king of all he surveyed. A land where he could be God himself, if he chose to be. Until those kids moved into the cabin below the ridge.

It had been perfect at first for the four young people. Friends since their broken childhoods, now they stood together at the threshold of adulthood. They were a family by choice, not by nature. When supplies dwindled and society failed, so did the rules of civilization and the mountain closed in. Not all predators walk on four legs.

The Grey Matter is a novel of white-hot suspense where life is unpredictable and survival is paramount. Who is a friend and who's the enemy?

©2014 Billie Sue Mosiman (P)2016 Post Mortem Press

The Grey Matter

Any additional comments?

The Grey Matter is the story of four young adults who have made a home in the mountains of Alabama. Abe, Ben and Josie have been abused and neglected all of their young lives. Caleb is their wealthy young friend who takes them in and makes a home for them all. Together these four friends learn that family is not necessarily what you are born into, but what you make for yourselves.

Has Potential

The premise for this listen was a good one. The end of civilization forces a group of abused teenage friends to kill or be killed. A serial killer is suddenly without a steady supply of victims. Who will survive?

The story kept me listening until the end to see if the teenagers would be able to outpsycho the psycho...and all of the rest of a small town that goes crazy when the EMP hits. I was rooting for the kids and it kept me listening until the end.

It would have been more believable if the dialogue had been a little better.

Joe Hempel was a decent narrator and brought the story to life.

I recieved this audiobook for free from Audiobook Boom! in exchange for an honest review.

Kept me wanting more

What made the experience of listening to The Grey Matter the most enjoyable?

That the kids in the cabin were all so close and had much respect for each other

What does Joe Hempel bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The narration by JOE HEMPEL was excellent. He has great vocal skills and voice inflections. I really liked him in this book as he had the perfect voice for the characters. I've listened to him before and he reads at a very professional level

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

The story was interesting and compelling. It had twists and turns and shows that life is what you make for yourselves

Any additional comments?

This book was gifted to me by the author in return for an unbiased review by Audiobook Blast

Life long friends and crazy neighbor

What did you love best about The Grey Matter?

That the kids in the cabin were all so close and had much respect for each other.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

Yes. When all the electricity went out and things took a turn for the worst, all of the crazies came out and the world became a scary place.

Which scene was your favorite?

When the crazy neighbor was tied up, and there were several other scenes that were good too.

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

When Caleb found his parents.

Any additional comments?

This book was a lot better than I expected. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and the narrator kept it very interesting.


This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of Audiobook Blast.

Kept me wanting more till the end....

Would you consider the audio edition of The Grey Matter to be better than the print version?

Haven't been able to compare but the narrator does a good job.

What did you like best about this story?

The story was interesting and compelling. It had twists and turns and shows that life is what you make for yourselves.

Any additional comments?

"This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of AudiobookBlast dot com."

Deliverance revisted this time the odds are better

Okay, I could not put this book down. I really enjoyed it and even though predictable, was cheering for the "good guys". The characters were well developed but too goody two shoes. NO teenager is that perfect and all four of these were every Mother's dream. The story and narration were good. Even though the main characters were a bit unbelievable, it is a good read.

This book was gifted to me by the author in return for an unbiased review by Audiobook Blast. Thanks

Strange Yet Compelling

THE GREY MATTER was an interesting listen. It was a good story but at times felt disjointed. I liked the characters and especially that of Josie. This was an apocalyptic story with a serial killer. John Grey was the stalker who was hunting the kids. I didn't think the story was predictable at all. There were a few places where it was a little gory though. All in all, this was a decent listen by BILLIE SUE MOSIMAN.

The narration by JOE HEMPEL was excellent. He has great vocal skills and voice inflections. I really liked him in this book as he had the perfect voice for the characters. I've listened to him before and he reads at a very professional level.

"This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of Audiobook Blast."

Survival, murder and disaster

An unusual audiobook containing a serial killer, abused children and an apocalyptic event! The story revolves around a group of teens that live in a cabin in the mountains; they find themselves fighting to survive against the collapse of society, a serial killer, hunger, and some desperate and psychotic people. It is fast paced story that keeps your attention and takes you on a violent journey of anarchy and death. The characters are interesting and you soon become invested in the teens survival. The narration fits the book excellently; from children to serial killers, the narrator manages to give life and personality to each of the characters. It is an unusual and interesting storyline, but I did feel that it could have been a bit more suspenseful in parts and I found the gory scene in the hotel a bit too strange. Overall it is interesting, has great narration and is worth listening to. I received this audiobook at no cost in exchange for an honest review

3.5 Stars... Good Potential, BUT....

Let me start out saying (if you can't tell from my reviews), I love Joe Hempel's narration. He's pleasant to listen to, professional, and passionate about his work. This all comes through in his voice acting, and he is my favorite narrator to date.

The story was solid. The idea is deceptively simple: what happens when a serial killer loses his stock of victims during an apocalypse? I didn't expect the apocalypse twist--yes, believe it or not, I really didn't since I only grazed over the summary... saw Joe Hempel narrating horror and had to get it. The book centers around a group of four friends which live outside of a small town in Alabama. They're all kids, and kind of damaged in some way which helped to bond them together into a tight knit group. When massive EMP bursts over America screw up the power grid, they are in for what could be a long, long haul over many months and, unbeknownst to them, one of their neighbors is a serial killer.

The premise was fascinating. Killers are always touched on in apocalyptic settings, but almost always it's the apocalypse which drives people to kill. Here, the killer himself worries about what he'll do since his supply of victims is suddenly narrowed to practically nothing. He doesn't want to hurt the kids; he likes them. That was a great take on what is almost a trope nowadays for apocalyptic literature.

However, the characters fell a little flat for me. They weren't too deep, except for Caleb, who got a lot of screen time, and John, who also got a lot of screen time. Unfortunately, John devolved towards the end. The others... just... weren't really fleshed out that well for me. The dialogue was not the best, and if that had been sharpened a little, perhaps that would have done the trick. The other problem to me was pacing. It started out great, introduced the characters, showed how they interacted, got into the apocalypse setting... and then I expected a more drawn out cat and mouse game while the killer struggled with his urges. It seemed too... fast. Which, of course, could entirely happen. When things go downhill, they tend to go downhill fast in real life. It just seemed like the killer's urges was revealed too soon, which contradicted everything prior to that... he just snapped suddenly instead of painstakingly stalking his victims and being patient and stalkery and all that.

That is my personal take on it, but overall, it was a VERY solid story, and Mr. Hempel's voice helped to bring them all to life for me. I waffled between a three and a four, and I had to go with the lower: average on the side of good, but probably not something I'd listen to again. Still, this is a story I would still recommend for fans of psychological thrillers and for apocalyptic fiction. 3.5 out of 5 stars.

A plausible Apocalypse story!

I enjoyed listening to this book. Nothing supernatural here. Just a great book about what could possibly happen after a large scale EMP attack on the US. Pretty good character development, but never really got attached to any of them. Probably liked Josie the most, but I'm sure that's because she was essentially a damsel in distress from a downtrodden family.

Narration was very good in my opinion. Smooth and fluid. Good emotion when needed, and rather animated throughout.

Overall, good book and worth a listen if you like Apocalyptic type scenarios.

I received a free copy of this audio book for an honest review.