Zero Stars, Do Not Recommend

By: MJ Wassmer

Narrated by: Stephen R. Thorne

VACATION CHECKLIST

• Pack swim trunks.
• Apply sunscreen.
• Survive the apocalypse?

Professional underachiever Dan Foster is finally taking a vacation. Sure, his life has been average at best, and yeah, he’s never quite lived up to his potential. But after a few Miller Lites in paradise with his girlfriend, Mara, things are starting to look up.

Then the sun explodes.

With the island resort suddenly plunged into darkness (he really should’ve sprung for the travel insurance), Dan’s holiday goes from bad to worse when elite guests stage a coup and commandeer supplies. As temperatures drop and class tensions rise, revolution begins to brew on the island, and Dan accidentally becomes a beacon of hope for the surviving vacationers. But when one six-person plane is discovered that could get them back to the mainland, Dan realizes he has a choice to make.

Does he escape the island with Mara? Or does he stay and fight to become the most unlikely hero of the end of the world?

“The end of the world has never been so fun! Explosively funny and terrifyingly plausible in its depiction of the apocalypse, this cinematic debut had me LOLing, cringing, and cheering throughout. I absolutely blazed through this earth-shattering action romp.”—Josh Winning, author of The Shadow Glass

©2024 MJ Wassmer (P)2024 Recorded Books

Mixed reviews

I disliked it so much early on that I almost sent it back. All awful people, ugh. It was not funny, just a few chuckles here and there, shouldn’t be listed as a comedy. It was inconsistent, good and bad story, characters, writing. But it kept rolling, got better as the characters became less pathetic. Story turned out interesting in the 2nd half. Violence was unnecessary, would have been better without the extremes.

Couldn’t stop listening to it!

Great story! Amazing narrator! It may be my favorite book that I have listened to this year!!! 10/10

Fantastic Narration with a disappointing story

The preview hooked me just to make me mad by completely ignoring the intriguing cosmic mystery that was presented in the first paragraph. The main character is intended to be the reluctant hero but really just ends up being whiny, lazy, and unlikeable. The writing was good and the narration was fantastic. Instead of the unique quirky Science fiction premise that is presented it spends 90% of the book as an Orwellian slog. The narrator does everything he can to save the failed comedy that would just be depressing without him. There may be an audience out there for this but it wasn't me. Don't be fooled by the preview. The title is meant to be ironic but is too close to the truth

The character development!!

I never leave reviews. Read this! It’s funny, heartwarming and page-turning. You will not be disappointed that you purchased this book.

The humor is a facade (and that’s good)

Other reviewers have mentioned that at the start none of the characters seem like likable people. Stick with it just a little and you’ll realize that’s intentional and important. The humor of this book is on the surface, but underneath is an uncomfortable and disturbing reality. Like other reviewers, while listening I was thinking about this being a modern day Animal Farm. The narrator is extremely good.

SO. GOOD.

What a good listen! Perfect summer/vacation read! Obsessed with the writing style and the performance was spot on. Can’t wait to see what this author does next!

Such a fun and creative story!

I really enjoyed the story, characters, and the entire vibe of the book. I’ve never listened to a story like this before. It’s funny, witty, and provides an interesting plot twist! I’m looking forward to more books that MJ Wassmer writes.

What a great book.

How would I sum this book up in one weird sentence? Thanks for asking. Here goes: If Animal Farm cared more about making me laugh than teaching me about the Russian Revolution of 1917, that, to me anyway, would be Zero Stars, Do Not Recommend.

Don't worry there are no talking pigs in this book, none that I recall anyway, just a basic white boy-uh, man-learning he can be more than he thought he ever could be with the right partner to encourage him and proper motivation. You know, like the end of the world and all.

Filled with memorable characters, sharp, funny dialogue and constant tension, M.J. Wassmer had me snorting at the edge of my seat, all the while trying to figure out the mystery of why the sun exploded, and why they all didn't die 8 minutes later.

Stephen R. Thorne did a great job of narration. I've been a big fan since listening to David Wong's, John Dies at the End many years ago.

Mind Blowing!

Loved this! Highly recommend. Love the diversity of characters, something you don’t see often enough. Also loved the narrator!

humorous; witty analogies

narrator was great! I could actually picture the characters and their mannerisms while listening to the different voices. alot of the dialog was humorous and I wished I had remembered some of the analogies because they were very clever. The plot had sort of a twilight zone vibe to it which was interesting, but I felt the story line dragged in the middle a bit. My least favorite part was all the "F-bombs" and other bad language used by nearly every character in the story. To me, it was offensive and added very little to the story. overall, it was an enjoyable listen, but not one of my favorites that I'll recommend to my friends and family.