Audiobook Review – Midnight Son by James Dommek Jr. (2/5 stars)
Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Non-fiction
Length: 3 hrs and 23 mins
Publisher: Audible Audio
Release Date: October 31st 2019
ASIN: B07XQLXGJW
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: Free Audiobook from Audible Originals
Rating: 2/5 stars
“James Dommek, Jr., an Alaska Native writer and musician, sheds new light on a real-life mystery that pits Native American folklore against the US justice system. In the vast Alaskan Arctic, legend has it there once lived a mythic tribe—Iñukuns—that only existed in rumors and whispers. This changed forever when an actor-turned-fugitive, Teddy Kyle Smith, had an encounter that brought Iñukuns from myth to reality. Smith was an aspiring actor with a promising career until it all came quickly crashing down with a gunshot, a manhunt, bloodshed, and other frightful events.
The story of Smith’s tragic downfall has long haunted James Dommek, Jr., the great-grandson of the last of the Iñupiaq story-tellers. Midnight Son is his journey in discovering who Teddy Kyle Smith was, what he did, and what he really saw. Along the way, listeners will experience the soul of the real Alaska as narrator Dommek, Jr. brings this multilayered and sprawling tale to life.”
Series Info: Stand Alone, free Audible Original with my Audible membership
Audiobook Quality (2/5): This audiobook was a mess. James Dommek Jr narrates it himself, but the interviews he does are very hard to hear and understand.
Characters (2/5): Most of the story revolves around an actor-turned-fugitive named Teddy Kyle Smith. I don’t know who he was and this book didn’t make me care anymore about him.
Story (2/5): Supposedly there is a huge mystery around whether or not the Inukuns (a mythic tribe in Alaska) really exist. Teddy brought this question to the courtroom when he tried to use the Inukuns to prove that he wasn’t guilty of murder. Nothing is resolved in this book and Teddy just comes off as completely looney, this was a weird story with no real resolution.
Setting (3/5): I did enjoy the Alaskan setting. I love learning more about Alaska, it’s so different from the rest of the US. Unfortunately, Alaska itself was just the backdrop for the story.
Writing Style (1/5): This book was more a series of thoughts parsed with interviews than cohesively written.
Summary (2/5): This was a mess. The only thing I found remotely interesting was the setting and location. The rest was a jumbled mess that was supposed to unravel a mystery around both the mythic Inuken tribe and Teddy’s quick decline. It doesn’t unravel any of that. Not recommended.