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3.62 AVERAGE
3.62 AVERAGE
Midnight Son refers to Teddy Kyle Smith, a native Inupiaq Alaskan who realized his dream of becoming a Hollywood actor only to seemingly snap mentally, shoot some people, and disappear in to the Alaskan wilderness, to become the target of an Alaska State Troopers manhunt. The audiobook contains interviews with Teddy and a number of acquaintances and audio from law enforcement and Teddy's courtroom trial. It seems like a straight-ahead "why did he do it?" mystery until the Iñukuns, a mysterious tribe of small humans is introduced. This was a very strange twist.
The Alaskan setting is a character in the audiobook - the landscape is remote, cold, and unforgiving. The author, James Dommek, Jr., a descendant from Inupiaq story teller, travels around the state to get interviews and retrace Teddy's steps. One one of his commercial flights the passengers were required to wear full winter gear in the event the plane went down.
I enjoyed the story for the most part and the narration by James Dommek, Jr. was excellent - course and unfiltered. He knows the land and the nature of the Inupiaqs and you feel like you are tagging along on his quest to find out what went on. He lost me a bit at the end but otherwise the story was riveting.
The Alaskan setting is a character in the audiobook - the landscape is remote, cold, and unforgiving. The author, James Dommek, Jr., a descendant from Inupiaq story teller, travels around the state to get interviews and retrace Teddy's steps. One one of his commercial flights the passengers were required to wear full winter gear in the event the plane went down.
I enjoyed the story for the most part and the narration by James Dommek, Jr. was excellent - course and unfiltered. He knows the land and the nature of the Inupiaqs and you feel like you are tagging along on his quest to find out what went on. He lost me a bit at the end but otherwise the story was riveting.
If you want to listen to a choppy narrator with who vastly overuses strange, sometimes irrelevant metaphors talk about someone he doesn’t know, you’ve found a great story.
I understand the need for sharing ones culture, but there are a lot of statements that left me confused about how the narrator felt about how others interpret his culture smattered with antagonistic religious and political pot-stirring.
I understand the need for sharing ones culture, but there are a lot of statements that left me confused about how the narrator felt about how others interpret his culture smattered with antagonistic religious and political pot-stirring.
This wasn't really anything special. A decent true crime story with an added look at rural Alaskan native culture. The culture parts were interesting, the crime wasn't so much. The narrator/author was a true bro's bro, which I was okay with but I could see how it would be grating to some.
I actually didn't realize this was a true crime story. I chose it from my list of audiobooks because it was a shorter one. I don't read a lot of true crime (maybe 1 other true crime book?) but I liked this one. I didn't know anything about Teddy Kyle Smith or the Inupiaq tribe. Some of the reviews seem annoyed with the story. "What was the point of it?" Idk it seemed more about the journey the author took in researching Teddy Kyle Smith and what he did than about the crime itself and I liked that.
slow-paced
It wasn’t great. It was fairly disorganized as far as narrative goes, and overly dramatic at several points. But I’m certain that both those criticisms come from my perspective as a non-Native person more familiar with European-style narration and story-telling.
There's a fundamental problem with the basic story structure. At first the story progresses as if it's a mystery to be solved. However as it goes along it becomes clear that there's fundamentally no mystery. A chronic, extreme alcoholic and mentally ill actor murders some people and claims that he was seeing iñukuns, and blames his crime on them. Wow, big mystery. Why do crazy people do the things they do? To have a successful mystery around why someone did something crazy, you would have to establish that they were definitely not crazy, whereas it is clear that Teddy is quite the alcoholic and definitely mentally ill.
After a while the story develops into more of a tragedy. In order to sell a tragedy, you have to convince us that the person was truly noble, and this shouldn't have happened. The narrator keeps trying to sell us that Teddy is charismatic, was a service to his community, and furthermore he's Native American, and the justice system is set up by the USA, so somehow this system is discriminatory against him. As if shooting people at point-blank range is somehow not murder in all cultures and for all people. While I'm certainly fine with viewing anyone as a human being with flaws, the narrator really goes too far trying to get us to see this character as actually noble.
And then there's the whole mystery of iñukuns. It's basically the same thing as all the people who claim they see Bigfoot or the Loch Ness monster. There's no evidence, in a day and age where everyone has a camera in their pocket. There's just stories told because it's fun. There is no story here. Unfortunately, the narrator seems to be naive and young. He believes anything and drops the f-bomb all the time as if that somehow makes everything more dramatic.
Because the story is so flawed, I can't give this more than 2 stars. However I do give it more than 1 because it does give you a sense of setting and culture, the audio quality is pretty good, and there are some good moments of suspense, particularly when he attacks the Buckels in the cabin. I would say that if a reader is interested in the topics of survival, Alaska, and Native Americans, then this could be worth reading once. Otherwise, I would not recommend.
Edit: one more thing. No, being sent to prison when you committed murder is not "being colonized." That's the consequences that everyone faces when they murder people. Honestly, who comes up with this drivel...
After a while the story develops into more of a tragedy. In order to sell a tragedy, you have to convince us that the person was truly noble, and this shouldn't have happened. The narrator keeps trying to sell us that Teddy is charismatic, was a service to his community, and furthermore he's Native American, and the justice system is set up by the USA, so somehow this system is discriminatory against him. As if shooting people at point-blank range is somehow not murder in all cultures and for all people. While I'm certainly fine with viewing anyone as a human being with flaws, the narrator really goes too far trying to get us to see this character as actually noble.
And then there's the whole mystery of iñukuns. It's basically the same thing as all the people who claim they see Bigfoot or the Loch Ness monster. There's no evidence, in a day and age where everyone has a camera in their pocket. There's just stories told because it's fun. There is no story here. Unfortunately, the narrator seems to be naive and young. He believes anything and drops the f-bomb all the time as if that somehow makes everything more dramatic.
Because the story is so flawed, I can't give this more than 2 stars. However I do give it more than 1 because it does give you a sense of setting and culture, the audio quality is pretty good, and there are some good moments of suspense, particularly when he attacks the Buckels in the cabin. I would say that if a reader is interested in the topics of survival, Alaska, and Native Americans, then this could be worth reading once. Otherwise, I would not recommend.
Edit: one more thing. No, being sent to prison when you committed murder is not "being colonized." That's the consequences that everyone faces when they murder people. Honestly, who comes up with this drivel...
I actually didn't realize this was a true crime story. I chose it from my list of audiobooks because it was a shorter one. I don't read a lot of true crime (maybe 1 other true crime book?) but I liked this one. I didn't know anything about Teddy Kyle Smith or the Inupiaq tribe. Some of the reviews seem annoyed with the story. "What was the point of it?" Idk it seemed more about the journey the author took in researching Teddy Kyle Smith and what he did than about the crime itself and I liked that.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced