Erupting Trouble

Narrator Matthew E. Berry nails the exhausted, adrenaline-fueled voice of Matthew Riley, switching seamlessly between a dad’s protective growl and a man’s quiet despair. His pacing never drags, even when the story pauses to let Matthew argue with his ex-wife over the phone—a masterclass in making mundane friction feel urgent. The production quality is clean, with subtle audio cues (distant screams, crackling static) that ground the disaster without overpowering the dialogue. That said, the middle act sags slightly as over-exposition slows the momentum; Hamilton drops enough lore about the EMP’s origin to feel like a short course in electrical engineering, and by hour three, I found myself wishing for less info-dump and more fire fights. Still, the final act delivers a knockout punch—Berry’s voice cracks just enough during the climax to make the whole disaster feel personal, not just plot-driven. If you want a thriller that punches you in the gut while making you care about the characters’ messy lives, this is it.