Dark Invasion Audiobook By Nathan Hystad cover art

Dark Invasion

The Travelers, Book 1

 Preview
LIMITED TIME OFFER

3 months free
Try for $0.00
Offer ends July 31, 2025 at 11:59PM PT.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 3 months. Cancel anytime.

Dark Invasion

By: Nathan Hystad
Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
Try for $0.00

$0.00/mo. after 3 months. Offer ends July 31, 2025 at 11:59PM PT. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $19.95

Buy for $19.95

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use, License, and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

When Elliot returns to Bell Island the summer of ‘84, he doesn’t expect to be thrust into the middle of an alien invasion. But he won’t let them win....

Elliot has just finished his third year of college as a finance major. After some tragic family news, he isn’t sure what the future holds.

Working part time at the video rental store, Elliot is dumped and offered a promotion, all on the eve of the island’s biggest celebratory day: The Fourth of July.

With the help of his best friend, Bones, the new waitress from the local diner, and a mysterious soldier, Elliot must uncover the secrets that surround Bell Island before it’s too late.

Under the guise of a treacherous storm, Bell Island is invaded, and it’s up to Elliot and his motley group of allies to defend their home.

Dark Invasion is a fast-paced science-fiction adventure from Nathan Hystad, the best-selling author of First Life, The Other Place, The Event, and Lost Contact.

©2021 Nathan Hystad (P)2023 Audible, Inc. Adventure First Contact Science Fiction Fiction
About the Creator - Nathan Hystad

About the Creator

Nathan Hystad is the bestselling author of Below Us, Lost Contact, The Other Place, The Event, and many others. He often merges his love of thrillers and mysteries into his science fiction, while using dynamic characters to tell the story. He lives in Alberta, Canada, with his wife and two cocker spaniels. When he’s not reading a book, writing a book, or dreaming about books, you’ll find him swinging a golf club.
Read more Read less

Featured Article: Thrills and chills for rising temps


Though mysteries and thrillers are often paired with damp, chilly temps and deep, dark nights, a good listen can send shivers up your spine no matter the weather. So put away the hot chocolate and trade it in for a nice, tall glass of iced tea as warmer temps prevail and the sun sits high in the sky. Then, grab your headphones and chill out with these electrifying listens. With picks from suspenseful thrillers to mysteries packed with unexpected twists and turns, you'll be captivated—and maybe even a little bewitched—along the way.

Featured Article Thrills and chills for rising temps
All stars
Most relevant  
I listened but think it could have moved much faster getting to action parts. it may have been the cadence of the narration, storyline dragged.

slow moving

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The story is set the day before the 4th of July weekend, 1984 and follows Elliot Hoffman who has returned home from College during a break to the sleepy little town of Bell Island, a town that is on a small island and only accessible via ferry. He has returned home due to his Mum having been detained in a mental hospital as a result of a breakdown having to do with something she saw when she was younger. Elliot has taken up his old job in the video store on the island (yes, an ACTUAL VHS video store – some may have to google what a VHS cassette is, others are thinking OMG I’m so old right now!), and it is there that we get a bit of insight into his life, as he sees his best friend ‘Bones’, a Billy Idol wannabe, who lives on the island and cares for his elderly and unwell grandmother. He also sees his girlfriend Bethany, who quickly becomes his Ex-girlfriend when she dumps him.
It is then that Elliot’s life takes a rather interesting turn, as he runs into two people who will change his life. The first is the strange man that comes into the video store and hires a video camera, and he learns from Bones he is called Sarge around town, and is a bit strange. The second is a pretty blonde waitress at his favourite diner, Kimberly, who is actually more than she seems.
Whilst Elliot is trying to come to terms with the fact that his Mum is not well, he just got dumped, he is struggling at College, and the cute girl at the diner just came onto him, a strange thunderstorm hits Bell Island. And with the storm, chaos breaks lose, as it appears that Aliens have invaded the island, and are killing people. Suddenly, Elliot, Bones, this new girl from the diner he’s just met, and the strange ex-soldier, are flung into a desperate battle to save the small community on the island before everyone there is killed.
This is a story that is a combination of Predator meets Cocoon with all the humour and pop-culture references of Ready Player One as you are catapulted back to 1984. Hystad does an outstanding job with the world-building not just of re-creating the locations and the time, but the language (I don’t think I have heard the word ‘Rad’ in 30yrs!!), and so many other fun references that it is a lot of fun for anyone that was alive back then.
The story builds quickly, and you are thrown into this action-thriller, in which you really have no idea what is happening to start with, but it builds at a rapid pace. There are so many twists, turns, and plot intrigues you are left flipping pages to desperately find out what is going to happen to characters.
As with all of his books, Hystad’s character work is exceptional. Elliot is brilliant as the somewhat confused young adult, returning to his home town, worried about what others will think of him due to his Mothers illness. There is such a stigma attached to mental illness, especially back then (even still now!), and Elliot is worried not only for how it will impact him, but is also very concerned for his Mum’s welfare. As the story starts to unfold, we get to see that he is a bright person, but just struggling with his place in life, some confidence. Bones is awesome as the try hard punk-rocker, with the mohawk, outfit, and attitude. However, he has a set plan, knowing what he wants, he is just determined to look after his Nan for as long as he can, to make sure she is alright. He makes for a great character.
Kimberly is a fascinating character, really intriguing, I will let her story unfold without any spoilers. The same with ‘Sarge’, I won’t give any spoilers. There are multiple other characters, from Elliot’s sister Cindy, who is the typical teenage girl, to the cops of a small town police station, and the multitude of town’s folk.
Overall, this is a really fantastic Sci-Fi thriller, one that as soon as you start, it is really hard to put down. Hystad continues to deliver these amazing thrillers that are just extraordinary, and absolutely must reads, and this one won’t disappoint!!
Jonathan Davis is a brilliant Narrator, with a really clear and concise voice. He has a fantastic range of voices, both male and female that are really easy to understand and distinguish, with each character having their own separate voice. Davis also does a really wonderful job of capturing the emotional state of the character and portraying that for us, so that we can really understand what the character is thinking at that time in the story, whether they are angry, happy, sad or upset. It adds so much extra to the story, really bringing it to life.
This is easily one of those books that you want to listen to rather than read, as the audiobook provides such a better experience than just reading the book on its own – absolutely worth the listen!!

Hystad has produced another outstanding Thriller!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Boy, the things I buy from a different genre so I can get to listen to Jonathan Davis. This book showcases his ability to narrate and bring to life, sci-fi books, which he does quite a few of. His mysteries are great I just can’t get enough of them, and my problem is the genres. He reads are not my taste. This book was fun for a person who does not listen to Syfy. This was an audible production, and they tend to know what most of the readers Want.
Where are my comments of help?

The great Jonathan Davis

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I enjoyed the plot, there was constant action and this author didn’t use vulgar language. Instead he uses imagination and an excellent
Vocabulary the way it used to be. He also isn’t stuck on the popular ideas. Other authors all write the same thing: vampires and then zombies! This author is much better.

Very good sci-fi book. Lots of action.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Great story but so painful to listen to. It’s read like a how a 3rd grader would read with emphasis on the wrong words. So bad.

Narration is painful

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Story was good. Many times especially in the beginning I couldn’t tell the difference between Elliot and his best friend Bones. It seems their voices were at times the same or switched between them. Very hard to follow along

Bad narration

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Not a wasted credit, but not what I was expecting. A little too 'light" for me.

Fun read

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Not a deep book but enjoyable just the same. Don’t look for any science with this fiction as it is more like an arcade shoot-up.

Enjoyable, lightweight fun

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This is a fun book to read. That doesn't mean it is any less exciting or anything other than an extremely entertaining sci-fi book. At my age, I thoroughly enjoyed the setting in the 80s. I'm a bit older than the characters in the book, but I definitely lived through this post-Vietnam era and the mindset of many. Add to that an isolated island, the 4th of July, rumors of aliens, and a very creepy man called Sarge, begins showing up everywhere. Hold on to your guns, if you've got them, 'cause this is about to get real. Dark Invasion by Nathan is just one of a number of books I have by this author. I've never been disappointed. There is also an excellent audio performance by Jonathan Davis that I recommend.

Excellent performance by Jonathan Davis

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Story is very good but the fact there is a sequel and the scheduling is horrible to much time between books. Steven King in an article made a case for six weeks and I think most of our current authors would benefit to read his comments. I’ve stopped reading too many series because of this.

Good story bad serializing

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews