Escape from Virtual Island

by John Lutz

Looking for an escape from reality? Then look no further!

Escape from Virtual Island is an epic comedy adventure starring Paul Rudd, written by John Lutz of Saturday Night Live, Late Night with Seth Meyers, and 30 Rock, and produced by Broadway Video.

Rounding out the ensemble cast in this genre-hopping, madcap comedy are Emmy nominee Jack McBrayer, Wine Country and A.P. Bio’s Paula Pell, Late Night with Seth Meyers’ Amber Ruffin, and 30 Rock’s Scott Adsit.

The Audible Original also features the voice talents of Jason Sudeikis, Jane Krakowski, Olivia Wilde, Kenan Thompson, Seth Meyers, Rachel Dratch, Henry Winkler, and a host of other comedy favorites.

About the story:

In the year 2038, there’s only one destination that can play host to the world’s wealthiest adventure seekers: the Pengalaman Island Resort and Virtual Reality Theme Park. Located on a private South Pacific island, guests here live out their wildest fantasies in custom-made virtual reality simulations while also enjoying the usual amenities of an exclusive five-star getaway.

All is relatively breezy until famed billionaire and avid guest, Mr. Wagner (Sudeikis), goes missing within a virtual simulation. His only hope? A daring rescue led by Derek Ambrose (Rudd), the maladjusted heir to his mother’s resort empire, and his ragtag search party consisting of Faith (Ruffin), a tech-nerd extraordinaire (and naturally, his ex); Ramona Kurtz (Pell), the foul-mouthed head of island security; and Beasley (McBrayer), the resort’s lead concierge and Ambrose family confidant.

What ensues is a high-octane, comedy throwback filled with memorable performances throughout, and a reminder that real life can be the ultimate experience if you’re just willing to open your heart and dive in headfirst.

Genres: Audiobook, Humor, Fiction, Science Fiction, Comedy, Fantasy, Mystery

Audible Audio

First published April 2, 2020

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Reviews

[Jeff · Rating 1 out of 5]

Obviously, 'Escape from Virtual Island' is voiced by some very talented people, so I won't waste any time talking about the various performances. Everyone was stellar and is probably why I listened to the whole thing.

I'm actually a fan of John Lutz. He wrote and acted in 30 Rock (my favorite show of all time), SNL, and various other shows. Surprisingly, this was probably the worst thing he's done that I've seen/listened to. The whole story was super boring and there was so much potential for this idea. I wanted to LOVE this, but I just can't... The pure predictability of the story line was something a child could figure out (although, this is definitely a Mature title).

I don't think I've ever given a book or Audible Original this bad of a grade, but I have to be honest; the story gets an F on my grading scale and the cast gets an A.

[Sabi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Didn't believe it would turn out to be a five star read when I started it... Definitely a strong recommendation for people who like adventure-comedy movies.



Things I liked:

🧡 The voice-over performances: The actors and productions really did a great job!

🧡The idea: It's so unique!

🧡The storyline: Even had some twists that I couldn't guess! So original!

⭐⭐⭐ Recommendation ⭐⭐⭐

[Huston · Rating 1 out of 5]

YIKES.
Based on the ensemble cast I was super excited about this.
HOWEVER...
1.) Didn’t laugh once, 2.) Story is borderline exhaustive with plot points that just never seem to end and aren’t enticing to begin with 3.) What are supposed to be endearing repetitive character quirks end up being overplayed and annoying. 4.) about 1/4 of the way through I knew what the “big reveal” was going to be, and spent the remainder of the story waiting for it to just HAPPEN already!

I’ll be returning this title. If you’re into Audio experiences I recommend Heads Will Roll by a million over this.

[Mburrows · Rating 4 out of 5]

As funny as you would expect from all 30 Rock producers , writers and actors.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of these things that you start off not sure if you will like and then find yourself all in on. This was very much like the radio shows of the '30s in a lot of ways. The characters were really good and fun to listen too and that comes down to the great voices behind the characters. The story was very well done with just the right amount of highs and lows to keep you following along and waiting for that next little gem.

Enjoy this wonderful play with some wonderful actors bringing it to life!

[Callie Read · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’d listen to Paul Rudd read a different language so this being a silly storyline was worth it 🤣

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF. So many great actors in this one, but the material they had to work with just wasn't that funny or entertaining. After getting over halfway through, I realized I hadn't laughed once, so I gave up.

[Aarann · Rating 4 out of 5]

I get the hate for this audio adventure, I really do, but I liked this one. A lot. For one thing, you put Jack McBrayer (who, yes, seems to have a very limited range, or is just plain overly typecast, but always cracks me up) and Paul Rudd in a project and I'm probably going to love it no matter what it is. For another thing, it got a couple of laughs out of me and that's not always easy to do, especially when I'm listening to an audiobook (most of the time things are funnier in my head).

Derek (Rudd) is the heir to a virtual reality smorgasbord built by his mother, who was always too busy to pay attention to him growing up -- there's a very "Cat's in the Cradle" story alluded to there. When a client goes missing, he teams up with his lead programmer (and ex-girlfriend), his mother's assistant (McBrayer), and head of security, to go in and track the man down. Once inside, they come across an emotionally needy sentient program and wackiness ensues.

Without going into too many details, because really this thing wasn't that long, with the exception of the ex-girlfriend/programmer, I really enjoyed this one. That woman, however, for all her intelligence, made some very strange life choices (hence, why this gets on the TSTL list). (My brain kept thinking, Do you want Skynet lady? Because that's how you get Skynet!) Personally, toward the end, I kinda wanted Rudd's character, who changed and grew over the course of the story, to ride off into the sunset in a bromance with McBrayer instead of reconciling with the programmer.

It was fun. I liked the form of storytelling, similar to old radio dramas with multiple actors and sound effects, with maybe a few exceptions of clunky dialogue that were obviously put in to try to explain things that were happening. The performances were all 5 stars. Yeah, several of the plot points were pretty obvious early on, but honestly that made me feel all smart, so I was fine with it. :-)

All in all, if you think you want to listen to an Audible drama, this is a good place to start... although maybe a little light in content for a full credit.

[Meghan (TheBookGoblin) · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF at 50%

The voice acting and production value is good but honestly I care nothing for the story and it can’t even really be called a “book” because there’s only dialogue. Decent for a pod drama but I’ve listened to free ones that are much better so this was just a waste of an Audible credit to me.

[Wiebke (1book1review) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun audiobook. The full cast narration really made it fly by. Perfect distraction with a lot of silliness and a light dip into mother-son relationships.

[Kirby · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was getting burnout on serious audiobooks and needed something light and fun, and this was perfect for getting me out of my slump.

[Soo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Notes:

Currently on Audible Plus

Great narration but flat story. I think it would be more funny for a kid? Nahhhh.

[Heidy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had a lot of laugh out loud moments with this one.

[Snakes · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’ll have to side with the batch of reviews that basically sums up this radio play as “kinda sucked”. The play relied too heavily upon the one-liner or the silly pun at the expense of telling an entertaining story. The voice acting was serviceable with the script they were working with. Just not very funny and marginally interesting at best. I was just wanting it to end. Needless to say I didn’t like it.

[Дмитрий · Rating 2 out of 5]

Забавно.

[Vickie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had fun listening to this audiobook. I love old radio shows and this was exactly like listening to one. Fab voice choices for the cast too. Paul Rudd, Jane Krakowski, Kenan Thompson, Olivial Wilde.....and many more.
Yes, it was silly, but I knew that going in. I was entertained by the story of a future with the ability to create virtual worlds to play and party in. There's a son who has abandonment issues and escapes to the virutal world his mother and his ex-girlfriend created. There's a salty-mouthed head of security, a sweet-minded assistant who I adored. Beasley was my favorite character. He sees the best in everyone and just wants to help. And he made me laugh.
I can recommend this book to anyone who wants to laugh and escape.

[Tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve listened to multi cast audiobooks before and didn’t enjoy them as much as a single narrator. This was fantastic though! It’s very silly and inappropriate humor which was fun, but got a little old in the middle. However this is a 4 star for me because of the talent and the ending. I thought I solved the mystery, but there was a twist!

[Chelsea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very silly but fun short adventure in a virtual reality world. It combines childish jokes and moral lessons with dirty jokes to make an adult story perhaps meant to be harkening back to childhood fun, which is odd, but it works well enough. Plus it doesn’t hurt to have a stellar voice cast!

[Shawn Campbell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This production was just what I needed: a humorous, carefree escape from my reality (ie a dystopian world infected by a virus).

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

So corny! But, I was thoroughly entertained.

[Cheyenne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a solidly okay comedy about some malfunctioning equipment on a private island escape destination that was basically a virtual reality theme park. I found some of the jokes to be genuinely very funny, but a greater percentage of them didn't land, and sometimes the un-funny ones went on a bit too long. A lot of the humor here is rooted in the side characters, Ramona and Beasley, being caricatures more than three-dimensional people, though I was impressed that I had still become attached to the entire main cast by the last scene. I was able to predict the twist at the end (though not the exact how and why of it); it was still mostly a good twist for the story, though there were a few pieces of it that didn't make any sense. Early on in the story, the protagonist, Derek, shoots someone named Mr. Wagner in virtual reality and is disturbed to realize that he died for real. At the end of the story, we learn that this never actually happened and the person Derek shot was actually a virtual replica of Mr. Wagner, which was created by the story's 'antagonist,' Happy Hour. However this isn't consistent with the rules of the story, because in that scene, Happy Hour was mentally a baby, and he was only capable of creating virtual people who were incredibly stupid (and perhaps somewhat insensitively represented in the performance, at that), while the virtual Mr. Wagner was able to speak intelligently. Additionally, the entire story is told with the frame that the characters are being interrogated about Faith's death and that Derek is being blamed for it; however, Derek shoots the virtual Mr. Wagner very early in the story, and this death is never brought up in the interrogation, a fact which no one questions.

In general, it's a shame that a lot of the jokes in this were based around adult humor, because the quality and type of comedy/storytelling that it employed seemed like it would be better fit for a younger audience. That said, I had fun and wouldn't be opposed to giving something else by this writer a shot someday.

[Gilbert Stack · Rating 4 out of 5]

I flirted with buying this book for about a year before Audible put it in its “included” list and I finally scooped it up. It was pretty much everything I was hoping for. A wealthy client of Virtual Island has disappeared from the simulation and the staff has to go into his fantasy to find him. Then things get very much worse, very fast. There’s a brand new accidental AI in the computer and it’s got some issues. Perhaps that wouldn’t have been so bad if the staff didn’t have even bigger issues of their own.

Derek, owner of the island, has parent and relationship issues deriving from his mother’s total lack of interest in him. His new head of tech and failed love interest is a little too like his mom—she can’t get her head out of her work. His head of security is brutally impulsive and offensive all the time. And his mother’s assistant is a basket full of additional problems. The story can be pretty well summarized as a giant chase through multiple virtual reality settings with the AI getting increasingly angry and frustrated with the staff who are mostly fleeing from it.

So, not much in terms of plot, but a lot in terms of fun. The whole book is one joke after another with a very talented group of voice actors making the jokes. I figured out the end during the second episode, but that didn’t dampen my enjoyment of the story.

If you liked this review, you can find more at www.gilbertstack.com/reviews.

[Biffy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book. The narrators were good. Paul Rudd has that easy, familiar voice that was great to listen to. I liked the thought that this was the sort of entertainment my grandparents used to listen to on the radio before tv was a thing. As much as I wanted to like it, I found the story obnoxious and most of the jokes too corny. Maybe I would have been more involved in the story if more time had been spent on developing likable characters from the beginning. Truthfully, the whole thing seemed like a big mess.

[Ralph · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 Stars - Reminiscent of a caffeinated version of an old-time radio play complete with a stellar cast. However, more misses than hits.

One might think that a creative premise, fast-moving plot, and a very talented cast of characters would make for a great experience. It didn't for me. It was a pleasant enough way to keep me occupied as I exercised, but all the fart and sex jokes that peppered the story were over done.

[Nicole (bookwyrm)]

DNF @ 11%

I went into this hoping for a funny sci-fi story. At this point, there has been not-funny body humor, a glimpse at sci-fi stuff (and attempts at retro tech jokes), and way too many unneeded sound effects. The voice acting is amusing, but not enough to get me to keep listening.

[Carmen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun little read, though dorky and perhaps not the best written. The real triumph is the cast of the audiobook- totally star studded with a lot of fun, recognizable voices. It felt like a movie I watched rather than a book I read. Super fun!

[Wendi · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fun ride. If you enjoy dramatizations, this one is a must to add to your list. An amazing cast of actors and characters make the comedic timing of the writing and delivery seamless. Every chapter had me laughing out loud.

[Emily Parr · Rating 2 out of 5]

This audio was star studded and everyone’s performance was great. There were several silly moments but overall the humor fell flat for me. The story was repetitive and seemed like the author had one idea and not enough supporting plot themes to go with it. As a result, the characters just kept repeating the previous chapter in a new setting. This was not something I would recommend.

[Mahlon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun premise but far too over the top by the end

[Rechan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little too silly at times, and the underlying message hit close to home. But some of the wordplay had me laughing, and it moved fairly briskly. All the voice acting is superb.