I was taken in by the story up until the end -- that is, the part where Reggie woke up in the hospital. I wanted some sort of explanation, something more than "Ben thinks you were Touched by the monster." That's really what killed it for me. I thought the story itself was a nice treatment of the Godzilla kind of plot, where a monster comes from the sea for pretty much no reason we can suss out, destroys a bunch of stuff, then is beaten back by the military. The references to military hardware and the thought that there might be something like a giant robot laying in wait, just in case, were cool. Also, the matter-of-fact treatment of these monsters helped draw me in, and the Berlin Wall reference was a nice touch.
But like I said, the ending made me feel less good about the story as a whole. I didn't feel like there was any resolution, not really. I mean, sure, there was resolution with Reggie admitting his guilt and apologizing to Gwen, but... well... then what?
I did think the reading was over the top, as if the reader tried to give everyone such a distinct voice that it almost took away from the story itself. Not to disparage his talents, but perhaps quite so many different voices might not have been necessary. Also, Ben's voice was a little too deep-and-slow to, IMO, accurately convey his emotions in the climactic scene (on the lawn). But the narration was well-done and kept me drawn in, and it helped me to see the images of the text more clearly.
Overall, I'd say this story was 90% three-star (out of four) and 10% one-star (again out of four). Good, but not until the last drop.