Official Blurb
When the walking dead fill the streets, who can cheat death? Who can survive?
Featuring a zombie outbreak that devastates Denver, an indecisive adulterer, and a series of violent, disturbing, and perhaps even heart-rending events of the sort you'd expect when the dead rise up to eat the living, Cheating, Death is a roller-coaster ride through a horror show both of death and of the heart.
My Review
I fancied a bit of horror fiction and this book jumped out at me. Can't go wrong with zombies.
The story mostly follows a family man living in Denver when a sudden outbreak of zombism goes manic. Zombies in this story are the shuffling sort that can infect you with a bite. If you get bitten you catch the virus, and will "turn" within a few hours.
The characters in this story all know about zombies from the movies, but with a twist. They are not just fictional to these characters, they all start knowing zombies exist as a fact, not just the fiction. I loved how within the story people have been misled by the movies into what they should do, just how our minds are misled by various things in the media we watch.
Although I kept listening and wanted to hear how it ended I didn't like the lead character at all. He was a bit of a whiner, and worse he was a bit of a loser. He certainly wasn't the sort of person I would aspire to be and that put me off a bit.
There was no real story arc, but rather a series of events that overwhelmed the characters.
To summarise, the horror of the story kept me listening and the reader (who sounds a little like Tracey Hickman) did a splendid job, but I warn you not to expect high adventure from the story.
Reading 2/3
Production 2/3
Story 1/3
Total Score 5/9
Download it from the Podiobooks
Listen to the first part
.
Saturday, 17 September 2011
Friday, 16 September 2011
Spirit Blade by Paeter Frandsen
Official Blurb
In a future where the government mandates the spiritual beliefs of its citizens, only a few rebellious "Seekers of Truth" remain to free the world from deception.
On his quest for meaning, Merikk follows a path that leads him across our world, and into another. Against his will he is thrown into action alongside members of the Underground Liberation, standing face to face against forces human, alien and demonic. Science fiction and the supernatural collide in a genre-bending adventure! Open your mind and then brace for impact as you discover the power of the Spirit Blade!
My Review
This is a high action story with a message.
As the blurb says, it's in the future, but not too far and the major aspect of the future outlined here, is that any religion claiming to the "only way" is outlawed. Bibles, Torah, Quoran are all banned and followers of the old faiths are ostracised and driven underground. The new religion is where "everyone is right".
I found this background highly interesting. As a Christian I can see a movement like that described starting to appear in today's world, and this story may well represent a possible future. The protagonists in this story are an underground movement that is nothing less than a group of Christians.
I opened this by stating that the story is high action, and the previous two paragraphs may have you questioning that, do not be misled. The action includes a lot of cinematic fight scenes, people leaping out of windows, gun fights, sword fights versus demons, and a dramatic pace that had me captivated.
There were a couple of moments that I thought were getting "preachy", but after due consideration I'm willing to admit they were really just advancing the character motivations so I'm not going to let that effect my rating.
The narration was sound, although a few of the "voices" sounded a bit samey. It's full of background music and sound effects that really make this book a stand-out example of how to do a good audio book.
Reading 2/3
Production 3/3
Story 3/3
Total Score 8/9
Download it from the Podiobooks
Listen to the first part
.
In a future where the government mandates the spiritual beliefs of its citizens, only a few rebellious "Seekers of Truth" remain to free the world from deception.
On his quest for meaning, Merikk follows a path that leads him across our world, and into another. Against his will he is thrown into action alongside members of the Underground Liberation, standing face to face against forces human, alien and demonic. Science fiction and the supernatural collide in a genre-bending adventure! Open your mind and then brace for impact as you discover the power of the Spirit Blade!
My Review
This is a high action story with a message.
As the blurb says, it's in the future, but not too far and the major aspect of the future outlined here, is that any religion claiming to the "only way" is outlawed. Bibles, Torah, Quoran are all banned and followers of the old faiths are ostracised and driven underground. The new religion is where "everyone is right".
I found this background highly interesting. As a Christian I can see a movement like that described starting to appear in today's world, and this story may well represent a possible future. The protagonists in this story are an underground movement that is nothing less than a group of Christians.
I opened this by stating that the story is high action, and the previous two paragraphs may have you questioning that, do not be misled. The action includes a lot of cinematic fight scenes, people leaping out of windows, gun fights, sword fights versus demons, and a dramatic pace that had me captivated.
There were a couple of moments that I thought were getting "preachy", but after due consideration I'm willing to admit they were really just advancing the character motivations so I'm not going to let that effect my rating.
The narration was sound, although a few of the "voices" sounded a bit samey. It's full of background music and sound effects that really make this book a stand-out example of how to do a good audio book.
Reading 2/3
Production 3/3
Story 3/3
Total Score 8/9
Download it from the Podiobooks
Listen to the first part
.
Tuesday, 13 September 2011
Harvey by Phil Rossi
Official Blurb
Television singing sensation Calvin Hubbard has been caught with his hand in cookie jar. An illicit affair with a contest judge costs him not only the competition crown, but his musical credibility as well. Fleeing the media fallout, Calvin exiles himself to the backwoods town of Harvey, Virginia. With a little solitude and a lot of cheap beer, he plans to write the next great rock and roll album and resurrect his career. But Calvin doesn't know that a man has just been buried alive in the woods outside of town, and that this quiet murder is just the first in a string of macabre events. As the town goes silently mad around him, Calvin is unable to abandon the record of his dreams. Drunk on inspiration and blinded by an inexplicable lust, he careens headlong into the maelstrom, only to discover that he may be the town's only salvation. Something is alive in the trees—an ageless, nameless evil—and it's coming for everyone in Harvey. Now Calvin has to decide whether to run or to stay and fight… if it isn’t already too late.
My Review
This is not the first Phil Rossi story I've listened to, and I've loved all of his other books. I liked this one, didn't love it, just liked it.
The blurb tells you everything you need to know about the story itself. What it doesn't tell you is that the characters created are very real and it's easy to relate to them and that helps to draw you into the story. He's got some really nasty characters in there and some loveable ones and I felt interested in all of their individual stories, so every time the POV changed I happy to follow along.
I've said that I liked this story, and I did, but I did not love it, so let me tell you why. Some weird stuff happens in this story, weird and scary, but I never felt it was sufficiently explained. Also I felt the ending was too easy for the good guys, I felt like they didn't have to work too hard to get to where they got. That was only a minor disappointment.
Phil reads his own work, and has a voice to-die-for, perfect for this kind of dark material, I could listen to him all day.
Reading 3/3
Production 2/3
Story 3/3
Total Score 8/9
Download it from the Podiobooks
Listen to the first part
Television singing sensation Calvin Hubbard has been caught with his hand in cookie jar. An illicit affair with a contest judge costs him not only the competition crown, but his musical credibility as well. Fleeing the media fallout, Calvin exiles himself to the backwoods town of Harvey, Virginia. With a little solitude and a lot of cheap beer, he plans to write the next great rock and roll album and resurrect his career. But Calvin doesn't know that a man has just been buried alive in the woods outside of town, and that this quiet murder is just the first in a string of macabre events. As the town goes silently mad around him, Calvin is unable to abandon the record of his dreams. Drunk on inspiration and blinded by an inexplicable lust, he careens headlong into the maelstrom, only to discover that he may be the town's only salvation. Something is alive in the trees—an ageless, nameless evil—and it's coming for everyone in Harvey. Now Calvin has to decide whether to run or to stay and fight… if it isn’t already too late.
My Review
This is not the first Phil Rossi story I've listened to, and I've loved all of his other books. I liked this one, didn't love it, just liked it.
The blurb tells you everything you need to know about the story itself. What it doesn't tell you is that the characters created are very real and it's easy to relate to them and that helps to draw you into the story. He's got some really nasty characters in there and some loveable ones and I felt interested in all of their individual stories, so every time the POV changed I happy to follow along.
I've said that I liked this story, and I did, but I did not love it, so let me tell you why. Some weird stuff happens in this story, weird and scary, but I never felt it was sufficiently explained. Also I felt the ending was too easy for the good guys, I felt like they didn't have to work too hard to get to where they got. That was only a minor disappointment.
Phil reads his own work, and has a voice to-die-for, perfect for this kind of dark material, I could listen to him all day.
Reading 3/3
Production 2/3
Story 3/3
Total Score 8/9
Download it from the Podiobooks
Listen to the first part
Thursday, 8 September 2011
Act of Will by M. Darusha Wehm
Official Blurb
Andersson Dexter is a new man, still living his old life.
Part vigilante, part private eye, part cop, Dex is muddling his way through his day job as a faceless customer service rep for a giant firm, while solving routine cases in his off hours. But when a gruesomely mutilated corpse is found, things heat up for Dex and the underground organization he calls the Cubicle Men.
Soon, Dex finds himself racing against the clock to find a killer who seems to be determined to strike him close to home.
In a grim future where people live and work in crowded, utilitarian cities, but escape to an online virtual world, Act of Will explores the capacity we have to choose the directions our lives will take, and the consequences of those choices.
My Review
This is the third audio book by this author that I've listened to and the second starring Dex, the part time detective.
The world the book is set in is very interesting. In the not too distant future when the "everywhere-net" is ...everywhere, and everyone is on it, enjoying themselves and escaping the drudgery of real live in the virtual world. In the last book the mystery was revolving around the death of a virtual character, this one is set in the real world, and a serial killer is doing their thing.
The author does an outstanding job of reading in this case. After listening to two previous books read by the same author, I judge that she has hit her narrating sweet spot in this book.
The characters are once again as interesting as the plot and that plot is very interesting. As the plot evolves the world is expanded and the characters grow in a way that is very appealing. This is not a rip-roaring adventure full of high action, it's a slow burner that builds some excellent tension before reaching the very climatic ending.
Reading 2/3
Production 2/3
Story 3/3
Total Score 7/9
Download it from the Podiobooks
Listen to the first part
Andersson Dexter is a new man, still living his old life.
Part vigilante, part private eye, part cop, Dex is muddling his way through his day job as a faceless customer service rep for a giant firm, while solving routine cases in his off hours. But when a gruesomely mutilated corpse is found, things heat up for Dex and the underground organization he calls the Cubicle Men.
Soon, Dex finds himself racing against the clock to find a killer who seems to be determined to strike him close to home.
In a grim future where people live and work in crowded, utilitarian cities, but escape to an online virtual world, Act of Will explores the capacity we have to choose the directions our lives will take, and the consequences of those choices.
My Review
This is the third audio book by this author that I've listened to and the second starring Dex, the part time detective.
The world the book is set in is very interesting. In the not too distant future when the "everywhere-net" is ...everywhere, and everyone is on it, enjoying themselves and escaping the drudgery of real live in the virtual world. In the last book the mystery was revolving around the death of a virtual character, this one is set in the real world, and a serial killer is doing their thing.
The author does an outstanding job of reading in this case. After listening to two previous books read by the same author, I judge that she has hit her narrating sweet spot in this book.
The characters are once again as interesting as the plot and that plot is very interesting. As the plot evolves the world is expanded and the characters grow in a way that is very appealing. This is not a rip-roaring adventure full of high action, it's a slow burner that builds some excellent tension before reaching the very climatic ending.
Reading 2/3
Production 2/3
Story 3/3
Total Score 7/9
Download it from the Podiobooks
Listen to the first part
Monday, 5 September 2011
3 Dooms of America by Eugene Fairfield
Official Blurb
"Prophecy is not a prediction of tomorrow. It is a description of the doom contained within today."
Three stories of the end of American society, from one Tuesday, the 11th of September into the near future.
Shock & Awe: "At the end of this story, a baby will be born, and touch off an insurrection. Before that, a woman makes breakfast."
The Greening of Blue England: "It took three-quarters of a ton of plastique to get rid of all the box stores in Taft Corners."
Spider's Dreams: "The rose is still unfolding, a thousand petals and every one scribed with tragedy, with enough grief to end the world."
My Review
Another book I did not like, nor did I finish listening. The first Dooms was written in a strange style; the writer broke the fourth wall to tell us about his story, which ruined it for me. I felt that the story was okay but the distraction was constant and got-my-goat!
Alas I was but half way through the second story when I ceased listening. I can't tell you the second story was badly written, what I heard of it was fine. Frankly I was still feeling grumpy after the first story and just gave up.
Therefore I don't think I can fairly give it a rating.
Download it from the Podiobooks
Listen to the first part
.
"Prophecy is not a prediction of tomorrow. It is a description of the doom contained within today."
Three stories of the end of American society, from one Tuesday, the 11th of September into the near future.
Shock & Awe: "At the end of this story, a baby will be born, and touch off an insurrection. Before that, a woman makes breakfast."
The Greening of Blue England: "It took three-quarters of a ton of plastique to get rid of all the box stores in Taft Corners."
Spider's Dreams: "The rose is still unfolding, a thousand petals and every one scribed with tragedy, with enough grief to end the world."
My Review
Another book I did not like, nor did I finish listening. The first Dooms was written in a strange style; the writer broke the fourth wall to tell us about his story, which ruined it for me. I felt that the story was okay but the distraction was constant and got-my-goat!
Alas I was but half way through the second story when I ceased listening. I can't tell you the second story was badly written, what I heard of it was fine. Frankly I was still feeling grumpy after the first story and just gave up.
Therefore I don't think I can fairly give it a rating.
Download it from the Podiobooks
Listen to the first part
.
Friday, 2 September 2011
A Coffee Crusade by Theodore Isaac Erski
Official Blurb
Bridget Hall is a driven & successful entrepreneur running a non-profit company named the Coffee Exchange Alliance. She’s working to establish a fair-trade business presence on the Caribbean island of Salavandra, but must overcome the corrupt Minister of Agriculture, Rafael Gallegos, who profits by marginalizing the island’s farmers and smuggling their coffee to Jamaica. Bridget tackles personal & professional challenges on Salavandra that ultimately shake her belief in the choices she’s made in life as well as in her self-appointed role as savior of the island’s coffee farmers.
My Review
Let me start by saying this is not a book I can recommend. It's well written and very well produced.
This is a thriller that thrills. It has likeable protagonists who you can easily like and you'll want to follow their exploits. It's got "driven" people, people on a mission, very good bad guys, and lots of likeable people in between. As I said it's very well put together and I really enjoyed listening to it until the end of the last chapter.
So what was wrong with it. Simply put, the ending.
It's like half a book. The plot of the story does not end or even reach a good climax. It simply stops at a point where the plot is on a downer. This left me with a real bad taste in my mouth.
Reading 2/3
Production 2/3
Story 1/3
Total Score 5/9
Download it from the Podiobooks
Listen to the first part
.
Bridget Hall is a driven & successful entrepreneur running a non-profit company named the Coffee Exchange Alliance. She’s working to establish a fair-trade business presence on the Caribbean island of Salavandra, but must overcome the corrupt Minister of Agriculture, Rafael Gallegos, who profits by marginalizing the island’s farmers and smuggling their coffee to Jamaica. Bridget tackles personal & professional challenges on Salavandra that ultimately shake her belief in the choices she’s made in life as well as in her self-appointed role as savior of the island’s coffee farmers.
My Review
Let me start by saying this is not a book I can recommend. It's well written and very well produced.
This is a thriller that thrills. It has likeable protagonists who you can easily like and you'll want to follow their exploits. It's got "driven" people, people on a mission, very good bad guys, and lots of likeable people in between. As I said it's very well put together and I really enjoyed listening to it until the end of the last chapter.
So what was wrong with it. Simply put, the ending.
It's like half a book. The plot of the story does not end or even reach a good climax. It simply stops at a point where the plot is on a downer. This left me with a real bad taste in my mouth.
Reading 2/3
Production 2/3
Story 1/3
Total Score 5/9
Download it from the Podiobooks
Listen to the first part
.
Thursday, 1 September 2011
Eternity by Casey S Townsend
Official Blurb
The world you know has changed. Science has been replaced by dark, supernatural forces and those that know how have harnessed them to control the world. You no longer have the right to believe what you want. You do not have the right to choose the kind of life you will live. But you have a choice: you can surrender and live in fear, or you can join the resistance. As part of Red Horizon, a quickly-growing resistance movement, Gibson Craig has devoted his life to opposing these dictators. But he is not the only one. There are numerous rebel factions hidden underground, as much at war with each other as they are with the government, but in the struggle for freedom, they must unite or be crushed. As they move closer, events spin into motion the most epic of battles the United States, and the world, has ever seen.
My Review
This story is set in the future within a couple of hundred years of today. As the blurb says, it's set in a very different United States, one that's a horrid religious oppressive nightmare. It' s not any religion you've heard of, it's been invented for the purposes of the story. The authoritarian regime is being fought by bands of rebels, rebels that have in fact taken over entire cities. This means that the government are fighting an open rebellion. The story starts with action and really doesn't let up, until it explodes through the really exciting finale. There are bad guys, gun fights, out right war and monsters, lots of monsters summoned up by magic. It's a very chaotic scene. There were a couple of points in the story that jolted me out of the story, such as references to real people you'll have heard of. I really enjoyed the story, it was fast paced, full of excitement and a real joy. I hope there is a sequel soon.
Reading 2/3
Production 2/3
Story 2/3
Total Score 6/9
Download it from the Podiobooks
Listen to the first part
The world you know has changed. Science has been replaced by dark, supernatural forces and those that know how have harnessed them to control the world. You no longer have the right to believe what you want. You do not have the right to choose the kind of life you will live. But you have a choice: you can surrender and live in fear, or you can join the resistance. As part of Red Horizon, a quickly-growing resistance movement, Gibson Craig has devoted his life to opposing these dictators. But he is not the only one. There are numerous rebel factions hidden underground, as much at war with each other as they are with the government, but in the struggle for freedom, they must unite or be crushed. As they move closer, events spin into motion the most epic of battles the United States, and the world, has ever seen.
My Review
This story is set in the future within a couple of hundred years of today. As the blurb says, it's set in a very different United States, one that's a horrid religious oppressive nightmare. It' s not any religion you've heard of, it's been invented for the purposes of the story. The authoritarian regime is being fought by bands of rebels, rebels that have in fact taken over entire cities. This means that the government are fighting an open rebellion. The story starts with action and really doesn't let up, until it explodes through the really exciting finale. There are bad guys, gun fights, out right war and monsters, lots of monsters summoned up by magic. It's a very chaotic scene. There were a couple of points in the story that jolted me out of the story, such as references to real people you'll have heard of. I really enjoyed the story, it was fast paced, full of excitement and a real joy. I hope there is a sequel soon.
Reading 2/3
Production 2/3
Story 2/3
Total Score 6/9
Download it from the Podiobooks
Listen to the first part
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