Audible Book Review: Extinction Inferno, Extinction Cycle: Dark Age, Book 2 by Nicholas Sansbury Smith

I enjoyed this and will be purchasing the next in series sooner rather than later.

Extinction Inferno:
Extinction Cycle: Dark Age, Book 2
By: Nicholas Sansbury Smith, Anthony J. Melchiorri
Narrated by: R.C. Bray

Length: 10 hrs and 29 mins
Release date: 10-01-19
Publisher: Blue Heron Audio
Categories: Horror, Post Apocalyptic
My Rating: 4.5 of 5.0 Overall; Story 4.5; Narration 4.5.

Publisher's Summary
The government said the Variants were dying off....
That the beasts would be extinct in a matter of years....
That the Allied States had returned to prosperity and freedom....
The government was dead wrong. Deep under the cities, the Variants weren't just hiding, they were breeding. While the human survivors of the Extinction Cycle built outposts and brought back industries, the monsters were building something of their own. Working with human collaborators, they constructed a vast underground organic network to control this new army and launch a blitzkrieg assault across the Allied States. After tunneling under the walls, the beasts managed to overwhelm even the most fortified outposts. Many of them fell within days, forcing the military to abandon bases and retreat.
But not everyone is on the run. Team Ghost hunts a monster behind enemy lines that could change the tide of war. On the USS George Johnson, Doctor Kate Lovato and her team of scientists seek to understand and tap in to the Variant network while oil tycoon S. M. Fischer and his engineers come up with a plan to help buy time for the remaining outposts. And, at Outpost Portland, Captain Reed Beckham and Master Sergeant Parker Horn investigate a frightening conspiracy involving the human collaborators.
As the Variant armies surge across the Allied States, those working to stop them realize even desperate measures may not be enough to prevent the total annihilation of their country.
©2019 Nicholas Sansbury Smith (P)2019 Nicholas Sansbury Smith

Review:
This book picks up from Extinction Shadow. Our protagonists have learned that, rather than dying off, the Variants have been hiding and are now coming out in force with the aid of an evil and intelligent master. There are even human collaborators who are working with the Variants having decided that ultimately the humans will die and a new order will take over.

Kate and another doctor have found a communications link among the variants. They arrange to send int the Ghost Team, first to kill massive creatures controlling the Variant masses and then to capture one for study!

Beckham Reed and Fischer are in a new Outpost base trying to convince the leader there that he may not be as prepared as he thinks. They are just barely staying a step ahead of the Variant attacks. The Ghost Team go from one dangerous mission to another treacherous mission into territory that was abandoned to the hordes. They have no good intel but there are resources in the location that must be recovered to help the human race have a chance of survival.

Reed is distressed that he lost a young man, Timothy, who was captured by collaborators. Unknown to Reed and Horn (his faithful guard), Timothy escapes with crucial news for the survivors. As the base around him collapses, how can Timothy get the info back to Reed and those who need to know?

Once again, the story moves at high pace with action in multiple threads. I experience stress for all of the heroes not knowing when one or more of them will fall. I will be getting the next book in the series so I can follow the suspense, hoping that the humans can survive the evil that is hidden.

Audio Notes: I can’t say much more in favor of narrator R.C. Bray. He helps deliver an engaging suspense.

Source: October 2022 Audible Plus Catalog. This qualifies for 2023TBR and 2023Audiobook goals.