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Showing posts with label Extinction Cycle: Dark Age. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Extinction Cycle: Dark Age. Show all posts

Thursday, June 22, 2023

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.

Tuesday, June 20, 2023

Audible Book Review: Extinction Shadow, Extinction Cycle: Dark Age, Book 1 by Nicholas Sansbury Smith, Anthony J. Melchiorri

I totally enjoyed the action and characters in this story and finished it in two days.
Extinction Shadow
Extinction Cycle: Dark Age, Book 1
By: Nicholas Sansbury Smith, Anthony J. Melchiorri
Narrated by: R.C. Bray

Extinction Shadow Audiobook By Nicholas Sansbury Smith, Anthony J. Melchiorri cover art

Length: 9 hrs and 31 mins
Release date: 08-13-19
Publisher: Blue Heron Audio
Categories: Science Fiction & Fantasy, Science Fiction
My Rating: 4.5 of 5.0 Overall; Story 4.5; Narration 4.5.


About This Audible Audiobook
They thought they survived the extinction cycle, but a powerful evil lurks in the shadows...Now old and new heroes join forces to save what’s left of the world in this thrilling sci-fi audio adventure.
Eight years ago, an engineered virus ravaged the globe, infecting and transforming humans into apex predators called Variants. Billions died, civilization collapsed, and the human race teetered on the brink of extinction. Nations banded together and heroes rose up to fight these abominations. On the front lines, Captain Reed Beckham and Master Sergeant Joe "Fitz" Fitzpatrick of Delta Force Team Ghost fought against the Variant hordes. With the aid of CDC Doctor Kate Lovato, they helped lead humanity to victory.
Now, almost a decade after the end of the war, civilization has slowly clawed toward recovery. In the Allied States of America, survivors live in outposts where they have rebuilt industry, agriculture, and infrastructure. The remaining Variants are believed to be dying off under destroyed cities and the abandoned frontier. But evil and intelligent forces dwell in the shadows with the starving beasts, scheming to restart the extinction cycle and end humanity forever. And once again, Beckham, Fitz, and Kate will rise to fight them, along with new heroes to try and save what remains of the world.
R. C. Bray brings to life the beloved characters of this series and expertly depicts their turmoil and struggle for survival.
Note: This new season is a self-contained storyline. Listeners do not have to hear the first seven books of the Extinction Cycle to jump into book one of Extinction Cycle: Dark Age. For returning listeners, this audiobook takes place after book seven, Extinction War.
©2019 Nicholas Sansbury Smith (P)2019 Blue Heron Audio


Review:
This book begins a new but continuation series, Extinction Cycle: Dark Age, picking up eight years after the events of the original series, Extinction Cycle, where a man-made virus resulted in a zombie outbreak. The uninfected human survivors in the Allied States (mostly Midwest to eastern former United States) are still trying to survive the attacks of the Variant infected. Suddenly the Variants, with mutated smarter Alphas leading them, are beginning to escalate in aggressive attacks. They have learned a new way to encroach on the human communities and are causing massive and worrying losses.

I was able to enjoy this book even though it has been several years (2018) since I read books 1-3 of the Extinction Cycle series. (I have boxed set books 4-6 to listen to and there is also book 7.) I was glad to see characters I remembered and see how the survivors were getting along at rebuilding. The story focuses on three groups of fighters, as well as the beleaguered President and Vice President.

Captain Reed, his wife, virologist doctor, Kate, and Reed’s right hand ‘guard’, Master Sergeant Horn, are trying to live calmly with their growing families. A second group, Team Ghost, consisting of a handful of injured Army Delta Force Vets, is being deployed for the most dangerous missions. Their motto is “All it takes is all you got.” There is a third set of Variant fighters emerging as a Texas tycoon, S.M. Fischer, and his elite security team try to save the oil operations that are helping to rebuild society.

I love the camaraderie and action in these stories. I felt emotional tension as different members faced the evils and I suspected that not all the good guys would survive. Most of our favorites continue to have miraculous escapes, but the country and already low level of survivors is being decimated. The struggle is hard and real. I was well engaged and was glad to have book 2 in this series to continue the fight. I recommend this to fans of survival action.

Audio Notes: R.C. Bray is a wonderful narrator who excels in presenting this type of action -packed suspense. Bray delivers great voices and spot on energy. He always contributes to my enjoyment of the story as he did in this performance.

Source: June 2021 Audible Plus Catalog. This qualifies for 2023TBR and 2023Audiobook goals.

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