Two Audible Book Reviews for #Fraterfest: Material Witness: A Joe Ledger Bonus Story and Deep, Dark: An Exclusive Short Story by Jonathan Maberry

I enjoyed the military and supernatural elements in this short story.
#Fraterfest #1.
Material Witness: A Joe Ledger Bonus Story
By: Jonathan Maberry
Narrated by: Ray Porter

Series: Joe Ledger, Book 1.2
Length: 1 hr and 16 mins
Release date: 07-14-11
Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Genre: Military, Paranormal, Suspense
My Rating: 4.5 of 5.0 Overall; Story 4.5; Narration 4.5.

Publisher's summary
Here is another highly entertaining short story featuring Jonathan Maberry’s compelling hero, Joe Ledger.
This short thriller takes Joe Ledger into the mysterious, troubled town of Pine Deep, Pennsylvania, the setting for Maberry’s chilling Pine Deep Trilogy. In Pine Deep, nothing is what it seems.
©2011 Jonathan Maberry (P)2011 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Review:
Joe and his team are trying to retrieve a material witness who is believed to have created the evil bioweapon that the US government is trying to keep under control. Joe meets the unusual, Native American Chief of Police and his deputy who offer to assist, but Joe rejects their help saying he and his team will handle it. When they get to the house where the witness is supposed to be, they realize they have walked into a trap with more than one enemy on the way in. Maybe they should have accepted help.

I enjoyed the action, the mystical elements, and the character interactions. I want to listen to more of this series. I recommend this to fans of the paranormal, military action genre.

Audio Notes: Ray Porter makes it easy to listen to this series. He does a superb job of narration as always.

Source: December 2021 Free from Audible Plus Catalog. This qualifies for 2023TBR and 2023Audiobook goals.

This next Joe Ledger ‘adventure’ deals with genetic mutations and is another strong short story.
#Fraterfest #2.

Deep, Dark: An Exclusive Short Story
By: Jonathan Maberry
Narrated by: Ray Porter

Series: Joe Ledger, Book 1.3
Length: 50 mins
Release date: 07-14-11
Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Genre: Military, Paranormal, Suspense
My Rating: 4.5 of 5.0 Overall; Story 4.5; Narration 4.5.

Publisher's summary
This chilling short story is the prequel to The Dragon Factory, the second installment in Maberry’s action-packed Joe Ledger novels.
Before Baltimore cop Joe Ledger goes up against two competing groups of geneticists looking to continue the master-race program in The Dragon Factory, he must battle another foe using human test subjects for his sinister plans.
©2009 Jonathan Maberry (P)2011 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Review:
This story finds Joe and team entering a secret bunker facility which is supposed to be a secure testing lab. What they discover there is gruesome karma as the mutations the doctors have created turn on the staff. Do the mutants still have enough sentience to distinguish foe from friend? Can Joe and friends escape the carnage before an automatic shut down sets off a destruction code?

[Audio Notes: same as above.]

Source: December 2021 Free from Audible Plus Catalog. This qualifies for 2023TBR and 2023Audiobook goals.

Audible Book Review: Dark of Night, A Joe Ledger Novella, by Jonathan Maberry and Rachel Lavin

This is a good zombie survivors' story that can be read outside of the series.
#FRATERFEST-4
Dark of Night
A Joe Ledger Novella
By: Jonathan Maberry, Rachael Lavin
Narrated by: Ray Porter

Series: Dead of Night, Book 2.5, Joe Ledger, Book 8.5
Length: 4 hrs and 59 mins
Release date: 06-21-16
Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Genre: Action, Horror, Zombie
My Rating: 4.5 of 5.0 Overall; Story 4.5; Narration 4.5.

Publisher's Summary
The dead rose. We fell.
The survivors are trapped in a world of monsters who prey on the helpless. Some of them are zombies...but they are not the only predators who feed on pain and suffering.
Dark of Night is a story of worlds in collision. Three heroes who have survived the apocalypse are in a deadly race to save a busload of children from ravenous zombies and ruthless human scavengers.
This brand new novella brings together three of New York Times best-selling author Jonathan Maberry's award-winning series. Captain Joe Ledger (Patient Zero and Code Zero), Officer Desdemona Fox (Dead of Night and Fall of Night), and Rachael Elle (Bits & Pieces) are caught between an endless wave of the living dead and an army of corrupt men who want to enslave the last human survivors.
©2016 Jonathan Maberry and Rachael Lavin (P)2016 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Review:
Many years ago the zombie virus started taking over the world. The rare survivors are still struggling to find safe refuge.

Officer Dez Fox is struggling to get a busload of children to a safe camp under control of the National Guard. Then they see the dead passing the bus and realize that these dead are wearing National Guard uniforms. Fox will continue to do whatever it takes to protect these young survivors.

Meanwhile, Rachael Elle is a young woman who has managed to survive the zombie apocalypse in cosplay or LARP gear, fighting the dead “Orcs”. She stumbles upon the bus after Dez has gone out to scout and ends up leading the children by harnessing their superhero inner voices.

Joe Ledger is a career military man who sought to take down Patient Zero. Although he couldn’t stop the virus, he is a legendary warrior against the dead, traveling with the help of a smart warning and killing dog, Captain Joe and Baskerville stumble on the scene and is quick to step into the fray. First he saves a young girl from horrible NKK (New Klux Klan) bad actors. Then he proceeds to fight both enemies, the dead and living, to help the girls save the children.

I’ve read the prequel to this series, so I am aware of the beginnings of Joe Ledger facing the zombie hoard. I enjoyed the startling meeting between Joe and Dez and I appreciated the determination of all three characters to fight the dead and help other survivors. I had not met the two female characters and I will definitely backtrack to find their stories. There is plenty of fast paced action. However, the story is really only about two and a half hours as there is a second, totally unrelated story written by someone else that is tagged on. I am glad I got to listen to this and I will be reading/listening to more in the series. I recommend this to fans of battle action and some snarky character interaction.

Audio Notes: Ray Porter is an excellent narrator. He does such a good job with action and distinct character voices. I would feel comfortable searching out books narrated by Porter, and I could likely enjoy those stories. His narration enhances the story for me.

Source: 3-3-2022 Audible Plus Catalog. This qualifies for 2022Audiobook goal.

Audible Book Review: The Werewolf's 15 Minutes by Jonathan Maberry

This is a perfect, quick, fit for October and #Fraterfest.
#FRATERFEST-2
The Werewolf's 15 Minutes
By: Jonathan Maberry
Narrated by: Ray Porter, Dina Pearlman

Series: Audible Original Stories
Length: 1 hr and 42 mins
Release date: 10-28-21
Publisher: Audible Originals
Genre: Fantasy, Horror, Werewolf
My Rating: 4.0 of 5.0 Overall; Story 4.0; Narration 4.0.

About This Audible Original
Gary Bruce is a slacker of epic loserness. Can’t keep a job. His friends are as bad as he is. No girlfriend. No direction.
Gary Bruce is also a werewolf.
Desperate for any kind of success, Gary decides to out himself on YouTube. The moment this ordinary guy goes full-on fur, fangs, and claws, the world can’t get enough of him. He’s the biggest thing on social media, he’s on every talk show, book and movie deals fall in his lap, and for the first time in his life he gets invited to all the best parties.
But celebrity is a special kind of voracious monster. And when Gary’s star begins to lose its luster, he has to decide how far he’ll go to stay relevant in a world that discards has-beens in favor of the next big thing.
Fortunately, Gary has a plan....
The Werewolf’s 15 Minutes is a brand-new short story by New York Times best-seller and five-time Bram Stoker Award winner Jonathan Maberry, author of Bewilderness and V-Wars (Netflix).
©2021 Jonathan Maberry Productions, LLC (P)2021 Audible Originals, LLC.

Review:
Gary and his friends are not particularly impressive young men. They struggle to keep a job, much less a girlfriend, or a sense of career direction. Gary has decided to take drastic steps to get attention, so he outs himself as a werewolf on YouTube. Gary gets his 15 minutes of fame but for the wrong reasons. The audience wants to know the secret to his excellent make-up. It takes another step to really be taken seriously and get an agent with all the star hype.

Of course, that only lasts for a limited time. As his star dims, Gary formulates a plan to renew the interest. But he might carry things a bit too far.

I enjoyed this quick story with an appropriately ironic twist that brings a chuckle at the end. There is a bit of lazy-side male banter that wasn’t my favorite but certainly fit the characters. I recommend this as a good, quick Halloween read.

Audio Notes: Ray Porter and Dina Pearlman share the narration on this. I like Porter’s straightforward narration with good pausing and emphasis. Dina also has fitting energy, and I enjoyed the shared segments. The audio enhanced my enjoyment of the quick story.

10/27-30/2021 Audible Plus Catalog. This qualifies for 2022TBR and 2022Audiobook goals.

Audible Book Review: Zero Tolerance by Jonathan Maberry

A quick listen and more ‘worse than a zombie’ action in this gritty series.

Zero Tolerance
By: Jonathan Maberry
Narrated by: Ray Porter

Series: Joe Ledger, Book 1.1
Length: 44 mins
Release date: 07-14-11
Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Genre: Horror, Suspense, Zombie
My Rating: 4.0 of 5.0 Overall; Story 4.0; Narration 4.5.

Publisher's Summary
This sequel to Patient Zero brings Joe Ledger back into action.
Zero Tolerance picks up a few weeks after the close of Maberry’s action-thriller Patient Zero. Dropping back into the world of former Baltimore cop Joe Ledger, the Department of Military Sciences, and flesh-eating zombies, fans of the series will finally see the tying up of a few loose ends.
©2010 Jonathan Maberry (P)2011 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Review:
Joe Ledger and his team have to stay ready to fight the new monsters that have been unleashed – flesh-eating and aware zombies. Intelligence has determined that the first encounter and capture was only one of a pair of monsters created to take infect and destroy the ‘infidels’. A report comes in from a team in combat that they have found evidence of more monsters. Ledger and his team are flown onsite to investigate and, more importantly, eliminate the threat.

After finding a buried science lab one of his teams goes silent and Ledge suspects they have found what they are looking for. He leads his remaining team into the trouble and they find more than they quiet expected, especially considering the involvement of military men.

This is another quick story full of action, swearing and violence. I wouldn’t want to listen to a steady stream of this, but it is the nature of the series. I happen to like military action and don’t mind the gory parts. I have to overlook the language as best I can. So far, I have read two novellas in the series and there are more that are free through Audible Plus. I have to decide if I want the first full book which is 14 hours. Different readers will either want to read more or find something that suits them better. I will continue with the novellas for now.

Audio Notes: Ray Porter is an excellent narrator and helps to carry the grit of the story. I am more than happy to enjoy Porter’s narration so that adds to my wanting to listen.

Source: December 2021 free on Audible Plus Catalog. This qualifies for 2022TBR, 2022Audiobook, and 2022Alphabet goals.

#FraterfestRat Audible Book Review: Countdown: A Prequel Story to Patient Zero by Jonathan Maberry   My Rating 4.25

#FraterfestRat Audible Book Review: Countdown: A Prequel Story to Patient Zero by Jonathan Maberry

I liked this Prequel and the Joe Ledger character.

Countdown: A Prequel Story to Patient Zero
By: Jonathan Maberry
Narrated by: Ray Porter

Series: Joe Ledger, Book 0.5
Length 19m
Release date: 07-14-11
Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Genre: Horror, Suspense, Zombie
My Rating: 4.25 of 5.0 Overall; Story 4.25; Narration 4.5.

Publisher's Summary
“I didn’t plan to kill anyone. I wasn’t totally against the idea, either. Sometimes things just fall that way, and either you roll with it or it rolls over you. Letting the bad guys win isn’t how I roll.”
Meet Joe Ledger, Baltimore PD, attached to a Homeland task force … who’s about to get a serious promotion.
©2008 Jonathan Maberry (P)2011 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Review:
Joe Ledger is a hardcore Baltimore detective who has a reputation for taking bad guys down with his steely nerves and skilled shooting. His is pulled into a task force that steps into a situation to shut down a terrorist operation and stop the release of a unknown deadly bioweapon. While Joe and a close friend on the team are dodging bullets, Joe notices a locked box which turns out to have a man in it. During the melee the man gets loose and stumbles out. The drugged looking man isn’t armed so initially Joe ignores him. But after bouncing off a kick, the man lunges at one of Joe’s teammates like a snarling dog. When the biting man gets in the way of eliminating shooters, Joe takes him out of the way.

Joe’s actions, taking out a multitude of hostiles, catches the attention of Mr. Church, the commander of a black-ops organization, the Department of Military Sciences (DMS). Will Joe be recruited by the DMS?

I have been eyeing this zombie series for a while even though (or maybe because) the first book, Patient Zero, has a rather gruesome-looking cover. I like the ‘super-hero’ nature of Joe’s character, including what appears to be a snarky attitude. I am glad to have had the opportunity to listen to this quick book and will likely try the series. There is limited zombie action in this short audio, but I do recommend this introduction to fans of the zombie genre.

Audio Notes: Ray Porter is a wonderful narrator, and his performance enhances the story for me. He portrays the hardcore nature of the prime character and also delivers the fast paced action. I always enjoy listening to Porter’s deliverance.

Source: September 2020 Audible Plus Catalog. This qualifies for 2021TBR, 2021Audiobook, and #FraterfestRat goals.

Audible Book Review: Lullaby by Jonathan Maberry

This is what I consider a true horror story.
Lullaby
By: Jonathan Maberry
Narrated by: Scott Brick


Length: 37 mins
Unabridged Audiobook
Release date: 10-04-18
Language: English
Publisher: Audible Original
Categories: Fiction, Horror, Short Story
My Rating: 4.25 of 5.0 Overall; Story 4.0; Narration 5.0.

About This Audible Original
The fears and horrors of being a new parent take on a shocking dimension in in this heart-stopping original story, only from Audible. A young married couple, Matt and Gillian have just bought a gorgeous house located next to a lake in the Catskills. They want to escape the hustle and bustle of the city to raise their baby girl, Hope, in relative peace and quiet. When night falls, however, their dream home becomes a house of nightmares. Matt and Gillian soon learn that darkness takes many forms. And sometimes, darkness is hungry.
New York Times best-selling author and Bram Stoker Award winner Jonathan Maberry delivers a haunting Audible Original that will give listeners the Halloween creeps all year round. Scott Brick, the man with the golden voice, perfectly captures the experience of hearing a classic ghost story told around the campfire.
This product features adult language and themes.
©2018 Jonathan Maberry (P)2018 Audible Originals, LLC.

Review:
Matt and Gillian plan to raise their coming baby away from the rat race of the city. They buy a gorgeous home in the Catskills even though they know the house has a dark history. All seems good until one night Gillian wakes up startled and thinks she sees something strange on the baby monitor. She and Matt try to convince themselves everything is fine even as they install more security systems. Events escalate and they have to rush the baby to the hospital. Tension grows and horror follows.

This is what I consider true horror. The writing is direct, clear and appropriately dark. I liked the dark tone but admit that (like another reviewer) I questioned the behavior of the parents. I can’t imagine taking my infant back into that house after the crises that occurred. I still enjoyed the quick “fright night” story and recommend it to those who enjoy a short horror tale.

Audio Notes: Scott Brick does a perfect job of narration for this work. He carries the tone wonderfully making it a ‘fun’ listen -- especially for a free listen.

Source: 10/29/2018 Free Audible Original. This qualifies for 2019TBR and 2019Audiobook goals.