XIIxOveR

Kevin Pierce delivers! The story? Not so much.

Revisado: 08-09-19 El oyente recibió este título gratis

I listen to a lot of EOTWAWKI books and I happy to get an opportunity to listen to another narrated by Kevin Pierce.

Turbulent had some promise and if all of the other reviews are to be believed, I'm of a minority, but overall the story fell flat for me. Maybe some of this had to do with how compact the book is - a lot was squeezed into a 6 hour listen and this left no room for decent story/character development. It's hard to give examples without spoilers but there were major items completely glossed over. Also many decisions and/or directions that didn't make a whole lot of sense, or were confusing; one minute we're in a city, next thing I know we're on a farm, stuff like that. Things that could have easily been flushed out with a little effort making a more enjoyable listen.

I will still likely pick up book 2 because I do like the genre and maybe Mr Payne is more skilled at the "living in the post-era" stuff vs the "post event escape" stuff, who knows? And it's at least read by Kevin Pierce who has become one of a small handful who can claim the title of "narration-extraordinaire of the post-apocalyptic genre" IMO!

This audiobook was given by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review

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Great narration, ok story

Revisado: 10-29-18

I had heard about this series through a "sneak peek" at the end of another Tom Abrahams book so I was happy to get an opportunity to listen to it for free in exchange for an unbiased review.

I had mixed feelings about the book and found myself having to separate the "Story" from the "Writing" in my ratings. I thought the story was great, four stars; it was fun, somewhat unique, and easy to listen to - of course it didn't hurt that Kevin Pierce was narrating. But the writing itself fluctuated between a 2 star and a 3 star for me. It must just be me though, I see that Torrent gets very high ratings from just about everyone else, but there were too many things about the book that bothered me to give it that high of a rating: editing mistakes (e.g. one sentence describing water at someone's waist while the next sentence calls it neck-deep, stuff like that), places where writing style didn't fit the tone, and some things that didn't quite make sense to me. Nothing terrible, just many little things.

On the other hand, the story was good enough that I didn't want to base my "Story" rating solely on how I felt about the nit-picky stuff. There was enough deeply descriptive writing that, at times, I was really drawn in to the cold, wet horror of the situation and that took some skill on Abrahams part.

One thing that bothered me was the primary protagonist being named Dr Steven Konkoly! I suppose it can be fun to include a known author as a character in a book like this but for some reason I didn't like it. No marks down because of it though, that is just personal preference. I read a story once where the primary protagonist was named Eddie Bowers...so yeah, it could have been worse...

So, solid 3 star for me with a 4+ star narration. I have consistently felt that Abrahams could be better served by a decent editor, no idea what the story is there, maybe some future works will be better cleaned up. Until then I'll probably still pick him up from time to time.

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Enjoyable listen

Revisado: 08-30-18

I was a little skeptical when I started this book. I was familiar with Tom Abrahams, having listened to the first couple of books his "The Traveler" series, and I was worried that the reasons I never finished that series might persist here in "Pilgramage". I was happy to find this listen a lot more enjoyable.

I liked "The Jarkata Pandemic" and the "Perseid Collapse" series and knowing that Abrahams wrote "Pilgramage" as an off-shoot really peaked my curiosity, I wanted to hear how he might connect this story to the others. It turns out that it was very minor but the connections were there, a couple of key scenes in "Pilgramage" brought me right back to Steven Konkoly's efforts. With this said though, there were also times I almost felt a sense of deja vu in that there was at least one part of the book that seemed a little TOO similar to one in "The Jarkata Pandemic", so much so that I had to go back to that book to remind myself that no, it did not take place in James Rockwell's Maryland neighborhood.

There were some situations that just didn't cut the credibility meter with me. For example, I don't believe societal breakdown and lawlessness would begin within only a few hours of a catastrophic event, especially when most people are experiencing only a power outage. Nor do I believe that criminal militia's would be murdering families at road blocks in the first day. There was a lot of this type of activity that quickly got annoying, but I committed to putting it aside and trying to just enjoy the story.

By the end I was happy with the book and, of course, Kevin Pierce's narration (though I don't want to hear his Maine accent again lol). Aside from the annoyances it was a fun story that never felt like a burden to get through and made me think I could try another of Abraham's works, maybe something in his "Alt-Apocalypse" books (which he promotes at the end of this listen) will be next.

This audiobook was given by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review.

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Great story with an excellent R.C. Bray narration

Revisado: 08-06-18

I wasn't sure about this one at first. The presentation of the story "interview-style" and from different character perspectives promised to be annoying and I completely expected to wind up returning the book.

Before I knew it though, I'd finished the entire thing. I typically listen to Audible books on my work commute but found myself listening in the parking lot instead of coming inside, listening in my driveway, driving extra loops around the block, listening on my lunch break - it turned out to be an engaging and entertaining novel. Of course it did not hurt a bit that R.C. Bray was the narrator, I have chosen books in the past solely based on his name being on the listing.

Commune hit the day-to-day rebuilding of life and community piece of P-A fiction that I enjoy so much, and although I could have used a bit more of these details it was pretty well balanced. There were some "huh?" moments in the book, things that simply made little or no sense, but I've become kind of picky in this area so YMMV. Still a solid 4-star listen in any case and Book 2 was quickly added to my library.

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Not well executed

Revisado: 04-10-18

Would you ever listen to anything by Bobby Akart again?

This is the first book I've listened to or read by Bobby Akart though I've seen his name many times. Because he writes so much in the EOTWAWKI genre I'll possibly try another to see if it's Akart I don't like or if it's just "The Royal Nine"; I've had a couple of his other books in my Audible Wish List for a while just based on their descriptions so maybe I'll be surprised, who knows.

Would you be willing to try another one of Joseph Morton’s performances?

I'd rather not, he was tough to listen to. His reading style turns everything into a run-on sentence with pauses in the wrong spots, as if the end of the line equated to a comma or period. Then it was back to what I call "ramble reading". He didn't differentiate between speakers in much of the dialog, though there was such an over-use of "...said Sarge..." and "...Sarge said..." (replace Sarge with whoever was speaking) that I still knew who was speaking to who for the most part.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from The Loyal Nine?

I wouldn't have necessarily cut specific scenes (well, maybe a couple) but this book could have lost 25% of the content and maybe have been a much better listen; I would definitely clean up much of the unnecessarily placed Wiki-speak.

Any additional comments?

One of the things I disliked most about this book was Akart's tendency to explain everything like a school report and using completely unrealistic dialogue to define terms to readers. For example, one hacker speaking to another might say "...start the DDoS (or Distributed Denial of Service) attack...". Who talks like this in real life? Nobody! Especially two hackers who know darn well what DDoS means! Maybe it would have worked better as descriptive text vs dialogue, I don't know.

But rest assured, we get to hear all of the specific, technological details of the hacking as though he needs to prove that he did some research and is using accurate terminology even though it doesn't flow with the story or progress the plot whatsoever. This happened repeatedly and was completely frustrating, especially coupled with the narration style. Hey, at least it was accurate!

I can't speak to the overall story because, well, I couldn't finish the book. Like another reviewer, I made it about 3 hours and had to hang it up.

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Some quirks but a fun listen

Revisado: 01-29-18

If you’ve listened to books by Steven Bird before, how does this one compare?

I have never listened to anything by Steven Bird before but I would definitely consider picking up another of his books to try out. Although Erebus had a number of shortcomings there was nothing that completely killed it for me and overall the story was fun.

What does Kevin Pierce bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Kevin Pierce is an excellent narrator, I have chosen books in the past simply because he was on the bill. Although Erebus wasn't his best (I've never really liked Kevin's accents and there were a couple in Erebus that just didn't cut it for me) it was still a solid job and an enjoyable listen.

Could you see Erebus being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

The movie has been done a number of times already. It would likely be a fun watch, I couldn't picture this being a series however and I have zero input on cast.

Any additional comments?

In summary, a fun listen though pretty "flat" - no depth or chemistry. I don't think I would pick up the next book in this series if one were ever written, but I would try out something else by Steven Bird. The books are pretty short so I might wait for an Omnibus version of his "The New Homefront" or "Society Lost" series; 6 hours is a tough pill when burning Audible credits! Will definitely keep my eyes open on future releases.

This audiobook was given by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review.

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Excellent Performance

Revisado: 11-09-17

It's been a while since I've listened to a decent EOTWAWKI book so when the surprise opportunity to review "Fight Like a Man" came up I was excited to dive into another post-apocalyptic novel featuring an epic reading by Kevin Pierce. I was not disappointed one bit by his narration, it was excellent as usual. This is the kind of story I believe Kevin does best and, honestly, it was the only reason I was able to complete the book.

I love listening to this kind of novel and I really, really wanted to like it. Right from the beginning I was concerned simply because of the the name of the book but I went for it anyhow because...well...it was free and hey, Kevin Pierce is the narrator! It started off fine and after a while I even began to think that my initial reactions to the title were unfounded; it wasn't half bad!

But somewhere along the way it got lost. Character and personality development from early on seemed to be ditched leaving the various protagonists responding and acting in ways that made no sense after what the listener had been setup to expect. Many actions became completely frustrating and unbelievable while the characters got dumber and dumber before my very eyes.

I was willing to put up with these inconsistencies just to get my "prepper fix" presented by the great Mr Pierce but there were two things that finally killed it for me.

First, and it's probably just nitpicking, I don't like it when an author ends a chapter by telling the reader what's about to happen. For example, lines like "They thought their troubles were over, but soon they would realize just how wrong they were" drive me nuts. They remind me of Dukes of Hazard episodes, circa 1980, when leading into a commercial break leaving the General Lee suspended in mid-air after rocketing off yet another uncannily placed jump over a washed out Hazard County bridge while Waylon Jennings says "you know, them Duke Boys might've got themselves in a heap o trouble this time..."! I prefer that an author let the reader discover what's going to happen on their own, otherwise why keep reading (or listening of course).

Second, the political ranting. Akers went on, and on about Trump and Clinton and Sanders, his thoughts about the election, etc. It was annoying and made absolutely no addition to the progression of the story. I could care less about the authors political views to begin with so having to sit through his "schpeal" multiple times almost made me give up altogether. Even with an epilogue to claim that these views were those of the characters in an attempt to give them depth and credibility (my words, not his) made absolutely no sense.

So unfortunately I could only give the story itself 2 stars. I really appreciated the listen but it just didn't cut it.

This audiobook was given by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review.

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Great idea, decently executed, some faults

Revisado: 12-22-16

Would you try another book from J K Franks and/or Steven Varnum?
Yes, I probably would although I wouldn't necessarily seek out one purposefully like I might with other authors and narrators. Considering Catalyst seems to be a first release for both I expect that future endeavors will begin to feel more polished, so I'll keep my eyes on them.

Did Steven Varnum do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?
The narrator does a great job overall, although I could only give 3 stars.

For the most part his characterizations were excellent (reminded me a little of Jeff Gurner who did the Daemon series among other works), and this is coming from someone who usually has a tough time listening to "voices". However this is also part of why I dropped Performance to 3 stars. He has GOT to change his female voice! Some narrators are really good at simply "softening" their female character voices vs trying to change the actual pitch - this is a must for Mr Varnum in my opinion. The saving grace here is that there are very few female characters in this book.

There were a number of mis-pronounced words, not complicated words either. Not enough to distract from the listen but enough to warrant a mention. There were also oddly placed pauses in many sentences, almost as though he was using the end of a line as a period rather than continuing the flow to the next line to complete the sentence. Again, not completely distracting but a little awkward. Some better editing may have picked these up and perhaps cleaned them up a bit and surely this will get better with narration experience.

I expect to see much more from Steven in the future, hopefully he will be narrating the next book in the series - but only if he addreses the above criticisms :)

Was Catalyst Downward Cycle worth the listening time?
Yes, overall I did enjoy Catalyst. The story had somewhat of a "One Second After" feel although I could have used more time spent on the rebuilding of the community; it kind of fast-forwards through a lot of this.

In fact, there is quite a lot of "glossing over" in the book. In some areas we get excellent story-telling and wonderful detail while other areas simply skipped over details or left loose ends.

There were also areas where I felt unsure that the author did all of his homework as well as some obvious editing misses but, unlike some other books in this genre, I never once felt like turning it off or that I couldn't finish.

But still, minus some irritants, this was a fun book. The story had some unique elements while still following a very familiar formula. The primary protagonist was well-written and likable and I found myself caring about what happens next. Although the writing in general only gets 3 stars from me, I will likely seek out the next book in the series with my fingers crossed, hoping that some of the negative nuances are cleaned up.

Any additional comments?
This audiobook was given by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review.

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Apocalyptic cold snap? Yes please!

Revisado: 11-15-16

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

Unfortunately I felt that there were some things that were wrapped up way too quickly and conveniently which caused the story to lose some of its plausibility. Although the overall ending was fine, and the expected resolve has been experienced, I kind of felt...I don't know exactly...I guess cheated is the right word.

Which character – as performed by Kevin Pierce – was your favorite?

In my opinion, one of Kevin's greatest assets is his ability to read characters without actually characterizing them. There is no character better or worse than another based on his performance, they are all solid, easy to follow, and enjoyable to listen to.

Any additional comments?

Overall I enjoyed the book; it was fun, action filled, and it was nice to listen to something with a slightly different twist. However, I think it would have been more enjoyable if there was a stronger emphasis on the survivalist aspect of the "event". Instead it read a little more like an action movie. This isn't necessarily a terrible thing, but it was enough to make the listen somewhat agitating at times.

There were a few characters that didn't seem to have a reason to exist other than as convenient vessels or fodder to assist in passing from one scenario to another, timings that were way off to the point where i had to go back and re-listen to a couple of spots to make sure I didn't miss something like "...days went by before Bishop...", and activities that took place seemingly only to setup a scene rather than making sense to the situation and characters. Sometimes it was as if there were a bunch of "scene's" written first then "filler" was added between them after the fact to move us from one to the other. It's tough to discuss these without posting spoilers but they are the reasons I gave the story only 3 stars.

I will probably go ahead and pick up the next book if one is released. Although it wasn't my favorite it was still fun and my expectations will be adjusted accordingly.

This audiobook was given by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review.

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Solid follow up!

Revisado: 09-28-16

Any additional comments?

I thoroughly enjoyed the first book in this series "Under a Tell-Tale Sky" and was very excited with the release of book two.

"Push Back" picked right up where book one left off and it wasn't long before I found myself immersed in a smooth continuation of the story. All of the elements I enjoyed with the first book were present and accounted for: an original story in a genre filled with stereotypes, a satisfying balance of big picture vs individual and group perspective, writing that pulled me back and forth between gripping action and emotion...all topped off with another 5-star Kevin Pierce narration. I was late for work more than once as I sat in the parking lot waiting for the end of a scene or chapter!

Some of the same issues I had with book one still exist but they are minor enough to merely make the story a 4 star rather than a 5 star. Representation of inner city gang culture, the way they speak, and the constant referral to them as "gang-bangers" by absolutely every non-gang character in the book got annoying. I've never referred to gang members as "gang-bangers" myself but apparently every other person in the country does. There were a couple, minor editing issues, something I can't help but pay attention to. Again, minor is the key word here and let's be honest, as far as finding flaws, this is definitely digging.

Much of the confusion I felt moving around in book one started resolving as the story progressed. There are some open ends I see getting neatly tied together in book three and I predict a very satisfying conclusion to the series. In McDermott's notes after the epilogue he will have you believe that he has very little knack for outlining the story and knowing where he's heading; this is not at all evident in the story so far.

I did receive this book from the author in return for an honest, unbiased review. I don't ever play favorites though, free book or not, as I don't appreciate reading dishonest reviews myself. This is not a problem with "Push Back", it was a pleasure to listen to and I'm grateful to the author for the gift. I look forward to the completion of Book 3 although it might be a while since McDermott will only go as far as predicting "sometime in 2017". It's going to be a long wait!

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