Akeda

Esrahaddon: How to ruin a character in your book

Revisado: 06-13-24

I won't buy any of the authors books after the 'Age of...' series but Esrahaddon was one of my favorite characters in Riyria Revelations so I bought this with low expectations and wondering how the author and his controlling editor wife would ruin this character too. Let me saw I wasn't disappointed in that fact or that the author and his domineering wife needed to brag and pat themselves on the back for 30 minutes. Slight Spoiler: He did manage to ruin a perfectly good character in the first hour.

After being raised by goblins, literally, the book does get rather interesting. Not only Esrah but it also gives more lore about how The Church got it's start in the land and the main 'bad guy' of Riyria Revelations. There's no mention of how Esrah ended up trapped in a timeless jail though, which was disappointing.

One moment in book though made me wish I could reach out and slap to the author('s wife) though. They mention Suri being a powerful and gifted seer and I'd like to slap the author and say 'Yeah! Remember Suri. Remember how you(r wife) killed her off in a stupid and meaningless way'

Riyria Revelations is an amazing series. 3 books of a well written great epic adventure! Don't know how the author could write that series then ruin and destroy the entire world he built in later cash-grab books.

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Why did I even buy this book?

Revisado: 06-13-24

RC Bray is great! He totally makes this book and really the only good thing about this entire series is Skippy. Skippy is also the reason why this book has such a high rating. I'm sure he also edited the book to make all the characters boring and unlikable while giving himself all the best one-liners in the series.

I quit the book with 9 hours left because the story was just useless, boring and really going nowhere. The first book and 'Paradise' were good but this is just a wall of text. I also can't believe this is the 13th book and Bishop is still a self-righteous, arrogant jerk.

One really odd and annoying thing about the book is that 90% of it is written in past tense. Instead of Expeditionary Force, you could rename it 'Joe Bishop's Autobiography'.

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Not the best in the series but still good

Revisado: 06-13-24

The Gray Man series is great and worth a listen. This book is probably one of the weaker ones in the series though. Six feels like he has 'lost his way' and I feel like Zoya is just extra baggage he doesn't need. The whole 'I have to protect you' cliche is getting bit old too. One thing that never gets old is Six and Hightower though. Their unique camaraderie is always entertaining.

It's a bit slow in some areas but still has the intense moments where you wonder what is going to happen next. It also has a rather interesting and surprising plot twist at the end that was totally unexpected.

It really makes you question the future of AI on the battlefield too. Having drones in the air providing real time tactical analysis to AI bots on the ground is scary to think about.

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First and last Grisham book I'll ever buy/read

Revisado: 06-13-24

I thought I'd give this author a chance based on several reviews but I wasn't interested in his white guilt always writing about what crime some redneck in the south committed against blacks in the South. This one seemed interesting and it was at first. Then it goes from interesting to stupid and unbelievable. I didn't even finish the book because all logic and reason just went right out the window. Which is what I would have done with the book if I had a physical copy.

For someone who writes law books, you'd think they would know more about how things work in reality. I don't want to spoil the book, but the FBI doesn't just give people millions of dollars or release relatives from prison for information against drug cartels. Reward money sure, but you don't get the money first, tell them to go pound sand and get to flee the country. You can tell by the writing that the author has a chip on his shoulder against all branches of law enforcement.

The main character is also a complete a-hole. Especially to his wife. Kinda felt sorry she had to put up with him, especially after he commits adultery. Getting drunk is not an excuse to cheat on your wife. I quit the book near the end and decided the "true ending" was they all went to jail.

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Where's the main character??

Revisado: 05-17-24

The book sounded great from the audio preview but listening to the actual book makes you think "Where's Lance?". The main character seems interesting if not overdone (stereotypical one man army) but he's at most in a few chapters of the book. The rest of the book seems to focus on other characters and goes on and on about how Russia is butthurt nobody respects them and releases some super plague on the world.

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Lost interest after his petty "revenge"

Revisado: 10-18-22

I have to agree with another reviewer. "Implausible story. Things just happened with no explanation".
The book doesn't really move along. Things just happen and then another thing just happens. There isn't much 'flow' from one thing to another. The main character Simon is also a bit of a jerk, especially to his friends and co-workers. What happens when they try to help him and show some concern? He tells them to f*k off.

The Summary is also misleading here:
"Riske is given an ultimatum. Prove the car is the real thing…or else."
The car is actually genuine. The transmission in the car is not. It was a race car and literally everyone in the book, even the mechanics/pit crew for the car say the transmission doesn't exist. But because either the author just writes without thinking or Simon is incredibly stupid and naive one it just happens to magically materialize in his rivals restoration shop.

SPOILER WARNING:
This is what ruined the book for me. Simon, without any kind of verification or checking, knowing full well after a year of research that the original transmission is gone, suddenly trusts the word of someone he doesn't even like, Not only that but he steals an expensive Ferrari from this rivals shop, drives to this house, blows up a 50 million car AND STEALS this magically suddenly original transmission. Then he has the nerve to act shocked and angry when the guy in return burns down his shop. This is like walking up to someone punching them in the face for no reason and getting mad when they fight back and in-turn shooting them then saying 'It deserved it because he fault back".

Had to return this book. Not going to waste my time listening to a book where the main character is in the wrong and acts like an "a royal a-hole to everyone" (to quote one of his co-workers)

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Horrible Book; Sample and reviews are misleading.

Revisado: 10-18-22

That lovely British female voice you hear in the sample? That's the only place you'll ever hear it.

The book is also horrible. Another dumb male character who hates his job and his life and suddenly gets transported to some magical land. Of course in the new world he's become a strong buff dude and gone is his uglyness and his beer gut. An hour or so into the story and he's already got one girl doting all over him.

One the writer started to inject his own political views into the book that was it. Book returned.

Ohh and if you look at some of the "Reviewers" you'll notice that a lot of them are just copy and paste reviews. Same review word for word posted on another book. It's a little pathetic and kinda sad that the author not only self inserted his own life and fantasy into a poorly written book but also paid for reviews to promote it.

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Being wrong all the time isn't suspenseful

Revisado: 09-13-22

Bought this on a whim since the description and audio sample sounded interesting. I'll admit I was curious about this mysterious man getting into a car full of money. It was just okay though. I wouldn't listen to it again or read any other books in the series.

One thing I don't understand is why Reacher is wrong every single time about everything and at book 10!! He just seems to guess at everything and says it as if it were the truth. Most authors do it as a plot device, mostly to add in add some suspense or drama, even though it's a rather cliche way of doing it, Reacher seems to do it just because he likes the sound of his own voice. Reacher isn't a particularly likable character either.

The author seems to use his books as a way to express his sadism and must have a fetish for torture. He writes in at random, detailed and gratuitous violence towards other characters. I don't think I'll be able to look at a potato peeler the same way for awhile.

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It's not the Gray Man

Revisado: 08-20-22

I should have learned my lesson from Michael Sullivan. Pre-ordering a new series from an author based on their previous books isn't a good idea no matter how good they are.

I thought this might be full of action and adventure but this Duffy guy is just a bro duchebag. He's always trying to act like the alpha male of the group but often fails only to be mocked by his team mates. I think the author forgot the guy also lost his lower left leg. I don't know much about prosthetic legs but I do know you're not going to be a Tier One Gray Man operator with one. Although I don't know how because he wrote a long sob story about it and the guy has so much self-pity over it only to completely forget it about it later on.

The part that ruined it for me and made me refund my credit was when Duffy decided on his own to try to find a peaceable solution to people shooting at him. He's a hired bodyguard but tries to play the White Knight.

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A rich cynics midlife crisis

Revisado: 07-10-22

tl;dr It was an okay book. Not what call I'd a 'Classic' or even something I'd listen to again.

It doesn't bother me but if ethnic slurs make you uncomfortable or trigger you to find a safe space then this book is not for you because every single one for every race of people is mentioned several times. Seeing as how Kindle is now an Amazon company I'm really surprised there isn't some kind of warning label ... but they'll happily put a major spoiler of the book as the first line in the sequel's description. /facepalm

From the reviews and the authors little introduction I was expecting a better written book. This is really just some cynic having a midlife crisis. John is a true East Coast A-Hole. He's selfish, greedy and mean-spirited to everyone. His wife says 'I love you' and his reply to this is 'Thank you'. Wow. His marriage was in trouble before his neighbor even moved in.

He's exactly the type of guy who would out of the blue make the excuse of Going to the Store to buy cigarettes and never return. ... well he might come back 3 weeks later after sailing on his boat. He'd act smug like he really did go the store (and he's such wise-ass that he actually bought some just so he can make a bad joke about it). When everyone asks what happened he'd tell them to 'fk off' and mind their own business. Yeah he's that kind of prick.

This is a guy who has a pretty good life but he throws it all away for what? So he can be manipulated by his mafia boss neighbor over and over again? The really sad/annoying thing is he knows he is being manipulated but thinks because he has a Yale Law Degree that he's smarter than everyone.Yet keeps making bad decision after bad decision and takes his anger and frustration (because how dare someone be smarter than him, he went to Yale and his wife is from Old Money) out on his family and friends. I guess that is what makes the book interesting. Wondering what he could possibly do next to fk up his life. Kinda like watching a train wreck.

Without giving away any of the story I felt like some of the events were 'throw away events' just to make the book longer or because the author didn't really know where to go with it. Like a character dying and having a funeral in one or two paragraphs out of the blue.

The book wasn't bad but I honestly can't think of any reason why I'd ever listen to it again or even recommend it to anyone. Plum Creek by the same author was a much better book than this one.

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