Confessions Of A Bookaholic
Solid Succession, Surprising Ending. This book superbly continues the tale of PROJECT EDEN, the Sage Flu, and the Resistance. Battles does a superb job of illustrating just how shocking such a world would be to any survivors, and even manages to introduce some things most would likely not consider. And that ending… with very nearly the very last words of the book, the storyline is irrevocably changed. Superb.
This review of Eden Rising by Brett Battles was originally published on July 27, 2018.
As The World Burns. Here, Battles adjusts the style of the tale slightly again. We still get a sense of a global Apocalypse through the reports from India, a new island in Costa Rica not in the prior books, California, Wisconsin, and Colorado, but here the countdown – fairly ineffective in PALE HORSE – really drives the point home. Meanwhile, instead of the shotgun “let’s go to all kinds of places” approach that seemed to drive PALE HORSE, we get just a few threads to follow here. Most of the tale winds up focusing on efforts to locate Brandon Ash, and the other two dominant threads are the Costa Rican island and the Ridgecrest survivors in California. All told, the story is yet again done superbly, and yet again I’m glad I waited to read them so that I can read all of them at once without having to wait for the next one to be written.
This review of Ashes by Brett Battles was originally published on July 22, 2018.
Baited Breath. This book picks up immediately where EXIT 9 left off and covers just the next two days – the first two days of the Apocalypse. Another global tale, yet Battles also manages to weave in three distinct families – the Ashes, obviously, but also one in India and one that we met during SICK – to make this tale both global and personal. The countdown isn’t as effective in this book as it was in EXIT 9, but the overall tale is arguably a bit stronger even without it, due to giving an even wider global scale while also making it, as noted, so intensely personal. The very last paragraph, well… Excellent book, and looking forward to diving straight into ASHES.
This review of Pale Horse by Brett Battles was originally published on July 20, 2018.
Personal Goes Global. With SICK (Project Eden #1), Battles set up the coming global conflict but used one man’s struggle to save his family as the primary story, with just the barest hints that it could become much bigger. With this book, we spend much more time at the Global scale, with the clock ticking down to the moment the human population is ordered nearly extinct. Particularly in the later chapters, short chapters and an ever decreasing clock ramp up the adrenaline. Very effective book, and you’ll be glad you hadn’t read it yet by the end – with the series completed now, we can go straight into PALE HORSE (Project Eden #3) – something those early readers couldn’t doo, and which would have been frustrating, given the ending.
This review of Exit 9 by Brett Battles was originally published on July 19, 2018.
Sick In The Best Ways. This is one wild ride, that starts with a man’s daughter screaming only for him to realize moments later that his wife is dead. Soon, he and his kids are kidnapped and separated. It turns out, they unknowingly have something that is extremely valuable to some very… sick… people. This introduction to the PROJECT EDEN series is more TAKEN than Apocalypse, but the tease of a coming Apocalypse is very real and very visceral. By the end, you’re glad the entire series is already written, because you’ll immediately want to jump into Book 2.
This review of Sick by Brett Battles was originally published on July 17, 2018.
Roswell Meets Pacific Rim. The best way I can think to describe this one is just that – here, the Modern Day Master of Science Fiction takes elements of both Roswell and Pacific Rim and spins them into a tale all his own. Yet another action packed tale that will have you on the edge of your seat throughout. Very highly recommended. 🙂
This review of The Others by Jeremy Robinson was originally published on July 16, 2018.
OMFG! HILARIOUS! This is THE book to read going into the 2018 Midterm Elections. Seriously, this is one of the best current events parodies I’ve seen in any format, and particularly book format. Definitely not for the faint of heart or overly sensitive, but skewers “both” sides of the political aisle fairly evenly. Libertarians or those tired of politics from “both” sides will find this particularly funny, but even those on “either” side of the aisle will find the jokes at the “other” side’s expense funny even while groaning or being upset by the jokes at their side’s expense.
This review of #SecondCivilWar by U. Ray Moran was originally published on July 8, 2018.
Words Elude Me. Wow. I really wish I had read this book years ago. Truly one of the best “Christian thinking” books I have ever read, and so very quotable.
This review of The Furious Longing of God by Brennan Manning was originally published on June 22, 2018.
For what it is, this is a fascinating book using one family’s journey to look at a broader issue currently being discussed anywhere discussions take place. It lacks knowledge, and thus presentation of the pertinant points, that government hurts transgender people as much as it helps them, but that doesn’t overly detract from the overall tale told here. Highly recommended.
This review of Becoming Nicole by Amy Ellis Nutt was originally published on June 20, 2018.
Amazing story. This tale of a father and son finding each other even despite major differences is particularly poignant as I drive to my parents’ house for Father’s Day. Great book regardless, made even more special by the timing.
This review of Space at the Table by Brad Harper and Drew Harper was originally published on June 15, 2018.