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.
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.
Same Great Adventure, Less Formatting Issues. In this fourth installment of the BREAKTHROUGH series, we get even tighter action than the first three, even more gut wrenching drama, and yet more players in the mix. Overall a great addition to the series, though this reader is beginning to wonder just how long the series will continue. Start with BREAKTHROUGH, but by the time you finish this one you’ll still have enough questions to bring you back for the next one.
This review of Ripple by Michael C. Grumley was originally published on April 15, 2018.
Great Story, Suffers Same Formatting Problem As LEAP. In this entry into the BREAKTHROUGH series, Grumley doesn’t have near the revelations of the previous two books – though there are a couple thrown in, they just don’t have the impact of the previous books – but manages to raise the stakes even more. Our team faces genuine peril this time, with one major character actually dying – and staying dead through the end of the book. Other characters feel like cannon fodder when introduced, and are never really fleshed out to be much more than that. Whereas the previous two books left on a bit of an ominous cliffhanger of the reader knowing more was to come but the characters not, this book leaves us with the characters having a clear direction – even if they don’t know exactly where they are going. Arguably the weakest book of this series, but still an excellent read that promises even more to come.
This review of Catalyst by Michael C. Grumley was originally published on April 14, 2018.
Great Tale Poorly Formatted. Overall, this tale was a great followup to BREAKTHROUGH, starting a few months after the end of that tale with many of the same characters involved. All of the elements that made BREAKTHROUGH so great continue here, and some more excellent elements get added as well. But there were so many formatting issues when jumping between scenes in chapters! So many that I just couldn’t ignore it and had to ding the book a star just to bring them to attention. Overall a truly great tale, loving this series. Just needs a better editor.
This review of Leap by Michael C. Grumley was originally published on April 11, 2018.
Starts Slow and Easy. Then WOW. The build in this book starts as a low simmer. You meet up with a man getting out of the ocean onto his boat in the Caymans. You meet a research team in Antarctica. You meet another research team trying to learn how to talk to dolphins in Miami. … And then all of this begins coming together. When it does… sci-fi done with some things that seem reminiscent of things, and other things I’ve never seen. It was a great combination and produced a great story.
This review of Breakthrough by Michael C. Grumley was originally published on April 6, 2018.
Stakes Keep Rising. In this installment of the Sabel Security Thrillers, we find a rather ingenious terrorist plot, ran by someone inside the US. But who? That is what Pia Sabel and her team must find out. Good action, good mystery. Need a resolution to the mystery behind Pia’s parents’ murder already. That plot is starting to get long in the tooth with no resolution. Though the ending here was a bit of a cliffhanger – only tangentially related to said murders. Still recommended.
This review of Death and the Damned by Seeley James was originally published on March 29, 2018.
Setting Up An Epic Confrontation. In this tale, we get more hilarity from Mercury, more baddassery from Jacob, and still not enough of the original Pia. We also get a fairly epic conclusion to many of the storylines that have been playing around since The Geneva Decision – with one very major one only teased. Excellent book, looking forward to the next one.
This review of Death and Dark Money by Seeley James was originally published on March 29, 2018.
Mercury Is Awesome. This is the story that really brings Mercury in as an actual character, and he pretty much steals the show. Still not enough Pia, as I still consider The Geneva Decision the best in this series due to its focus on Pia herself, but there was enough development with her that it still felt worthwhile. Great read with an interesting concept that it has been a while since I’ve seen done, and I haven’t seen it done this good in even longer. Very much recommended.
This review of Element 42 by Seeley James was originally published on March 25, 2018.