Extinction Darkness (Extinction Cycle: Dark Age 4) by Nicholas Sansbury Smith and Anthony J Melchiorri

Format: Kindle
Rating:  5 Stars
Reviewer: Laurel

What an explosive, fantastic conclusion to one of the best series I’ve read in a long time. The Extinction world has been around for a good few years now, and it was wonderful to see Melchiorri and Smith team up to write this sequel series to the original. And what a ride it has been.

Thank you SO much for taking the time to give us more of Fitz, Reed, Horn and all the other characters in this series, and for introducing us to some fabulous new ones. Cornelius, Corrin, Timothy and Azrael, to name a few. If you ever want to write more, I’ll be ready to read more any day.

Extinction Aftermath by Nicholas Sansbury Smith

Source: Amazon
Format: Kindle
Rating:  5 Stars
Reviewer: Laurel

When I think Smith can’t top the previous book in a series, he turns around and shows me just what stuff he’s made of. Bigger and better monsters, a dastardly villain who is seriously insane, and of course, Team Ghost and their friends, who as always try to hold the line. What more could I ask for? I simply devoured this book.

This is an author with a fantastic imagination, and the story isn’t all that far-fetched, which makes it all the more chilling. If these are Nick’s “daymares”, I hate to know what his nightmares are like! Now I truly cannot wait for the next book!

Extinction War by Nicholas Sansbury Smith

Source: Amazon
Format: Kindle
Rating:  5 Stars
Reviewer: Laurel

At long last, the eagerly-anticipated finale to the Extinction Cycle. I was very glad to finally be able to get my hands on this (Oh, the hardships of waiting for the author to write, then edit, a new book!) and dig in.

And I was not disappointed. Not one bit. It was really good to get back in touch with Reed, Kate, Horn, Fitz and Rachel. Can’t say I was as pleased to be reaquainted with some of the other characters, but I suppose villains must have their moments. I didn’t do a re-read of the previous book prior to picking this one up, so I did have to stop and think a few times at the beginning about just where the previous book had left off – but that was my own fault for not being prepared. Smith gave an adequate account to recall events to my memory, and that was all that he needed to do. I actually found it fun to be reminded of where things were at. One of the hazards of reading a lot of books. Also, huge kudos to Smith for not dropping a single thread. This story is very complex, with action taking place all over the Northern Hemisphere between Alaska and Rome, and each story line was tightly controlled and clearly related.

The quality of writing in this book was of a very high standard, and exactly what I’ve come to know and expect from Smith. The storytelling too was exemplary – Smith certainly likes to keep us on the edges of our nerves! But then, what would a Smith book be if that wasn’t the case?

Overall, a MUST read for Extinction Cycle fans, and if you like post-apocalyptic fiction mixed with military action, biomedical disaster and some (highly-plausible, thus scary) science fiction, then do pick up Extinction Horizon, the first in the series. A solid five stars from me.

Thank you for the wild ride!!

The Fall of Fort Bragg by Rachel Aukes

Source: ARC from the author
Format: Kindle
Rating:  5 Stars
Reviewer: Laurel

I received an ARC from the author in exchange for an honest review.

This is a Kindle Worlds novella in the Extinction Cycle by Nicholas Sansbury Smith.

I appreciated the opportunity to read this story written in the Extinction Cycle world as created by Nicholas Sansbury Smith. In this book we get to meet Horn’s wife, Sheila, and their girls, Tasha and Jenny.

This story did not disappoint. For all Aukes is not Smith, her story had the same level of horror, suspense and pacing I have come to expect from Smith’s books. I could have easily been fooled into thinking Smith had written it. Kudos to Aukes for remaining true to the series in this regard. Not that a change would have been awful; after all, this story is about a different group of people.

Not much else to say, really, except that fans of the Extinction Cycle shouldn’t miss this addition to the canon. It’s excellent.

Zombie Girl: Dead Awakened by Pippa Jay

Source: ARC from author
Format: Kindle ebook
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewer: Laurel

Imagine waking up to find the world has ended, but unfortunately you’re not alone…

For Connor Innis, awakening from a year-long coma with no memories, no ability to move, and unable to speak was bad enough. Then he learns that a bioweapon set off a zombie apocalypse—for real—while he was sleeping, and the world he can’t even remember no longer exists.

Rehabilitation might be torture, but far worse awaits him outside. All too soon, the hospital Mentor declares him fit to leave with nothing to go home to except a city full of mindless, flesh-eating monsters. That is, until he forms a strange relationship with the one he nicknames ‘Zombie Girl’.

The concept is pretty much what it says in the blurb. A young man, Connor, wakes up to an ICU, having been unconscious for a year, and a relentless Mentor AI that pushes him through rehab. I’m not sure we find out why he was in hospital. He has no memories, and the world outside has changed. A bioweapon was unleashed – one he and other coma patients remain unaffected by – and the locals have become zombie-like. We learn nothing of the world outside the city – Connor’s lack of memories reinforces this. And it appears no contact is possible. But then he meets Zombie Girl.

Pippa Jay is a writer who brings stories to life. This is probably one of her calmer stories – her usual modus operandi is to torture her heroes, and there’s relatively little of that in this tale – but it’s no less vivid or poignant for that absence.

I wouldn’t say that Zombie Girl: Dead Awakened is Jay’s most tightly-written novella, but it is a delightful – if at times a teensy bit gory – tale nevertheless. What do I mean by tightly-written? From what I could detect, there weren’t multiple levels of meaning or complexity to the story, which I am more used to from Jay’s other novellas. It just appears to be a rather sweet account of what happens after Connor wakes up. There’s nothing wrong with this; it’s quite a pleasant change to read something simple that doesn’t tax my brain too much. I really liked the way it wrapped up, and it would be interesting to see what happens next in this world.