Breakers

Unique Alien Apocalypse

When a mysterious plague hit the earth, spreading like wildfire through the populace, Walt Lawson is devastated by the loss of his girlfriend. Now, on the verge of suicide, Walt decides to walk from New York City to Los Angeles, the city his actress girlfriend Vanessa dreamed of moving to, fully expecting to die along the way. Meanwhile, in California, Raymond James and his wife Mia, find their financial struggles are over when the majority of the world dies. They set up a haven in an idyllic home on the coast, finding happiness in their simple life. Yet, when the alien mothership appears in the horizon, and the crab like occupants begin killing or rounding up humans, the survivors find a new purpose, fighting the menace that has devastated their planet. Edward W. Robertson’s Breakers is a mish mash of classic Post Apocalyptic tales, blending a world ending pandemic and an alien invasion together to make a novel that fans of the subgenre will delight in. Instead of avoiding seeming like a retread of novels like The Stand and Footfall, Robertson embraces this, as he very well should. The Stand is a great novel which has helped create a generation of Post Apocalyptic fans, and I am often flabbergasted how some authors go out of their way to avoid looking like a copycat of it. I found Robertson’s characterizations very interesting. I started off pretty much hating both Walt and Ray. To me, they seem like two sides of the same loser coin. In many ways they were like mirror images of the other, with Ray being kind but stupid loser and Walt being a manipulative and brash loser. Yet both characters, especially Walt, grew on me. Walt’s slide into self hate may have made him the perfect survivor for the times, and by the time the book hit the alien invasion part, he was responsible for some of the most laugh out loud funny moments, despite his dark personality. The plot and action was fun, bordering on cheesy. While the guerilla tactics to fight the aliens often lacked descriptive depth, the plot moved along quickly and never left you bored. My only major complaint was I would have liked to seen a bit more diversity in the character types and greater depth in the peripheral characters, and since this is the first in a series I expect my wish will come true. The novel built up to a finale that was equal parts “that’s the corniest thing ever” and “holy hell, this is awesome.” If you’re looking for some hoity toity new exploration that defies apocalyptic tropes to create a new approach to the genre, keep looking. But, if you love books that embrace their comparison to The Stand, and love watching humans with nothing left to lose kill alien invaders with laser guns, well, get yourself a copy of Breakers post haste.

In the early part of the novel, I struggled a bit differentiating Walt from Ray. While I liked Ray Chase’s voice, the voices between these two characters were very similar, and caused some early dissonance. Luckily, once things got rolling and the author began to flesh out these characters, and they began to transform into what they would become by the end of the book, this no longer became an issue. Once this issue was resolved I was more than happy to fall into the capable voice of Ray Chase. He has a deep voice, bordering on gruff, but softens it with a rhythmic style that is reminiscent of Scott Brick. His reading style added levels to the prose that I feel elevated it, giving Walt’s journey across a devastated America an almost stream of consciences feel, and Ray and Mia’s time in their dream home an overwhelming sense of contentment. This was my first time listening to Ray Chase, and I really liked him. I think some of the struggles he had with some of the characterizations came more from the fact that some of the characters were a bit cardboard, but he did what he could to bring them to life. When the author gave a character depth, you could feel it in the narrator’s performance. Based on this performance, Ray Chase is a narrator to be on the lookout for. Hopefully, we will see more audio versions of this series, with Chase acting as our guide in the fight against the alien crab things.

12 of 13 people found this review helpful

Left me wanting more.....

I not a fan of most science fiction - especially off planet, however this book was firmly grounded on Earth, albeit with a sprinkling of aliens and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The book starts with the hum-drum existence of two couples, one based in New York and the other in southern California. From there there the plot slowly develops into a dystopian nightmare. The character development is excellent and the story is told from each males point of view, each chapter switching from one to the other until in the books last half they finally unite. The book is more about the indomitable human spirit and the desire to survive and the plot is arranged to support this premise. For lovers of suspense and who appreciate a book that has a few layers and a book which is reasonably well written, I recommend this to you.

12 of 13 people found this review helpful

This Book was Made for Ray Chase

Where does Breakers rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I say Breakers ranks in the top 84-92% with a lean towards the higher %.

What other book might you compare Breakers to and why?

This book does not need comparison. Breakers stands alone as a solid work of fiction. When everything is said and done, who cares what I might compare Breakers to? Come on Audible.....what kind of question is this?

Which scene was your favorite?

When Raymond and Mia are discussing whether they should hit the road to less traveled, higher climes and Raymond brings up the fact that they would be leaving their garden. Mia throws out a perfectly timed sarcastic remark that made me laugh and rewind 3-4 times to hear it again.

Raymond was a very lucky guy to have Mia in his life. She is the kind of woman I'd like to have in my life, with or without the Squids trying to throw mankind in the garbage heap.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Walter wants revenge. Get ready for a heaping helping of dismembered Squid Alien bastards!

Any additional comments?

Ray Chase narrated this book perfectly. I think the word I am looking for to describe his narration is sardonic. When Ray Chase is matched with the right book like Breakers, he is absolutely a joy to listen to. I laughed, I almost felt like crying a time or two. I hope he continues with this series. Also, I hope there is a surprise awaiting one of the main characters, the story line would be the richer and I could continue my audio crush.

12 of 13 people found this review helpful

Far Better Than I Expected

What did you love best about Breakers?

I bought this book because it was cheap so I wasn't expecting much. It's kind of a cross between Independence Day and the Stand without the mysticism of the latter. Once you get past the kind of graphic descriptions of the plague victims there are no huge situational suspensions of disbelief...at least no more than one of the Die Hard films. But anyway don't spend a credit on it, just buy it. It's a good day read and a bargain for the money.

9 of 10 people found this review helpful

Excellent Book 1

Would you consider the audio edition of Breakers to be better than the print version?

Audio Books are ALWAYS better than print version. Audio books improve both listening and comprehension skills. Audio books also allow the listener to become a better observer/judge of an actual or hypothetical situation. It's like the listener becomes a jurist hearing testimony versus reading a court transcript. Anyhow, I can reed and right an has nuffin to pruve.

What did you like best about this story?

Great anti-hero character; always underestimated; always prevails.

Any additional comments?

I thought it was interesting that the aliens were so loving to one another yet brutal to people. People, on the other hand, were depicted as brutal to everybody. I couldn't help thinking that the aliens would live happy, loving, lives after they killed all the people. It makes you think.

6 of 7 people found this review helpful

Do you have 5.95?

If you do buy this book, it's your basic post apocalypse flu scenario but, then is gets very interesting. It takes on a whole new story line mid way, and it works. Excellent depressive and or gallows humor included. Worth you time cash or credit. Enjoy!

6 of 7 people found this review helpful

Survivors of Alien invasion - done well

The subject is a bit cliched, but this novel stands out from the crowd. the end of the world scenario is believable, the characters are drawn well "warts and all". Scenarios are varied and the good guys don't always survive. Will probably buy the follow up(s)

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Really enjoyed this book

What made the experience of listening to Breakers the most enjoyable?

I have been reading and listening to end of the world books for 35 years - this is a very good read - it flows well and was over before I knew it. I wish that the rest of the books in the series were available -- oh well I guess I will read them on the kindle -- normally I would wait for the audios but these are too good

thanks

What did you like best about this story?

the changes in direction with the disaster

What about Ray Chase’s performance did you like?

he was very easy to understand and spoke with a measured rhythm that was nice to listen to.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

not laugh or cry - just read more

Any additional comments?

more more

5 of 6 people found this review helpful

This book holds your attention!

What did you like best about Breakers? What did you like least?

I thought this was going to be your typical survivalist read. I enjoy the genre but they're tough to pull off with something different. This one started out fairly similar with most. Human kind gets wipe outed by a virus except for a few that try to somehow continue on, yada, yada.. Then deep into the first book you're thrown such a curve ball it can make you gasp! At first I thought about stopping because it was so far out of left field I didn't know what to think. I'm glad I didn't. This one is definitely fun and I look forward for the second one in the series!

7 of 9 people found this review helpful

So much fun!

I just binge-heard the whole series. Except for Book 4, which you can skip, the whole thing is a lot of fun. Yes, as one reviewer pointed out, the female characters are way too similar to each other (the archetypal ninja), but who cares? It's one action packed roller coaster. More about what happens to humans when society collapses than about the cause of the collapse itself. Recommend for fans of this genre.

3 of 4 people found this review helpful