United States of Apocalypse

not a complete book

No plot line is complete at the "end" of this book. The book stops abruptly with no resolution whatsoever. Buyer beware - you can't buy this book as a standalone.

26 of 30 people found this review helpful

Wait, No Zombies? What the....?

What did you love best about United States of Apocalypse?

The whole new take on Mike and BT - it's a great dynamic between those two.

What did you like best about this story?

Well..... Here's the thing, when I first heard about then saw it available for pre-sale, I didn't really read exactly what it was about. I knew the authors body of work and that's all I needed to know to press the BUY button. When I started listening I recognized Julia Whelan from another series and I was uber excited to get in to, what I thought was going to be a zombie book. Well much to my surprise it wasn't.Hmmmm, could I still love this book? Hell YES!What I loved best was that, between Armand and Mark's story and Julia and Sean's narration, this was a great TOTAL experience. I'm guessing this is going to be a series similar to A Shrouded World and I'm really excited where these two take the story. If you are familiar with their podcast, Arm n' Toof's Dead Time Podcast, and have listened to their interaction you'll recognize the dynamic in the story. Totally looking forward to more.

Which character – as performed by Sean Runnette and Julia Whelan – was your favorite?

Loved BT, he's been a favorite since ZF1 and love where Mark took his character in this book.

Julia Whelan take on Darlene Bobich was great, Armand you gotta keep her as your voice of Darlene!

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

I always laugh with Armand's and Mark's books - they create awkward, tense situations that end up with something to laugh at - be it nervous, sad or sarcastic laughter.I also talk to the characters throughout the story - you become so comfortable with these characters, it's like you own them your opinions, thoughts and help.

Any additional comments?

It was an excellent book, the story line was exciting and easy to follow between the 2 story lines.The narration was stellar, Sean Runnette and Julia Whelan are both favorites of mine and to listen to them together was awesome.

14 of 16 people found this review helpful

rich in dialog that is realistic

The writings of Mark Tufo and Armand Rosamilia separately are interesting and action packed, but putting them together in one story – WOW!  Split into two sections running concurrently, the stories fit together well presenting a wider view of the nuclear disaster and ensuing rioting.

Michael Talbot, a small time petty criminal, and Officer Lawrence Tines, a big – really big cop, pair up together when all hell breaks loose after Korea and China send over nuclear bombs detonating in Yellowstone National Park followed with the ok to bomb more places sending America to their knees.  These two banter like siblings with sarcasm and wit aplenty!  Old characters are introduced and give that comfortable and fun feeling.   Oh, and yes, Mike keeps getting into trouble or rather trouble has its way of finding him!

A distant cousin of Michael Talbot, Darlene Bobich is in a small isolated town running away from New York.  She is much closer to the nuclear site and together with an older man she just met who runs the local gas station and his wife, they band together to build a fortress and defend their lives and their small bit of American soil from the invaders.  World War III has happened!

Both teams are fraught with bands of terrorists and danger; will they both make it through their own troubles to fight the incoming insurgents that are bearing down on them?  The terrorists who have so far successfully isolated America from her allies?

The writing styles of Tufo and Rosamilia complement one another making the story lines flow well together.  As in most good series, Tufo and Rosamilia leave you with big cliffhangers for the next book in the series.   Stayed tuned, someone is going to get their comeuppance!

United States of Apocalypse is rich in dialog that is realistic, character developments that leave no room for doubt, and a story line that blends well between the two authors.  SPOILER:  There are no zombies!  There are however, some terrorists, mindless humans blindly following their leader.  However, there is a lot of fast-moving action and hilarious banter.  Individually the authors are excellent but putting them together … well, you will LOVE this one; best of both worlds.

Tufo writes clearly and develops his new characters slowly and steadily, making them even more realistic.  His old characters – Mike Talbot, Officer Lawrence Tines and Tracie – are just as we remembered them – sassy, sarcastic, fun, loud, and as realistic as seeing oneself in the mirror.  The new ones are just as vivid and rich with slime and evilness oozing from every pore of their being.

Rosamilia developed his characters and delivered his plot line well written.  He wrote the connecting information between the two stories, binding their outcomes together in a future way.  Rich in vocabulary one could envision each person, each action clearly and precisely.

As usual Sean Runnette is a perfect narrator in Mike Talbott’s world.  The cadence, emotion and energy he puts forth are perfect.  One cannot pick up a Mike Talbott story without hearing Runnette running through your head. I was excited to see that Julie Whelan narrated Rosamilia’s section as she is excellent as well.  Clear and soothing, listeners would have no trouble connecting her to Darlene’s world.  Whelan projected the correct emotions on just the right level – doubt, fear, concern and trepidation.  Both of these narrators brought the book and its characters to life.

There were no issues with production, everything went smoothly.

Audiobook was purchased for review by ABR.

Please find this complete review and many others at my review blog

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22 of 28 people found this review helpful

Worst ending

The end leaves soooooo many loose ends you think there is a second part but there isn’t it just ends in the middle of two storylines just ends like the writer got bored with it and said I’m done

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

What the heck??!

Is this a series? the story just STOPPED....I mean mid thought, mid sentence. Really good story but its like the funding stopped and they released the book anyway.... I am beyond disappointed! the narration was excellent as usual from Sean but seriously not happy right now!!

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Cheese, or corn?

I can’t decide if this book was as cheesy as it was corny. The story was completely unbelievable, and the characters were laughable in their development. The author knows little about guns. Finally, The female reader doing voices for male characters absolutely failed miserably… Made me laugh every time I heard her attempt it.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

I️ wish I️ loves this book

First off I’m a bit mark Tufo fan, and I️ have never heard of the other author.

I️ love the collapse of society premise one of my favorite genres. Now honesty I️ could of given the book a 1 for their simply not being enough Mike and BT scenes but since it is a mixed book I️ did not take that in to consideration.

Both stories felt incomplete and the timelines did not match up. One saying oh it wasn’t nuked after the other one said it turns out Boston was nuked. I️ got very confused at points and wished the timeline matched up better.

3 of 4 people found this review helpful

half finished

while it's interesting, the reader is left dangling in the end. quite disappointing. if this is pay off a series, then it makes sense, but that fact is not clear when you make the purchase. And in fact from the audible interface, it's still not apparent.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Concept is good, details are bad!

For a true lover of this genre
It is maddening. The performance was pretty good, however the lack of knowledge by the writers is evident.
I will not buy anymore In the series

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

I want my 9 hours back

Absolutely no continuity. Completely disjointed without logical progression. Someone forgot to take their Adderrall when writing this. Don't waste your time.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful