Good story, narrator, and characters

Good story, it kept me interested. The narrator is great, does all the voices & accents. A few giveaways that the author isn't from the US; parking lot called car park, diaper called nappy, and lots of mention of "coin operated BBQs" , which are a thing in Australia, but I've never seen one in US or Canada.

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Very entertaining.

I enjoyed every second of it. Great story and characters. I think I just discovered my new favorite author.

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magnificent book!

Author did such a good job making us invest in these wonderful characters. I really wish he would revisit them in the future, or maybe a prequel for Michelle, and Rick! :)

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Really good listen

Crazy realistic, something that could happen in the not too far future. Also good voice

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Mr.Rupert Degas 5*

Good story, but what made it was the "voice actor" - Mr. Degas. Sir, you have gone well beyond "narration". You merged from one character into the next, smoothly... flawlessly and kept us glued to the audiobook! Thank you for your performance!!

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great.

good story. binged it so it dragged a bit at parts but for a freeby this is top Notch and a great time killer.

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All 3 book from start to finish.

Wow just wow. Not since Stephen Kings early books have I experienced writing that slows time down to just the story.
And not since then have I embarked on a mission to read every single word from this author.

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Great story, great series

I pick this up free from Audible. I had no idea what to expect. Mr. Birmingham is a fantastic writer. His characters' dialogue is wonderful, witty, and smart. The color he adds to his story with his descriptions and metaphors is first-rate in every way. The pace of his stories clips along perfectly. And this series comes to a satisfying end. This series is an end of civilization story that features a wide cast of characters, each of whom is different and interesting. I can't recommend it enough. A quick word about the narrator. He was brilliant. He nailed the characters. I suspect he's Australian because the one Australian character in the story is captured flawlessly.

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Set Aside Expectations

The key to enjoying this book is to surrender logic and just embrace the stoopid. Despite some huuuuge plot holes, the undeniable disappointment in John Birmingham for fashioning a thought-provoking apocalyptic scenario and then turning it into a pointless "survive-at-all-costs" shoot-em-up can be put aside if you try hard enough. Fortunately, Birmingham's adrenaline-fuelled adventure is fast-paced enough to make that a little bit easier and the writing isn't horrible.
True, he introduces three straight-up silly groups of survivors:

• a pair of lesbians (& friends) delivering the orphaned children of Canada's Finance Minister to the border - I'm not kidding
• an ex-soldier and an NSC Analyst (& friends) basically sponging up random survivors on a cross-country trip to the Family Farm, and
• a ruthless self-serving 'The Humongous'-styled road-gang leader (sans-Hockey Mask) building a fiefdom in the wastes

..but their consolidations, tribulations, inner conflicts, and combats are well-managed. Birmingham drops relatable pop-culture references, delivers largely realistic (and often humorous) dialogue, and scripts/choreographs the rollercoaster-ride plot capably.

Also in the audiobook's favor: Audible Originals (Australia) Inc. orchestrated a coup when they cast Rupert Degas to read these books. His diction, timbre, cadence, and voice-acting are without peer.. but his tone is absolutely pitch-perfect for Birmingham's intention. Bravo, sir.

As an example of genre literature (Dystopian/Speculative Fiction), this book is worth an execrable 2 stars out of 10.. but if you can manage to check your brain at the door and just enjoy the action-heavy ride, it rates 7/10-stars. These few hours of nonsense are unlikely to rot your mind (if you don't make stuff like this a habit).
You should absolutely give this fun distraction a try if you can get it - as I did - from the 'Plus' catalog.. but if they ask for a Credit, better mindless entertainment options beckon.

[Note: don't bother with this book unless you are following the series. Books One & Two are indispensable for setting up the "12 weeks-post" scenarios in this installment.. 'American Kill Switch' has Zero standalone merit]

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Excellent end to trilogy

Best book of the series. So far one of the best end of the world titles I have ever listened too. Possibly better than “One Second After”.

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1 person found this helpful