Bad Radio

The Emergent Earth #1

by Michael Langlois

Sixty years ago Abe Griffin saved the world and gained eternal youth.Or so he thought.Now, a man that Abe believed to be long dead is killing the surviving members of Abe's old squad in order to reclaim the relics that they have kept hidden for decades. The relics form an ancient beacon that must never be used, in a ritual that must never be completed. But the end of the world requires more than just activating the beacon. It requires Abe.With help from the granddaughter of his oldest friend, Abe must learn the truth about his immortal body, while at the same time trying to stop a horrifying series of supernatural opponents from sweeping away everything that he cares about.

Genres: Fantasy, Thriller, Horror, Paranormal, Urban Fantasy, Fiction, Science Fiction

408 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 21, 2011

About the author

Michael Langlois lives in Texas with his family, two dogs, a cat, and BB, The Most Confident Rabbit in the World.

When he's not playing tabletop board games, video games, or waxing nostalgic about zombies on his blog, he will occasionally stop procrastinating and write something.

You can follow his antics at http://michael-langlois.net.

Reviews

[Tammy Chase · Rating 5 out of 5]

-IF you like heroes...
-IF you like heroines...
-IF you like Urban Fantasy with a bit of Horror and Mystery thrown in...

You have GOT to read Bad Radio by Michael Langlois, I mean it! Go now to your favorite book site and get it. Trust me.

OK, I'm calm. I'm gonna insert the book summary here so I can get an iced drink because this book is hot. 5 STARS hot!

Sixty years ago Abe Griffin saved the world and gained eternal youth.

Or so he thought.

Now, a man that Abe believed to be long dead is killing the surviving members of Abe's old squad in order to reclaim the relics that they have kept hidden for decades.

The relics form an ancient beacon that must never be used, in a ritual that must never be completed. But the end of the world requires more than just activating the beacon.

It requires Abe.

With help from the granddaughter of his oldest friend, Abe must learn the truth about his immortal body, while at the same time trying to stop a horrifying series of supernatural opponents from sweeping away everything that he cares about.



The open scene in this story begins on a farm. Abe Griffen is bucking bales of hay up into the loft and remembering his wife. He had lost her five years earlier and had been living a very secluded life in the country. Most of his friends are gone, or will soon be. After all, Abe and his friends are close to their eighties. They feel old, look old. They have married and had children and retired and rested. Well, except for Abe. He may have lived almost eighty years but he has the body of a thirty year old. He watched his wife age and die. Used tricks to hide his lack of aging until forced to retire to his farm. He is done.
Having been the leader of a special unit during WWII, Abe has seen and experienced things most people will never ever see.
So after neatly stacking his hay, closing up the house and taking care of the legistics, Abe sits down in a comfortable chair, content and at peace, and puts a gun under his chin.
Someone forgot to tell Abe that heroes don't get the easy way out. Especially if their mission isn't over. Michael Langlois knows this and proceeds too tell us all about it and Abe's journey in Bad Radio.

What a fantastic and thrilling ride. From th knock on Abe's door by a compelling young woman to running for their lives and racing to save the world. Abe and the granddaughter of a fellow squad member and friend are faced with the inevitable decision to sacrifice their lives to save the world from a psychopathically mis-guided man in search of revenge.

I so loved this book I have recommended it to friends all over. I can not wait until Michael Langlois writes more for me to devour! I wonder if he takes bribes?

[Jeffrey Poole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thrilling sci-fi story I finished in one sitting!

I should also include the fact that some people might classify this as a horror story. I personally thought it more of a thriller/horror. :)

This story centers around a WWII vet by the name of Abe. As with any good story, allusions are made to Abe's past, where during the 1940s SOMETHING happened that he doesn't want to talk about and as a result of that occurence, he has the appearance of a thirty year old when in reality he's in his mid 80s. The rest of Abe's squad is being hunted and killed as the person behind the events in the 1940s wants to finish what he started and he needs to the pieces of an item that Abe and his team took with them.

The writing was superb. The action/fight scenes were very well done. The descriptions of the "baitbags" was quite gruesome. Maybe it was me and my active imagination, but I had no problems visualizing anyone that had been "coerced". I'll leave it at that 'cause I don't give away spoilers! Needless to say, the action picked up immediately and I was hooked, finishing the story in only one day.

I've always loved books that talk about clandestine operations, secret missions that happened years ago, or dark and shady people doing dark and shady things. This book covered all those bases. It was a tad gruesome in a few places, and I'm not usually a fan of gore. Well, I still am not, but I wasn't about to stop reading as a result of it. I would have liked to have had a little more depth and explanation as to the significance of the pit, how it worked, why it did what it did to those who used it, etc. Again, I have to be vague here as I won't give away spoilers. Anyone who's read the story will know exactly what I'm referring to. I had a minor issue with the fact that people kept getting hurt (painfully) and yet were able to shrug off the injuries or else would get "patched up" and nothing more would be spoken about it.

All in all, a very exciting book that lovers of sci-fi, thriller, fantasy, and even horror would love. Pick up a copy! You won't be disappointed!

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bad Radio by Michael Langlois is a thrilling supernatural story. It follows Abe, a veteran of WWII whose unit went after the crazy stuff. While tracking down a man named Piotr Abe falls into a pit filled with liquid and has not aged a day since. Returning to his normal life back in the states was difficult for him and as the fact that he was not aging became more obvious he began to live in seclusion on his farm. On the day he has decided to end his life himself he receives a visitor related to his past. One of his old Army buddies is in a bad way and his granddaughter arrives to find Abe and see if he can help. While she doesn't believe that the young man in front of her is the same man who served with her grandfather she figures since they look identical it may be enough to reach her grandfather and help. Unable to turn his back on someone he went through so much with in the war Abe agrees to help.

That agreement starts a rollercoaster ride of action and horror that is leftover from what they were unable to finish during the War. Abe is an excellent character who has some unique abilities besides the forever young thing. He also has a temper that can make him a bit of a liability in certain situations. The supernatural elements are very well done, with the "baitbags" (read the book to find out) being able to blend in with normal people for the most part.

The book was fantastic and did a great job of inspiring the "I'm just gonna read one more chapter" feeling until the book is over. It's a fairly simple one or two sitting read and if the book is able to suck you in it won't take more than that. I would recommend this for fans of supernatural thrillers/horror stories with some unique bad guys and a ton of action. I personally will be reading the follow up book, Walker, without a doubt.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bad Radio delivers dispatches from the front lines of a sub rosa war between humanity and an implacable, monstrous force that arose during WW II. Abe (the veteran) and Anne (the "new recruit") are humanity's bulwark and sabre, each a satisfying hero with an edge and ties into the back-story that kept me hooked. The story drops quickly into the fray, interleaving enough exposition to bring the reader up to speed, and builds to the precipitous tension of a stretched rubber band while snapping all the way. This is a thriller that gives you your kicks and creeps in the same shot.

[J.H. Sked · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an incredibly fast-paced book, which just kept the action and the thrills coming. Part war-story, part sci-fi, it also dealt quite sensitively with the idea of immortality as a curse, and the awful sense of loneliness and despair it induces. Although it could slot quite easily into the fantasy/sci-fi genre, action and thriller fans could quite easily get into this; the characters are so deftly drawn that the pages almost turn themselves. Highly recommended.

[Jeremiah · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the opening scene of this book, the main character Abe is chunking 60-pound bales of hay out of his ancient blue pickup into the loft of his barn. He has been working on this farm for 80 years, but he doesn’t claim to be a farmer. Abe is in his 80s, but you would never be able to tell.

With the body of a thirty year old, and the mind of a much older man, Abe had to hide his age from the outside world. Abe has had to watch all of his friends that survived the war, get married, have children, grow old, and retire. He has buried most of his friends as well as his beloved wife, and spent the last 5 years closing everyone out of his life. Abe is ready for his eternal life to end.

Abe was in his favorite chair with his 1911 pistol under his chin when he heard a knock at his front door. Standing on his doorstep was the very pretty granddaughter of his war buddy Patty. She needs Abe to come with her to see Patty.

Abe and Patrick were in World War II together, they were in a secret unit, their unit was different, and they were special. They saw things that they never thought they would have to see again. They stood up against a maniac and with an accident ruined his plans. 60 years ago that special unit saved the World.

Now Abe, with the help of some old friends, as well as new friends, must set out to save the work again.

[b]Point of View –[/b] Langlois writes this story from the point of view of Abe. This should give us an insight into the mind of the main character, but I don’t think he takes full advantage of that opportunity. We never really get to see the emotional side of Abe, although this might be by design. The character development happens in the beginning of the book but with fewer and fewer developments later.

[b]My Reaction –[/b] Although I really like the story, I didn’t get emotionally involved with any of the characters or the story itself for that matter. This is a nice book if you are in need of some reading material but don’t expect to fall in love with it. This book has some great action scenes that make the story move along, but they kind of run together.

[b]Final Words -[/b] Buy this book for the sake of a good read. Don't buy this book if you are expecting a emotional connection with the story or the characters.

[Charlotte English · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bad Radio is most definitely a thriller, but otherwise could be categorised as fantasy, supernatural, horror and/or science fiction. It’s unusual. The protagonist, Abe, is a second world war veteran; he’s over eighty years old but he still has the body of a man of barely thirty. All his army colleagues are dying of old age, his own wife died a few years ago, and he’s ready to move on himself.

But just as he’s preparing to end his life, the granddaughter of one of his closest comrades appears at his door, asking him to visit her grandfather. In doing so, he discovers that some very old business has come back to trouble him again. With Anne’s help, he must track down and eliminate one very dangerous old man…

This was a quick read; I went through it in an afternoon. The pace is pretty frantic and it’s hard to put this one down. Abe and Anne are in constant danger and up against some terrific odds in their fight against Piotr and his world-threatening plans. They get ample opportunities to be incredibly heroic. Incredibly. Is it possible for human beings to be so relentlessly brave?

Luckily, Abe may be superhuman but he isn’t perfect. He suffers anger management issues… more than a little. Anne’s task (along with everything else) is to try to keep him from losing it completely – and he certainly has some provocation. Their friendship is an interesting and a complex one. I’d have liked to learn more about Anne on a normal level – what does she do when she isn’t being a crack shot and insanely courageous? What was her life like, other than being trained as a top gunwoman by her grandpa? Perhaps we’ll learn more about her in a future book.

The enemies are suitably scary – this is where the horror part comes in – and there’s oodles of tension. The ending came a bit abruptly; I would’ve liked to see Abe and Anne breathe a bit after all that relentless action and take a moment to reflect. But otherwise it’s hard to criticise this book. A great read, and – as I have demonstrated – not necessarily limited only to those who thrive on thrillers.

[Mike Kalmbach · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bottom line:

Fast and compelling read for any fan of contemporary fantasy. Great elements of a thriller thrown into every chapter.

Premise:

Abe Griffin obtains eternal youth during a secret mission in World War II. Now, sixty years later, an old enemy returns to kill Abe's surviving squad members and reclaim the relics obtained during that secret mission.

Likes:

o Loved the bait bags. They're the perfect enemy.
o While Abe is immortal, he's not impervious to pain. Several times throughout the book, his weaknesses are shown.
o Virtually every chapter ends on a cliffhanger. Each one is well done.
o Good use of foreshadowing and slowly revealing layers of truth throughout the story.
o Overall, very smooth writing style, and plot points flow smoothly from one to the next.

Dislikes:

o Very few. Only a few places of confusion, caused in part because I was reading too fast, wanting to find out what happened next. This book definitely kept me up late a few nights.
o There were a couple of points that were over-explained or hit just a little too hard (Abe not wanting Anne to get hurt.) However, this didn't take away too much from the overall story.

Full disclosure:

I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. When the paperback becomes available, I plan to purchase a copy.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked the opening here. The not so elderly protagonist was a cool idea and surprisingly enough, he actually felt old in how he thought and interacted with the world. It really caught me. Unfortunately that part of the story withered as the story went along.

This's a problem I often have with fantasy books and immortal characters. They act like they are perennial 20 year-olds instead of individuals with lots of life experience.

Once I got over that, I enjoyed the story. There's enough world building to keep things interesting and moving along, but not so much that we needed infodumps. Score.

The literal magical negro was a bit much though.

[Jessie Verino · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really, 3 1/2 stars. I got this as a free read on my Kindle and wasn't disappointed. The action is pretty much non-stop, but it felt incomplete. There were a few aspects of the story that were just never explained. Still a good read, though, and I'll probably pick up Mr. Langlois' second novel.

[CJ Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another book I'm not entirely certain how it got into my library. It starts off enough like a traditional thriller novel, with a manly man doing manly things and protecting women, and all of a sudden I realized Langlois was doing the same thing the Punisher television series did. It was talking in a quiet voice that I sometimes couldn't hear over the plot about the way men are conditioned to deal with trauma in our society. And of course while it's doing that there's plenty of thrilling heroics against enemies created from ourselves.

[MICHAEL G. ALTEA · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read

I liked this book. Some people may not . Kind of reminds of The great and secret show. I'm also a WW II aficionado so this was up my ally. I read this book because I was able to get a copy of Fireteam Zero and I wanted to get a feel of the atmosphere and background of the game.

[L. Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lovely Lovecraftian setting with stock action writing, which sucks all of the horror out of it before it could even start building. The writing was lively enough, even waxing poetic at times (mainly in the first chapters), but then drifted in the well-rutted tracks of the tale of the hard-boiled hero against the supervillain who plan foresaw (or meticulously elicited) the hero's every decision.

[Christian Hemion · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to admit , I read this book solely because I had bought the board game (Fireteam Zero) inspired by it (or perhaps the other way round). The story is good though the details are sparse. It lacks the rich description of character and place that bring a book alive.

[Bill Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good

I picked this up after playing a few games of Fire Team Zero. A pretty good read overall. Not too heavy and decent plot.

[Nathan Shumate · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little shaky on its opening, but a good sold semi-Lovecraftian adventure by the end. (Biggest nitpick: a "small town" of 30,000 is too big for locals to notice "outsiders" as such.)

[Sakuko · Rating 5 out of 5]

Abe 'Sarge' Griffin served in WWII 60 years ago. His squad was responsible for finding more unusual (meaning supernatural) threads. After destroying a polish madman's weird ritual and taking the arcane pieces with them, so he could not try again, they went home, but Abe was never the same again. He has not aged a day, is faster, stronger, tougher then any human ought to be.

Being on the verge of killing himself from ennui and loneliness he is visited by the granddaughter of his old squad-mate Paddy. Paddy is old and demented, but Anne, the granddaughter, tells Abe that Paddy has not been himself for days, trying to flee the home crawling, trying to reach Abe anyway he can. Abe agrees to come with her to visit Paddy and trying to reassure him, but as it turns out, things are far from fine. The past they left behind in Poland has caught up with Abe and the left-overs of his old squad, and they have to figure out a way to end it, this time for good.

I enjoyed this book very much. It's a mixture of superhero action scenes (though Abe is not actually wearing a costume, he displays typical abilities and powers of a classic superhero) and lovecraftian horror, with some military bits thrown in.
The Action is varied, engaging and fun. The scenes are described well, so I always had a good sense of what's going on even in more complex tussles.
There are monsters, fanatics and people driven crazy. The author managed some pretty disturbing images and scenes, but it never felt like too much, if you know what I mean. It always fitted well within the story and did not seem to be purely for shock value.

I liked the characters. Abe tells the story from his perspective, but there are also a bunch of other support characters. Abe, for all his old demons and problems is a pretty sympathetic character and I like his thought process, tough deviance, rough nature and protective instincts, but I also could understand his deep flaws. Anne is a pretty awesome character too, though, understanding and independent, weak only when the action is up.

I simply gobbled the book up and am very happy to know there's still one more part out there, because I'm not quite done with this author yet.

[A Book Vacation · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this novel; from start to finish, Langlois takes the reader on a breathtaking roller coaster ride, battling evil in its most heinous form as it attempts to take over the world, one town at a time. Abe Griffin is an amazing character, and I really enjoyed his depth and perception as he attempts to restore peace to the world, save his squad and, once again, all of humanity.

This story begins with Abe, an elderly man trapped in that of a 30 year olds body, never aging, contemplating suicide after the death of his wife. Having severed all ties, he’s ready to take the next step toward eternal rest, but the world has other plans for Abe, and when the granddaughter of one of Abe’s surviving comrades comes calling, he is quickly sucked back into a world he gave up on long ago.

This fast-paced read is extremely gripping and hard to put down once started. There is a feel of constant danger all around as the main characters, Abe and Anne, settle themselves to fight against the “bait bags,” relatively normal looking humans filled with worms, given superhuman strength, and evil to the core. While the descriptions of these enemies are indeed disgusting, they are the perfect enemy, and as Abe and Anne put two and two together, figuring out the source of these grotesque enemies intent on destroying them and all mankind, the story comes sharply into focus. I really enjoyed this novel and was especially intrigued by the story behind Abe’s immortality and lack of aging, though on occasion I found myself a little confused. However, that is no fault of the author at all, but rather because I was reading so fast and I missed important information. I was so wrapped up in the story that I had to literally force myself to slow down and reread for clarity in order to understand it all; it’s that engaging, and I highly recommend this thrilling novel to all...

To see my full review (4/26):

http://bookvacations.wordpress.com/20...

[Janny · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't think I've ever said this before, but I really loved how beautiful the writing was in this novel. And I don't mean beautiful as in purple prose-ish or overly wordy or whatever, but I mean writing that just flows. The perfect balance between metaphors and clear cut writing. You know, the kind that makes it really easy to read and enjoy and you can just cruise through the whole book in one sitting. And the character's strong voice doesn't hurt either.

One thing that almost put me off reading was the blurb, so if it sounds weird or uninteresting, just ignore it and jump straight to reading. Some might find the start a bit slow, but I really enjoyed the fact that the book gets a little existential at the beginning. It's just our protagonist putting his affairs in order and thinking about the life he's had before getting ready to blow his brains out. But the thing is that he's not sad about it. The guy sounds almost nostalgic. And here's where that awesome writing I mentioned comes into. Just read what our protag, Abe, has to say about ending his own life:

I wasn’t planning to check out because I was sad, just because life as I knew it had ended, all my friends, family, and world were in the past. I was just the last one, turning out the lights.

See what I mean? Awesome writing and a strong character voice. And the other characters are just as sympathetic and/or interesting. One of the things that always rubs me the wrong way is when the secondary female character is portrayed as weak or weepy or just a boring love interest, so the fact that Anne is painted as a kickass lady who's better at handling guns than Abe made me love this book even more.

And to top it all off, the plot turned out to be rather original, which surprised me because most urban fantasy books tend follow about the same ideas and patterns. But nope, this book involves war veterans and a really nice protagonist who suffers from sudden and weird bouts of pure anger he can't control. Suffice to say that I can't wait to get my hands on the sequel.

[Lee Dunning · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have been trying to do a few things these days. I have three books going at one time - a physical book, a digital book published by a traditional publisher (though it could be a small press), and a self-published book. There have been some stinkers along the way (in all formats), but Bad Radio is not one of them. I cannot believe I picked this book up for free. Just looking at the cover you can tell that a lot of care was taken in producing the book. The title even has a ring to it that is sometime lacking in a self-published book. It isn't all about the cover, though, it's about the writing, the story, the care in editing. Michael Langlois succeeded in all of these areas. The story is well-developed in both plot and character. Our hero is likable, capable, but flawed. He's a physical superman, but he has some definite issues upstairs. The female lead is no shrinking violet herself, and there is a good rationale behind it. It's left some scars, but it also keeps her alive in some very trying circumstances. Even the characters with smaller parts, like Henry, are very well thought out. The author knows his characters.

Lovecraft would have applauded much of what is contained in the pages of this story. I found the "Bad Radio" much easier to enjoy than a Lovecraft story, though. While there is definite threat, and a strong sense of "Crap, how are they going to get out of this mess?", you know that the characters are going to fight to the end to end the evil, and they're not going to end up writing their memoirs from the inside of a padded cell.

There are a couple of spots where I felt the description got a bit purple. It was almost as if someone had advised Mr. Langlois that he needed to get heavier into describing the color of the sky and the way it made the character feel, and things just got a bit out of hand. These spots are rare, though, so don't let that scare you off. The monsters inside the story might, but that is a whole different thing.

[A.L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bad Radio (The Emergent Earth) by Michael Langlois (2011)

Bad Radio is one of the best independently published books I’ve read this year. The story is well-written and formatted, and the story moves along at a breakneck pace. Michael Langlois is a good storyteller, with believable characters and a unique story. I haven’t read many horror stories, save for those written by Stephen King, but I would say this is on par with anything King has ever written.
The hero of Bad Radio is Abe, a perfectly normal human being, whose dip in a blood bath has turned him into a supernatural superman. Abe has outlived all his friends, and a wife he dearly loved, and just as he’s about to put a bullet in his brain, someone knocks on his door. That knock is delivered by Anne, the granddaughter of a former comrade-in-arms who is dying in a nursing home and asking for Abe. Anne begs him to come and see her grandfather, Patrick, and Abe reluctantly agrees.
When grandpa is killed by two maniacs in front of their eyes, Abe and Anne embark on a cross-country trip to find another member of Abe’s squad, a man named Henry. Sixty years ago, Abe and his squad successfully destroyed a plot to destroy the world, but the death of Patrick at the hands of what Abe calls “bait bags,” former humans who have been filled with worms, means that the man responsible for creating the original bait bags has resurfaced. Abe and Henry have lived in fear of this day since the end of WWII. They know who is responsible and they know what he wants – pieces of an altar that the squad stole and smuggled out of Europe at the end of the war. Without the altar, his plan can’t be carried out.
The book never stops, but moves at a break neck speed. I get a little squeamish, which is why I don’t read horror stories, but this was so well-written I was sucked in and had to finish it. If you like horror, I think you will enjoy Bad Radio. And I have no idea what the title means.

[Wealhtheow · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the midst of WWII, a small band of soldiers interrupted a dark ritual. They never knew just what it was supposed to do; all they knew was that after they stopped it, one of them was immortal. Decades later, Abe is still as strong and youthful looking as ever. When his old comrades start being murdered, he and one of their granddaughters seek the answer why. What they find is more horrific than they could have ever imagined. A man driven insane by the atrocities he witnessed is trying to destroy the world by opening up a portal to the Devourer and its kin, merciless feeding and killing worms. The story really won my interest when it started dropping clues that Abe didn't just get eternal youth in that ritual all those years ago--his personality also started changing. Since the story is told in the first person, that means that we, the reader, are trapped audiences to a man realizing how little he knows himself any longer, and how scary he's gotten. Not where I thought the story was going!

Abe is surprisingly easy to relate to as a main character, and he and his colleagues are a wonderful mix of competent and totally out of their depth. The plot is super creepy, the magical creatures even creepier, and the action scenes are exciting. Definitely worth a read, not least because it's currently free on Amazon!

[Wolffe · Rating 4 out of 5]

I honestly didn't expect to enjoy this as much as I did. Langlois does a very good job with characterization, and you really end up liking the main characters. He throws a bit of humor in the book, which is welcome since most of it is dark and tense. My favorite character was Mr. Careful who I wished got more time in the book having appeared late and being absent for most of it.

His world building and the basic premise had me wondering how accurate his historical details were. Having no working knowledge of WWII, I had to stop several times to ask my husband if such and such was plausible. He agreed some of it was, and for the rest I gave Langlois the benefit of the doubt.

The story did drag its feet a bit in the middle and I caught myself wondering how there was still half the novel left to go. I was very happy with the ending however. I applaud the author for wrapping things up while managing to leave the world open-ended enough for sequels. Too many of my recent reads stopped before a true conclusion to hook you into the sequel and Langlois proves you don't have to do that to keep readers interested in what's going to happen next.

In short, this is an entertaining, action filled, alien smashing romp. If you're into old war heroes, WWII, guns, alternate dimension aliens, and very cool little paranormal robot type things, you'll love this. If you have a problem with gore, people getting torn apart or lots of people dying (including fairly fleshed out secondary characters) then give it a pass.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

the title of Langlois' debut novel never really gets around to making sense, but other than that, we have a very well-written, twisty horror novel.

Abe is a WWII vet, and just about ready to die. his wife and most of his buddies have already passed on, and he's not particularly connected to the modern, fast-paced, electronic world. for all that he's withering away on his remote farm, though, Abe isn't an old man: his special-ops team once stumbled onto a dark ritual in war-torn Poland, and he's never aged a day since. the man responsible for that evil ritual was never caught and seems to be active again, so Abe is jerked out of the twilight of his life and back into battle.

rather than retreading some existing horror mythos of vampires and demons, Langlois comes up with a rather original flavor of horrible monster for our heroes to tangle with. bad guys are juicily bad, but the good guys are complex and flawed, and it's easy to care what happens to them. pleasantly surprising, most of the silly cliches are avoided, so we don't even have to deal with forced romantic subplots just for the sake of having a contractually-obligated sex scene tossed in, and as an added bonus no cliffhanger ending to set up a sequel! with a muted, dark cover looking a whole lot like John Jude Palencar's work, this is a very well put-together book, especially for something apparently indie-published.

[Briar Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this one. Fast-paced, well-edited, gloriously creepy. (And on a shallow note: GORGEOUS cover.) The book has a lot of action, but there is enough time spent on character development to allow readers to connect with the protagonists. The characters, and their interactions with each other, rang true to me; for example, though Abe and Anne obviously care about one another, there is no forced sudden romance.

Great quick read: nothing incredibly dense or mind-bending, just a fun story with intriguing characters and sufficient body horror to make you squirm for days after you've finished the book.

And now that I've lavished the book with praise, I'm going to address the one thing that drove me nuts:

A town of 30,000 people is not a tiny town. It's not even particularly small.

I grew up in the country and the closest town of any size was about 15,000 people. It has a movie theater, grocery store, Wal-Mart Supercenter, Walgreens, two hardware stores, two auto parts stores, five or six motels, one nice hotel with actual suites, and about fifteen restaurants. A town twice that size would not be a "small town" with just a run-down diner and one cheap motel. For that you want a population more like 800 or 1,000.

Small detail that probably wouldn't bother most people at all, but for me it was a glaring case of Did Not Do the Research.

[Julie Matthews · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just finished this and it was great!

I loved the urban fantasy setting. Abe is a great protagonist: a good guy with a moral code, but not a perfect goody-goody. I also think the author captures a lot of the essence of the "Greatest Generation". Abe is an old man in a young body, continuing to fight the good fight.

His companion (future love interest? That's the way it's setting up anyway...), Anne, is the well-trained and slightly supernatural granddaughter of one of Abe's war buddies. She's nothing like Abe's late wife - she's very much a woman of HER time, much like Abe is a product of his time. The cross-generation acrobatics are a really fun part of this book.

And the Big Bad, Piotr, is interesting. If I have a fault with this book it's that I want to know more. Specifically, more about Piotr. I feel like his character and his mystical background could use a little more fleshing out.

Having said that, I'm eager to pick up the next book in the series. Abe is a great character, Anne has the '90s heroine thing going for her, and I'm hoping the rest of the team gets some attention, too.

[Adam Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Abe Griffin has fought his battles, he has outlived most of his friends, he has locked himself away from the world, left his demons behind him, and is ready to die, but things never go that easy. Moments before his suicide, a stranger comes a knocking with news that one of his few remaining friends is in trouble and needs his help. Against his wishes Abe is dragged back into a world where the monsters of his past aren't quite as dead as he had hoped. An old enemy is seeking to finish what was started so many years ago in Warshaw.

To be honest I read this book because of the cover. I might have read the synopsis when I bought it, might not have. Either way I went in not knowing anything about it, and loved every minute.

The story was gripping and engaging. It kept me going at every chapter right through to the end. The characters were interesting and the plot had a great pace. While it wasn't touched upon as much as I would have hoped, the story offers an interesting take on the observer principle that makes me want to see more of this world.

A very interesting book.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't understand the title after reading the book. So Ava at some point fell into a pit of sorts and was covered in blood. Somehow that stops the aging process so he is perpetually 20-something. Abe and his military buddies each ended up with a piece of some kind of object that, when pieced together form some kind of bad thing with bad powers. When some weird guys come on the scene and start killing Abe's military buddies to obtain the pieces Abe vows to stop them. This is where it starts getting weird. These bad guys are controlled by some kind of snake/lizard type creature that's inside of them that gives them super powers and makes it difficult to kill.The boss of the bad guys has some kind of master plan to rid the world of the horrible human race who has done nothing but perpetuate evil. The book started out with promise and then left me shaking my head. Weird.

[Ralph Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

What can I not say good about this book?!? The beginning drew me in, and wanting to find out more. Without throwing spoilers (for those who have not read it) I was wrapped up in it before I hit the 5th chapter. I started reading this thinking it may be a Young Adult book, (not my regular reading genre) but if it is classified that way, it is WAY wrong! I was spending way too much time thinking about the story, when I was not reading it, and when I got back to it, it was like - NO! Really? F'ing A!!

Seriously, this is one of the better ones I have read in quite a long while. I look forward like crazy to the second book, "BAD LIARS" I think it is called....

I also am looking forward to "WALKER" the start of another series Langlois is working on.

[Beau Raines · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book quickly drew me into the story and characters. Why was Abe immortal? Why did some people have that sense of the bad things? The mental imagery the author created was great, particularly in his descriptions of the worms and dreams that the characters had.

But the author seemed to get tired of writing the book. Quite a lot of book went into getting good and evil together to duke it out and then the fight was over really quickly. There was some description of the hell that was to be unleashed, but it was brief. Evil succumbed to good, with barely any fight at all. And we never really got the insight into why evil wanted to destroy everything.

The book was a great read until the final chapters. There was a great foundation of a story and it just ended.