A year has passed since the Sutter Buttes incident. Jack Dawson and Naomi Perrault, having failed to find the elusive bag of lethal New Horizons seed, are fired, and their secret agency shut down.
In Los Angeles, Naomi is recruited by a self-made billionaire in the pharmaceuticals industry. Her colleagues have made such progress, they must have New Horizons seed. In India, Jack finds a terrifying secret in a remote village. In Russia, Army Captain Sergei Mikhailov investigates a shadowy facility where everyone has mysteriously disappeared. None of them understand the horror about to be unleashed across the globe, one they may not be able to stop…
Born in 1963, Michael Hicks grew up in the age of the Apollo program and spent his youth glued to the television watching the original Star Trek series and other science fiction movies, which continues to be a source of entertainment and inspiration. Having spent the majority of his life as a voracious reader, he has been heavily influenced by writers ranging from Robert Heinlein to David Weber, and many in between. Having finally retired from government service, Michael and his lovely wife, along with their Siberan cat, Nina, are enjoying life as expats in France.
Michael has done it again. Once more I was up reading way too late into the night. Tight, well written, gripping, fast paced plot that sucks you into the book and grabs you by the throat as you read "just one" more chapter. I must admit I seriously question if I ever want to eat corn ever again
Holy cow what a Great story! It has a good back story to remind of us of what happened in Season of the Harvest, get us caught up, and then it takes us a wild ride! Michael is such a fantastic storyteller that I felt as if I were right there with our heroes throughout the whole story and I tell you, I didn't want to be. The bad guys (harvesters) are so terrifying and yet so believable, and I was so caught up in the story that I could almost believe it was real. There was absolutely NOTHING wrong with this book except that it ended too soon and now I have to wait for the next one. Congratulations M R Hicks, you've done it again!
Had to read this as soon as i had finished book one! This second book moves at a faster pace with non stop action, just when you think the characters have a situation licked .. Mr Hicks turns it on full blast with edge of the seat action and suspense. Another superb read and I want to read book three NOW !!
Move over Reacher, there's a new Jack in town and his name's Dawson.
I was excited to pick up this book because I had read Season of Harvest, by Michael R. Hicks @KreelanWarrior the first in the Harvest trilogy, and it was great. The details of the characters brought the thriller to life and left me wanting more.
Bitter Harvest picks up a year after Season of Harvest ended with Jack Dawson, former FBI agent, and Naomi Perrault, Ph.D., M.D., leader in her field of genetic research, being pulled out of their safe environment, their new names and identities stripped by political forces that take over after the most recent election. That is just the beginning of a tumultuous thrill ride that sees Jack travel to India, and then Russia to fight against the horrors brought to life by the Beta Three seed samples, and brings Naomi close to the man responsible for selling the seeds to agricultural research facilities around the globe as she begins a new job with the firm, Morgan Pharmaceuticals.
Each chapter leads you to the next, introducing another struggle, another character, another part of the world. It is brilliantly done. The author is able to breathe life into characters so that you become invested. For example, in one paragraph his description and character details will have you completely rooting for the person, and in the next paragraph the character is killed or turns on others because it is genetically altered. Just rips your heart out (figuratively speaking, seriously). The battle between the good guys and the bad is a compelling global event.
As a cat lover and owner, I appreciate the furry heroes in Hicks’ trilogy. Even the newly elected President in the story commented, “I’ve always been a dog person, but when I came down here for this meeting I was greeted by half a dozen cats and a brace of Secret Service people wearing thermal imagers.” Cheers to the feline!
I don’t want to get too far into the story and accidentally ruin it for anyone; but just know that when I was reading it I told a friend who is not connected to the internet and does not have a nook or kindle that, “Mark my words, you will hear the name of Michael R. Hicks either through his books, a television series based on his stories, or a major motion picture – somehow you will hear of him.” (I’m buying her a Nook for Christmas.)
His writing style rivals some of my favorite authors; and he has not only been an inspiration to me in pursuing my dream of writing, but the carrot on a stick of how high or how far I need to go. This series could make it to the big screen; I started casting in my head as I was reading.
I encourage you to buy this book, Bitter Harvest. I think you also need to find the first segment, Season of Harvest. It would make an enjoyable weekend of reading. To say I’m looking forward to Reaping The Harvest, the third and last (alas) book in the trilogy, is putting it mildly. Instead I will say to Michael, “Please do not do anything else except write – no more chores, no extra-curricular activity – you can eat and run because that will help with the creative juices, but please hurry!”
OKAY. Spoilers for Season of the Harvest are most likely in here, so if you haven't read it, don't read my review first.
This was another awesome offering. Unlike many series that just kind of fall apart after the first amazing book (I'm looking at you, Hunger Games) there is a whole lot of awesome coming back. Unlike the first book, where you have this group of Harvesters trying to propagate their species, you have book two where the remnants of EDS are all "ha, motherfuckers, we got all your corn...OHSHITWE'REMISSINGABAG." (Just in a less hysterical fashion.)
Naomi's brilliance continues to shine through even in the highest-stress and most depressing of situations, and the Airborne sequences elicited some giggles from me - my husband was 82nd and the "going from suicidal to just insane" speed was hysterical.
One of the things I love about Hicks is that he doesn't try to screw with you *too* much. When you see someone you think is a bad guy, they usually are, and it makes me happy that they get called as it happens - like the chick from the first book whose name eludes me at the moment. Jack called her out for selling out to the Harvesters and it WAS ACTUALLY LEGIT. Loved it.
Also, a huge kudos to Hicks for actually including some resolution in the epilogues and not just leaving us on a cliffhanger. Those of you reading along at home know what I mean.
But yes. I twitter-promised a review to the author when I tweeted him how amazing the book was and I think I have rambled on enough and I cannot waiiiit for book three!
Jeg rett og slett digget bok nr. 1 i denne serien. Jeg var noe usikker på om en thriller rundt emnet genmodifisert mat skulle være noe. Der ble jeg veldig positivt overrasket! Bok nr. 1 i serien står egentlig på egne bein. Jeg var ikke klar over at Hicks planla en trilogi på tidspunktet bok 1 kom ut. "Bitter Harvest" kom derfor som en skikkelig positiv overraskelse da han kontaktet meg for å høre om jeg var klar for nok en editeringsoppgave.
"Bitter Harvest" er minst like god som "Season of the Harvest" - som fikk en klokkeklar 5'er av meg! Jeg ville nok ha lest "Season of the Harvest" først for å få hele historien, og da er det genialt at Hicks har lagt denne gratis ut på Amazon for en begrenset periode.
Tempoet i boka er om mulig enda høyere enn bok 1. Likevel beholder forfatteren realismen i fortellingen. Hvem vet egentlig hva som foregår i de svære farmasøytiske firmaene på kloden vår. Hvor mye forskning foregår som vi ikke kjenner til? Og ikke minst - hvor skremmende kan det ikke bli dersom forskningen som pågår i verden idag kommer ut av kontroll med resultater man ikke ante konturene av i utgangspunktet?
"Bitter Harvest" balanserer hårfint mellom realisme og fantasy. Det er en thriller/action bok som avslutter med en cliffhanger. Jeg kan ikke vente med å få bok 3 mellom hendene! "Bitter Harvest" er planlagt utgitt 14. september i år, og du kan notere interessen HER dersom du ønsker å få beskjed øyeblikket den er sluppet :-) Happy Read!
Just when you think the story couldn't get any better, Hicks takes the story line, the plotting, and the action to new heights. Hicks' writing reminds me a lot of the old movie theater serials that we lovingly referred to as "cliff hangers" because each episode ended with the hero or heroine in a life threatening situation and we had to wait for the next episode to find out what happened. Hicks employs the same technique in Bitter Harvest when switching between scenes, he ends each scene with his hero or heroine in a life threatening situation, keeping us on the edge of our seats, keeping us reading to find out what happened to the characters we have come to love and root for. This isn't a book that should be read before reading "Season of the Harvest" because to fully enjoy this read you must know what transpired in book one of this trilogy.
Bitter Harvest is the second book in the Harvest Trilogy by Michael R. Hicks. The story starts one year after the ending of book one. When the world thought it was safe, outbreaks of the Harvesters occur, almost simultaneously, in cities around the world.
Jack Dawson, Naomi Perrault, and others from the first book, Season of the Harvest, try to understand what is happening and end up fighting the second generation of Harvesters, which are more deadly than then first—and are multiplying.
The storyline quickly engrosses and the action never falters. You will be turning pages quickly to see what happens next. The sequel will be released this year; I will be one of the first buyers.
This second book followed nicely after the first and gave the reader more of the monster eats the world. Make that shape shifting monsters. I like the way the science takes a prominent role in the story. Genetics and the use of modified crops make the story especially interesting. The book keeps the reader engaged by keepong the action going but I was especially caught up in the geopolitical reactions to the events in the story. Well done science fiction. The only drawback I found was that the characters appeared shallow and I was sometimes confused as to who was who. They came and went too fast.
Michael Hicks combines a couple major fears here: the collapse of civilization and the contamination of humanity's food supply. He does so with a vengeance. This second book in his Harvest trilogy is far more disturbing than his first. The nasty stuff programmed into that genetically modified corn comes to roost all across the globe and starts spreading, posing the ultimate challenge for our heroes and world leaders. Basically clueless governments have no clue or hope. It kind of pissed me off, but I believe that was Hicks' intention. I really want to see how this develops.
Mr. Hicks, you, sir, certainly know how to tell a great story! I was expecting to be a bit let down by this, the second book of the trilogy, as I usually am by so many second books. I was very pleasantly surprised. The story and main characters continue to develop, and that is important to me. And the pacing was just perfect. Also, again very important, no grammatical or spelling errors, and maybe only one or two typos. My thanks to the editor(s). 4.5 stars! Well, gotta go. Book 3 is waiting for me! Enjoy!
Normally book 2 is a letdown if book 1 is great. This one is a pleasant exception. It takes a fun and enthralling story and makes it global. The panic and chaos on a world-wide level pushes the narrative to new places, without sacrificing character development. The end is satisfying without pissing readers off. That is to say that the 'cliffhanger' meant to get you into book 3 is about plot resolution, not some stupid gimmic like the end of a television series. Well done Mr. Hicks! You've got me hooked!
Boy this book is full of action, and way more graphic than the first book. The hidden suspence of the mimic harvesters in book 1 is pretty much gone and now it's time for all out war. This is a multi-continent battle of infestations and new more dangerous forms to deal with. All the old characters are back and ready to fight. If you enjoyed the action of the first book, you should love this one as it's way more intense. The ending is pretty much a setup for Book 3, so just know you will need to move on to the next book to get any closure.
Great book. I got the first book of the series for free as an ebook and after finishing I was compelled to get the second book. A very nice read for those who love a high octane story. I majored in biology so this was even more entertaining for me. These characters are very well developed and you ultimately fall in love with all of them. Going to by the third one now and am very excited to continue the saga!
From reading the summary of this book I did not feel like the story was going to continue in such an action packed way. I was thoroughly surprised and entertained. I almost didn't purchase it but the author's storytelling skill had me buying the book anyway. I am so glad I did and will purchase the next book as soon as possible!
Edge of my seat...the book kept me reading..I do not normally read at work because I become so engulfed in the book I am reading but I did take this book to work and had to set an alarm to make sure I stopped reading and went back to work. I am glad I found this trilogy and can not wait to read book 3.
I really like this book.... part of a trilogy. Little far fetched but, hey, that is why people call this genre sci fi! Stayed up late.... just read one more chapter..... common theme throughout this book. Great writing, great character development, very good plot. Recommend you pick up this trilogy and read it!
I was quite skeptical about this series when I initially purchased the series, and kept it on my reader for months before I invested the time to read it. Now I'm mad at myself for not starting it earlier because it's been an incredible read thus far. Ran through the first and second books in two and half days, I couldn't put them down.
Too many inconsistencies. Two off the top of my head: why is paper ignored as a nutrient source by the harvesters when there is more available carbon than in many plastics; why doesn't the pilot shed larva when all other harvesters do so every hour?
As cinematic as the first one. Constantly moves; filled with wall-to-wall action. Solid characters help you to care about the story. Delivers in every way the author intended it to deliver. Well done.
Phew I think my heart was pumping adrenaline most of the way through this book! A fantastic follow on from bitter harvest I highly recommend both books and I can't wait for the next book in the trilogy.
could not put this down until I had finished it. I was enthralled and terrified at the same time I can't wait til the last book is available on kindle I have to read it to find out how it ends for good or bad
I couldn't stop reading this series. I would download the next book from Amazon the moment I finished the preceding book. Michael Hicks is a superb author of Science Fiction. I look forward to reading more from him.
The twists and turns just just keep on coming. The second book is more thrilling than the 1st. Can't wait to read the final book of the series. I started reading Hicks "In Her Name" series. Michael Hicks never fails to deliver.
I was surprised, this was a good series to read. Usually, the story is poorly written when someone self-publishes. This had a clear plot and moved at a fast enough pace to keep you interested. I had to read the entire series!
Fabulous how the story continues to develop. I love that we don't know who are the good guys and who are the bad ones. Just when you think you've got a handle on a character, something happens to twist the story. I'm raring to read the final book.
Michael R Hicks as quickly become a favourite author and this series is as good as the others. The book picks up the pace from the beginning. A different view of the alien invasion scenario. Now ploughing on with book three