I’m getting too old for this shit.
First and foremost, "Hell Divers: Renegade" by action-writer extraordinaire Nicholas Sansbury Smith is yet another winning chapter in the immortal - yes, double entendre intended - HD series! It has everything we have come to know and love about this series, including a healthy dose of monsters, both human and otherwise, as well as non-stop thrills that should satisfy any fan of the genre and beyond! And naturally of course, this includes more than what seems a bearable amount of abuse and punishment aimed at King Xavier Rodriguez, who for this chapter at least has gone back to just being plain ol' X! But wow, what he and his loved ones face in these pages is nothing short of remarkable!
It was hard to understand the cascade of events that had led them to this point.
Secondly, I wanted to confirm despite my obvious insufficient amount of reviews and updates at least here on goodreads and beyond that I am reading every single book that NSS has released… or will release soon! I am supplying comments, yes, although in many cases these are more clandestine that usual. I won't say anymore except to confirm that if you had any idea of the effort and sheer attention that is given to these books by the author, you would be even more of a fan by the end of that lesson! To see them being shaped and molded into these timeless classics we all know and enjoy is, again, just awesome!
This is wilder than a bone beast drunk on shine.
And as the penultimate book in the overall saga, "Renegades" not only holds its own but plays a key role in setting up what will be the final battles to come! We again come face to face with the horrors created by the ITC, whether intentional or not, that - as Michael puts it - ironically led to the downfall of life on earth, even beyond the nuclear weapons so irresponsibly hurled around the globe by all major world powers. The genetically altered humans that comprise these creatures continue to wreak havoc no matter when or where our heroes try to eke out new means of survival or to find new havens to survive in. And that's only counting the creatures that roam the radioactive lands. Those that haunt the seas are present in titillating abundance in this chapter and then some!
You’re really fucked now, old man.
But again, as so many times before, one of the absolute best aspects of Smith's book is that he keeps multiple story-lines running, encompassing not only all of our favorite players (and maybe least favorites as well) but such a huge part of this world that he created. From the Blue Ridge mountains to the coast of Africa, from Rio de Janeiro to the far reaches of Australia, our teams are by now spread wide and far. And again, how this sets up what is yet to come in the pending conclusion is fantastic! All presented along with great battles, unbelievable odds, weirdness galore and so many absolute shocks and surprises! Plus, sadly, as we've seen only too many times: sacrifices that take away loved ones who pay the ultimate cost to save those that they cherish.
Everything wants us dead! There is no peace in this world!
And naturally, deception and outright double-crossing politics continue to haunt everyone, especially the long-suffering denizens of the Vanguard Islands. Knowing that THIS is the safest place known of for humans right now only drives home the struggles of mankind. It is apocalyptic fiction - even at times Biblical in nature (Jonah and the whale anyone?) - at its finest yet the dread of such a dystopian reality is never very far away! Highly HIGHLY recommended and trust me when I say: oh man, the best is yet to come!