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Kaiju: Deadfall #1
Kaiju: Deadfall
Death from space. The first meteor landed in the Pacific Ocean near San Francisco, causing an earthquake and a tsunami. The second wiped out a small Indiana city. The third struck the deserts of Nevada. When gigantic monsters- Ishom, Girra, and Nusku- emerge from the impact craters, the world faces a threat unlike any it had ever known - Kaiju . NASA catastrophist Gate Rutherford and Special Ops Captain Aiden Walker must find a way to stop the creatures before they destroy every major city in America..
- GenresScience FictionHorror
216 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 1, 2014
47 people are currently reading
65 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
January 12, 2024
As an adolescent in the 2000s, I was disinterested in books and obsessed with low budget movies the Syfy channel played nonstop. Movies with simple plots, lots of action, poor acting, monsters, and violence! Kaiju: Deadfall is the literary equivalent of those movies I grew up loving, but as an adult things just don’t hit the same way
This is Kaiju vs humanity, akin to Cloverfield (2008) and the first Godzilla (1954). Deadfall’s story revolves around 3 gigantic objects that crash into the Earth and turn out to be giant monsters with an appetite for destruction. J.E. Gurley succeeded in writing a fast-paced and action-packed disaster / giant monster novel. Although the book contains original aspects, it is largely composed of familiar tropes that fans of the genre will instantly recognize (and likely still enjoy).
Like the b-movies I grew up cherishing, I cared about the monsters and plot, while most characters fell into the background. Of course it is exciting to see them deal with the developing apocalypse and die horribly, but don’t expect a character study.
The writing did seem unrefined and inconsistent at times, as if this was an early edit. Gurley has a peculiar consistency in describing cities by naming specific buildings and highways from real life, while rarely using imagery. This is great if you are a San Francisco native, but fails to immerse the rest of us.
Fun, but unimpressionable.
This is Kaiju vs humanity, akin to Cloverfield (2008) and the first Godzilla (1954). Deadfall’s story revolves around 3 gigantic objects that crash into the Earth and turn out to be giant monsters with an appetite for destruction. J.E. Gurley succeeded in writing a fast-paced and action-packed disaster / giant monster novel. Although the book contains original aspects, it is largely composed of familiar tropes that fans of the genre will instantly recognize (and likely still enjoy).
Like the b-movies I grew up cherishing, I cared about the monsters and plot, while most characters fell into the background. Of course it is exciting to see them deal with the developing apocalypse and die horribly, but don’t expect a character study.
The writing did seem unrefined and inconsistent at times, as if this was an early edit. Gurley has a peculiar consistency in describing cities by naming specific buildings and highways from real life, while rarely using imagery. This is great if you are a San Francisco native, but fails to immerse the rest of us.
Fun, but unimpressionable.
June 14, 2018
Kaiju..hmm I expected giant monsters coming from the sea like..
Pacific Rim but now that I think about it.. the “Monsters” are GIANT, they do knock down buildings and even eat people! Now there aren’t any Jaegers or Mechas to fight these bad boys.. but so far one battle has been fought. The set up reminds me of a monster rampaging and destroying cities but it makes sense why they are.. not just for the gore factor.. and there is World building. I’m interested to find out what happens next after reading an included “sample” at the end of this book that makes no sense after what I’ve just read.. so that means a lot more things are coming in the future. I have a feeling that Kaiju is the new Zombie.. in an dystopian type epic of Survivors/ War etc! This is very interesting so far!
Pacific Rim but now that I think about it.. the “Monsters” are GIANT, they do knock down buildings and even eat people! Now there aren’t any Jaegers or Mechas to fight these bad boys.. but so far one battle has been fought. The set up reminds me of a monster rampaging and destroying cities but it makes sense why they are.. not just for the gore factor.. and there is World building. I’m interested to find out what happens next after reading an included “sample” at the end of this book that makes no sense after what I’ve just read.. so that means a lot more things are coming in the future. I have a feeling that Kaiju is the new Zombie.. in an dystopian type epic of Survivors/ War etc! This is very interesting so far!
June 28, 2025
So, yeah. I read it and I have some things to say.
First off, let’s address the elephant in the room. I give this story 3 1/2 stars, which I will generously round up to four here.
The story didn’t have any characters I was too invested in and the human plots were just all right. The captain, blanking on the name right now, was probably my favorite character, but I didn’t really catch all the other people’s names either. Their plots just didn’t interest me much.
Now to the good part. The Hive mind-like Monster was really cool. The wasps that it deployed on the populace was pretty cool and hearing of its workings was pretty cool as well. The alien monster was threatening and malevolent! Loved that part of the story.
Overall, I wish the characters were a bit more compelling, but other wise it was a fun read.
First off, let’s address the elephant in the room. I give this story 3 1/2 stars, which I will generously round up to four here.
The story didn’t have any characters I was too invested in and the human plots were just all right. The captain, blanking on the name right now, was probably my favorite character, but I didn’t really catch all the other people’s names either. Their plots just didn’t interest me much.
Now to the good part. The Hive mind-like Monster was really cool. The wasps that it deployed on the populace was pretty cool and hearing of its workings was pretty cool as well. The alien monster was threatening and malevolent! Loved that part of the story.
Overall, I wish the characters were a bit more compelling, but other wise it was a fun read.
August 5, 2017
A good and fast paced book.
I especially liked the different viewpoints / story lines. Gave a broad perspective - and a disaster on a greater scale. I wish though that some of the minor points of views also had been continuous throughout the story.
What I liked about the author's heroes is that I found them human (and with flaws) with and not that super heroic (without being cliche broody).
The Kaijus were well described and didn't get boring even though these monsters were more about mass destruction than up close personal kills.
I especially liked the different viewpoints / story lines. Gave a broad perspective - and a disaster on a greater scale. I wish though that some of the minor points of views also had been continuous throughout the story.
What I liked about the author's heroes is that I found them human (and with flaws) with and not that super heroic (without being cliche broody).
The Kaijus were well described and didn't get boring even though these monsters were more about mass destruction than up close personal kills.
June 20, 2019
Gripping story line
Overall the story has a quick opening and a steady, interesting flow. I thought about giving it four stars because the level of suspension of reality goes from straining when terms used don't go along with activity described at all in a variety of situations, to overly descriptive to the point of jargon in others. But I didn't stop very often until I finished, so that's 5 star by my standards.
Overall the story has a quick opening and a steady, interesting flow. I thought about giving it four stars because the level of suspension of reality goes from straining when terms used don't go along with activity described at all in a variety of situations, to overly descriptive to the point of jargon in others. But I didn't stop very often until I finished, so that's 5 star by my standards.
April 20, 2018
INVADERS WITH BIG PETS IT IS.....
Hello, I really enjoyed this story. Mr. Gurley did a really good job of telling the tale and making the characters believable. Good job. Thanks.
Hello, I really enjoyed this story. Mr. Gurley did a really good job of telling the tale and making the characters believable. Good job. Thanks.
February 17, 2016
a great read. a little slow in a couple places, but by the end I didn't want it to end. Highly recommend
September 17, 2016
Great story!
This was an engaging story that made suspension of disbelief easy.
I look forward to reading more in this series.
This was an engaging story that made suspension of disbelief easy.
I look forward to reading more in this series.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews