The ongoing story that is Bethany Anne and her team!
Can you say 'Die Terrorist, Die?'
I took time to sleep last night. For anyone who hasn't read the first 6 books in this series, you won't understand what that means. For the rest of you, you know how hard that was.
I love, love ,love this series! I don't want it to end! Bethany Anne just keeps getting better every book. And her group of people gets larger and larger and more improved all the time. I love how devoted they are to her and her cause.
If you haven't read the first 6 books, you are missing out on a great series. It's sci fi and paranormal at its best. **Please note, as mentioned in a review, there is flagrantly foul language in these novels. The main character does not have a problem with cussing, just uninspired cussing.
3 1/2 Stars. Not as good as the other books. This is really a book that ties up some loose ends and gets the next big story-arc going, space. The books before this I would say were 75% paranormal 25% Sci-fi. Now the books are going to be more down the middle with more sci-fi to come. Not one of the better books, but was needed to move everything along, though the ending was much better.
So... the plot thickens. Oh boy! And it just keeps getting better. The fearless leader is a woman. A bloody hot woman. Damn shame she's straight. Her language skills are beyond excellent. Some are extremely unique.
Some of the action scenes leave little too the imagination. Lots of blood, Gore and screaming. Although I think the screaming is more due to Bethany Anne's red eyes and extending fangs.
BA and the TQB's take out all the terrorists who took part in the recent Paris assault. They go to England, Germany, Syria, Netherlands. They get there using two man helicopters. These helicopters have alien interventions which makes them really fast and invisible to earth detection systems. They are serious piece of kit and get this they can go into out of space. Cool right?!
David is finally dead. Michael and BA saw to that. David was pleading for his life while trying to push Michael's hand back through his chest which was holding his heart. The scene is really well written and you can't stop yourself smiling. Another nasty person has hit the dirt.
I'll say this again. This isn't the best literature you'll read. But I'll hazard a guess and say you'll have a lot of fun reading it. You might even become addicted. Enjoy!
There's SO many things that I love about all 7 of the books that I just read. The story is unique and absolutely hilarious. I love how it's action, sci-fi, and fantasy all wrapped up in one. Vampires, aliens, weres, and badass military men and women. I laughed hard and often. I cried occasionally, too. This is my new NUMBER ONE series. I don't care about any editing issues. They don't take away from the story in any way or make it hard to understand so, who cares? My only issue was that I haven't slept or ate properly for 4 days. I could NOT put these books down. I finished one, then downloaded the next immediately. I read all 7 books with Kindle Unlimited. After I finished this one, I went back and bought a copy of all of them. Now I'll have them forever. This book specifically was just as great as the first six.
Dear Michael Anderle, please keep writing. You are doing an AMAZING job. - from one of your many many fans.
So far it's my least favorite of the series, although it's still got all the stuff that makes it fun to read/listen to. But the primary story in this one reads a bit like revenge porn for the folks who are totally bought into the "war on terror" narrative in contemporary politics, framed in a "let's all cheer while we happily go down the Bethany Anne totalitarianism road, because totalitarianism is ok if we like the leader!"
Not something for which it's easy for me to suspend disbelief.
Wow! I absolutely love The Kurtherian Gambit series. Love, love, love Bethany Anne. What an awesome heroine. She cusses worse than a drunken sailor and seriously kicks some ass.
There are so many battles in this book, by John, and the Guardians, and by the QB’s Team, and by Bethany Anne and Michael. Two of my favorite parts are when a terrorist throws a brick at John and John catches it and throws it right into another terrorist’s chest, cracking his sternum, you have to remember that Bethany Anne “made John better.” And then when Bethany Anne and Michael go after the evil David and Michael reaches inside David from the back and pushes his heart out through his chest. And the meeting in the warehouse meeting of the werewolves wasn’t bad either. So much excitement, all the time.
I can tell you that picking up any of these books and reading them out of order really doesn’t cut it. These aren’t cliffhangers but they are an on-going story. There are people that are introduced in the first book: Lance, Patricia, Scott, Marcus, William, Jean, Pete, Matthew, Stephen, and more. And if you think you can just pick up book 4 and expect to know what’s going on then you are so mistaken. They are always going somewhere: Amsterdam, Colorado, Germany, Washington DC, Key Biscayne, Libya, Syria, Argentina and New York, and more places I can’t remember.
As always, and thankfully, there’s no sex in these stories and the F-bomb is used 101 times.
For a book that follows an attempt to save the world, it is remarkably prejudiced toward the "entitled sexist-racist's" world. It is an entertaining series, and the author makes no pretences to emotional depth. Plenty of technically sound thinking - well, for fiction - but sexist, racist attitudes keep dotting this landscape. Women are badass eye-candy, and they can be irritating on a personal level. Almost nothing else.
But the Islamophobia in this book got really irritating. A team intending to save the world that draws its heroes almost entirely from the American military complex, that is fighting to stamp out violence (does not apparently notice that the US is the country that has started the most wars on the planet), and instead goes around killing Muslim sounding terrorists in Muslim sounding places. Um...
I'm not Muslim and don't give a f**k about religion, but this is so shallow, it is practically a formula. If there is a Muslim, it is a bad guy. Racism apart, the quality is terrible too. Even if this author intended to go the Fox News route, it could have been done with more skill. It is mostly a point and shoot word spinner. Muslim terrorist, taken out, wordcount. Absolutely no attempt to give any depth to the plot. Straightforward padding the word count. Which still beats the utter absence of any other religion beyond a couple of mentions of the Bible in a world where "faith" was among the reasons the central character was selected. There is no particular reason to detour from the central plot and start chasing terrorists, and it is done in such an ignorant and half hearted manner...
For that matter, and I never imagined I'd say this, the cursing too has got too much for me. Creative cursing could be fun, but like all writing is a matter of effort. This is lazy man's creativity. Also called clutter.
This book, like others in this world, is an entertaining read, as long as you don't expect too much food for thought or psychological or experiential or political depth. A few books in, you start wondering if you could code up a book spinner that churns out novels. At this point, what started off as a pretty promising world has devolved to chaos of too many characters with too little to distinguish them from each other confusing the reading. I don't get the point of reviews being part of the book. That's what review sites are for, right?
This book was really disappointing. The main plot thread is about getting revenge for a terrorist attack in France, which didn't seem like a problem at first. That counterattack is derailed by a situation where the main bad vampire guy completely massacres entire Turkish villages - hundreds of men, women, and children. This literal genocide is treated as not that big of a deal by our "heroes," which bothered me. The only deaths that mattered at all were those of the soldiers. The massacre of villagers is never mentioned again.
So after the Turkey incident, the heroes go on a killing spree in revenge, and there's not a single ounce of comprehension that the actions of people like vampire bad guy sew the seeds of terrorism, as well as their own actions like desecrating a body outside of a mosque, which others probably lack the context of that murder. Michael has killed tens of thousands of people who had different beliefs from him, or just looked at him funny, and BA is literally becoming a cult leader with followers who dress the same, follow her teachings, and kill people for her, but I guess we shouldn't see the parallels there.
Audiobook review: I enjoy this series! Quite entertaining for someone interested in vampires, weres, & a bit of sci-fi. Not a lot of inter-personal drama (Yay!) or relationship crapola soap opera shenanigans to deal with. Yet just the right amount of action, fighting, and scientific talk and honorable work that many of us wish we could be a part of. The narrator, Ms. Beresford, does a fantastic job with voice inflection and character individual voices!
I can't get enough of this series! Thank you, Michael, for NOT doing an entry novel. Readers need to go to book one and enjoy discovering everything as it unfolds. Keep it up! Oh - as an Aussie who lived in Sydney for a few years, I'm looking forward to seeing what you cam up with.
I don’t get the people who review books like phds in classical literature. All I’m looking for in a book is to sink into the world and characters and for a moment in time live another life. First review of this series and I can say all seven of these books have done just that.
Que cette série est géniale ! Michael Anderle possède vraiment une imagination débordante et grâce à celle-ci, il nous offre un récit addictif, bourré d’action et de dialogues piquants.
Ce tome nous ramène à un événement tragique qui s’est déroulé en France et l’auteur affiche clairement grâce à la chasse menée par Bethany et son équipe , son opinion et ce qu’il aurait aimé faire subir aux terroristes. Il mêle parfaitement des faits réels, l’enquête qui s’en suit et la vengeance (toujours très sanglante) de la reine des garces.
Il est impossible de ne pas devenir accro à cette série inclassable dès qu’on a mordu au premier tome.
Ratings are based on this being unarguably just a fun action series full of stereotypes and tropes and having no pretense of being anything but. I'm relieved that Book 7 is actually a good stopping place. Not sure if I'll continue Kindle Unlimited or Prime (which, if you didn't know, even though you may PAY for a book there, if it was Prime discounted, it disappears from your Kindle library if you quit Prime, does not re-appear if you join again later). So, I have a few Prime books to get through and want to try out a few other KU new-to-me authors over the next week for decision time (if you jot down your join date - you can cancel either one a day before the monthly renewal hits).
I found myself scanning quickly over more sections of this book. There were too many battle scenes in succession for my taste. More like something topical upset the author - let's have our heroes squash it - so battle battle battle battle battle battle. But, parts of the main plot did move. I wouldn't recommend you skip this installment and I'm sure there are many who enjoy all those battle sequences.
Okay, So this series started out amazing. The narration is still amazing (audible review).
It is still good to a point. Because, there are a million characters which is causing the stories to get confusing and annoying. I think the narrator said they are up to 35 characters now.. Way to many people to keep track of.
Also, the action scenes are sparse due to the intros of all these additional new characters. I am now on book 8 and there are even more being added. Sigh... I am going to have to give up on this series after book 9 since it is getting more confusing and aggravating that it is fun and enjoyable.
As for the narration. It is absolutely amazing! Couldn't have a better narrator than Emily Beresford doing this series. She is superb.
Mr. Anderle keeps giving me another reason to be hooked on this series. Most of the books I've read so far are in one sitting.. man what's coming next???
These books seem to be getting better with each one. Definitely getting closer to sci-fi. There are a lot of things happening but they are very clearly separated. Enjoyable
This book series is just so good! Sure it is light and quick reading and its never going to win any literary prices but then I really do not care about a bunch of old geeks or politically correct wankers telling me what is a good book or not. This series is unique (in my limited experience) in how it merges science fiction and urban fantasy. In addition it has plenty of fun dialogue totally ignoring any form of political correctness (aka creative cussing), plenty of action and is really my cup of tea.
The book picks up right after the big Tzar Bomba that the author dropped on us in the last few sentences of that book. As if having Tom in your head was not bad enough… Luckily the crowd in Bethany’s head do not stop her from continuing on her quest, that is save the world, kick the bad guys asses (if at first it does not work with violence, use more violence) and invent new creative cussing.
Bethany Anne is Bethany Anne of course but she has a growing entourage of very enjoyable characters that shares Bethany Anne’s beliefs in application of violence and cussing. Sure the dialog sometimes borders on slapstick comedy but it is fun.
One thing that I really like with this book series are the wow moments. That is the moments where various characters finally realizes that either, there are people that are so much better at kicking ass than themselves or, that there are things that go bump in the night. Most book series get at least the latter over with in the first book or maybe the second. This book series provides a never ending stream of these moments.
At the same time as the book is providing a lot of action, fun dialogue, wow moments etc. it also moves the main story arc forward and our heroes are constantly progressing towards their goal of getting into space.
I am a bit behind with my reviews so when typing this I have already read several other books including the next book in this series. That one did not disappoint either.
Well this is the book that ends the series for me, too many characters to give real time or development to any of them, with even more being added here, a repetitive story involving Bethany Ann and the computers inside her head, and the fact that 20% of an already short book is made up of reviews and previews etc are just some of the reasons I am giving up. The other big reason is the poorly written and developed female characters. On the surface Bethany Anne is a kick ass female character,but once you scrape off the surface you realise she's really just another male fantasy. Sure she may loudly grumble about sexism at one point in the story, but earlier she's involved in a frankly ridiculous pillow fight with the rest of the major female characters. Its pathetic. I also disliked the decision to weave a thread of terrorism into the book, there was already a good story in motion that was derailed and forgotten about until the last couple of chapters, suggesting this book is little more than filler. There are too many other good books out there to waste any more time on this.
I really wanted to like this book. The series had real promise, but somewhere along the way it all fell apart. About half way through I had to abandon this book. There are a lot of characters that are introduced in this series that go nowhere, lack any kind of meaningful development and oddly are often named the same making things very confusing. This book eventually became anti-muslim revenge porn, lacking sophistication and intelligence. There was such a promising arc that could have turned into a great space opera, but that vision was never realized.
What was promoted as a series with a strong female lead drifted into a misogynist boys club where the women serve as objects to comment on. The anti-Muslim terrorist narrative misses an opportunity unity to explore real issues of power, colonialism and the ethics of moral killing for cheap repetitive narrative. Simply couldn’t be bothered to finish this one and see how the strong female lead was conquered.
I can accept the "Fi" parts of a Sci-Fi book, but promoting stereotypes like "Muslim terrorists", and alt-right ideas like "no-go zones" aren't acceptable. An author is obliged to more research before claiming things like these. If you see how racists some of those ideas were, replace the word "Muslim" with "Jew" in these books, and you'll see.
I also invite the author to come and see Europe before claiming that there are neighborhoods which are "no-go zones".
This series is so awesome I just keeps getting better and better and I know he's put one out every month but you want it faster you want your fix faster thank you and keep it up
I liked the first few books, then... it's just gotten too convoluted with too many players. Not enough action and too much kiss ass for the QB and set up. Not a bad series to read for free, but I skimmed through most of book #7 and probably will not read the next.
I thought writing required good research.. clearly not..too much islamaphobia based on propaganda and ignorance to continue with the series..it's not even a character flaw..it's just sad to say.. author ignorance
The books are starting to run together as one large story, which is something I enjoy so much! I love thinking about a series and having it be so flawless that you can never remember if your memory happened in the third or fifth books. This story encompasses so much and grows in so many ways I seriously can not wait for the next!
1. Can I just say Pricolici? I am still fangirling over this, and Ecaterina! A girl after my heart! She put the European Council in their place and I enjoyed every stinking second of it....Speaking of Councils...have you heard from the American one lately? No? I didn't think so. Lolololol That was an epic scene. Gerry's all like I'm the strongest...then he sees Pete in Prico form and he's like okay maybe I'm not. HAHAHA
2. I am developing a crush on all of the nerds...all of them. TOM, Tom, Adam, Marcus etc...I'm over here like, yesss speak in a language I don't understand, I LOVE IT... Duuuude the jump they have made on the tech front is astounding, and I am chomping at the bit to be in mother humpin' space! (Hope this is allowed :| ) ...and yes I know that two of those do not have physical forms other than BA's and one isn't even really alive...still can't help it their personalities are gems!
3. David...I told you that you were dumb, now look what you done and did. You are the highlight of BA and Michael's first date! Congrats bro! BA and Michael sitting in a tree... I was so not on board with this at first, having not liked Michael from the very get go...However, he is growing on me and I find myself squeeing whenever BA has a thought or Michael has a vision. It's kind of romantic and cute...neither of them want to admit it and Gabrielle is going insane over it. Everyone keeps wondering when they gonna get horizontal. *eyebrow wiggle* I have a feeling they are going to hold out a while longer, but it seems pretty inevitable.
4. The battle for Turkey (what I am calling it), was amazing. It was so intense that I think my heart literally ramped up and if I could have I would have been going all Prico as well when Ecaterina fell. My heart stopped then started pounding and I was crying and hyperventilating and I was like someone turn her into something!! I thought it fitting that Nathan made her a Weschelbalg, that to me was smart and extremely important. I don't believe EC would have liked being a Vamp as much.
5. My biggest question and nugget of thought that I have been chewing on for the majority of this book and the last...If the Kurtherians have the ability to do Vampy things and another Faction has the ability do shifter things...then what do the other factions have up their sleeves? Is there a faction of faeries? Maybe mages that can do actual magical things? I have been over and over and I have no idea, but that is a big question that I am seeking the answers to.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.