Creation is crumbling around us, yet we can’t see it. War, famine, carnage, it’s all just the beginning.
Darkness is coming for us all.
They say evil comes in many forms. For former soldier Gabriel Willis it would be a motorcade of SUVs storming his quiet neighborhood and shattering his domestic bliss. His loving wife and children watch in horror as he is arrested and whisked away without explanation. Accused of terrorism and brutally tortured for information, Gabriel later learns his family has been kidnapped and hidden away. The madman responsible has handed him the arduous task of trekking to the mountains of Afghanistan to find famed archaeologist Othia and return with her—or his family will die. Othia has unearthed a secret truth hidden deep beneath the sands of an ancient Afghan village. A terrifying beginning to the end of it all. The lives of hundreds of thousands of unsuspecting souls are destined to be caught in the middle—including Gabriel and Othia. With the weight of the world upon him, Gabriel is left with an impossible decision, fight to find and rescue his own family, or save humanity from imminent destruction. Throughout his treacherous journey, Gabriel struggles to answer the question—when should a devoted family man place the needs of the many above those of his precious few.
Eric Gardner is an award winning, USA Today and Amazon #1 Best Selling Author.
Born in North Carolina he wears many hats outside of his writing career. He is an Active Duty Army Spouse, Veteran, Stay-AT-Home Dad, and former Military Brat.
His family travels take him all over the world. His life long passion for creative writing has brought about the XIII Legion Series, Hidden Hand Series and the Agent Thorn Books which will make their debut this summer.
Even though this was a shorter book, it made up for it with a constant stream of action. This book is a blend of a bunch of genres like thriller, horror, suspense, action, and paranormal. With every page, we are introduced to new challenges that Gabriel must overcome. The details of the archaeological part of the story was unique, and I thought added more intrigue to the story as a whole.
The narration was smooth and intense, added to the suspense at all the key moments of the story.
Together, the story and narration makes for one fantastic audiobook, and I can’t wait to see what the rest of the series holds.
I loved this book. I, too, am a writer of apocalyptic fiction. But I didn't start quite so near the END as Eric. He nails it with the excitement and suspense, revealing a world as yet unseen by human eyes in quite some time. I love the characters, the imagery, the speculation... it's all great! And now I want to read the next one ASAP.
Okay, I gave this one a start. Not too deep. Basically pretty black and white. I will move on to the 2nd book in a bit to see if the threats get bigger and the writing more sophisticated. Good vs Evil is the theme. Looks promising, but I am not fully convinced yet. Seems action moves the story along, and not character development.
Gabriel is framed, taken from his home, accused of being a terrorist, and tortured. His wife and children are kidnapped and taken to a remote hideaway. Gabriel, true to his training and personality, refuses to break under the non-stop torture he endures. He plays a subterfuge game with his captors to make them believe he has broken when he is really just stalling for time. Meanwhile, halfway around the world, an archeologist makes a mind shattering discovery in a remote part of Afghanistan. In order to save his family, Gabriel must agree to bring the archeologist back to the United States. All of this is orchestrated by a shadowy organization working behind the scenes at the highest levels.
I always enjoy a good save the world, dark religious conspiracy story and this one was no exception. It is a little more murky and harder to pinpoint who the good guys versus who are the evil ones but it was interesting enough that I will check out the next book in the series. Hopefully it will reveal a few more answers.
I really enjoyed Meral Mathews narration of this book. He strikes just the chord with all things, including male and female voices, thoughts, and overall narration. I listened on 1.5 speed.
I received this audiobook for free through Audiobook Boom! in exchange for an honest review.
This took me a while to really get into but once I did, i really enjoyed it. It's intriguing, interesting and sets the stage nicely for what's to come.
The plot was interesting, if a little all weird at the start, but it came together and I had that aha moment where it made sense. I was a little put off at times with all the Religious content, but I also think it was needed to better understand the world the author has created. The premise of the plot is that Gabriel is taken from his house and framed for terrorism, he is given the option of helping his captures find someone, or face prison and worse. He agrees in order to keep his family safe. He heads into the mountains of Afghanistan to find an archaeologist, Othia, who is knee deep in a dig. Both of them are thrown into something they never would have believed though!!
I liked the characters. They are well written and developed and I'm interested enough to find out more about them. In all, this was a good read and had made me eager to listen to the next one.
Meral Mathews was excellent. I've never listened to him before but I must! He was clear, easy to listen to and had plenty of tones and voices for the different characters.
I was given this audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review. This in no way affected nor influenced my thoughts.
So the book started out interesting and then I had a hard time following the plot and progression closely for some reason. Everything solidified for me about halfway through and I am looking forward to going the next book in the series even though it was difficult for me to get into it at first. The characters (if they live) are constantly advancing and I felt like I could get invested in their tales. I am looking forward to getting further along in the series... especially how this book ended.
This story was given to me for free at my request for my voluntary and unbiased review.
Audible:Gabrial is taken, then his family is taken by 'police' to a safe place.Is it really a safe place?This book is about people destined to be part of the end of the world, whether they want to be or not.At least I think it is.It lost momentum for me midway through.Meral Matthews was a fine narrator.I was provided this book free by the author, narrator or publisher.