The Final Enemy

by Dan Petrosini

In the face of a death-defying power, what's the "new normal"? Like all reporters, Jack longs for a breaking story but is stuck writing obituaries for a small-town rag. As his frustration mounts, it hits him that no one has died in over three days. Jack's odd observation becomes something far stranger when he connects a meteorite to the bizarre phenomenon. Seizing the opportunity, Jack breaks the story and after a struggle to control the meteorite’s power is resolved, a swelling population begins to create havoc. With the survival of the human race hanging in the balance, politicians enact increasingly horrific measures and desperate citizens take matters into their own hands. Jack's in a position to not just report the news, but change it, and his decisions and observations creates an epic thriller that pits the potential of human immortality against a force designed to change - or obliterate - humanity itself. Only one man might stand in its way ... the man buried in the obits department. The Final Enemy is a story of social disintegration as well as a saga of survival. Secret plans, starvation, suicide, and a series of events that spiral the human race into a desperate survival mode evolve from a seemingly singular event and leads to a fast-paced action story that delights with its penchant for the unexpected. In the Matthew Mather and A.G. Riddle tradition, The Final Enemy is a gripping blend of thriller and science fiction that will prove hard to put down.

Genres: Audiobook, Fiction, Science Fiction

341 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 22, 2017

About the author

Dan is a USA Today and Amazon best seller author, who wrote his first story at the age of ten and enjoys telling stories and jokes.

Dan gets his story ideas by exploring the question; What if?

In almost every situation he finds himself in, Dan starts exploring what if this or that happened? What if this person died, was hurt, or did something unusual or illegal?

Dan’s non-stop mind spin provides him with plenty of material to weave into interesting stories.

A fan of books and films that have twists and are difficult to predict, Dan crafts his stories to prevent the reader from guessing correctly. He writes each and every day, forcing the words out when necessary and has written over twenty novels to date. It’s not a matter of wanting to write, Dan simply has to.

Dan passionately believes people can realize their dreams if they focus and act, and he encourages just that.

His favorite saying is – “The price of discipline is always less than the cost of regret”

Dan likes to remind people to get the negativity out of their lives. He feels it is contagious and advises people to steer clear of negative people. He believes having a true, positive mind set makes it feel like life is rigged in your favor. When he gets off base, he tells himself, ‘You can’t have a good day with a bad attitude.’

Married with two daughters and a needy Maltese, Dan lives in Southwest Florida. A New York native, Dan teaches at local colleges, writes novels, and plays tenor saxophone in several jazz bands. He also drinks way too much wine and never, ever takes himself too seriously.

He has an active blog at http://danpetrosini.com, where you can sign up for a newsletter featuring articles, his writing and special deals.

Reviews

[Cat · Rating 1 out of 5]

I will be the first to admit that I was hoping for more science fiction in this novel when I should have opted for suspense. The science is questionable and predictable in what turns it will take for plot progression. Typically when I look for science fiction, I look for plausible science that has surprises twists and turns that make me question "wow. this seems legitimate. I wonder..." and then I spend the next several hours researching the science of the novel/film. It has a fast plot, I have to give it that. You never spend too long wondering what's going to happen and that works in good and bad ways for this novel. I think this novel could have benefited from jumping into the story more toward the middle and providing us with some brief exposition along the way rather than following each plot point and progression of how we got to A to B to C and all the way out through to Z. Literally, at times. I got tired of all the calls of "the meteorite has been moved from ____ to ____." That was overdone and exhaustive to read through so many times. The characters were underdeveloped and although I don't require a protagonist to be endearing, it would have been nice to get to know him on some deeper, more emotional levels. I would say the same for his significant other, Laura. Both need more development as some of their reactions felt flat and rushed to pursue an ending than how they are interacting with the changing world around them.

I chose this novel because I liked the plot premise from the summary. Even after reading the novel, I still like the premise but I think the actual novel could have used more proofreading and editing, something to give it a better overall execution. There's a lot of 'tell' in this novel rather than 'show.' I think the length of this novel could be cut in half, add more descriptors and character development, and it would be a more solid, enjoyable read. All that said, if you want to explore the premise I do recommend it. It has some thought provoking questions of what the reader would do in that situation.

[BookLoversLife · Rating 2 out of 5]

When Jack Amato, a newly graduated reporter who writes the obituaries for his local paper, witnesses a meteor falling to earth, he thinks no more about it. That is until he realises that he hasn't had to write a single obituary since that night, not one! Thinking this is strange, he digs deeper and calls hospitals in the vicinity. He narrows it down to about a 10 mile radius that had no natural death occur since that night. He puts two and two together and gets meteor!! The meteor in question was moved and Jack finds that the route the meteor took, no natural death occurred in those places either. This is Jack's big chance and he breaks the story. It changes everyone's life forever!!!

I was drawn to this book because of the cover and the description, and I eagerly dived in when I got my copy. I have to say that I'm so bummed it didn't live up to my hopes!! I did enjoy it for the most part, but I just felt it was bogged down by some unnecessary things.

I loved the idea of the plot. A meteor falls to earth and all natural death stops. I just felt that the author didn't give us enough information on the how. The science was missing and I think if we had had more of a sense of what the meteor actually did, it would have been so much better. I also felt like the execution of the plot was lacking. I mean, once the story breaks, everyone wants exposure to the meteor and the government comply. That didn't work for me, because in my mind, I feel like the meteor would have been squirreled away by the government for testing and the public wouldn't have seen it again, or not as easy anyway.

Plus, Jack "breaks" the news that now that natural death has stopped, overpopulation is a real concern. Well, I mean, ya!! That goes without saying. There is also so much more I want to say about parts of the plot that annoyed me a little, but I can't because they are pretty big spoilers!! Suffice it to say, things happen about three quarters of the way through and people have to turn to doing something huge to survive, and there was no uproar about it at all!! There were a lot of things that the government did that got little to no reaction and it just felt unrealistic.

Now, it's not all negative, I did enjoy parts of it!! I liked that the author forwarded the time line of the story, I liked that we get to see 10 years after the meteor hit. I found the overall story compelling in a weird way, because even though I wanted to put this aside plenty of times, I was intrigued enough to keep reading!!

In all, an ok read. Very much hit or miss and I think most people will either like it or hate it!

This seems to be Joseph Kidawskis first book as a narrator and it showed. He did have a few tones and voices for the characters, but the overall enthusiasm for the book was lacking. He didn't capture the atmosphere of the story enough to truly bring it to life. I also found the quality of the production wasn't as clear as it should be.

[Christine Lowe · Rating 4 out of 5]

What is the Final Enemy?

This is a well written book about what can happen to a nation's people when they are blinded by immortality. A meteor falls from the sky and suddenly there is no natural death in a specific circumference from where the meteor struck the earth. How does a country, in this instance America, deal with an ever expanding population?

About a third of the way into this book, I thought the book became bogged down with science and politics. It took me awhile to realize it was me that slowed down. I could only handle a small amount of what our people would do politically and personally. I know this is book is speculative fiction. I never lost sight of that, but the tone went from how will we share this phenomenon to benefit the greatest number of people to what sacrifices must be made and who will make them?

As I mentioned before, the writing is good. I would not have had such strong feelings otherwise. If this subject interests you, I would recommend this book. I don't want to say anything more and spoil the read for others. It deserves the four star rating.

[Patricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read!

This author is one of my favorites. So I was glad to see a new release. Couldn't wait to read it. I was not disappointed! I started it and couldn't put it down! Not my usual genre to read but am glad I did! Same for my husband. We both loved it!

[Doug · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow!

Man has searched for a way to beat death throughout history. When people stop dying of natural causes, everyone sees it as a miracle. Or is it a curse? With nobody dying, the world quickly becomes over populated. How far are citizens willing to go to keep them and there family fed?
Great story!

[Rellim]

11/12/2021 - Narration isn’t quite working for me. Setting aside for a few days and then will pick up reading it because the story is interesting.

[Peter dubin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Modern day Soilent Green

I was instantly taken back to the movie Soilent Green. This was an incredible book that gave us a look behind our so called trans parent politicians

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fast moving story I found hard to put down (read it in under two days). Chilling consequences of a meteor that crashes into a small Iowan town and brings the 'gift' of immortality. Events escalated in a realistic way, with the nasty consequences revealed as the story unfolded. It was a gripping read.

[Stephan Wang · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book the final enemy is about the emergence of a cure against dying, related to the appearance of a meteor. This meteor and the absence of death around it is uncovered by a reporter and the reporter, some other related persons and the decision making in the white house are illuminated in the continuation of the book.

Of course, it is not long for problems to arise. Such as overpopulation and so on. These problems are discussed in breadth with also the societal change, that is change in perspective of ppl. towards eating of things, first small things like eating cat and dog, then other animals and then cannibalism and so on.

Now we come to my subjective opinion on this book. First of all, I have to state that I expected something more related to science fiction. It is not science fiction. In fact, it is directly located in our time and it is more a play with the image of immortality. However, the book itself appears implausible at lengths. Even without deaths originating from natural causes, the pupulation would not increase in 10 years so that we would have food shortages. Moreover, the decision making processes and especially the decisions seem very "stupid" in most cases. What should be the benefit of the placenta plus project? Feeding women to get pregnant and then eating the babies? They could do that with less issues with animals?? And from a scientic viewpoint providing food from plants is much easier and more viable. The energy needed to produce 1 kg of meat is much higher than for plant related food. Other ideas are actually a viable option and these I rather enjoyed. Another problem is the idea brought up later, a cell line of sorts, which does not have any calories? I doubt such a thing could really exist, as cells are made of molecules, which have some sort of calories incorporated. There are several other strange ideas, which I do not want to get into now.

Another flaw of the book is the lack of explanation. How can the meteor perlong the life? Why do ppl. don t get ill anymore? Why does its effect gets bigger, at first it was 15 miles later it could affect all the earth from some orbit and so on. For most of the persons involved the intentions never get clear and there is little development of the characters...

Furthermore, stereotypes are used in the book, which I do not like at all. I.e. the Chinese, who cannot control their country and growth and resort to cannibalizing in grand scale... and the bad Russians, as well as the ignorant US citizens and so on.

Overall, I would not recommend to read this book and would not read it a second time.

Regards

[Bruce Perrin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not Hard Science Fiction; More Like Sensationalized Fantasy

The Final Enemy is the story of Jack Amato, a newly graduated reporter who is writing obituaries for a Keokuk, Iowa, newspaper, waiting for the scoop that will lead to fame and fortune. And when he makes a far-fetched connection between a meteorite that lands near his home and the cessation of death – and the connection proves real – he has his exclusive. What follows, however, is not what he expected from fame and immortality.

The story gets high marks for vividly portraying humanity’s fight for survival in this apocalyptic tale. It becomes gruesome and gory in places as the government tries to tiptoe its way through the landmines of population growth, the loss of spirituality, and widespread famine. They often misstep and Jack is quick to cover the human suffering.

But unfortunately, the problems with the story are many. Take for instance the fact that Jack’s second major scoop is that overpopulation may result if there is no death. Wouldn’t anyone conclude that after about 30 seconds? Jack’s rise to fame seemed like the daydream of a fifteen-year-old, not that of a protagonist in an apocalyptic thriller. Additionally, for a “hard science fiction” book, the genre indicated on Amazon, most of the science-related material is treated with a wave of a hand. It’s a new “element” but its atomic number is never found. It emits some type of energy, but the type is never known. It ends death, but the only hypothesis suggested is that cells continue to divide forever. But cellular senescence (loss of function) increases mortality after maturity, it doesn’t cause it.

Human nature is also dealt with the poorly. When the connection to immortality is proven, everyone demands to be exposed – there is widespread rioting to get close, even though the side effects aren’t known. Even though the long-term effects aren’t known. Even though it doesn’t restore people, it just keeps them from dying. Would people really clamor for immortality if they had to live with a growing list of infirmities forever?

Admittedly, several of these limitations stem from the fact that when I read hard science fiction, I was expecting a story that builds tension and suspense by blurring the line between technical knowledge and a theoretically possible fiction. If this is what you are seeking, you should look elsewhere. However, as a fantasy about population growing out of control and some bizarre countermeasures by a beleaguered government, it yields a descriptive, surprising tale, if not always believable.

[Elena Alvarez Dosil · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jack is a reporter in a small town, and has the opportunity of his life by witnessing the fall of a special meteorite. In charge of obituaries, Jack soon realizes that this meteorite might be related to the absence of deaths in the last days. His suspicions are soon confirmed, and the world has to adapt to this drastic change.

The premises of this story were quite interesting although, more than science-fiction, this book was about politics facing overpopulation. This made it a bit dystopian, and it was interesting to explore how far one government can go in order to keep the balance.

I found a few issues though, like the really slow buildup. The first third of the book retold again and again how the meteorite was transported here and there and how Jack followed and kept investigating deaths, or lack thereof.

I think the story would have worked better with further character development. I had difficulties connecting to the characters and, while I understood their motivations, I didn't care much for them.

I was a bit bothered by the fact that this meteorite was often mentioned as sent from God. I understand that religion is deeply ingrained in the American people but, as an atheist, I tend to dislike sci-fi and religion mixed together.

I would say that Joseph Kidawski's narration was okay. There were no great issues, but it could have been better. There was more reverberation than usual, and this is something that we mostly find among new narrators. Checking Kidawski's Audible page, I see that this is his first audiobook, and this explains it. I also had issues with the characters' voices. Some of them sounded the same (like Jack and his girlfriend, for instance), but for others I think he overdid it. I also have to mention that the first time 'Sheffield' is mentioned it is wrongly pronounced, putting the emphasis on the last syllable, while the next times it is correct. There are some noticeable audio edits and in some cases the pause between paragraphs is too short. Working on these little things will really help Kidawski in delivering a professional narration.

I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Dan Petrosini. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.

[John Ready Reader One · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listened to The Final Enemy, narrated by Joseph Kidawski on audible. This is a dystopian style story with a twist. Petrosini takes a genre and turns it on its head in this novel. Normally the reader is faced with 2 dystopian style scenarios, 1)post apocalyptic where we encounter a world in which the catastrophe has already occurred, or 2)the books takes you through some time of world change where the catastrophe develops in course of the story and it most frequently is caused by some major terrible event.

In the Final Enemy, Petrosini starts by guiding the reader through an amazing break through. Life is preserved! The final enemy, or death is conquered by the appearance of some healing properties that accompany the arrival of a meteorite hitting North America. The author explores fabulously, what would happen if people no longer died. Wouldn't that be amazing? Well maybe not. There are other implications that come along with that scenario and what may seem great ultimately may not be. Be careful what you wish for.

Petrosini did a very good job at surprising me with a twist on this type of story. Unintentionally, I recently explored another dystopian style novel so my brain was beginning to work along certain guidelines. This book was the better in story and style. His characters were relatable and believable. The only downside was that I felt like there were some jumpy transitions and a couple of updates in the timeline that seemed very similar to previous ones. Other than these elements I enjoyed this book very much.

Kidawski did a good job narrating. His regular reading voice is clear and pleasant and his character voices were smooth enough to not sound forced. The only exception was grandma's and it was cringe worthy. But overall 4/5 for his part.

I received this edition in exchange for an unbiased review.

[Dawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Dan Petrosini. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.

Many people want to live forever but have they really thought that through? Dan Petrosini has, and The Final Enemy shows that maybe living forever wouldn't be as great as you might think. With no one dying from natural causes, suddenly the world population would grow faster than ever before. Where would all of those people live? More importantly, what would happen when they can't all be fed?

Some of the things that the US government does in The Final Enemy is unthinkable, at least right now. But when people start dying of starvation, how far would we be willing to go? I'm glad we don't have to find out, at least not in my lifetime. 

This is good science fiction with just a shade of Soylent Green and a lot of politics and the breakdown of society. The main character, Jack, is a good reporter but will he be willing to give up integrity in order to avoid starvation?

The narrator does a good job with timing and pacing. There were a lot of male voices and they would have been difficult to distinguish, but he always included who was talking which helped.

I definitely recommend The Final Enemy. It's good fiction that will give you something to think about.

[Colin Rowlands · Rating 3 out of 5]

The final enemy is the story of a meteor falling to earth that causes people to stop dying from natural causes and the unexpected downsides that come from this 'gift', it is predominantly told from the perspective of an initially young reporter called Jack Amato. He witnessed the initial impact and his role as obituary writer for a local Iowa newspaper helped him to be the first to spot the effects it was having on humanity.

The book makes frequent time jumps forwards from the initial impact, to when it was still considered to be a blessing and then onwards as the negative implications of an ever increasing population become more and more dire. Some of the stages of progression in the problems seemed quite outlandish, but others were very plausible and made those parts of the book much more compelling.

The narrator of the book did a good job with the main characters and the general narration of the story, but some of the secondary characters such as Jack's grandmother had needlessly over the top vocal performances that were a little jarring and detracted from the overall performance.

Overall this was an enjoyable premise for a book with a good performance.

[Note - I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.]

[Julie Howard · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was quite a different book for me, I tend to choose murder mysteries but thought I would give this book ago as the plot sounded interesting. I enjoyed it even if it did tug on the heart strings (yes I needed a tissue) and it is a book that gets you thinking "what if?" especially with the world like it is. It is obvious the author did a lot of research before writing this book and it shows.
Jack is the first reporter to notice the strange quinces between a meteorite crashing down on earth and tha lack of deaths in the surrounding area. As he breaks the story he has no idea what this means to the planet if everybody stopped dying. First is the problem of controlling who gets to visit the rock but as the worlds population begins to grow others problems start to arise like where is everyone going to live but the biggest and by far scariest one (I hope I don't get nightmares) is what is everybody is going to eat and the solutions the Country's different grovements come up with to solve the problem.
The narrator was very good and I really liked his accents especially the Scottish one.

[Marco C · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting story line but too flawed

I hate to pepper my reviews with spoilers, but while this story was reasonably well written and some of the science was not totally wrong, the sociological and logistical effects of the book’s central character (the thing) were off the mark.

Some of the government “remedies” were designed to be draconian and horrific, but they were also implausible. The reaction of the populace even more so.

The eventual remedy was so simple and obvious that any idiot would have been able to come up with it inside of the first 10 minutes of the first crisis.

The religious aspects were also poorly thought out and badly explained.

It is still an engaging read, but it leaves too many solutions off the table that should have been at least proposed.

Again, going into more detail would mean filling this review with spoilers. Read the book for yourself and decide.

[Rob Cooke · Rating 5 out of 5]

"A powerful story that stays with you!"
This book is incredibly well written and researched.

It is a hypothetical look at the cessation of death on the planet.
A truly frank and reflective look at how humanity may deal with such a phenomenon if it were to happen.
The story has good characters that give you mind to real world figures. There struggles with the decisions that each and every individual must make in order to deal with the new reality. The government implements measures that when thought about would be logical if still questionable given the series of events.

The narration is powerful and helps lead you through the story while conveying sentiment and importance throughout.

In summation this book is a very true reflection of the world at large and the human need to survive at any cost. It is a blend of science fiction, post apocalyptic and thriller.

[William Rubin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kudos to Mr. Petrosini for crafting a well thought-out, entertaining tale best described as Nirvana meets Dystopia. Not wanting to provide any spoilers I will discuss this work in broader strokes. The novels flows beautifully, entertaining this reader while it unobtrusively works philosophical, practical, and religious themes into the storyline. The characters and settings are varied and interesting, and always handled expertly, particularly the lead character, reporter Jack Amato, whose exploits drive the story. The Final Enemy is that rare novel that entertains while inspiring deeper thought into the nature of mankind, life, and death. I look forward to reading Mr. Petrosini’s other works.

[Robert Edward · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hits and misses

The storyline is entertaining and at times thought-provoking. The themes are pretty clear and the author makes his points without being too heavy-handed. It's not "hard science fiction" but as a dystopian premise it works.

The biggest shortcoming is the main character. He seems to have no fixed characteristics of his own, no sense of morality or ethics. He makes overtures about his "integrity" yet barely even pauses before we turn the page and he's acting contrary to the big moralistic screed he just gave us. In the end, the protagonist is little more than a plot device; the second tier characters are more consistently developed and that makes a flatter story.

[Roger · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Final Enemy (Kindle Edition), my first read from author Dan Petrosini, caught my attention in the opening pages & I never put it down until completed. Since I own other books by this author I was surprised to find I'd never read one before and in all truth, I picked up this one thinking it was the first book in The Luca Mystery series (Am I the Killer?). I look forward to reading more from this author. Joseph Kidawski’s narration adds to this unique book's enjoyment. "I received a free Audible review copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review." (RIP Marley January 20, 2014 - July 24, 2018).

[Ashley Hedden · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Final Enemy was a good read by Dan Petrosini. Jack is a reporter who is longing for his breaking story. He is looking for a story when he realizes that no one has died in over three days and he connects it to a meteorite. He breaks the story which results in no one dying which create havoc. The human races survival is hanging in the balance and politicians take horrific measures. I really enjoyed reading this book and cant wait to read more by the author.

[scott kohn · Rating 5 out of 5]

How far would you go to feed your family?

A truly disgusting story of how far society would go just for it's next meal. But the underlying truth is even more disturbing than the telling itself. You have to have a strong stomach to finish the tale of what happened when death took a holiday. I liked the book dispute the nightmares I'm sure to have.

[Raven · Rating 3 out of 5]

The depravity of man

Survival brings unique and vile actions. The description of events and feelings of people concerning these actions are embarrassing real. Is this man's eventual future?

[freja50msn.com · Rating 5 out of 5]

Original

Topic is very original. No sci first author has ever come up with a scenario so unlike most novels.
Also the affects of immortality is well thought out.Author has a future in sci fi IMHO.








John. Concord nh

[Cherye Elliott · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Final Enemy

What a strange but interesting book. Gives the reader a thumbs up to making one become a prepper. The brutal steps a world, nation, government, will do to stay alive. My only hope is to be useful.

[Eric Eskin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story but a bit light in ending

Author weaved an entertaining story (but do believe the negatives of main plot would have been recognized much earlier). Only thing I was a bit disappointing in was the end—there was the potential for a more defined ending.

[marilyn coffey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jack the ripper

Jack was the first person to see the meteor fall from the sky. When no one died because of the meteor's power, every one was happy. Then it all turned bad. Real bad, until the world was going be destroyed by over population. What could they do?

[Leslie Twitchell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this book for free for a honest review.  I loved the characters and storyline.  it flowed very well and held together.  The author did an excellent job of bringing the characters to life.  reccomend

[Ginny Schuneman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow!

Who knew? This was such a far out concept, I almost didn't read it. But I enjoyed Dan's other books so much, I took a chance. This book brought up so many " what if " questions and answers. It really makes you stop and think. Well worth every minute it takes to read it.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very fast read and good plot. Thought the dialogue was natural and believable. It was a thought provoking exploration of what would happen if we all lived forever.