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Alternate Cover Edition ASIN: B00NLDK7YC

Camberway is like any small northern California town. An everyday community living everyday lives.

Until the arrival.

When the ground starts to shake beneath their feet...
When the noises crash through the skies above their heads...
When the giant UFOs appear and send down their beams, their terrible beams...

Everything changes in Camberway, as a series of bizarre events changes all of their lives, forever.

What will become of Camberway, and the people who call it home?

Will anyone survive? Why are the giant UFOs here? what do they want?

254 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 15, 2014

101 people are currently reading
99 people want to read

About the author

David McGowan

6 books29 followers
David McGowan was born in Liverpool, in the United Kingdom.

His debut novel, The Hunter Inside, is a psychological thriller with a difference. Spanning the supernatural and packed with suspense, it asks the question "What would you do if you and your family were under threat by a monster that could ultimately take over the minds of everyone on the planet? Would you run, or would you stand and fight?"

From The Sky is David's second major work and an Amazon best seller. It is an epic 700-page science fiction, alien invasion trilogy, the titles of the parts being 'Arrival', 'Journey' and 'Nevada'. Read the blurb below!

Find out the secrets of alien evolution, what the government knew about extraterrestrials, and whether humankind can survive first contact with an advanced alien race.
When three massive UFOs arrive over Camberway, California, they bring with them an apocalyptic nightmare.

Within twenty-four hours of their appearance, few survivors remain. They have only questions. Now they must search for answers.

Sheriff Jim Hoolihan must lead the survivors through the devastation in search of those answers.

Why are the aliens here? What do they want?

They set out across California, trying to survive long enough to figure it all out.

When a second wave of UFOs arrives and drops hordes of six-legged creatures that immediately begin to hunt, the stakes are raised.

But one of the group carries an amazing secret. When they meet a man who can lead them to their final destination, the secret is revealed and their mission is understood.

It is a mission to the most famous top-secret base in the Nevada desert.

Can they make it there in time to save humankind, and the aliens, from a terrible fate?

Will earth ever be like it was?

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5 stars
33 (32%)
4 stars
33 (32%)
3 stars
26 (25%)
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6 (5%)
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4 (3%)
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
Profile Image for Carol.
314 reviews5 followers
August 4, 2017
Great Alien invasion story.. makes sense even :)
3 reviews1 follower
June 16, 2018
I whizzed through this book faster than pretty much any book I've read. Not because it was gripping and I couldn't put it down, but because I was skimming each page to see if there was any plot.
For every four pages of plot there about 30 pages of character back story; ordinarily this is fine, but I found it really distracting reading the same stuff over and over again. A few times the author sprinkles in something like "... If only they knew things were about to get worse", as if to encourage you to stick around and keep pushing through.
Now, if you're the type who loves to know every little thing going through a character's head, then you'll love this book. The writing is fine; there's just more than I felt necessary.
I will read the next two books, because the story (what little there has been) is interesting; I'll just be skimming over the excess!
492 reviews1 follower
April 13, 2018
Strange story

This story was interesting enough but it doesn't necessarily compel me to buy the next in the series. This alien invasion is much different from other invasions. Don't think Independence day. These aliens have an agenda but no one knows what it is. As usual, only a small group gets together to go on a trek from empty city to empty city. You may find it more interesting than I did.
Profile Image for Eve Owens.
44 reviews2 followers
February 20, 2017
Enjoyable

This is a good story about an alien invasion. It is the start and the main focus is getting to know most of the main characters e rd a s their homes and lives so re despised of. In this first book, you do not learn much bout the aliens. Tucker and his dog, Samuel, are present but in the shadows. I suspect these two will come to the forefront in the next book.
488 reviews2 followers
September 20, 2017
Engrossing!

This grabbed a hold of me and I really enjoyed it! So many different elements happening and you just don't know where it is going. Looking forward to the next one. Well written with a pace that keeps you interested.
181 reviews3 followers
April 16, 2018
Arrival

Just finished reading this book and I loved it...Really strong characters in the sheriff, Jim, and Barrett....If you like science fiction about aliens , then you have got to read this one...Great storyline and each character brings something different to the story
36 reviews2 followers
September 23, 2018
Well written

I enjoyed the book. It began slow then got better. What I didn’t like was the even at the end I don’t know much about the alien invaders. The characters were developed though.
Profile Image for arkygirl34.
12 reviews
August 11, 2018
Riveting

I couldn't put the book down. When I did i thought about it until I could read more. Loved it.
Profile Image for Frieda Stone.
10 reviews1 follower
May 29, 2019
Kinda slow

The books starts out slow for me, but got better once the ships arrived. I am Looking forward to book 2.
44 reviews1 follower
April 15, 2020
Arrival: Book one of From the sky

Totally awesome book. Have read one quite like this!! It's a page turner. Can't wait to read the rest of the books! Thanks
Profile Image for John.
88 reviews9 followers
November 10, 2014
Arrival, the first installment of David McGowan’s From the Sky series, tells the story of the opening days of an alien invasion. Luckily McGowan understands that this is not enough for a compelling story, and creates a memorable cast of characters to traverse these events. The story unfolds in a rural town in eastern California, far away from any potential outside help.

Barrett Holroyd is the first character introduced, and the most compelling. Barrett is an older man struggling with the recent death of his wife and lingering PTSD symptoms from his time in Desert Storm. When differences with the sheriff caused him to leave the town's small police force Barrett opened a barber shop. We meet Barrett as he's getting drunk at the town diner, filling the time by alternating between antagonizing younger patrons and flirting with the owner. When he goes to leave he finds he car won't start, and so walks the five miles home. The walk ends up taking four hours and begins the strange events of the next few days.

After leaving Barrett we next meet his daughter, sitting at home worrying about him. This really only serves to tell us a little more about Barrett. Then it's on to the local insane asylum, where we're introduced to the local psychopath, Earl Buckley. Buckley soon escapes and provides a more human plot in order to counterpoint the alien arrival. Among the other characters we meet are Luke, a teenager torn between his love for his girlfriend and his mentally abusive family, Sheriff Jim Hoolihan, who's considering retirement more seriously every day, his son-in-law who is a deputy struggling through a childless marriage, and two friends up from the city, Milo and Deke. The large cast of characters shows off McGowan's strengths and weaknesses.

One thing that struck me almost immediately while reading Arrival was that each of the characters was distinct and had at least one interesting conflict. I really like that McGowan didn't decided to just tell the story of an alien invasion; he is telling the story of a group of people who have plenty of issues to solve even without an added menace. In fact the aliens really have very little to do with the plot, something that hopefully will be resolved in future books. The story should be about more than their arrival, but I think that they should play a larger part in what happens. This is not to say the aliens do nothing, they provide the characters with information that advances their conflicts and create some interesting situations, but I never felt any fear of them. As complex at the other characters are I hope the Aliens at least gain greater depth in the future.

Dealing with a large cast of characters can be difficult, and it's here that McGowan shows that he's out of his depth. While there are good story elements once more than one main character is in the room the perspective starts to wander. The viewpoint switches mid paragraph and the tone that each character set out in their introductory chapters is lost. It's a shame; setting individual tones was something that McGowan started out doing really well. Along with this loss of tone, and relaxation of viewpoint, as more characters come onstage McGowan starts to miss some continuity details. None are major issues, but it feels as if the book was not proofread enough.

With Arrival McGowan has a good story on his hands and demonstrates a real knack for developing compelling characters. Hopefully with some more practice he can fix some of the execution issues he has when dealing with the large cast. There's potential here, but it needs refinement. If you would like to check out From the Sky - Arrival by David McGowan you can find it here. It's on Kindle Unlimited so you can try it out risk free.



Disclaimer: McGowan requested this review after finding my site via www.theindieview.com and offered to provide a free copy of his book; though since I have Kindle Unlimited I did not take him up on his offer.


Note: As I was putting together this post I noticed the cover image of Arrival has absolutely nothing to do with the plot, except maybe the three points of light. It really looks amateurish. McGowan could use a better cover artist.
2 reviews
April 26, 2015
PLOT | STORY
Arrival is the story of survival of a group of people from an alien invasion. This group has people from Camberway, a small fictional town in California, somehow having their lives related to each other. Everyone has a tragic past of their own. The characters are written very creatively which makes reader feel connected to them. The aliens invade with 3 majestically large UFOs, with their fancy lights and lethal beams. Nothing much is revealed about these ETs except for their human like appearance and red eyes. More of these UFOs and Aliens would have been better. The overall plot was good because of the mysteries created which would make reader curious all through the book. Although, I was disappointed at the end because not many of these mysteries were answered. The book had just the events happening like in AMC’s A walking dead. The group moves from one place to another for safety and that’s it. I was expecting answers to few mysteries to get grip over the series. The second installment desperately needs a ‘Revelations’ chapter. The basic mysteries were never revealed like What was their purpose of invasion? Why did they interfere with Luke’s (One of the characters in the group) personal life? How Earl Buckley (A psycho killer) did escape mental facility with no trace at all? Why did aliens kill so many birds? Yes, they kill all the birds. For about 30 minutes, there are dead birds falling all over the Camberway. Wonder how there are so many birds in Camberway?
Characters
I like the characters and their twisted pasts. My favorite character was Mirlo, a red-head, 23 year old, troubled girl. She is out with her geek friend Deke camping and smoking joints when they find 8-year old kid Tucker. After that she considers Tucker as her responsibility and acts as a mother like figure to little Tucker. Also, Deke the Geek is pretty much in her friend-zone. So that makes her a great combination of smart woman and a jerk.
Kills:
A lot of dead birds. And a couple of side characters. No major kills. Nothing fascinating in this section.

Writing:
The writer started off rather creatively, when the characters were all in still their developing phase. The problem started when there were too many characters all at once. It’s really confusing to make out who is talking to whom because of switching of Point of view between characters. The narration on the whole is fine enough for a reader to imagine this fictional world and fictional story as real.

Beginning:
The beginning is all about characters and their stories. No UFO encounters until the end of first chapter.

Ending:
Ending is great. It is more like a teaser for the sequel ‘Journey’. The ETs contacts 8-year old kid Tucker, and tells him to move towards the desert. Another mystery created at the end. The disappointing and frustrating part is, too many mysteries and none answered.

Blurb:
The unsatisfying part is the questions asked in the blurb.
1. What will become of Camberway, and the people who call it home?
2. Will anyone survive?
3. Why are the giant UFOs here?
4. What do they want?

None of these questions were answered along with many other questions. Maybe the same blurb could be used for sequel as well.

Other Stuff

Opening Line: “Evanson, you are full of shit”

Highlights: Characters

Lowlights: Mysteries

Final Thoughts: Do not read if you are expecting something epic.
Profile Image for Emma.
87 reviews38 followers
October 2, 2014
Thank you to David McGowan for sending a copy of this book to me for review.

I have started reading more novels of the supernatural/ sci-fi type and I am loving them, I think this one was the best so far just because of the whole plot and the characters in the story. It is a real page turner that you so quickly become hooked on because there is so much going on. This book is packed with so much action and suspense with every different character, yet the clever thing is it is all pretty much the same thing happening to them.

Although this book is quite short it gets straight into the story straight away and although we meet so many different characters you never feel overloaded with information. It feels like this book is a perfect length to be able to introduce you to the story and the characters ready to continue in the sequel. I don’t want to say too much but there is a great ending to this book that you just have to read!

I loved the way all of the characters in the book were or would end up connected in some way, this made the story so interesting because once you realised a few of the characters were connected, you start to think a lot more of them will be and start to wonder how.
Not many of the characters are actually likable, there are a few good characteristics in Jim, Barrett and a few others but they all seem to have something unlikable about them. I think this is a genius thing for David to do because you are searching for good things about each character throughout the whole book, which makes you want to carry on reading even more, you also want to see if they will change. The only character I actually felt a connection with was Mirlo, I started off feeling sorry for her so I think this made me eventually love her.

David’s writing is brilliant, it has the power to get you interested straight away and the way he puts life into each of the characters is so good you could imagine them standing in front of you. He gets you hooked on the story so quickly.

It is such a short book that I flew through in 2 days, so if you are looking for a fast paced, intriguing, addictive read I would definitely pick this up. After reading this book I am very much looking forward to reading the next two books in the series!
Profile Image for Kath Middleton.
Author 23 books158 followers
September 22, 2014
This is a First Contact story set in America and we meet a small group of people who, in a very short time, have their whole existence overturned. They are individuals who each have a lot of baggage and carry history and sometimes tragedy of their own, even before they see the three massive ships in the air above them and find out what they are capable of. This is just the first of a trilogy and I don't want to spoil it with too much detail but it involves this group in a road trip. One is a small boy with his grandfather and his pet dog and he features in the exciting climax of book one.

I loved the writing, the atmosphere of helplessness and the dogged determination of Jim, the lawman, to uphold the law he believes in, even when it appears pointless to others. There are a few loose ends to be tied up and they augur well for the sequels. The interplay between the characters was enough to keep the tension racked up and the end was exciting enough to increase my heart-rate for a couple of pages. I thought it was excellent.

Profile Image for Hazel McNellis.
Author 11 books21 followers
June 22, 2015
I wish to thank the author for sending me a free copy of the first part of his "From the sky" trilogy for a review. :)
I already read his debut novel ("The Hunter Inside") and really liked it.
I also liked "From the sky - Arrival" - in general. The plot is quite good! That is, I have to say, mostly because McGowan uses a cast of well developed characters. In my opinion, it reminds me a little bit of Stephen Kings way of telling a story: Many, very complex characters embedded in a well developed and gripping plot.
So far, so good. Now, what I didn't like about the book:
The author introduces sooo many characters and often switches the point of view in a - in my opinion! - quite sudden way! In the beginning, I really had problems to follow the "Who-is-Who" of the story. That's such a pity, because I am sure, the novel could have been a 5-star-novel!
Because of this, I have to give 3 (very good, indeed!) stars and hope, David McGowan will improve his method of telling a story with so many characters in it. :))
562 reviews26 followers
December 9, 2015
Aliens...

This was really an interesting book.
Bad(?) aliens? What is their purpose for being here? Why leave a small number of people stranded in towns that have been destroyed or totally empty?
What does Tucker know & why do the aliens need him?
Totally great writing! Can't wait for the next book...
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews

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